In the chaotic boundary of the world drifted an island with a mountain on top. The mountain was Jade Spirit Mountain, and at its peak was Violet Heaven Palace, the Dao Ancestor's abode.

Several figures traversed the chaotic boundary toward Violet Heaven Palace. The one in the lead wore a white robe with long white hair, brows, and a beard. His skin was ruddy like a newborn, but he had dark bags under his eyes. In his grasp was a horsetail whisk. He was Grand Purity Laozi and leader of the Human Way.

Behind him was a middle-aged man in all black with long black hair and a beard. He carried a jade ruyi scepter with three jewels encrusted atop. With a jade coronet binding his hair and his stern expression, he exuded an aura of nobility. He was Jade Purity Yuanshi and the leader of the Enlightenment Sect.

Third from the front was a woman dressed in glamorous red robes that only highlighted her milky white skin. Her inky black hair trailed behind her as her eyes flashed silver. In her hands was a sheathed cyan sword. She was Supreme Purity Tongtian.

Behind Tongtian was another woman who wore a dark green dress that exuded endless vitality. Her beauty was equal to Tongtian but was warm and motherly rather than glamorous. She was the creator of the humans, Mother Nuwa.

The fifth and sixth figures traveled as a pair. Both possessed no hair on their head and wore golden robes. The fifth exuded a calm aura that made anyone who looked at him feel like they were bosom friends, while the sixth had a dreamy aura. They were Jieyin and Zhunti, the leaders of the Liberation Sect.

Unlike the first six, who were the Dao Ancestor's disciples, the seventh figure bore no direct relationship to Hongjun. He originally had a chance to become one of the Dao Ancestor's six disciples, but he gave it up to Zhunti. He was Redcloud Ancestor and the founder of the Interception Sect.

All seven Saints of Heaven arrived outside Violet Heaven Palace, where two Golden Immortals of the Great Firmament, who looked like two children, appeared and greeted them.

"Greetings, Senior Brothers and Sisters," Haotian said as he gave them a half bow.

Yuanshi snorted. Haotian and Yaochi were mere attendants. Where did they get the courage to address Saints of Heaven as senior brothers and sisters?

Before he could make his displeasure known, he felt a kick on his leg. He turned back to see Tongtian glaring at him. Unwillingly, he followed Laozi into Violet Heaven Palace.

Tongtian spared Haotian and Yaochi a smile before following behind. Of the seven Saints, only Tongtian acknowledged them. Jieyin, Zhunti, and Redcloud Ancestor treated the two as air, not even deigning to glance at them.

Haotian clenched his fists as his eyes were filled with unwillingness. He could still remember how most of them treated him and Yaochi with respect, but everything changed now that they had become Saints. Had it not been for his act of kindness, Jieyin and Zhunti would have been locked out of Violet Heaven Palace and not gained the chance to become the Dao Ancestor's disciples!

Yaochi silently grabbed Haotian's hands and shook her head. Haotian sighed and smiled at her. The two closed the doors to Violet Heaven Palace and entered, sitting under the raised platform to wait for the Dao Ancestor to appear on his cloud throne.

The Three Purities sat in the previous spots they had. Nuwa sat to Tongtian's right, and Jieyin and Zhunti sat to her right. Only Redcloud Ancestor was left in an awkward spot.

Logically, he was also a Saint of Heaven and should sit in the same row as the six Saints of Heaven before him, but he was not the Dao Ancestor's disciple, and there were only six prayer mats in the front row. Helplessly, Redcloud Ancestor could only sit in the second row behind Tongtian. Yuanshi looked back and glared at Redcloud Ancestor.

Before he could say anything, he stopped and turned around. Without anyone noticing, Hongjun had appeared atop the cloud throne.

"""Disciple greets Master!""" Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti said at once. In contrast, Redcloud Ancestor simply said, "Redcloud has seen the Dao Ancestor."

Hongjun opened his eyes and scanned the Saints of Heaven below him. His gaze paused on Tongtian's position for a brief second. His eyes reflected indifference, his face as cold as a glacier.

Tongtian felt her pupils shrink into needle points. Despite becoming a Saint of Heaven, she couldn't sense Hongjun's arrival at all.

Hongjun's indifferent words echoed within the halls. "Since its birth, the Great Desolation has experienced three tribulations. The first was the Fiend Tribulation, the second was the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, and the third tribulation, the Titan-Demon Tribulation, has just finished. Now, all the karma from the three thousand chaos fiendgods has disappeared, all except one."

