The Thirty-Eighth Assembly of Saints Discusses Heavenly Court Affairs

  After the saints had settled the good people, they all came to the heavenly court. This gathering was not like the previous one where they competed for spiritual treasures. Not only did they want to show off their saintly dignity in front of the Heavenly Emperor and the Queen Mother, but also to outdo other saints and make the Heavenly Emperor and the Queen Mother know who was stronger or weaker among them. Therefore, all the saints brought out their own strengths.

  The actions of the multitude of saints brought a spectacle to the heavenly court that had never been seen before. Even though the Heavenly Emperor and the Queen Mother had stood by the side of the Daoist Patriarch Hongjun for many years, they had never seen such a grand display.

  The only disciple under the gate of Taishang Laojun is Xuan Dou, and there are few people in the Western Sect. Even if they have taken in some demons, they can't compare to the disciples of other saints. There's no need to say more about these two sides.

  Yuanshi Tianzun rode on a seven-fragrance carriage, pulled by nine dragons. Two young boys led the way in front, and fourteen people followed closely behind the carriage. Apart from the twelve Golden Immortals and the Lamp-Lighting Daoist, there was another virtuous person named Yun Zhongzi, who had attained the Dao amidst purple clouds. Later, he survived the Kunlun Grand Array and entered the Jade Void Palace to listen to the teachings. He was accepted by Yuanshi as a registered disciple. This person was later known as Fude Golden Immortal. The twelve Golden Immortals were beheaded by Yunxiao using the Hunyuan Golden Cauldron Lid, eradicating the five energies in their chests and rendering their cultivation useless. Only Yun Zhongzi had a deep accumulation of good fortune and narrowly escaped disaster.

  These people have all reached the level of Daluo Jinxian, descending from outside the Thirty-Three Heavens to the Heavenly Court. Each of them has three flowers on their head, and various magical treasures are spinning around their bodies to protect them, with a brilliant light of ten thousand feet. On the Seven Fragrance Carriage, lotus flowers continuously fly out, dancing in the sky, displaying an extraordinary celestial aura. The Primordial Heavenly Lord has a pleased expression on his face, slowly stepping down from the Seven Fragrance Carriage amidst the respectful greetings of the crowd in the Heavenly Court. He greets Taishang Laojun and the Western Teaching Master, making them feel secretly depressed.

  At this moment, the sound of celestial music came from the horizon again, and the seven-colored light gradually appeared. The newcomer was Tongtian Jiao. Tongtian rode on a Qiu cow, with four boys holding swords standing beside him. Behind them were Duobao, Guiling Shengmu, Wudang Shengmu, Jinxing Shengmu, Jingxian, Lingya Xian, Qiushou Xian, Wuyun Xian, Chang'er Dingguang Xian, Zhao Gongming, Yunxiao, Bixiao, Qiongxiao and many other disciples. All of these people had cultivation that was not inferior to the Twelve Golden Immortals. Among them, Duobao and Wudang Shengmu were even more powerful than their peers, having attained the late-stage cultivation of Daluo Jinxian.

  Behind Duobao and the others were several thousand disciples of the Cut-Sky Sect, a dense black mass. Although only a few of these registered disciples had reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, the rest were all Golden Immortals. However, with so many people charging forward together, their momentum was on a completely different level than that of Yuanshi Tianzun.

  As soon as Tongtian Jiaozhu arrived, he immediately surpassed the prestige of Yuanshi Tianzun. Seeing this, Yuanshi Tianzun let out a cold hum and only slightly nodded his head when Tongtian Jiaozhu greeted him. Tongtian Jiaozhu didn't bother to make amends with Yuanshi Tianzun since he had already overshadowed him.

  Although the purpose of this gathering was to discuss matters of Heaven, Haotian and Wangmu had already reached a consensus that as long as the Sage did not speak up, they would also say nothing and first observe how the other saints handled the matter.

