The Dao Ancestor and the Heavenly Dao both existed beneath the Great Dao, neither above the other. Put plainly, as the Heavenly Dao Incarnation, Hongjun held authority much like the incarnation of the Great Dao: overseeing the Heavenly Dao System. As the saying went, one mountain could not accommodate two tigers. That made things awkward—which of them was primary, and which was secondary?
Even Hongjun could not sort that out himself. In short, there could only be one of them! This was no time for mercy.
One person's rise inevitably meant another person's exit. Having controlled the Heavenly Dao for so many years, Hongjun could not simply let go of the power in his hands.
Then there was the Jade Emperor's sudden reversal earlier, which clearly reflected Qin Fen's intentions. Hongjun understood the moment he thought about it: the true source of that idea had been Qin Fen. That alone was nothing to be upset over. What hurt was that the Jade Emperor should have been the one injured. After learning Qin Fen's true identity, he should have coughed up blood and fainted, causing his proposal to die without a sound because its initiator had collapsed. Yet that fellow was perfectly fine. It made no sense!
It was not as though Hongjun had failed to foresee this. When he had impersonated Qin Fen to deceive the Jade Emperor, he had taken that very factor into account. He was not afraid of the Jade Emperor contacting Qin Fen. Once they did, the Jade Emperor should have turned against Qin Fen, believing that Qin Fen had deceived him. As a suspicious emperor, he certainly would not cooperate with the Dao Ancestor and would instead return to Hongjun's embrace because of it.
But reality had diverged sharply from his expectations. Not only had