The Eighty-first Purple Mist Palace where Ding Feng is enfeoffed as a god

  After returning to the North Sea, Wudao was somewhat puzzled as to why his teacher had placed the 'Dinghai Shen Zhen' in the East Sea. He asked: "Teacher, after the 'Dinghai Shen Zhen' obtained the water-repelling merit and became a post-heavenly treasure that can suppress the aura of luck, placing it in the East Sea would allow the East Sea Dragon Clan to borrow this treasure to suppress their own aura of luck. However, the third son of the East Sea Dragon King has a karmic relationship with Jingwei Shimei, so it seems unfair to Jingwei Shimei."

  Jing Wei said: "Senior brother, teacher has his own reasons for doing this, I have no opinion."

  Kun Peng smiled and said, "Jing Wei can understand, which makes the master very pleased. The reason why the master borrowed Yu's hand to place the 'Dinghai Shen Zhen' in the East Sea is multifaceted. Firstly, this treasure was used by the Human Emperor to suppress the water pattern of the East Sea, and it naturally has no upper limit or virtue to be obtained. Secondly, on the surface, it seems that the East Sea Dragon Clan can use this treasure to suppress their own aura, but in fact, according to the personality of the Third Prince of the East Sea, he will definitely think that the Human Emperor wants to curry favor with the dragon clan, so he will become even more unscrupulous and reckless, without any scruples. When the great calamity comes, it is possible to retrieve the 'Dinghai Shen Zhen' and cut off the dragon clan's aura, so that he will not die, who will die."

  Wu Dao suddenly realized after hearing these words that the teacher had long been prepared, and in order to take something, one must first give it. This cannot be said to be the teacher's cleverness.

  After the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors returned to their positions, humanity truly received the favor of the Heavenly Way and quickly developed. The power of the Orthodox Church in humanity was also growing stronger, causing dissatisfaction among the Primordial Heaven Venerable. The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West on the heavenly court wanted to take action against humanity several times but were resisted by the Orthodox and Evil Sects. This made the Jade Emperor very angry, but with the saints of the Orthodox and Evil Sects protecting them from behind, he could not do anything about it.

  After some deliberation, the Jade Emperor Haotian and the Queen Mother of the West decided to go to the Zixiao Palace to seek out the Daozu Hongjun. The Zixiao Palace is located in the midst of the primordial chaos outside the sky, and without a sacred map, it would be impossible to find its location. Fortunately, the Jade Emperor Haotian and the Queen Mother of the West had once been the Daozu's disciples, and they had lived in the Zixiao Palace for countless eons, so they didn't have to expend too much energy before arriving at the outer reaches of the palace.

  Arriving at the gate of the Purple Mist Palace, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West adjusted their clothes and hats, then knelt down in front of the palace gate and knocked their heads on the ground, saying: "Disciples Haotian and Yaochi have come to see the Ancestor with a matter."

  After a long time, Ziyuan Hongjun said from the Purple Mansion: "Haotian, Yaochi, what brings you two here?"

  The Jade Emperor, Haotian, looked up and replied: "As a disciple, I was ordered by the Daozu to establish the Heavenly Court. However, there are too few people in the Heavenly Court who can wield power, making it difficult to demonstrate its majesty and control the numerous cultivators of the Honghuang era. Even the great witch Xingtian dared to directly ascend to the Heavenly Court. Therefore, I have come to inform you, Daozu, hoping that you will order the disciples of the four teachings - Ren, Yuan, Jie, and Fo - to obey me, so as to establish the majesty of the Heavenly Court."

  "Just listen," Hong Jun said calmly, "Hao Tian, I already know about this matter. You wait here for a moment, the shortage of people in the Heavenly Court will be handled by me." After that, he didn't say another word.

  The Jade Emperor Haotian and the Queen Mother of the West saw that the Taoist ancestor had nothing to say, so they could only stand quietly in the Zi Xiang Palace waiting for the return of the Taoist ancestor Hongjun.

