Nuwa weighed the pros and cons, while Taishang was also turning over his own little schemes.
Haotian had become far too domineering.
He had reached the point where no one could keep him in check.
Though Haotian's actions did not affect Taishang much.
Still, as a Sage, being unable to control Haotian was a very serious matter in itself.
Now even these Sages faced severe restrictions on interfering in the Primordial World.
So much for acting on Heaven's behalf.
That was why Taishang needed a backup.
Someone who could put a little pressure on Haotian.
If he could help Fuxi rise to prominence now,
then if Haotian threw in the towel in the future, Taishang could take the opportunity to put Fuxi forward.
By then, Fuxi of the Human Race could take over the position of Heavenly Emperor.
That would be an acceptable outcome for all sides.
Replacing the Heavenly Emperor with the Human Emperor would surely make the Human Race's Fortune surge.
That would greatly benefit Taishang.
And compared to Haotian, Fuxi would undoubtedly be much easier to control.
After all, Haotian could call on the Dao Ancestor.
In that situation, forget attacking Haotian or beating him half to death.
Even just sending him back to the Heavenly Court would earn Taishang a reprimand from the Old Man.
But Fuxi was different. At most, he could call on Nuwa.
Would Taishang hold back because of Nuwa?
Impossible!
Only when facing Fuxi could Taishang display a Sage's majesty.
Only then could Taishang regain a greater voice in the Primordial World.
There were some things Taishang could afford not to care about.
But not caring didn't mean he shouldn't stake his claim.
Having a voice was important at any time.
That was why Taishang went along with Nuwa's plans and used the opportunity to lay out his own as well.
As for how quickly the Human Race developed?
Taishang didn't really care.
There were pros and cons to both speed and slowness.
Even concentrating the Human Race's Fortune in the Three Sovereigns had its pros and cons.
The downside was obvious: the Three Sovereigns would become the Human Race's most glaring weakness.
If disaster befell the Three Sovereigns, the Human Race's Fortune would inevitably suffer with them.
But the benefits were obvious, too.
From then on, the Human Race's Fortune would be easy to track.
As long as the Three Sovereigns were kept safe, the Human Race's Fortune would remain stable, no matter how chaotic the Human Race became.
That would save Taishang a great deal of trouble.
He wouldn't need to keep checking whether the Human Race had fallen victim to some scheme.
As for whether the Human Race's Fortune claimed by the Three Sovereigns would affect Taishang?
There was no need to worry about that at all.
The Human Race's Fortune Taishang held had come through the Great Sect.
As long as the Human Teachings remained and the Human Race's overall Fortune wasn't damaged, Taishang's Fortune wouldn't be siphoned away.
The conditions Taishang proposed now seemed to place restrictions on the Three Sovereigns.
In reality, they were all meant to protect his own interests.
Though Nuwa didn't know all the details of Taishang's aims,
she at least knew he was trying to prevent his interests from being harmed.
After considering Taishang's position, Nuwa understood.
If she wanted to achieve her goal, she had no choice but to accept Taishang's conditions.
Taishang wouldn't take the risk himself just to make things easier for her.
After thinking it over, Nuwa finally nodded. "I agree to that condition as well!"
Seeing that Nuwa was determined to bring about the rise of the Three Sovereigns of the Human Race, Taishang naturally stopped trying to dissuade her.
He simply nodded. "Good!
"Then it's settled.
"You may return, Junior Sister, and wait for the right moment."
Nuwa rose at his words. "In that case, I'll take my leave, Senior Brother!"
With that, Nuwa returned directly to the Wa Imperial Palace.
Taishang glanced at the place where Nuwa had disappeared, then slowly closed his eyes.
He seemed to have nothing to do with what he and Nuwa had just discussed.
Yet in Taishang's view, the matter really had little to do with him.
The Three Sovereigns had been Nuwa's idea.
Naturally, it was up to her to bring it to fruition.
He didn't need to worry about protecting their progress.
Before the Three Sovereigns' rise was complete, if anything went wrong, Nuwa would be the only one to suffer.
At most, Taishang would step in afterward to clean up the mess.
Then he could finish whatever had been left undone.
These were all minor details, nothing worth worrying about.
And Nuwa was a Sage, after all. There was no way she couldn't handle even this much.
A Sage at a loss for what to do?
That depended on who she was facing.
But the Sages weren't the only ones with worries on their minds.
Candle Dragon, who had already joined the Heavenly Court, was also deeply troubled.
The Heavenly Court.
Inside Candle Dragon's palace.
The Four Dragon Kings watched Candle Dragon with heavy hearts.
Candle Dragon, too, was thinking things over with a grave expression.
What was the problem?
Simple!
The Dragon Race's "grand gift" hadn't been delivered in time.
Earlier, that scoundrel Kunpeng had arrived with the Demon Race before them.
And the investiture ceremony had been held at the South Heaven Gate.
As a result, Candle Dragon hadn't had a chance to meet Haotian beforehand.
Naturally, there had been no chance to deliver the Dragon Race's grand gift.
And after the investiture ceremony was over, Haotian had gone straight into seclusion.
The Dragon Race still hadn't had a chance to present its gift.
If the gift had only consisted of some spirit treasures and rare materials, Candle Dragon could have handed them to Yaochi.
After all, Yaochi was Haotian's consort in name.
Giving them to Yaochi would have been the same as giving them to Haotian.
But the key problem was that the Dragon Race's grand gift also included several hundred Clam Maidens.
If they sent all of them to Yaochi, what would she think?
Wouldn't it look like they were deliberately provoking her?
Whether her relationship with Haotian was only nominal
or had already become real,
that was simply not how things were done.
If they caused a misunderstanding and Yaochi thought the Dragon Race was provoking her,
the Dragon Race would still be made to suffer for it later.
Then the grand gift would have been pointless.
The Dragon Race was paying tribute to ensure its safety.
It wasn't looking to get itself in trouble.
After a long silence, Ao Guang couldn't help asking, "Old Ancestor!
"What should we do now?
"When Kunpeng led the Demon Race to receive their titles just now, they looked mighty and impressive.
"By comparison, our Dragon Race was truly outmatched.
"We were all invested together, so the difference was plain to see.
"And now there's no time to deliver our grand gift.
"If the Heavenly Emperor misunderstands and thinks our Dragon Race is unwilling to do its part,
"we'll be in trouble."
As soon as Ao Guang finished speaking, Candle Dragon shot him a glance.
Did Ao Guang think he didn't know about these problems?
Compared with Kunpeng's side, the Dragon Race's cultivators were far inferior.
In terms of both their cultivation and their numbers,
they barely amounted to a tenth of the Demon Race's.
And yet, under these circumstances, Haotian had still given Candle Dragon a high-ranking position.
What did that mean?
Only a fool would believe that scoundrel Haotian had good intentions and was trying to save Candle Dragon's face.
The reason Haotian had given him such a position was simply that he planned to dump difficult matters on him in the future.
But if even Haotian found those matters difficult, could Candle Dragon really handle them?
Haotian wasn't promoting Candle Dragon. He was setting him up to take the fall in advance.
When the dirty work came along, Candle Dragon would be the one expected to do it.
Would he do it or not?
Just thinking about the possibility of facing a Sage made Candle Dragon's scalp tingle.
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