Tongtian frowned and calculated with her fingers. Her eyes narrowed as she realized what had happened. Even after the Fiend Tribulation and the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, many major powers reincarnated from the chaos fiendgods still remained. A portion joined Violet Manor and died when the Heavenly Court destroyed them. The rest were forcibly recruited or killed by the Titan Tribe.

She couldn't help but recall the second sermon at Violet Heaven Palace. Di Jun had just asked Hongjun for his blessing to establish Heavenly Court, but then he immediately established Dong Wanggong and Xi Wangmu as the head of the male and female immortals, respectively. He used Di Jun as a knife to kill the remnant of the chaos fiendgods that joined Violet Manor, like Shangxia Ancestor.

Did Hongjun plan the Titan-Demon Tribulation to eliminate the final remnants of the chaos fiendgods? Or was it actually the Way of Heaven's schemes?

Redcloud Ancestor had an entirely different thought. He used to like making friends, and that included the congenital gods formed from the remnants of chaos fiendgods. Many of his former friends besieged him and died under his hands. Was this also part of Hongjun's schemes? Redcloud Ancestor's expression darkened after realizing this.

"Now, the Great Desolation has entered a new era, an era of unparalleled growth and prosperity. However, if left uncontrolled, they will only lead to self-destruction," Hongjun continued, uncaring of Tongtian or the other Saints’ thoughts. "The world cannot go without a ruler for a day. To propagate the Great Desolation's growth, a new ruler must sit upon the empty throne."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Laozi cupped his hands. "Asking Master, who is the next Heavenly Emperor?"

"I have merged with the Way of Heaven and should no longer interfere with the matters of the Great Desolation. As Saints of Heaven, you bear the right to select the next ruler of the world."

At this, most of the Saints' eyes lit up. Saints of Heaven cannot become the Heavenly Emperor, but their disciples can. As long as their disciple sat on the heavenly throne, they would receive a large portion of the Great Desolation Karmic Luck and endless merit.

Laozi closed his eyes. The Human Way only had one disciple, and naturally, he couldn't bear for Xuandu to become the heavenly emperor, no matter the benefits.

"Although the former heavenly emperor has fallen, he still has a son. It is only proper that Luya, as Di Jun's inheritor, should become the next heavenly emperor," Nuwa immediately said.

"Senior Sister Nuwa, although Luya is the orthodox inheritor of Di Jun, have you forgotten that Di Jun was one of the culprits behind the destruction of Buzhou Mountain?" Zhunti asked. "Ignoring that Luya bears Karmic Sin as part of the Demon Clan, but he also has more Karmic Sin when he ran rampant and brought calamity upon the land. For Luya to become the heavenly emperor is a disaster for all life in the world."

"You!" Nuwa's pretty face twisted as her lively eyes turned murderous. Still, she was only one Saint against Jieyin and Zhunti. So, she turned toward Tongtian for reinforcement.

"Even if I pushed Luya to the position of heavenly emperor, it would not be a blessing for him, but a disaster. The heavenly throne will not stand for its bearer to possess Karmic Sin." Unfortunately, Tongtian also rejected Nuwa's proposal, but at least she said it more gently.

"Yes, instead of helping Luya, you are harming him, Daoist Nuwa," Redcloud Ancestor said. "My disciple Duobao has great luck, a firm daoheart, and deep foundations. Should he become the heavenly emperor, he will bring prosperity to the world."

"That's not proper, Daoist Redcloud," Jieyin said. "Di Jun was blessed by Master to become the heavenly emperor. Naturally, the next heavenly emperor should be of Master's lineage."

"You," Redcloud Ancestor said, frowning. This directly cut off the chances of his disciples becoming candidates. He turned toward Nuwa, but she only closed her eyes.

Nuwa didn't have any disciples, and the immortals under her were all members of the Demon Clan. None of the other Saints would allow a demon to sit on the throne, so it didn't matter to her who became the next heavenly emperor anymore.

Seeing support from no one, Redcloud Ancestor grunted and turned silent. Seeing his chance, Zhunti spoke. "I have a disciple named Maitreya. He was blessed with great talent and bears a compassionate heart. There is no one more suitable to become the next heavenly emperor."

