Just as the Heavenly Court was intensively preparing for drastic change, two celestial soldiers within the South Heaven Gate Fleet's cabin quickly recorded a message from Heaven. They hurried into the bustling cabin and presented the bamboo slip to King Virūḍhaka, who was stationed with the fleet.
"What's the matter?" King Dhṛtarāṣṭra asked, arms folded, sitting across the table.
After unfolding the bamboo slip and reading it for a while, King Virūḍhaka frowned deeply and said, "The King has ordered us to rest in place."
"Rest in place? Are we really going back to Blossom Mountain to fight?"
"I'm afraid so." King Virūḍhaka casually rolled up the bamboo slip, paused for a moment, and said, "Let South Heaven Gate resume supply transport. For now, it seems we won't be able to return to South Heaven Gate anytime soon."
"That is indeed a safer approach." King Dhṛtarāṣṭra nodded in agreement.
Soon, news that this returning army had abruptly halted five days after leaving Blossom Mountain spread rapidly through various channels to all sides.
......
Blossom Mountain, Cascade Cave.
"Hold position?" Staring blankly at the scroll spread out on the sand table, Monkey fell silent, his expression gradually growing grim.
Everyone present exchanged glances.
Although Monkey didn't believe Bell's claim that General Lee's return to the Heavenly Court would greatly affect the situation at Blossom Mountain, he remained cautious and sent a small squad to monitor the movements of the South Heaven Gate Fleet along the way.
"What does 'hold position' even mean? Are they really coming back to fight?" Monkey raised his head and took a deep breath, then turned to ask, "Any new word from the Heavenly Court?"
"Not yet," said Anna Yang.
"What about reinforcements from the Milky Way Navy?"
"Except for the detachment heading to Cloudrealm Sky Harbor, the rest will arrive within the next two days," said Shortbeak.
"How about recruitment? How's that going?"
Lu Six-Turn flipped open the bamboo slip and replied, "It's only just begun, so the results are minimal. Still, more and more are coming to join us on their own. In just five days, we've had five or six thousand new arrivals. If this trend continues, the numbers will only increase."
Once the Milky Way Navy reinforcements arrive, Blossom Mountain will inevitably be forced onto the defensive.
But with our current strength, as long as we avoid direct confrontation, we can still hold out for quite some time.
Even the ragtag troops of the Six Demon Kings can hold back the Heavenly Fleet—so how could Blossom Mountain, with its vast underground fortifications and formidable army, possibly fail?
Barring any catastrophic mistakes, that should be impossible.
Right now, a great number of wandering demons are converging here, while every loss to the Heavenly Fleet is irreplaceable. As long as we hold out long enough, victory is certain for Blossom Mountain.
But—is it really that simple?
Just yesterday, the Heavenly Fleet suddenly tightened its defenses, leaving Monkey deeply uneasy.
Logically, whether reinforcements have arrived or not, the Heavenly Fleet at Blossom Mountain should be taking the initiative. After all, time favors Blossom Mountain—the longer the delay, the worse it gets for them.
So why shrink their defenses? Monkey simply can't figure it out.
He's fought the Heavenly Fleet more than once or twice—Monkey can't believe Marshal Silver would just sit and wait for defeat without any backup plan.
Could it be... just as Belle said, that General Lee really does have the power to sway Heaven's decisions?
By all rights, that should be impossible.
But if that's really the case, then the Heavenly Fleet's defensive posture makes sense... They're waiting for reinforcements.
If so, the situation at Blossom Mountain just became dire.
"Old Dragon King."
"I'm here," King Gavin Azurewave quickly replied, bowing with hands clasped.
Monkey pressed his lips together, then slowly asked, "You said before that the Six Demon Kings were planning to reinforce us. Do you know how far they've gotten?"
...
At this moment, under the night sky, on the desolate plains of the Southern Lands across the sea from Blossom Mountain, more than two thousand remnants of the Frost-Rain Mountain coalition were gathered in circles, openly lighting campfires.
Such a scene would have been unimaginable in the past.
After all, these are extraordinary times. The South Heaven Gate Fleet has just retreated from Blossom Mountain, and the Heavenly Fleet is completely tied down there. Heaven's two main forces for suppressing mortal demons are now fully occupied. Even if the Celestial Patrol discovers them, do they have the strength to eliminate them?