  The Supreme Elder Lord saw that everyone was not speaking up, considering the concerns of the Heavenly Emperor and the Queen Mother. He asked first: "Now that the Eastern Heaven's Court has been re-established, what plans do you fellow Taoists have?" The Supreme Elder Lord deliberately emphasized the East, indicating that he did not want the Western Sect to interfere with the affairs of the East, so as to prevent them from developing in the East in the future.

  The Tongtian Jiaozhu heard the intention of Taishang Laojun and continued: "In my eastern land, there are talented people and spiritual lands. Although the heavenly court is vast, there are only a few hundred officials in charge of this matter, it's not difficult."

  Yuanshi Tianzun said: "Great goodness."

  In the past, it was extremely difficult for Western religions to convert a few people from the demonic and witch tribes. Even though they took away some of the demonic tribe last time, those who were taken away were only mediocre in terms of their abilities. As for those with good abilities and high magical powers, they were all proud and arrogant, and would rather die than go to the barren land of the West. Now that the demonic and witch tribes are declining, the human race is rising, and the Heavenly Court needs a large number of people. If they can stand firm in the Heavenly Court and spread the wonderful teachings of the Western religion under the name of justice, there's no need to worry about the human race not believing in the Western religious doctrine. In this way, the rise of Western religions is just around the corner.

  Zhun Ti saw several saints and immediately excluded himself and Jie Yin, protesting: "The universe is one body, how can the heavenly court distinguish between east and west? My Western teachings naturally follow the will of heaven, and I will do my part to help Brother Huang Tian."

  Hao Tian and the Queen Mother had already discussed their strategy, only saying: "Hao Tian's cultivation and moral integrity are both insufficient, making it difficult for him to take on major responsibilities. Everything will be decided by the various senior brothers." In any case, the two of them had made up their minds that neither would be blamed.

  Yuanshi Tianzun had finally taken in over a dozen disciples, and naturally didn't want them to go to the Heavenly Court to be controlled by Huangtian and Wangmu. Although he didn't want to send anyone to the Heavenly Court, the Western Sect also couldn't gain any benefit from it, so neither the Three Pure Ones nor Nüwa wanted them to get involved. After thinking about it, everyone didn't have a good solution, so they simply remained silent.

  Finally, the Supreme Elder saw that this was not a solution either, so he said: "Why don't we do it like this? Now, some of the demons under the seats of my fellow apprentices, Nüwa and Tongtian, were still working in Heaven before the great war. Why don't you two send out some demons to fill these positions? With them, Heaven can quickly get back on its feet. I only have one disciple under me, so I won't participate in Heaven's affairs. My fellow apprentice Yuanshi also has only a dozen or so disciples, and they won't participate either. If there are still vacancies, the Primordial Chaos has loose cultivators that Heaven can recruit to work in the upper realm. What do you think of this arrangement?"

  The Great Elderly Lord arranged it this way, so both the Three Pure Ones and Nüwa would benefit. Although Tongtian Jiao's master did not want his disciples to enter Heaven's Court and be governed by Huang Tian and Wangmu, Heaven's Court was also short-handed. The Great Elderly Lord and Yuanshi Tianzun had fewer disciples, so it was impossible to arrange for people to join Heaven's Court. Among the Three Pure Ones, only Tongtian Jiao's master had many disciples, so he could only accept his fate. In this way, although Nüwa and Tongtian Jiao would have some power in Heaven's Court, they would not let Huang Tian dominate alone. In this way, the forces of Heaven's Court formed a three-legged balance of power.

  Zhun Ti wanted to say something more, but Jie Yin said: "Good. My foundation in the Western Paradise is shallow, so I entrust this heavenly matter to all of you."

  Jie Yin rarely spoke, but whenever he did, it was to convey a decision made by the Western Sect. Jie Yin also saw how the Eastern Four Sages suppressed the Western Sect, not wanting their disciples to join the Heavenly Court and be controlled by others, nor allowing the Western Sect to join the Heavenly Court, lest they take advantage of the situation to spread Buddhist teachings. In this two-against-four situation, they had no chance of winning whatsoever. Rather than continuing a futile struggle, it was better to give up and avoid being looked down upon. Since Jie Yin had spoken, Zhuan Ti could say nothing more, so they both bid farewell and returned to the Western Sect.

