The Seventy-Third Emperor of the Imperial Line

  The Human Emperor Xuan Yuan indeed did as the demon master Kun Peng said, and under the instigation of Guang Chengzi and other immortals, he launched a surprise attack on the Jiuli tribe. However, the Jiuli tribe had received prior notice from Jing Wei and Wu Dao, and they had already left their original residence, leaving Xuan Yuan's army with nothing to gain. Xuan Yuan could only order his people not to cut off all exchanges with the Jiuli tribe, which gradually led to the Jiuli tribe becoming estranged from the human race.

  After Huangdi unified the tribes, apart from persecuting the Jiuli tribe, he did fairly well in other aspects. His queen, Leizu, was very wise and created the technique of sericulture, reeling silk and weaving brocade. With her assistance, Huangdi gradually gained recognition from the people. However, towards the end of his life, Huangdi's constant wars had not allowed him to complete his merit and achieve the Great Way of Humanity. At this time, he was extremely anxious in his heart. Guangchengzi, as the teacher of the Human Emperor, was also extremely anxious; if the Human Emperor did not attain the Way, he would not be able to obtain the merits of the Human Emperor. Unfortunately, he did not know that due to his own mistakes, even if Huangdi achieved the Way of Humanity, he would not get much merit.

  After much contemplation, Guang Chengzi finally came up with a method for Xuan Yuan to quickly attain the Great Way of Humanity, which was the Dual Cultivation Method of Nourishing Yin and Supplementing Yang. Xuan Yuan had been worried that he did not know when he could attain the Great Way. After receiving Guang Chengzi's dual cultivation method, he gathered all the beautiful women in the world and eventually became an immortal by absorbing the primordial yin energy of a hundred women, attaining the Way of Humanity. Thus, later generations had the legend of Xuan Yuan becoming an immortal through his union with a hundred women.

  Xuanyuan's merits and virtues were complete, and he obtained the Great Tao of Humanity. Unfortunately, his own karma was too heavy, and he also harmed himself by absorbing the yin energy of hundreds of women, which damaged his merits and virtues. Although he had the protection of the Heavenly Way to obtain the Great Tao, he had damaged his merits and virtues too much. His prestige in the human world could not be compared with that of Tianhuang Fuxi and Dihuang Shennong. When he obtained the Tao, only Taishang Laojun, the Master of Human Teachings, and Yuanshi Tianzun, the Master of Heaven's Teachings, came to pay their respects among all the saints. The other saints felt that Xuanyuan had no great use for himself in transmitting the Tao, and they also saw that his way of handling affairs in the human world was not remarkable, so they did not go to pay their respects. Kunpeng, as the Holy Master of Humanity, should have gone, but he had advised Xuanyuan several times without success, and he was also angry in his heart, so he did not go. Fuxi and Shennong went to pay their respects as the Human Emperors. Looking at Xuanyuan, Shennong felt very guilty in his heart, thinking that it was because he had not chosen a good successor that humanity had suffered such great losses.

  As a result, the Xuan Yuan ceremony is also the simplest among the Three Emperors. The Taishang Laojun is the master of human teachings and is nominally in charge of the Human Emperor, so he has to come and pay his respects. The Yuanshi Tianzun is the teacher of Xuan Yuan and also has to come and pay his respects.

  Xuanyuan's merits and virtues were full, and the heavenly merits descended, which shocked Yuanshi Tianzun and Taishang Laojun. The merits he obtained were far inferior to those of Tianhuang Fuxi and Dihuang Shennong, and he only managed to raise his cultivation to the later stage of Daluo Jinxian. Guangchengzi, the teacher of Renhuang, only obtained a small amount of merit, which was still due to being the result of Renhuang; otherwise, these merits might have only allowed him to have the cultivation of Jinxian's later stage. This result made Yuanshi Tianzun and Taishang Laojun feel unthinkable.

  Yuanshi Tianzun asked Taishang Laojun, "Master, why is it that Huangdi's merits are so small compared to Fuxi and Shennong?"