  Hong Jun Dao Zu finished speaking and immediately sent out five jade talismans flying towards the places of San Qing, Nü Wa Niang Niang and Xi Fang Er Sheng.

  Before long, the Three Pure Ones, the Queen of Heaven, and the Two Saints of the West all received the Patriarch's message and stopped their lectures on the Tao. They rode clouds to the Purple Mist Palace to await the Patriarch's instructions.

  Taizu Hongjun waited for Sanqing, Nüwa Niangniang and the two saints of the Western Paradise to arrive. Suddenly, he frowned and said: "Haotian, go and inform Kunpeng to come and see me."

  The Jade Emperor didn't know why Zu wanted to see Kunpeng, so he had no choice but to drive the cloud to go to Beiming Sea to invite Kunpeng. After a long time, Kunpeng came with Haotian to Zixiao Palace, and Kunpeng also didn't know what Zu wanted to see him for, his heart was also uneasy.

  After Daozu Hongjun saw Kunpeng arrive, he said: "This time I invited you all to come only for three things. Firstly, Haotian just came here to see me and said that the Heavenly Court has no one in charge, it's not good to manage the three realms of sentient beings, let me order the four teachings of Ren, Yan, Jie, and Fo to listen to him; Secondly, the disciples of the Yan teaching committed the sin of killing in the dispute over the human emperor. Thirdly, the infinite era is approaching, the Heavenly Court has no one to establish the Divine List, to divide the gods, for Haotian to drive and use.

  The Three Pure Ones and the Two Saints of the Western Heaven were both stunned, regretting that the Heavenly Emperor was being too troublesome. Kunpeng, on the other hand, had some doubts in his heart, wondering why the Dao Ancestor wanted to see him when the matter of sealing the gods seemed unrelated to him.

  Hongjun continued, "All living beings in the world have their own tribulations. Just like ordinary people who cannot transcend life and death, they will go through reincarnation and transformation to resolve their karma. If one has achieved success in cultivating the Tao, they can attain immortality and not enter the cycle of rebirth. However, the karma of one's body cannot be eliminated. The karma of all living beings between heaven and earth must be resolved; otherwise, it will accumulate and eventually form a calamity. During this calamity, the Heavenly Way is damaged, so all immortals need to fight for that thread of life. The classification of gods is divided into three levels: those with deep roots and good deeds become immortal, those with slightly inferior roots and deeds become gods, and those with shallow roots and deeds become human and still follow the cycle of rebirth. Buddhism has always been in the Western world without karma, so it has nothing to do with this calamity. The three teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Mohism will discuss among themselves and then fill in the names of their disciples."

  "Master," asked Kunpeng somewhat puzzled, "the disciple does not establish a great teaching, and this matter seems to have nothing to do with the disciple?"

  Daozu Hongjun looked at Kunpeng deeply and said, "When the human race is prosperous, there must be a treasure to suppress the aura of fortune. The Human Teachings have not obtained this treasure, so they cannot fully represent the human race. You are the Holy Master of the human race, and Nüwa is the Holy Mother of the human race. Therefore, those who will be listed on the human race's ranking list must be recognized by all three of you."

  Upon hearing Daozu Hongjun's words, Kunpeng couldn't help but let out a sigh.

  The Supreme Venerable Sovereign then opened his mouth and asked: "Teacher, I don't know how many people are needed to ascend to the Seal of the Gods Chart?"

  Hong Jun replied: "The gods that have been sealed are the eight departments of orthodox gods, each in charge of their respective duties, and they govern the stars and constellations of the sky, a total of 365 positions."

  The Supreme Elderly Lord asked again: "How many disciples of each of the three teachings of Ren, Xuan and Jie have been listed on the roster? And how should they be registered?"