  Nüwa returned to the Nüwa Palace and summoned the Luminous Beast, Lù Wú. She ordered him to bring a portion of the demon tribe to the Heavenly Court. Lù Wú was once a great demon in the Heavenly Court, but although he could return, with the change in leadership, he couldn't muster up any enthusiasm. After arranging his subordinates to their respective positions, he closed himself off for cultivation and no longer concerned himself with the affairs of the Heavenly Court. The Golden Crow that Tàiyī had rescued also suffered setbacks multiple times and learned from its mistakes, now diligently carrying out its duties on the Sun Star every day.

  The Tongtian Sect Master also sent some of his disciples to work in the Heavenly Palace, but he only sent some low-level cultivators. This way, not only can he shut other people's mouths, but he can also preserve the power of the Jie Teaching. The Supreme Old Lord and the Yuanshi Tianzun saw this and had no choice but to secretly sigh.

  Huang Tian and the Queen Mother saw that Tongtian Jiao Zhu had only sent some low-level cultivators to the Heavenly Court, and they were also angry in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do. After all, it was because of their low cultivation level. Fortunately, Nüwa Niangniang had dispatched some elite members of the demon tribe, which alleviated the pressure on the Heavenly Court due to the shortage of personnel. However, the personnel in charge of the daily sun and moon, as well as the stars and constellations, were still insufficient. They didn't bother to discuss with the other saints again and could only recruit some scattered cultivators to supplement their numbers. Throughout the Heavenly Court, apart from being in charge of the daily sunrise and sunset, as well as the circulation of the stars and constellations, Huang Tian and the Queen Mother did not care about anything else and just focused on intensifying their cultivation.

  The Queen Mother's good fortune was extremely good, and the immortal peach bestowed upon her by the Taoist ancestor Hongjun had grown and multiplied over many years, totaling 3,600 trees. These peach trees were of varying quality, divided into three grades, with 1,200 trees in each grade. The lowest-grade peaches were small in flower and fruit, ripening once every 3,000 years; ordinary people who ate them would become healthy and light-bodied, achieving immortality and enlightenment. The middle-grade peach trees ripened once every 6,000 years; those who ate them would ascend to heaven during the daytime, living forever without aging. The highest-grade peaches ripened once every 9,000 years, with purple stripes and golden pits; those who ate them would live as long as heaven and earth, sharing the same destiny as the sun and moon.

  With these peaches, Huang Tian and the Queen Mother secretly pulled some scattered cultivators in Hongyuan to join the Heavenly Court, preparing for their future dominance over the Three Realms.

  With these peaches, the Queen Mother's momentum also grew greater and greater. Huang Tian saw this and said: "Shi Mei, how do you think our cultivation compares to that of Di Jun and Tai Yi?"

  The Queen Mother said: "You and I have also achieved quasi-saintly cultivation, but compared to Emperor Jun and Taiyi, we are far behind."

  Haotian said: "Emperor Jun and Taiyi both died under the calculations of the masses, if you and I do not restrain ourselves a bit, I'm afraid our ending will not be much better than theirs."

  The Queen Mother said: "Compared to Emperor Jun and Taiyi, we have a great advantage. That is, we are personally appointed by the Ancestor of Taoism. The multitude of saints may not be satisfied in their hearts, but they dare not do anything to us."

  "Hao Tian sighed: "Junior sister, you're too naive. Things aren't as simple as you think they are. Although the Heavenly Court governs the three realms, there are many causes and effects at play. If one isn't careful, they might become entangled in karma, and when the great calamity arrives, they might be reduced to nothing but ashes."

  The Queen Mother said: "Now it's up to you, what should we do?"

  Haotian said: "We only have one word 'endure', wait until our strength can be compared with the saints, and then we will make a move."