For the demons, survival now is as difficult as it was during the five years of the Emotion Case.
At midnight, King Macaque suddenly descended from the sky, landing steadily before King Bullhorn, who sat by the campfire.
"How is it? Has the situation at Blossom Mountain changed?" King Bullhorn turned and asked quietly.
"Same as always," King Macaque slowly stood, rubbing his palms together as he sat by the fire with the other demon kings. "Still a chaotic brawl, but something feels off..."
"What do you mean?" King Bullhorn asked urgently.
The other demon kings all perked up their ears.
King Macaque gently picked up a stick and tossed it into the fire, hesitating as he spoke: "The Heavenly Fleet seems to have shifted to defense. But it's not entirely clear yet—maybe it's a strategic adjustment."
"Shifted to defense?"
The demon kings exchanged glances.
King Roc, half-reclining against a dead tree, straightened up and shifted to a more comfortable position. "They must be running out of resources. Didn't they lose a lot of warships? Maybe they're short on elixirs or something."
"I don't think so," King Macaque shook his head. "You all saw it—the South Heaven Gate Fleet just withdrew a few days ago. What does that mean? Their allies are fighting and they just stand by, and now they're actually pulling out. I feel like something's off."
"Didn't they say General Lee and Marshal Silver don't get along?" King Liontusk asked.
"Even so, they should've stayed to pick up the spoils. But instead, they withdrew. Not only that—I noticed they didn't go far before stopping again. They're not advancing, not retreating, just hovering between South Heaven Gate and Blossom Mountain. I can't tell what they're up to."
Saying this, King Macaque slowly turned to Lord Jiao.
Lord Jiao thought for a moment. "They withdrew, then stopped... That means they're hesitating."
King Roc glanced over, asking, "Hesitating about what?"
"Obviously, they're hesitating whether to join the fight," Lord Jiao coughed. "If that's the case, something must have changed. Otherwise, how could they order a full retreat and then change their mind?"
"What could've changed? The situation hasn't shifted much these past few days," King Liontusk said.
"It's not the battlefield situation," Lord Jiao mused, looking up at King Bullhorn and pointing to the sky. "It's something in Heaven."
"You mean... Heaven might be sending troops?" King Bullhorn eyed him doubtfully.
"It's just a possibility. Otherwise, why would the Heavenly Fleet tighten its defenses?" Lord Jiao blinked up at the starry sky. "Or maybe South Heaven Gate and the Heavenly Fleet fell out, and South Heaven Gate decided to withdraw. With no reinforcements, the Heavenly Fleet had no choice but to switch to defense. It fits, front and back. In any case, the situation is still unclear."
The demon kings all fell silent.
After a long pause, King Bullhorn sighed helplessly. "Then let's slow down for now. Don't rush ahead, or we might stumble into a trap."
...
In the High Sky Throne Hall, General Lee presented, one by one, the conditions he faced at Blossom Mountain.
Blueprints and bamboo slips were handed to the Jade Emperor and passed around for the immortals to examine.
They detailed the new weapons revealed by Blossom Mountain: Thunder Tubes, Thunder Shells, large artillery, even suicide warships and various captured elixirs. Lee explained how Blossom Mountain shattered the Heavenly Fleet's vanguard under General Tyson's command.
The immortals studied each blueprint, their faces clouded with doubt. Even the Jade Emperor, who had already received some news through other channels, found it hard to believe.
Such sudden revelations—apart from a few minor immortals briefly questioning whether demons could really manufacture these things, only to be rebuked by General Lee—were met with rare unanimity in the court. Even Grandmaster White, who was expected to challenge Lee, simply watched coldly from the side.
When the presentation was complete, General Lee knelt on one knee and declared in a clear voice: "The demon monkey of Blossom Mountain has become the leader of all mortal demons. If he is not eradicated today, he will become a grave threat to Heaven. For the Three Realms, for cosmic order, I beg Your Majesty to immediately decree that the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the Nine Luminaries, the Twelve Celestial Governors, the five directional guardians, the four duty officers, the gods of the eastern and western constellations, and the northern and southern poles descend with me to annihilate Blossom Mountain!"
At his words, the immortals fell silent.
The Jade Emperor's gaze finally settled on Grandmaster White.
(This chapter is not finished ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!)