Hu Le dismissed the servant boy from the Eight Views Palace who had come to deliver the message. Several days later, at the appointed time, Hu Le rode his mount to Shouyang Mountain.
He had just landed in front of the Eight Views Palace when a familiar voice came from behind him.
"Fellow Daoist! You arrived so quickly."
Hu Le looked back and saw Yuanshi Tianzun holding a Ruyi scepter, riding on auspicious clouds and arriving gracefully.
Hu Le got up and dismounted. A boy came from a distance and led the horse away.
"Fellow Daoist, you've come too." Hu Le bowed to Yuanshi Tianzun.
"Since my senior brother invited me, I had no choice but to come," Yuanshi Tianzun returned the greeting.
“In that case, let’s go together.” Hu Le gestured for them to proceed.
Immediately afterwards, the two walked side by side into the Eight Views Palace.
The hall was empty except for three futons surrounded by purple mist placed on each of the left and right sides.
Laozi, who was originally sitting on the first futon on the left with his eyes closed, saw the two of them arrive together. He got up and took a few steps forward to greet them. After exchanging greetings, Laozi returned to his original seat.
The Primordial Celestial Venerable sat indifferently to his left.
Hu Le then went to sit opposite Laozi and sat on the futon at the head of the table.
After the three sat down, they did not speak, but closed their eyes slightly, waiting for the other three sages to rise.
Before long, the Tongtian Sect Leader gracefully entered the hall.
The three sage leaders rose and bowed to the Tongtian Sect Leader.
After returning the greeting, the Tongtian Sect Leader silently walked to the side of the Yuanshi Daoist and sat down.
After another incense stick had burned, Jieyin and Zhunti finally arrived, albeit late.
"Fellow Daoists, the journey to the West is long and arduous. We are a step late, please forgive us."
Zhunti Daoist bowed to the four Pangu Sages who had risen.
"Fellow Daoists, please don't stand on ceremony, please have a seat."
Laozi, as the host, smiled and invited the two to sit down.
The guide sat down cross-legged to the left of Hu Le.
Zhunti Daoist also sat on the last futon.
The six sage leaders sat in their respective places. Compared to the last time they gathered in the Heavenly Court, Nuwa and Fuxi were missing this time.
Since those two had not yet attained the Primordial Dao, they were naturally not qualified to join this banquet that was dividing up the human race...
"The reason I invited you all here today is to discuss matters concerning the human race."
Lao Tzu got straight to the point.
"Yes, the human race needs to experience the reigns of the Three Sovereigns before it can flourish in the primordial world. Now that the Human Emperor Fuxi is about to return to his throne, we need to make arrangements for the remaining two Human Emperors, the Five Emperors, and their teachers."
The Taoist Master Zhunti added a sentence.
His words revealed his ambition to become one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
Hu Le was the first to express his opinion, "I have already produced a Human Emperor under my tutelage. As for the rest, fellow Daoists, you can arrange them yourselves. There's no need to ask me anymore."
The other sages nodded slightly upon hearing this.
Laozi continued, "After the human race's Heavenly Emperor Fuxi has fulfilled his merits and abdicated, an Earthly Emperor will be born. I have my own arrangements for this position."
The saints nodded in agreement, and no one raised any objections.
As the leader of the Human Religion, it is only natural that Laozi would occupy the position of Earthly Sovereign of the human race.
Originally, according to common sense, the position of the human emperor and the emperor's teacher should have come from his disciples.
Unfortunately, at that time, Hu Le, as the Human Emperor, had not yet abdicated, and he himself was the Primordial Saint.
At that time, Laozi had not yet established a religion, nor was he even a sage. Naturally, he lost his right to speak on the Heavenly Emperor and could only allow Nuwa and Hu Le to secretly exchange teachings and determine the destiny of Heaven...
Seeing that no one objected, Laozi nodded and, like Hu Le, said no more.
Yuanshi Tianzun spoke first, before the other sages: "Since the eldest brother has taken the Earth Emperor, then this last Human Emperor will be arranged by my Chan Sect."
"Brother Dao, wait a moment! Let's give this last Human Emperor to our Jie Sect." Tongtian Sect Leader suddenly spoke up.
"The throne of the Human Emperor is not for your Jie Sect. You should choose one of the Five Emperors instead," Yuanshi Tianzun retorted without hesitation.
"Why? You and I are both Pangu, and my Jie Sect is no less capable than your Chan Sect. Why can't we hand over this Human Emperor to my Jie Sect?" Tongtian Sect Leader said indignantly.
Hu Le, sitting opposite, had his eyelids slightly closed, seemingly oblivious to the argument between the two, as if he were already lost in thought.
The guide lowered his eyelids, seemingly equally indifferent to the matter.
Only the Taoist Zhunti watched the scene unfold with a smile.
Originally, he wanted to compete for the last Human Emperor title, but seeing Yuanshi and Tongtian arguing about it, he temporarily suppressed his thoughts and watched the spectacle.
As for Laozi, he frowned slightly, feeling quite troubled.
Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Daoren argued for a few words, but to no avail.
He couldn't help but turn to look at Laozi, "Brother Dao, look at Tongtian. He's so disrespectful to his elder brother for the sake of a mere Human Emperor. Please, Brother Dao, do something about him."
The Tongtian Sect Leader said coldly, "Yuanshi, don't try to use my brother to intimidate me. I'm just trying to secure a Human Emperor for my Jie Sect. How is that disrespectful to my brother?"
"Does this mean the Human Emperor can only be arranged by your Chan Sect? What kind of logic is that?"
Laozi was greatly troubled upon hearing this. Both sides were his flesh and blood; what could he do? Favoring either one would be wrong…
"this……"
He had originally intended to smooth things over as he always had, but then he remembered that the other sages were still there, and he didn't want them to laugh at the Three Pure Ones.
He paused, turned to look at Hu Le opposite him, and asked, "Sect Leader Xuanxiang, in your opinion, who should they hand over this Human Emperor to deal with?"
Hu Le gently raised his eyelids and replied, "This is a matter for your Xuanmen. You should discuss and handle it yourselves. In the end, whether Fellow Daoist Yuanshi or Fellow Daoist Tongtian gets it, I will have no objection."
Since he has decided to remain neutral, he naturally won't get involved...
"What are your thoughts, fellow Daoists? Do you think the last Human Emperor should belong to the Chan Sect or the Jie Sect?" Laozi then looked at Zhunti and Jieyin.
The reason he asked Hu Le a question just now was merely to lay the groundwork for this moment; he didn't genuinely intend to drag Hu Le into the mess.
In any case, from the very beginning, he didn't expect Hu Le to give him any useful response.
His main goal was simply to drag these two down with him.
He simply couldn't believe that these two wouldn't be tempted by this last human emperor.
As long as they join the struggle, the conflict between Yuanshi and Tongtian will naturally be temporarily transferred to the Western Sect.
"this……"
The two exchanged a glance, and Zhunti Daoist spoke up: "In my humble opinion, neither the Chan Sect nor the Jie Sect is entirely suitable?"
"Oh? Why would you say that, fellow Daoist?"
Laozi chuckled, inwardly sighing that he had just predicted it...
Zhunti Daoist was also a religious leader and sage, so how could he not see why Taishang Laojun had just asked for his opinion?
Even though he knew that Laozi had ill intentions, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue, because the Western Sect really wanted this last human emperor...
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