  The Supreme Elder Lord pondered for a moment, then said: "Heaven's will is like a knife, Heaven's way is extremely fair. Although Xuanyuan was favored by the Heavenly Way, he did not make great contributions to humanity after ascending to the throne. His only merit was unifying humanity, but in doing so, he committed excessive slaughter and later harmed the harmony of yin and yang by taking in the essence of a hundred maidens. If his queen, Luozu, had not washed away much of his karma with her great merits, Xuanyuan's actions would have only been worthy of a Golden Immortal. Think again about the Heavenly Emperor Fuxi and the Earthly Emperor Shennong - which one of them did not make significant contributions to humanity? Xuanyuan's behavior is vastly different from theirs."

  Among the Three Sovereigns, Xuanyuan's private heart was the heaviest. When his merits were complete, he passed on the throne of Ren Huang to his grandson Zhuanxu, thus ending the era of the Three Sovereigns and entering the era of the Five Emperors in the Primordial Chaos.

  Xuanyuan had achieved great merit and completed the Great Way of Humanity, but the result of Xianjiao's assistance was a complete failure, making all the powerful gods in Honghuang laugh at him, and Xianjiao lost face completely.

  After Zhuanxu's accession, Yuanshi Tianzun again used punishment as an excuse to let Guangchengzi assist Zhuanxu. This move by Yuanshi Tianzun once again caused the Xuanmen teachings to be secretly turbulent. Not only was Rulai dissatisfied with Yuanshi Tianzun, but also Cihang Daoren, Puxian Zhenren, Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun and Juliusun were also dissatisfied with Yuanshi Tianzun's favoritism towards Guangchengzi. It was precisely because of this that in the later Investiture of the Gods, these four followed Rulai to betray the Xuanmen teachings and join Buddhism.

  Zhuanxu succeeded to the throne and, following Guang Chengzi's advice, carried out a religious reform. He ordered all tribes of the Yan people to banish the worship of witchcraft and forbade all witches from making sacrifices to ghosts and spirits. Zhuanxu wanted to completely eradicate witchcraft through this move, forcing the Yan people to follow his arrangements. It can be said that Zhuanxu's character was exactly the same as Xianyuan's - both were eager for quick success and didn't care about the feelings of the common people. Therefore, after Zhuanxu succeeded to the throne, the Yan people's lives, which had just stabilized, began to fluctuate again.

  The Jiuli tribe, who were forced to relocate during the reign of Xuan Yuan, upon learning of Zhuanxu's actions, began to take action again, recruiting tribes and personnel opposed to Zhuanxu everywhere. With the reappearance of the Jiuli tribe, many human tribes also began to disobey Zhuanxu's orders, completely disregarding him.

  Zhuanxu's throne was not as strong as that of Xuanyuan, who had the blessing of heaven and the recognition of all the sages. Zhuanxu's succession was only recognized by the two sages, Ren and Xian. Guangchengzi, after learning about the unrest among the human tribes, did not learn from his previous lesson and instead used force to suppress the rebellious tribes again, which led to the rapid growth of the Jiuli tribe.

  At this time, the Jiuli tribe was led by Da Wujiu Feng, and after expanding, the Jiuli tribe's military strength directly pointed to Zhuanxu. At that time, among the human tribes, only Guang Chengzi assisted Zhuanxu, while the human tribes had become somewhat scattered since their victory over Chiyou under Huangdi Xianyuan. The Jiuli tribe, on the other hand, had been secretly training and strengthening their military might after Chiyou was sealed away, and could be said to be strong and powerful. As soon as the two sides clashed, Zhuanxu's army suffered a crushing defeat.

  The Five Emperors are not comparable to the Three August Ones, so Yuanshi Tianzun didn't pay much attention to the struggle between Zhuanxu and Jiufeng. He did not order his disciples to go and assist Guangchengzi, but instead let them do as they pleased. The reason why Yuanshi Tianzun did this was that he wanted Guangchengzi to gain more experience, so as to avoid another embarrassing incident like the last one that disgraced the teachings of the sect.

