Taoist Master Xuanhuang

Sun Hui and Yan Lai agreed.

This was the third meeting involving only the four of them, and also the last meeting of the four major powers in a century.

No one else came; it was just the four of them.

They arrived at the hotel from a long, long time ago, when the four of them had just taken over as the leaders of the Four Super Sects. It was one of the businesses of the Merit Hall.

It's the same hotel, even the same room, a reunion spanning a century.

The four of them sat down with smiles, just like old friends, without any sorrow or resentment, in the most comfortable state.

They even changed their attire to that of disciples, instead of the clothing and appearance of the four super sect leaders.

You can tell from their attire what the four of them are thinking and what they aspire to.

"Hehe, I am not alone on my path!" Yan Lai began his opening remarks.

It's become a habit; whenever they get together for important events, Yan is always the one in charge.

Of course, Yan Lai usually treats everyone to meals and pays the bill in these situations. It can be said that among the four of them over the past century, Yan Lai has been the one who has treated everyone to meals and paid the bill the most.

"Brother Dao's level has declined quite a bit. Your opening line is such a cliché, 'My Dao is not lonely.' Is this looking down on us, or is it just self-praise?" Jiu Tong laughed.

"No, no, I do not mean to belittle you all, nor do I boast. It is merely a sigh of spiritual enlightenment. It seems that the three of you are also waiting for the day of liberation... I think that at that time, the gathering of the four sect leaders will no longer exist, but the reunion of the four fellow disciples will last forever."

Yan Lai said in a double entendre.

This gathering was the last time the four masters met, but it also marked the beginning of a long reunion for the four fellow disciples.

This also indirectly indicates that the four of them have truly let go and come to terms with it; the title of sect leader can no longer bring them any pleasure.

They saw getting rid of this identity as a form of liberation.

Their clothing and appearance alone reveal their expectations and hopes.

"That's true, but we still need to give it our all in this final crucial period, so that we won't have any regrets later," Sun Hui interjected.

He was referring to the current explosion of the four superpowers, a moment when humans, ghosts, gods, and demons are all retreating.

Although I'm thinking of relinquishing this identity, now is not the time. I still need to fight one last time for my own power.

The four of them currently plan to help each other get on their feet and give each other a boost.

Whether it's a split, a separation, or a strategic move, it's all for the sake of future rise or long-term prosperity.

“Fellow Daoist Sun is as honest as ever. This is why this humble monk and Brother Jiutong have summoned you two here,” Minghui said.

He didn't even want to pretend to be a monk anymore, and he said "Amitabha" less often.

Before, he would always say "Amitabha" when he opened his mouth, but he doesn't do that anymore.

"What do you want to ask, Brother Jiutong and Brother Minghui, or what do you want us to answer?" Sun Hui asked.

"May I ask?" Jiutong.

"Of course!" Yan Lai smiled without any change in expression.

"Can I answer?" Minghui asked.

“Of course!” Sun Hui replied just as steadily.

"Haha..." Jiutong and Minghui burst into laughter: "It seems we were both foolish. We should have asked earlier. If we had asked, the two fellow Daoists would have told us long ago. Alas, how foolish we were!"

“Haha…” Sun Hui laughed loudly as well: “You wouldn’t have asked before, but it’s not too late to ask now.”

It's still a double entendre.

Because of their previous pride, even if they knew they could get some secrets out, Jiu Tong and Yan Lai wouldn't have humbled themselves to ask.

This is the pride of the two individuals, and the pride of the two major forces, Taoism and Buddhism, to which they belong.

Now, what's the harm in telling them? Everything is already prepared, and there's no problem in telling them all the secrets.

"Then, Brother Yan, how about you tell me first?" Jiutong asked.

“Of course!” Yan Lai accepted all offers: “Where should we begin?... Well, let’s start with the split among the cultivators of the Divine Refinement Realm... So it’s a coincidence that the plan of Venerable Confucius just happened to overlap with ours. We were merely taking advantage of Venerable Confucius’s scheme.”

"However, the split is real, there's no faking that. It can only be said that some fallback mechanisms were added to prevent the inevitable split from going too badly, that's all!"

After Yan finished speaking, not only Jiutong and Minghui, but even Sun Hui was somewhat shocked.

Although he knew the layout of the Confucian school, he only had a rough guess and did not know such a detailed layout.

Overall, Master Kong's strategy was not as good as Master Jiang's, but they were roughly the same, and he still had some skill in judging people.

Talent is the key; no matter how good the plan is, it's useless if it can't be implemented.

Conversely, while Master Kong's plan may not be as good as Master Jiang's, if it is executed flawlessly or even exceptionally well, it will be better than Master Jiang's.

The other two, Jiutong and Minghui, exchanged a wry smile.

Just as they suspected, there was indeed a shocking secret. Based on their understanding of Confucianism, they had already exaggerated the level of danger, but it seems they had underestimated it.

