Chapter One Hundred and Five: The Human Emperor’s Struggle

“Step back for now. In one month we shall meet you at Zhuolu for a decisive battle. The victor will be king, the defeated a rebel.”
Xuan Daozi did not even deign to look at Chi You, who lay on the ground unable to rise. His face was so grim it inspired dread.

That an emperor of humanity had been beaten by that so-called little Chi You was unbearable to him. Whatever Chi You’s true cultivation, the fact that he had left the Flame Emperor grievously wounded haunted him.

It was not that Yandi had failed to train in the Way; Chi You was simply too extraordinary.
This Chi You had been formed from the pure blood of ten ancestral witch-seers, and in both cultivation and martial skill had reached the peak of a Great Celestial Immortal. It was no wonder that in later ages disciples of the Three Teachings could not suppress him. His strength was real—yet it was also destiny.

The Human Race had once been the sovereign force of this primordial world. The sorcerer clans had merely taken advantage of the opening in the alliance among the shamans and profited from it. Strictly speaking, Chi You was of human birth; he merely denied it. Now he sought to interfere in the matter of choosing a Human Emperor. From any perspective, Heaven’s Way would not favor one side over another.

Why did Xuan Daozi not behead Chi You at once? Why wait a month?

That had not been his wish. At first, during deliberation among the Three Purities, they had agreed to erase Chi You. Later, however, the order of Heaven became clouded, and the Ancestor of the Dao himself issued an edict: what concerns the Human Race must be decided by the Human Race. Thus the Three Purities resolved that humans should act, while they offered support. Surely they could still have won.

From the East Sea Xuan Daozi arrived with the host of the Three Teachings and set up camp on the eastern shore. It was, in truth, mostly the gathered disciples of the Exposition and Spirit schools rather than a full tripartite host.
Apart from one disciple from the Mysterious Capital, the Most High Lord Lao had ceased taking new disciples for the Human School; the Eight Immortals had later gone among mortals, endured tribulations, and only after becoming immortals took their posts in the Celestial Court to increase their school’s influence there.

And this was not only a matter of the Three Teachings, for the Most High Lord’s prized national treasure—the Great Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate—had been temporarily loaned to Guangcheng of the Exposition School. The Human School had rendered real service in that, had it not?

For this battle, the Spirit School sent not only human cultivators but also practitioners led by Master Duobao. In this one could clearly sense the old stratagem of Primordial Lord Yuanshi and Tongtian: the Exposition School had Guangcheng, the Spirit School had Duobao—let it be seen whose foremost disciple is superior.

The Three Purities had dispatched their disciples not only for the sake of human affairs but also to claim some honor for their own gates. A saint’s majesty is not to be provoked.

Another reason Xuan Daozi postponed the battle was Yandi himself. The Flame Emperor was plainly old, and his spirit no longer matched the age. All that hot blood in him did not change the fact: his policies could no longer contain the turmoil of the immortal-civilization world. Therefore he boldly ordered a suspension of hostilities, granting time for proper preparation.

“Thank you for coming to save me, Holy Father. If not, I would fail the elders of our people.”
Yandi lay on the bed, his voice hoarse and faint. Chi You’s strike had truly been terrible. The Flame Emperor, a man of defense, why had he rushed to duel? One would ask.

It was not wholly his fault. Whether he was hurt or whether his side’s morale faltered, he at least proved that shielding the people with one’s own body was not wrong.
And Yandi had played his cards well. As sovereign of humankind, can immortals watch humans being slain and do nothing? His action, though sudden, reduced losses. Spirit and momentum can rise again, but shaping one worthy cultivator is not done in a day.

“Yiqi,” Xuan Daozi said, sitting lightly by the bedside, bowl of medicine in his hand, looking at Yandi’s ashen face, and unexpectedly a soft light entered his eyes.
“I said I would protect the Human Race from harm.”

Yandi laughed faintly. Seeing Xuan Daozi amused by his words eased his own bitterness.