  The five of them, including the Lamp, Ci Hang Dao Ren, Wen Shu Guang Fa Tian Zun, Pu Xian Zhen Ren, and Ju Liu Sun, were dissatisfied with Yuanshi Tianzun in their hearts, so they would not go to assist Guang Chengzi. Instead, under the pretext of closed-door cultivation, they secretly watched how Guang Chengzi would make a fool of himself. Among the twelve Golden Immortals, only Huang Long Zhenren, Taiyi Zhenren, and Chi went to assist Guang Chengzi because they were on good terms with him. The others did not want to get involved in the cause and effect.

  With just the four of them, it was difficult to do anything about the nine phoenix-led army, so Guang Chengzi came up with a very vicious plan. He let Zhuānxū pretend to unite with Jiǔ Fèng, merging their tribes under the guise of a grand wedding, in order to lower Jiǔ Fèng's guard and then kill him. Once Jiǔ Fèng was dead, the nine Li tribe would naturally fall into chaos, and Zhuānxū could take advantage of the situation to lead his army and annihilate the nine Li tribe.

  The Nine Phoenix Scripture Last time's war made it clear that the rise of the human race was a major trend in the heavens, and it could not be reversed. After listening to Zhuanxu's messenger, Jiufeng discussed with the many witches of the Jiuli tribe. Perhaps because they had been away from the human race for too long, people's hearts were thinking of returning home, so most people felt that merging the two was a good decision. Therefore, Jiufeng agreed to Zhuanxu's proposal.

  After getting the repayment from Jiufeng, Guang Chengzi and others were greatly delighted. They finally had the opportunity to destroy the Jiuli tribe in one fell swoop. This was a heart disease for Guang Chengzi, and Zhuanxu had also wanted to complete the task that Xianyuan had not completed after he took over. So Guang Chengzi, Chiyou, Huang Long Zhenren, and Taiyi Zhenren began to make arrangements, waiting quietly for Jiufeng to fall into their trap.

  After the Three Sovereigns returned to their positions, the other saints also lost interest in observing humanity. Only Kunpeng continued to observe human affairs. Jiufeng's reaction made Kunpeng feel ridiculous. Now they are sworn enemies. Xuanyuan killed Dahuang Xiyu and took the throne of Human Emperor, while Zhuanxu is Xuanyuan's grandson. How could he marry Jiufeng, a great witch? Moreover, there was also Guangchengzi, the teacher of the Human Emperor, by his side. All this was obviously a trap, but Jiufeng and the Jiuli tribe believed in Zhuanxu's proposal.

  Among the five disciples of Kunpeng, Hou Yi was the most concerned about the Jiuli tribe. After learning about this matter, he went to the Jiuli tribe to remind Jiu Feng not to be deceived by Guang Chengzi.

  Kun Peng stopped Hou Yi's action and said, "Hou Yi, this is an internal conflict of the human race. No matter what the outcome is, you cannot intervene. Although you have reincarnated as a human, your karma with the demon tribe has not been resolved. If you expose your identity, you will face the pursuit of Lu Yan, the crown prince of the demon tribe. As your master, I am also a member of the demon tribe and cannot stop Lu Yan from seeking revenge against you. With your current cultivation, encountering Lu Yan would be fatal, so I advise you to calm down and focus on your practice on this Penglai Island."

  Hou Yi said: "Master, now that the human race is flourishing, all the demons are avoiding the world and not coming out. I can only go to inform Jiufeng, shouldn't it be discovered by the demon tribe?"

  "Later, you are worried and confused. As your master, I have told you that this calamity involves the three tribes of humans, demons, and witches. On the surface, it seems like the demon tribe is closed off and not coming out, but in reality, their internal situation is also turbulent and chaotic. It won't be long before the demon tribe emerges into the world, and when that happens, the Honghuang will fall into great chaos. This will also be the best opportunity for you to emerge and accumulate merit. For now, it's still better for you to stay safely on Penglai Island. Currently, among the human tribe, only Guang Chengzi, Chi Jingzi, Huang Long Zhenren, and Taiyi Zhenren, four Golden Immortals, possess cultivation that is strong enough that even if they were to ambush Jiu Feng, she wouldn't be in danger of losing her life."

  After hearing Kun Peng's words, Hou Yi finally put aside the unease in his heart and gave up the idea of going to the Jiuli tribe. He settled down on Penglai Island to cultivate himself.