During this period, some high-ranking officials inside the organization claimed that they and their colleagues were experiencing stress reactions. Look, is this really a stress reaction?
This is a gap that even stress response can hardly bridge.

It's not hard to imagine that once this plan succeeds, the merging of the True Confucian School and the Sacred Confucian School will only be the most superficial manifestation.

And this most superficial manifestation is the perfect stage of the two families' hard-won merger.

Not to mention that they weren't simply trying to merge with the mainstream; merging was just a side effect.

The real effect was that Confucianism flourished for a long time.

Once Master Kong's plan succeeds, it will be equivalent to the Confucian school having a top-tier realm as its foundation and base, making it difficult to destroy and completely eliminating the crisis of annihilation.

At the very least, they can hide in the Confucian Temple area. As long as they are still alive, they can make a comeback. This is the strongest guarantee.

Of course, Yan Lai wouldn't reveal the cause and effect, tribulation, simulation, and the quota of one hundred true kings in the Confucian Temple; these things couldn't be said.

"Impressive, truly impressive. Once this plan succeeds, it's hard to imagine anyone else able to shake the Confucian school. It seems the Confucian school will once again reign supreme for countless ages." What else could the head monk Minghui say but this was the only way he could sow discord.

"Hey, hey, big monk, don't sow discord. What do you mean by dominating the endless era? All we've done is protect ourselves, nothing more. We've never thought about dominating the endless era, have we? Heh... We're already satisfied with not being abandoned by the era, how could we dare to dream of the endless era... Don't you agree, Fellow Daoist Sun?"

Yan Lai thought to himself that the bald monk was despicable and was trying to sow discord between Sun Hui and others.

Anyway, he's become lazy and doesn't care about anything else. He admits he can't compare to the Confucian school, so he's looking for a rival for the Confucian school.

Their opponent happens to be the Martial Arts Alliance.

The Confucian school can do this through the Confucian Temple, and so can the Martial Arts Alliance.

You two go fight it out.

"I've seen it clearly now. Ever since the monk stopped chanting Amitabha, he's become much more cunning and treacherous. I was just watching the show and I got caught up in the Yin-Yang? Great monk, you shouldn't be cultivating karma, you should be cultivating Yin-Yang. You are definitely the best at it."

Sun Hui jokingly teased.

How could he not hear the pit the monk had dug in his despair?

After hearing the Confucian school's plan, they felt that the Buddhist school couldn't catch up in a short time and had truly become Buddhist indifferent. So they dug a pit for the Martial Arts Alliance and the Confucian school to fight. "Amitabha!" Minghui picked up the jack-of-all-trades after being mocked by the two.

"Since Brother Yan Lai has spoken, I can't continue to hide it. Very well. Let me also explain our plan. Our ideas differ from those of Lord Kong... As for the Martial Alliance, as you all know, whether it's the Champion Marquis, Vice Minister Han Wu of the Evil Suppression Department, or our General Peng Yue, or Lord Wu'an, etc., we are more skilled in reincarnation. Therefore, Lord Jiang Shang's plan is..."

"By combining the reincarnation of the gods and using the field of mountains and rivers, a second avatar is born, which then counteracts the birth of all the sacred things from the origin of the realm, and finally gets rid of the constraints of the sacred."

Sun Hui selectively told about 80% of the truth.

His description was even more astonishing, more frightening than Yan Lai's description. After all, it seemed far more vast, and his vision was unparalleled. It was as if Yan Lai had created a second world.

"Who will support the foundation?" Yan Laidu was nervous.

If this plan succeeds, it will be impossible for Confucianism to dominate for an endless period of time. Although they politely refuse to admit that Confucianism will continue to dominate, that is what they really believe.

“Naturally, it is the Heavenly Dao of the three supreme gods.” Sun Hui was not afraid.

They knew that once the plan was announced, it would inevitably be opposed and blocked, but by this point, the die was cast.

The three supreme gods have all agreed, so what can you do if you object?

"Amazing!" Yan Lai exclaimed.

"I admire you!" Jiutong frowned; danger was imminent.

"Amitabha!" I picked it up, I really picked it up. People can laugh when they're speechless, but I can't laugh right now, I can only use Tiger Balm.

“What you’re doing is very dangerous, fellow Daoist!” Yan Lai said.

"Don't worry, we have already given the position of law enforcement god to the supreme god of all living beings, the position of punishment to the supreme god of heaven and earth, and the position of the city god's spirit system to the supreme god of the underworld. With three supreme gods in charge, we should be fine."

Sun Hui remained unfazed and retorted, "Don't scare me. I have a backup plan. Your threats won't work."

