As a nod to season 5, I can imagine in Wukongverse Old Li is the more favorable in Nezhaverse's opinion(I hc him as someone who was like Yunxiang in youth and paid the price hence his personality.)
If he was still alive I can imagine old Li calling out AU Li Jing despite the power difference.
I love the idea of all the Wukongverse wondering who's the worst/best of Nezha's fathers and begin comparing. Nezha (2019) Li Jing barely makes the "OK" ranking for trying to take Nezha's place when the Heavens did the ban hammer on him and Ao Bing - still not a great father. HiB Zhu Bajie is likely pretending to be the Pagoda King for clout so he's disqualified (never refers to himself as Li Jing or as Nezha's dad).
Soon the many Li Jings are compared and graded against one another - only for Ace (NewGods!SWK) to comment;
Ace: "What about you, tudi? Your dad seems cool." Li Yunxiang: "My dad isn't Li Jing though..." LMK!Nezha: "Rule is best or worst "Nezha's Dad". You're our reincarnation. Your dad counts." Whole Room: (*agreeable mummuring*) Peach: "Ok, it is official. Li Yunxiang has the best Nezha's Dad." Li Yunxiang: "Thanks...?"
Old Li I feel can be a bit of hardass on his sons, mainly out of fear/worry. They are living in a drought and economic depression, and he doesn't want either of them going down dark paths. Since the NewGods films take place roughly in the 1920s/Republic-era; I wouldn't be surprised if Old Li experienced the horrors of the first world war and was very much like Yunxiang at his age. And unlike the other "Nezha's Dads"; Old Li isn't a lord or a god, he's a mortal mechanic trying his best to raise his sons + his adoptive daughter.
I bet if Old Li was in a room with all the Li Jings (wukongverse shennangians) and saw how they treat their kids, he'd scold them without a second thought.
Old Li: "A god you call yourself, and yet you cannot even soothe your child's worries when he's made a mistake. I worry for you when he becomes a teenager."
May or not proceed to brag about his kids and how proud he is of them despite all the "god nonsense" his youngest has gotten himself tied up in.
The Li Jings are aghast and furious at the gal of this mortal, and ask him who is he to pass judgement on the Pagoda King?
Ace: "He's the father of my tudi, Li Yunxiang. The reincarnated Nezha."
The Li Jings all suddenly pause and stare. This frail, elderly mortal managed to fully raise his Nezha?! To adulthood!? How is he alive!?! How has he managed to control a demon child that brought gods to his knees and nearly kill them times over?!
Old Li, copying a slang he heard from the modern universes: "Skill issue."
Some of the younger Nezhas actually even prefer Old Li to their fathers. He's a bit tough sure, but he's a good man who's willing to make compromises with his kids.
