Yuangong, the deacon, opened the shrine and exposed the holy book to the human world. He also carved the contents of the book on the stone wall of white cloud cave in the mountains. He is now punished to guard the book for life by the jade emperor for breaking heaven's law and betraying the holy secret to human. In order to pass this holy book to human beings, he would have to get by the antagonist fox.
The film is an adaptation of a story in Chinese mythology (in particular, the epic fantasy novel "Fengshen bang") about the warrior deity Nezha, who became a student of the immortal Taiyi Zhenren. The main part of the story revolves around Nezha's feud with Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, whom he angers through the killing of Ao Bing, Ao Guang's third son. Through bravery and wit, Nezha finally breaks into the Dragon King's underwater palace and successfully defeats him.