“With three supreme gods involved, we can rest assured, but this plan is too big. In addition, the Divine Kingdom Heavenly Network already exists. Adding another Heavenly Dao system seems redundant. Does Sect Leader Wei know about this? And what will the spirit beasts think, the subordinate cultivators think, and the main gods think if such a Heavenly Dao system is established? There seems to be something to it!” Jiu Tong said.

That's a direct threat.

This won't do. If the Martial Arts Alliance takes control of the Heavenly Dao, how will we survive?

Don't think it's an overreaction.

The divine realm and heavenly network of the divine cultivators are a minor problem, after all, it is just a Sumeru world of the divine cultivators.

Little Heavenly Dao is different. He is called Little Heavenly Dao, but no matter how small he is, he is still Heavenly Dao.

What is the Way of Heaven? It seems no explanation is needed.

Once a force controls the Heavenly Way, it is equivalent to controlling Heaven itself. Even Heavenly punishment, disasters, fortune, merit, and everything else can be affected.

Once the Martial Arts Alliance controls all of these, what's the point of competition?

If Confucianism is directly portrayed as a disaster, with no opportunities, no good fortune, frequent calamities, and no favor from the heavens... how can one survive in such a world?

Although only the three supreme gods can do this, what if Jiang Shang can also influence it, and Sun Hui can also influence it?

This is no joke, absolutely not.

Jiutong's meaning was very clear: this won't do. If you really dare to do this, I will go after the spirit beasts, the gods, the cultivators, and even the Hall of Merit and the Department of Suppressing Evil. You are threatening all of us.

"Amitabha! Controlling energy that one cannot control will ultimately harm both oneself and others. Sect Leader Sun, please think it over!" Minghui was practically pointing her finger at him and cursing.

They said you're unworthy of your position because of what you're doing.

"Haha..." Sun Hui laughed speechlessly, and said in a gloomy tone, "Are you all threatening this sect leader?"

“I had no such intention; I was merely offering a reminder,” Yan Lai said.

"Is that how you're supposed to be reminded?" Sun Hui asked.

“Perhaps we were too impulsive, but Sect Leader Sun is not a fool. He should understand the consequences of doing so. It is true that we are reminding him, and it is also true that this is very serious. Sect Leader Sun might as well think it over.” Yan Lai said.

None of the four of them wanted to start arguing, but they just couldn't control themselves.

Who could have imagined that the Martial Arts Alliance's plan would be so outrageous?

“Brother Yan Lai is absolutely right. Why don’t you think about what the Demon Suppression Department will think, what the Merit Hall will think, what the various God Lords will think, and what the divine cultivators and spirit beasts will think?” Jiu Tong said.

"The cycle of cause and effect is inescapable. The greater the karma one bears, the more calamities one will inevitably experience. Sect Leader Sun, please don't be angry. Think carefully about whether what we said is correct." - Minghui.

Sun Hui fell silent.

Of course, this was what he wanted; he had long anticipated the reaction after he said these things.

Everything is under control.

He is a cultivator, not a god. Even gods make mistakes, and he is no exception.

After communicating with the divine beings like Jiang Shang, I was initially very excited about this plan, but the deeper I went, the more I felt the danger.

I didn't notice at first, but after I came to my senses, I realized it wasn't that simple.

At the time, I was only thinking about how to make the Martial Arts Alliance stronger and how to ensure its long-term prosperity. I never expected that I would get involved in so much power.

It's almost equivalent to rebuilding a pantheon of gods.

Such a scheme is not something a superpower can do; only the Dao Lord has the authority to do it.

Otherwise, whoever does it will die.

It's not just about overstepping authority, but also about lacking ability.

But there's no turning back once the arrow is released. With such a perfect plan already in place, how could they possibly give up? They could only grit their teeth and continue.

Then find a key point, expose it, and find the real solution in the crisis.

This crucial moment is right now.

To be honest, ever since he realized he couldn't keep it a secret any longer, Sun Hui had been hoping and waiting for an opportunity to expose it so he could find a solution.

All I can say is that we waited and waited, and finally it arrived.

Why did the Martial Arts Alliance stop taking action after occupying famous mountains, rivers, and domains? It's said that Jiang Shang's plan also included various other domains.

The reason why they didn't continue to push forward was that Sun Hui, Jiang Shang, and others had all discovered this problem.

We can't push it any further; if we do, it will explode.

Wait and wait...

While waiting, Sun Hui racked his brains and had a brief discussion with Jiang Shang.

That was in the fifteenth year.

Jiang Shang said something that Sun Hui still remembers vividly: "My mistake, my mistake. I instinctively thought of the Investiture of the Gods, but I forgot that the Investiture of the Gods in the story was the command of the Dao Ancestor and the beginning of the plan laid out by the three sages... And what about us? We discussed it among ourselves and then wanted a new Investiture of the Gods. Obviously, we have reversed cause and effect."

This was the key point, and Sun Hui remembered it vividly.

...(End of chapter)