Volume 3 Chapter 1: The Purple Mist Palace Opens, the Seal of the Gods Appears

  Years have passed, and the Xia Dynasty has been established for over 400 years. It was passed down to Jie, who was cruel and tyrannical, killing loyal ministers, and was eventually abandoned by the people. In the lower reaches of the Yellow River, there was a tribe called Shang, whose ancestor was Gao Yao's grandson, Qi. By the time of Xia Jie, the leader was named Tang. Tang was a kind and virtuous person who had once advised Jie but was unexpectedly imprisoned by him. After being released from prison and returning to his land, he met with Yi Yin, and feeling the suffering of the people, he raised an army of righteousness to overthrow Jie, finally toppling the Xia Dynasty. Jie was exiled to Nanzhong, and Tang was elected as the common lord by the various vassals, thus establishing the Shang Dynasty, with its capital in Bo.

  The sky was clear and the realm was profound. At this time, Hongyuan was lying on a cloud bed, wandering in the vast expanse of the universe, comprehending the great Tao. Suddenly, a bell sound echoed in his ears, without knowing where it came from, gradually disappearing, without knowing where it went!

  Hong Xuan opened his eyes, and a strange light flashed by. He whispered to himself: "Has it finally come?"

  He suddenly got up, walked down the cloud bed, left the Qingxu Tian, and came to the vast and boundless chaos. He didn't know how long he had been walking, but saw in the distance a Taoist temple that was faintly visible, quietly situated, with an ethereal aura, its shape ancient and simple, as if surrounded by countless tracks of the Great Way revolving without rest, yet seeming to have nothing at all, mysterious and even more mysterious! It was indeed the Daochang Zixiao Palace of Daizu Hongjun, who had merged his body with the Heavenly Way.

  Inside the Purple Cloud Palace, the other six saints were already seated. Suddenly, the gaze of all the saints turned towards the outside of the palace gate, and they saw Hong Xuan walking in slowly with a purple bamboo staff in his hand. Except for Nüwa Niangniang, the other five saints were shocked in their hearts, but at this time, Hong Xuan's whole body was shrouded in an aura that was difficult to discern, as if there was a faint and indistinct trail surrounding him.

  The Primordial Supreme Ultimate Great Way! This phrase simultaneously appears in the hearts of all saints.

  The saints, although they are all mixed yuan da lu jin xian, have different levels of cultivation. The masses of saints, after obtaining the saintly state, have a slow progress in their dao cultivation. If they want to attain the mixed yuan taiji great dao, it is unknown when they will achieve it. As for attaining the heavenly dao, let alone the chaotic da lu tian dao above the heavenly dao, the masses of saints dare not even think about it. To improve one's dao cultivation, one must comprehend the great dao, and to comprehend the great dao, one needs the assistance of qi yun. Qi yun is not only related to the future of the great teaching but also helps saints comprehend the great dao, which is related to their cultivation. Therefore, all saints want to be the master of heaven and earth to contend for qi yun; if they contend for the master of heaven and earth, they must be the orthodox of the human tribe, after all, the human tribe is the main character set by the heavenly dao. Now, seeing Hong Xuan's cultivation that cannot be measured, the masses of saints know that he has attained the mixed yuan taiji great dao. For a time, their thoughts are in disarray, each with different ideas. The masses of saints know that Hong Xuan can enjoy the xuan men qi yun without establishing a teaching, which means that the heavenly numbers are in his hands. They naturally think that he has obtained the assistance of qi yun and that his contention for qi yun is even more intense! As for whether Hong Xuan only relies on the assistance of qi yun or not, only he himself knows!

  Hongyuan bowed his head and paid respects to the crowd of saints. He said, "I have come late, causing all of you fellow Taoists to wait for a long time, it's my fault!"

  The multitude of saints returned the courtesy, and Tongtian Jiaozhu burst out laughing: "But congratulations are in order for Fourth Brother's great progress! We haven't been here for long, so Fourth Brother doesn't need to worry!" Hongyuan smiled slightly, also not speaking, sat down on his own cushion, closed his eyes, and waited. The multitude of saints saw this and knew they shouldn't make too much noise in the Purple Mist Palace either. So they all closed their eyes and quietly waited.

  Before long, the Hongjun who had not appeared for billions of years suddenly appeared silently in front of the crowd of saints. The hearts of the saints shook, and they all stood up to pay their respects to Hongjun, saying: "Disciples greet their teacher, may our teacher's sacred life be boundless!"

