Primordial Era: The Sun Emperor

The primordial chaos trembled, and all living beings knelt in submission.

Those whose cultivation level was not at the Hunyuan stage all bowed their heads, just like the oppressive aura of the sages of the past.

The Heavenly Dao resonated with him, and the golden light of his merits poured down like a celestial river, flowing into Taiyi's brow and solidifying his position as the Heavenly Emperor. Much more merit flowed into the four directions of the Heavenly Court.

With his cultivation at the late stage of the Primordial Golden Immortal realm, coupled with the blessing of the Heavenly Emperor's authority, Taiyi was confident that, apart from Hongjun, no one in the primordial world could rival him.

Heaven, sensing the power of merit, not only bestowed upon Taiyi a scroll of heavenly scripture, which shone with golden light and hung before him.

It is the Investiture of the Gods, one of the three books of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

The list is blank, waiting for the Heavenly Emperor to write the name of the person using their primordial spirit as ink, and then he can confer a divine title to rule the order of the Three Realms.

Not all divine positions can be attained in the Great Luo Heaven, but this Heavenly Book can confer divine titles.

However, the gods conferred by such imperial decree are not true gods of heaven and earth, but they also have one advantage: as long as the primordial spirit imprint in the Investiture of the Gods is not destroyed, the gods conferred by imperial decree will not truly perish.

"I thought that stepping into the Primordial Chaos realm would incur the wrath of Heaven, but I never expected there to be this method of Heavenly Fruits. Heaven is indeed impartial, leaving a glimmer of heavenly secrets for all things."

Taiyi put away the Heavenly Book, felt the power within his body, and couldn't help but sigh.

If he had foolishly defied heaven and earth and gone against the will of heaven, he would probably have already been punished by heaven and his foundation destroyed.

Meanwhile, in the chaos, within the Purple Cloud Palace.

Hongjun opened his eyes, a flash of anger in them. He thought angrily, "That Heavenly Emperor Taiyi! He actually stole the supreme position of Heaven and Earth while I was comprehending the Heavenly Dao!"

He could accept the existence of Taiyi as a variable, and even accept Taiyi becoming a saint, but he could not accept Taiyi attaining the position of Heavenly Emperor.

The Heavenly Emperor's position is different from other positions. Although other positions are equally noble, they are not like the Heavenly Emperor's.

The Heavenly Emperor is the lord of all gods, an existence recognized by the Heavenly Dao to rule over all spirits in heaven and earth.

Now it's too late for Hongjun to deal with Taiyi. With the Heavenly Emperor's position, as a saint representing the Heavenly Dao, he cannot act against the Heavenly Dao to suppress the Heavenly Emperor.

The Heavenly Emperor is the supreme being who manages the primordial world on behalf of Heaven; this is the position bestowed upon him by Heaven and Earth.

But sages are not.

The sage is a position that Hongjun forcibly seized from the Heavenly Dao by virtue of his supreme wisdom and with the help of the Jade Tablet of Creation.

In essence, it is stealing the Way of Heaven.

However, due to the special nature of the Creation Jade Disc, it was able to gain the approval of the Heavenly Dao.

After the birth of a sage, Heaven was moved and immediately established the Six Sages: the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti.

If no saint is born, these six people will occupy the six most powerful and noble positions in the world.

The reason why Hongjun could not control the Heavenly Dao was because of the lack of the Creation Jade Disc.

Rather than saying he merged with the Heavenly Dao, it would be more accurate to say he merged with the Jade Disc of Creation, using the Great Dao on it to forcibly transform himself into the Dao and integrate into the Heavenly Dao.

In the primordial world, there were no saints; the Heavenly Emperor was supreme.

That's why the saying "He who steals heaven and earth is a sage" came about.

As long as sages exist, so too will great thieves.

The sage himself is the most powerful bandit in this world.

After Hongjun became a saint, he held a portion of the Heavenly Dao's authority, which led to the so-called path of quasi-saint cultivation.

In reality, this road is a true dead end.

Of course, a dead end doesn't mean there's no way out.

If one can gain Hongjun's approval and become a sage, with the abilities of a sage, one can still make further progress based on Hongjun's advanced cultivation.

