"Invade Blossom Mountain?"
When he heard this, King Bullhorn's eyes narrowed to slits, while King Roc's eyes widened slightly, as if this was exactly what he'd been waiting for.
Seeing King Bullhorn tempted, Lord Jiao continued, "The six of us, seven if you count the Nine-Headed Wyrm—there's no demon in the world, not even a group, who could stand against us. If we act, the Handsome Monkey King of Blossom Mountain will surely submit and hand over his resources. If he refuses... heh, heh, heh..."
King Roc glanced coolly at Lord Jiao and agreed, "I support this. No matter how strong their leader is, he can't possibly defeat us. As for those other demons, they know the law of the strong. Siding with us is far better than throwing in with that so-called Handsome Monkey King."
King Bullhorn was clearly tempted. He licked his lips and looked at the two demon kings beside him, as if wanting to say something, but still hesitated.
Seeing this, Lord Jiao fanned the flames: "Besides, if there are good resources, they should belong to everyone. Think about it—without us holding the fort, if the Handsome Monkey King is defeated, won't we still be living this life of hiding and running? Instead of pinning our hopes on him, why don't we take matters into our own hands? If the resources are truly good, and we manage them well, we'll surely succeed in time!"
Just as King Bullhorn was about to decide, the Nine-Headed Wyrm quietly appeared in the cave. He swaggered over, ignoring the three demon kings' stares, picked up a wine jar from the side, and started drinking.
Wine dribbled from the corner of his mouth, soaking his clothes.
Only after guzzling his fill did he set the jar down, burped loudly, wiped his mouth, and said, "I advise you not to do this."
"What, you disagree?" Lord Jiao frowned and asked.
The Nine-Headed Wyrm bared his teeth, ran a hand through his long hair, and sat on a stone bench nearby, giving the three demon kings a half-mocking look. "What if you go there and get wiped out in one stroke? Isn't that just pointless trouble?"
"What do you mean by that? Spell it out." King Roc's expression changed instantly.
"First, the real strength of Blossom Mountain is still unknown. Second, defeating ten thousand Skyward Legionnaires isn't that impressive—if we joined forces, we could beat King Broadgaze and his ten thousand troops too. But don't forget, those were South Heaven Gate soldiers, not the Heavenly River Fleet. After such a big incident, General Lee definitely won't let it slide. He might already be planning an attack on Blossom Mountain. If we go now, aren't we just serving ourselves up for him?"
"South Heaven Gate's campaign against Eastrealm only sent a hundred thousand troops."
"That's true," the Nine-Headed Wyrm said lazily, glancing at King Roc. "But it's not enough—they can always send reinforcements. Once South Heaven Gate finishes, Heaven can send the Heavenly River Fleet to help. If that's not enough, there's General Yang's Guang River Estuary corps, the Twenty-Eight Star Lords, the Nine Luminaries, the Twelve Primordials, the Five Directional Marshals, the Four Duty Envoys, the Eastern and Western Star Lords, the Northern and Southern Guardians, the Five Peaks and Four Rivers... And above them all, the Three Pure Ones."
At this, the Nine-Headed Wyrm slapped his thigh and laughed, "Just how strong would Blossom Mountain have to be, even with you all added in, to stand against that? Anyway, if you want to play mountain king for a couple of days and then run off with your tails between your legs, go ahead—I'm not interested. And this time I guarantee I won't bail you out. I just don't get it—what's so fun about being king of a hill?"
With that, he closed his eyes, pillowed his head on his arms, and reclined as if indifferent to the world.
"So according to you, we'll never have a chance to rise?" King Roc said coldly.
"Isn't that obvious? Now you see why I don't play king of the hill," the Nine-Headed Wyrm said, half-reclining as he cracked his eyes open and grinned at the other demon kings. "If you're strong enough and keep a low profile, isn't life carefree? Last time, if my father-in-law hadn't forced me, who'd bother saving you deadweights? That was a job guaranteed to raise the bounty on my head. None of you are newborns anymore—how about using your brains once in a while?"
With that, he shut his eyes and went to sleep.