  Hong Jun nodded, waiting for the crowd of saints to sit down before scanning Hong Xuan with a glance. He then expressionlessly told the crowd of saints: "After the Great War between Wizards and Demons, the cause-and-effect entanglements in the world have become too complicated. Six hundred years later, the calamity of karma will arrive, and the twelve Golden Immortals of the Tianxuan Sect will all be guilty of killing karma, reincarnating among humans, and descending the mountain to face their karma."

  All saints were shocked to hear the words! They still thought that Yuanshi Tianzun was even more severe. Yuanshi Tianzun asked in a respectful tone, "Disciple dares to ask the teacher, how should I teach my disciples to respond to the catastrophe?"

  Hong Jun said calmly: "The demon clan withdraws from the Heavenly Court. I establish Haotian as the master of the Heavenly Court, ruling over the three realms. However, at present, the gods of the Heavenly Court are not all present. The 360 celestial bodies of the week have no one in charge. The six paths of reincarnation are empty and void. It is necessary to divide and appoint the various gods. First, complete the killing of the calamity. Second, let the gods return to their positions!

  As soon as he finished speaking, a yellowish poster appeared in his hand. On it was emitting a mysterious aura. Hong Xuan's eyes lit up when he saw it, and then returned to normal immediately.

  Hong Jun said, "This is the Sealing God List. It's a divine artifact for sealing gods. Those who kill Immortals in the midst of calamity and enter the Immortal Path; those who come next can rely on this list to enter the Divine Path and seal their position as a true god; those who fail will turn to dust!"

  Tongtian Jiaozhu frowned and asked: "May I ask, Master. The Sealing Gods List seals 360 orthodox gods. But the Expounding Sect only has twelve people. How can they seal the gods?"

  Yuanshi Tianzun also looked at Hongjun with tension.

  Hong Jun said calmly: "Although it is the Golden Immortal of the Exhorting Teachings who has committed a killing karma, when the time of killing comes, those who have not yet attained the status of a true saint will be tainted by cause and effect as soon as they enter the mortal world. They must also complete their killing karma before they can resume cultivating the Dao."

  All the saints are shocked! Who would have thought that the killing calamity is so great, it actually includes all the immortals below the quasi-saints! In his heart, he secretly thought: After returning, I must restrain my disciples from leaving the mountain gate, lest they be tainted by cause and effect and fulfill their fate!

  Hongjun continued: "When the killing calamity arrives, there will be a person who will emerge to seal the gods. This person will join which sect, and that sect will obtain the Sealing Gods List, and preside over the sealing of the gods."

  The hearts of all the saints were once again stirred up, but only Hongyuan and Nüwa didn't think much of it. After all, they hadn't established a sect, so this matter of sealing gods wasn't their concern.

  Hongjun said to Taishang Laojun, "Whoever is on the list, it's all decided by you. You're the eldest brother, so I'll temporarily put the Divine List in your hands. When the person who seals the gods joins a certain sect, I'll give the Divine List to that sect!"

  The Supreme Elder hastily stepped forward and respectfully received the Seal of the Gods, then retreated. Hongjun looked at the crowd of saints again and said: "You must settle the matter of sealing the gods within 600 years, sign and seal the Seal of the Gods, do not delay, otherwise when the time comes, the calamity will be even greater!"

  The crowd of saints heard this and were shocked in their hearts, they all stood up and replied: "Your disciple understands!"

  Hong Jun nodded silently, and disappeared again without a sound in the gaze of the saints, returning to the Heavenly Way!

  The Zixiao Palace was left with only the saints, and the saints were silent for a moment, but no one wanted to speak first. The Supreme Old Lord sighed and said: "The teacher's words have been obtained by all of you, this time the sealing of the gods is due to the entanglement of karma, we should seal the gods according to their roots, those with deep roots will enter the Immortal Path, those with shallow roots will enter the Divine Path, and those who are even shallower will turn into dust!"

  Hong Xuan also said: "What the Great Master said is correct! We should decide who will go on the list, enter the divine way, to complete the killing calamity, and then enjoy peace and quiet!"

  The multitude of saints nodded in unison. The Supreme Elder Lord saw this and spoke first, saying: "This humble Taoist has only one disciple under his door, Xuan Dou, who is indeed a certified saint, but should not be listed on the divine list to avoid calamity!" After finishing speaking, he handed the Divine List to Yuanshi Tianzun.