“And the matter of the Dragon clan?”
His daughter had been killed by Dragon folk. As emperor he had the right to inquire into the life and death of his people; as a father he had the right to seek truth and consequences for his own child.

“Forget the Dragons. By the time the next Great Calamity comes, it will be the Dragon Third Prince’s death hour. What matters now is this: have you decided clearly who will inherit the Human Emperor?”
Xuan Daozi clearly did not place the Dragon matter at the center. In his eyes, the Third Prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace would not live long anyway; let the next small heir take his place.

When Yandi heard this, he gave a bitter smile. Even emperors have things they cannot settle.

“I understand. I will appoint Gongsun Xuanyuan as the next Human Emperor.”
Yandi already knew his son Yanju could not govern the present turmoil. In disorder, heavy law is required. Yanju’s nature was too much like his own. In peaceful times he might have been a clear-minded ruler who raised his people’s livelihood, but this age was war; old formulas no longer served. War needs an army under strict discipline, not half-hearted virtue-waving to win battles.

“If we do that outright, those who back Yanju may feel chilled. Better we set questions, and let us test them. Whoever answers more wisely should prevail.”
Xuan Daozi reasoned in the same vein. To appoint Gongsun Xuanyuan without process would embitter Yanju’s followers, and defectors would flourish.

“Very well.”
Yandi knew that even as nominal human emperor, his son’s retainers might clash with Xuanyuan’s governing approach. A delay of a day or two was no hardship. Unified command and military orders alone can twist a host into one rope and hurl it forward against the enemy formation.

“Today is the day to select the Human Emperor,” Xuan Daozi announced from the arena, looking down on the gathered disciples of the Three Teachings, tribal chiefs, and the crowd. “The one chosen from this day onward commands all offices within our people as ruler of the Human Race. At the request of the chieftains, two candidates contend for the seat: Yandu’s son Yanju and Gongsun Xuanyuan of the Youxiong clan.”

At that moment Yanju and Gongsun Xuanyuan entered the arena together through clusters of attendants.

“This selection is not decided by brute force. It is three questions to assess your flexibility in governing state affairs. Briefly then, first question: in this season of war, what method do you have to guard against enemies advancing on our front?”

“I will answer first. This is an alien tribe; by right we should send the Righteous Army to crush their line, trample their banner, and execute all who rebel against our people.”
Yanju spoke with pride. His words revealed his harsh streak.

“I do not agree with Yanju,” Gongsun Xuanyuan said. “Though this outsider attacks us, we should still persuade it to submit through reason. If that succeeds, that is best. If not, then we marshal our forces, destroy the enemy’s main body, divide what remains, and give them what they seek. Then the war can truly be quieted.”
He moved over the arena like a smooth-faced scholar. His appearance was rough, but his heart was supple; such balance of sternness and gentleness was what humanity needed in an emperor.
Do not think that beating an enemy makes them yield. If you can meet their living needs, who will rebel? It is a matter of life and death either way; whether successful or not, history and moral judgment will forever point at the one who sheds blood.

Xuanyuan’s answer reshaped the audience’s sense of the throne. The Human Emperor was not merely a chief among humans; he was the pillar upon which life depended. In war, the ethics of a peaceful age lose their force. A capable ruler must lead the troops, strike the enemy, and then bring the chaos to an end.

“The second question: what suggestions do you have for building the army?”

“Arrange it as Father once did,” Yanju said. “But within the army place inspectors to monitor command, so that two commanders check each other and strike the enemy together.”
It was strange from whom he had learned this, yet bold was the notion of placing a second authority inside the military to restrain command power.

“My thought is this,” Gongsun Xuanyuan answered. “Now our army lacks basic preparation for war. First, signals are not unified; there is no strict discipline for each soldier to know his role. Second, we have no battle formations. A formation is the arrangement that increases a unit’s strength against an enemy. Only an army so ordered is truly the Human Race’s army.”