  Hongjun said: "The top disciples of each school are decided by you and a few others. You three will be in charge of the three schools, and I, Nüwa, and Kunpeng will fill in the names of the disciples of the Ren School, Yuan Shi will fill in the names of the Tian School, and Tongtian will fill in the names of the Jie School. After discussion and decision, use your magical powers to write the names of the disciples on the Sealing Gods List, and all those below the rank of Zhēn Shèng will be in the midst of calamity." Having finished speaking, the Daozu Hongjun disappeared from sight.

  All the saints and Kunpeng saw that the teacher had already left, so they wanted to discuss who would be on the list, but none of them knew how to start.

  Finally, it was Guan Yin who spoke up among the two Western saints: "Teacher, since you said that this calamity has nothing to do with us in the West, then we will leave first." As she spoke, she and Wei Tuo left the Zi Xiang Palace.

  In a moment, Yuanshi Tianzun spoke up and said: "My disciples are all virtuous scholars who shouldn't be on the list. The Great Master's senior brother, Xuandu Dafashi, is also a man of virtue and shouldn't be on the list."

  Yuanshi Tianzun paused for a moment and then continued to say to Tongtian Jiao Zhu: "The disciples under your sect only practice magical powers, but do not cultivate virtues, so they should be listed on the heavenly board."

  Tongtian Sect Master sneered, "Most of my disciples have accumulated merit by spreading the teachings among humans, but your disciples only know how to kill and slaughter when they spread the teachings in the mortal world. They've committed the sin of killing and even implicated the Human Emperor Xuan Yuan, who didn't obtain great merit. Their cultivation isn't even comparable to a few of the Five Emperors. In that case, Guang Chengzi and others should be on the list."

  Yuanshi Tianzun was left speechless and embarrassed by Tongtian Jiao's words, not knowing how to respond. It was all because of the incompetence of his own disciples that such an embarrassing situation had arisen today.

  However, Yuanshi Tianzun still spoke up and said: "In any case, Guangchengzi is the teacher of the Human Emperor, and has protected the human race from being listed on the heavenly board."

  The Supreme Venerable Sovereign saw that the atmosphere was somewhat discordant, and opened his mouth to say: "Two fellow disciples, let's not argue for now. Let's ask Nüwa and the Demon Sovereign Kūnpēng about their views on humanity first."

  Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiao Zhu heard the words of Taishang Laojun, and their spirits were shaken. The sealing of the gods requires 365 people. If there are many people on the list of humanity, then they can have a few fewer people on the list.

  Nüwa heard this and looked at Taishang Laojun, saying: "I don't establish a great teaching myself, nor do I want to get involved in the disputes of human beings. So let's just leave everything up to my senior brother."

  The Supreme Elder Lord heard the words of Nüwa and felt extremely delighted in his heart, then he asked Kunpeng again: "I wonder what the Evil Master thinks about human affairs?"

  Kun Peng smiled and said, "Elder Brother is the master of the Human Tribe, so naturally he should be in charge of the affairs of the Human Tribe. Many of the leaders among the Human Tribe are ordinary people, being able to get on the list is already a good thing."

  Upon hearing Kunpeng's words, the Three Pure Ones were overjoyed. Although the Human Tribe was nominally said to be teaching disciples as humans, in reality they had no relation with the Supreme Old Lord. The more people from the Human Tribe who made it onto the list, the better it would be for them all.

  Since the matter of the human race has been discussed, what remains is only the number of people on the list for the two sects. The Primordial Heavenly Lord wants to let the disciples of the Intercepting Sect be listed to avoid losses in his own household, while the Master of the Tongtian Sect is arrogant and thinks that since the Immortals of the Xuan Sect have committed a killing sin, why should he let the disciples of the Intercepting Sect be listed? He naturally would not agree, so the two began to quarrel again.

  Laozi said, "The sealing of the gods is a major event for the three religions, and it cannot be decided hastily. Since both of you have different opinions, we should discuss it thoroughly before making a decision. What do you think?"

  Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu heard the words and said, "It should be so." After finishing speaking, Sanqing, Niangniang, and Yaoshi Kunpeng each drove their clouds away.