If Hongjun's cultivation cannot improve, then as a saint created by Hongjun himself, his cultivation will naturally also be difficult to advance.

"Master?"

The Celestial Venerable of Morality was so engrossed in comprehending the Dao and its essence that he was completely captivated. When he saw Hongjun suddenly stop preaching, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

Besides him, Yuanshi Tianzun, Lingbao Tianzun, Nuwa, Jieyin, Zhunti, and even Dongwanggong, Xiwangmu, Haotian, and Yaochi all opened their eyes.

They were all individuals whom Hongjun had his eye on, and they would later become some of the most important pieces in Hongjun's eyes for managing the prehistoric world.

These people were deep within the chaos, isolated from the outside world by the Zixiao Palace, and had no idea what was happening in the primordial world.

"It's alright. Before you become saints, if you encounter Taiyi, you should yield and not contend with him."

Hongjun shook his head slightly, offering a reminder.

Originally, he wanted Taiyi to become the Heavenly Emperor and manage the prehistoric world for him, so that it wouldn't go astray.

Even if a tremendous problem arises that is difficult to solve, there are still the Six Saints.

But to his surprise, Taiyi rejected his advances.

This was not what he wanted, given that the Heavenly Emperor was not under his control.

So he called out to the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother, intending for them to succeed Taiyi as the rulers of the Heavenly Court.

However, it seems now that we absolutely cannot allow Taiyi to continue developing.

The power of the Heavenly Court must be curbed.

Taiyi has already attained the position of Heaven and Earth and has been recognized by the Heavenly Dao. He cannot be easily overthrown by others unless he commits a terrible mistake and loses the Heavenly Dao's recognition.

However, if Taiyi is allowed to continue like this, it is not impossible for him to attain the Primordial Chaos Realm.

"Master, this disciple does not understand?" As the chief disciple of the Xuanmen, it was naturally Daode Tianzun who asked the question.

Hongjun looked at his eldest disciple with great satisfaction and said, "Those who attain a position in the world are recognized by the world and protected by it, and can borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao."

The Supreme Lord of Morality is similar to him in many ways; he is indifferent in nature, and nothing, not even the collapse of the sky, can shake his heart in seeking the Dao.

"Does Master mean that Taiyi has already attained the status of Heaven and Earth?" The Moral Celestial Venerable was incredibly wise and understood the meaning of the question.

"Indeed, Taiyi has attained the position of Heavenly Emperor. He is the supreme being of Heaven and Earth, in charge of all spirits. Before you become saints, you must not contend with him." Hongjun nodded slightly.

"Master! Your disciple is unwilling! That Taiyi is arrogant and rude, defying you, yet he has obtained the position of Heavenly Emperor. You can imagine how arrogant he will become in the future. I have had quite a conflict with him, please, Master, save me!"

At this moment, the Eastern King bowed and said.

He was resentful and filled with jealousy.

Even though he had already killed the evil corpse, he still couldn't help but have evil thoughts.

The other disciples were not surprised to hear this.

These two are sworn enemies.

Hongjun was waiting for this sentence, and upon hearing it, he replied: "Among all the positions in the world, apart from the sages, although the Heavenly Emperor is the most respected, below the Heavenly Emperor are the Four Emperors, the Sun and the Moon, whose status is no less than that of the Heavenly Emperor."

"Please teach me, teacher!"

A hint of joy flashed in the eyes of the Eastern King, and he quickly shouted.

"The Way of Taiyi is to transform one's own Great Dao into a Dao Domain, condense Dao Fruits within the Dao Domain, and entrust the Dao Fruits to the Heavenly and Earthly Fruits in the Great Luo Heaven."

Hongjun was an existence of immense stature, and he knew the path of Taiyi's cultivation in just a moment through calculation.

This is what a sage is; without the sage's methods to conceal heavenly secrets, it would be difficult to keep them hidden.

In reality, at this time, even if the six sages destined by heaven had become saints, Taiyi, apart from Hongjun, would find it difficult to deduce the secrets of cultivation.

Just as Dongwanggong was wondering what to do, Hongjun spoke up again: "This path is too difficult for you. I have a more suitable method for your cultivation."