Immediately after Zhunti spoke, Yuanshi coldly refuted him. "The heavenly emperor rules the prosperous East. What does it have to do with your barren West? Don't think I don't know what you are thinking of, stealing the Karmic Luck and resources of the East to enrich the West."

Zhunti didn't become angry and simply smiled after clapping his hands together. "The Way of Heaven is fair. It takes away the excess and replenishes the deficits to balance everything. The rise of the West is unchangeable. Why fight the inevitable?"

Laozi also interfered at this time. Although his disciple couldn't become the heavenly emperor, he wouldn't let the two Saints from the West succeed either. "The rise of the West is still far away. The East doesn't need the West's interference."

"You!" Zhunti finally started to become angry. He could accept that they didn't want a member of the West to become the heavenly emperor, but what's with treating them like paupers?

"Eldest Brother is right," Yuanshi said. "Among my disciples, all twelve have deep foundations, blessed by talent and limitless potential. Among the twelve, my eldest disciple, Guang Chengzi, is the most outstanding. He is worthy of becoming the next heavenly emperor."

"Senior Brother, although your disciple has limitless potential, it's just that. He is still just a Profound Immortal," Jieyin said. "The heavenly emperor should possess the strength for all creatures of the Great Desolation to submit to him aside from the Saints of Heaven. Thus, they should be a Quasi-Saint at the very least."

At Jieyin's words, Yuanshi's expression turned ugly. Ignoring his disciples, none of the Saints' disciples reached the level of a Quasi-Saint. The closest one was Tongtian's disciple, Wutian, the founder of the Martial Path and the fourth ancestor of humanity. It seemed that Jieyin didn't want any of their disciples to sit on the empty throne since the West's disciples could not.

Yuanshi turned toward Tongtian, who had stayed silent after rejecting Nuwa. "What does Third Sister think?"

Tongtian glanced at Yuanshi and then scanned the rest of the Saints. "What about me?"

All the Saints' faces changed, but Tongtian continued speaking as if she hadn't seen them. "In terms of background, I am one of the Three Pure Qis transformed from Pangu's spirit. No one possesses a more noble background than I. In terms of merit, it was my Allheaven Jianmu Tree that supported heaven and earth from collapsing into each other. And in terms of strength, I can confidently say that no one can definitively defeat me."

Laozi and Yuanshi turned silent. Although they didn't want the position, that didn't mean Tongtian didn't. If Tongtian became the next heavenly emperor, then it would only bring them benefits.

In contrast, Jieyin immediately said, "Senior Sister must be joking. Have you forgotten Master's words? A Saint of Heaven cannot become the ruler of the Great Desolation."

The Saints didn't care if a junior became the next heavenly emperor. Even if he did, would they have the guts to control a Saint of Heaven? However, if Tongtian became the heavenly emperor, that would be a different story.

Tongtian smiled. "Junior Brother must have forgotten. I'm not a Saint of Heaven, my Corpse is. Since I'm not a Saint of Heaven, I possess the right to become the ruler of the Great Desolation."

Zhunti stepped forward and spoke. "Isn't your Corpse still you? Senior Sister is using sophistry. You may trick the others, but can you trick the Way of Heaven?"

"Daoist Tongtian possesses all the qualifications except for one," Redcloud Ancestor said. "Di Jun was born on the Supreme Yang Star and represented yang. Dong Wanggong also had a chance, but he failed to grasp it. The heavenly emperor must represent yang, or order will collapse, and that is not in line with the heavenly emperor's duties."

Redcloud Ancestor wanted to speak further but froze upon seeing Tongtian's lethal gaze. He felt as if she had pierced his head with her Qingping Sword. He sighed when Tongtian diverted her gaze and glanced at Yuanshi.

Yuanshi glanced back at Tongtian as if asking, "What are you looking at me for?"

Tongtian shrugged. "Whether or not I become the next heavenly emperor, we all cannot agree. Since that is the case, why not allow Master to decide?"

"Senior Sister Tongtian's words make sense," Nuwa spoke. She cupped her fist to Hongjun and said. "Please decide on the next heavenly emperor, Master."

Hongjun opened his eyes again. "Since you all cannot decide, then I will choose."

His eyes roamed the room before settling on Haotian and Yaochi. Just as Hongjun was about to speak, the tiniest traces of emotions disappeared from his face. Simultaneously, all the Saints in Violet Heaven Palace felt heaven's coercion.

The Way of Heaven had descended upon Hongjun!