  All the saints heard this and had nothing to say, after all, the Supreme Old Lord only has one disciple. If Xuan Dou Dharma Master were to be ranked, it would probably provoke him, and in the end, it would not be worth it to create karma.

  Yuanshi Tianzun said calmly, "All of my disciples are virtuous and talented, with boundless merits. They all have a deep and noble nature, but shouldn't be on the list!" After finishing speaking, he handed the Divine List to Tongtian Teach's master and said, "On the other hand, the three junior masters' disciples under your school are called 'Ten Thousand Immortals', they are all covered in fur and have horns, born from moisture and eggs. They have a shallow nature, it's hard for them to achieve immortality, they should be on the list!"

  The Master of Tongtian was secretly enraged, but the anger of a saint is not visible on his face. He said coldly: "Second Brother Mo, don't forget what our teacher said. This time, you are being punished because your disciple has committed murder and it's only right that my disciple takes his place on the list!" Having said this, he pushed the Sealing God List into Hongyuan's arms and ignored Yuanshi Tianzun.

  Yuanshi Tianzun's face was gloomy and he seemed lost in thought.

  Hong Xuan smiled slightly and pushed the God-Sealing List to Nüwa. The other saints didn't say anything, after all, Hong Xuan only had two disciples, Kong Xuan and Nüwa. Kong Xuan wasn't a concern since he was already an quasi-saint and not within the killing quota; but Nüwa was the daughter of Shennong, if she were to be on the list, the consequences would be severe!

  Nuwa said: "I don't establish a sect, and there are no disciples under my door, so there is no one to put on the list!" After speaking, she pushed the list of gods to the two saints of the West. The saints knew that Nuwa's words were reasonable, and they had to look at the two saints of the West.

  Only then did the Taoist priest proclaim in a loud voice, "The poor Taoist has only two or three disciples in the Western teachings, and they rarely come to the Eastern world. They have not formed any karma, so they should not be on the list!" After finishing speaking, he pushed the Sealing Gods List back into the hands of the Supreme Old Lord.

  The Supreme Elder sighed and said, "If we keep pushing it back like this, when will it end? If we delay the matter of sealing the gods, our master will blame us. How can we bear the responsibility?"

  All the saints heard the words and fell silent! This divine letter seems to be a perfect opportunity for the heavenly court to increase its manpower, but it is of no great benefit to each sect. No one wants their disciples to go on the list and take orders from others!

  The Supreme Elder Lord looked at the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign and the Master of the Tongtian Teachings, saying: "Primordial Junior Brother, Tongtian Junior Brother, in my humble opinion, this time the ranking of the gods should be based on the two teachings of Zhuanxie. You two discuss the number of people to be listed!" Nüwa led the way, and the three of them looked at each other, obviously the Supreme Elder Lord's words were without difference. This time, the ranking of the gods should indeed be based on the two teachings of Zhuanxie.

  Both saints also knew that the words of Tai Shang Lao Jun were reasonable, but they couldn't bear to see their disciples being outdone, so they all remained silent and didn't utter a word, resulting in an atmosphere of sudden silence.

  But Hong Xuan said to Taishang Laojun, "Master, it has been 600 years now, and we also don't know which way the destined immortal should respond to the calamity. This time the signboard is a bit early, why not discuss again after another 300 years?"

  The Supreme Elder Lord also knew that the time had come to seal the Divine List, but it was no longer possible to sign and stamp it. He could only nod in agreement: "Fourth Junior Brother's words are reasonable! In that case, we will wait another three hundred years before signing and stamping the Divine List again at the Purple Mist Palace!"

  All the saints nodded in agreement upon hearing his words.

  Then, the Supreme Old Lord hung the List of Seals in the Purple Mist Palace under the gaze of all the saints, and left the palace to return to the Daoist temple. The saints saw this and also bid each other farewell, returning to their respective temples, secretly plotting and scheming.

  The sky was clear and the realm was profound. Hongyuan gazed out at the rising tide, a faint smile on his face, and muttered to himself: "The war of sealing gods? Interesting."

  It is: The Investiture of the Gods List appears in the present kalpa, and all the saints discuss the matter of the Investiture of the Gods.

  Two factions of the sect refuse to give in to each other, and a rift has already formed with schemes brewing!