The battle was over, but the war had only just begun.
Some grudges, once formed, are not so easily resolved—especially when fate has already destined these two to stand at the very eye of the storm.
One is the rising leader of the demon forces, the other a staunch loyalist of Heaven. Centuries of enmity between demons and gods have ensured that a clash between these two great powers—Heaven and Earth—is inevitable.
After that night, both sides buried themselves in preparations, just as before.
Monkey continued to tinker with his firearms day and night.
As the production of firearms gradually settled into a steady rhythm, he ordered the construction of small, all-wood warships.
Of course, these little boats were no match for the Heavenly Fleet’s ironclad warships, but having something was better than nothing.
Shortbeak, besides his duties in reconnaissance and defense, now also took on the task of gathering materials—most critically, to meet Anna Yang’s alchemy needs and ensure Blossom Mountain had enough elixirs to last several years of war.
In wars fought between armies of cultivators, unless victory could be achieved quickly, elixirs to replenish spiritual power and heal wounds were far more important than mere provisions.
Clearly, it was nearly impossible for Blossom Mountain to defeat the Heavenly Fleet and its six hundred thousand troops in a short time. On the other hand, the Heavenly Fleet could plausibly crush Blossom Mountain quickly. So Blossom Mountain’s preparations could only follow the standards of a war of attrition.
At first, Shortbeak stuck to his original approach when gathering supplies, but soon realized it was impossible to meet such massive quotas. So he changed tactics—recruiting Nine-Headed Wyrm to raid human Daoist temples.
Admittedly, this was by far the fastest way to obtain those ordinary materials.
Sometimes, they even raided Celestial Army transport ships—not only those of the Heavenly Fleet, but the South Heaven Gate fleet as well.
Nathan Young was furious, coming down repeatedly to demand justice. But in the end, it usually ended with a perfunctory apology—the supplies lost to Monkey were never coming back.
“It’s true—robbery really is what demons do best.” Anna Yang concluded, seeing the finished elixirs mixed in with the raw materials delivered to her.
Meanwhile, Louis Quickpaw continued to oversee infrastructure, unit reorganization, and the supply of military equipment.
Under his direction, the demons hollowed out the entire Blossom Mountain, turning neighboring peaks into fortresses. To avoid being wiped out in a single defeat, many non-combatant demons were relocated outside Blossom Mountain.
As more and more demons defected to Blossom Mountain, most were immediately drafted into the ranks to prepare for the Heavenly Fleet’s impending attack. The surging demand left Louis Quickpaw utterly overwhelmed.
Blossom Mountain’s production capacity simply couldn’t equip so many demons to the original standards. After much discussion, they had no choice but to cancel armor supply altogether. Even weapons and flying gear—essential for fighting the Celestial Army—were often in short supply.
At the same time, training continued without pause.
What struck the Blossom Mountain commanders most about that night’s battle was the Heavenly Fleet’s rigorous training.
In terms of individual combat strength, the demons who survived countless trials to reach Blossom Mountain were, without question, stronger than the Heavenly Fleet’s ordinary soldiers. But that was only individual strength.
Aside from Blossom Mountain’s original core, the newly expanded army had almost no sense of cooperation. Even the concept of military orders was barely understood.
Even Nine-Headed Wyrm, formidable as he was in solo combat, ended up trapped by a well-drilled Heavenly General Battle Array. Were they really going to throw these undisciplined, armorless troops against the fully armed and trained Heavenly Fleet?
After convening a meeting, the Blossom Mountain commanders decided to thoroughly ‘brainwash’ the demons. Thus began a whirlwind of mass drills.
For a long time afterward, the only entertainment for the Heavenly soldiers and generals stationed at South Heaven Gate was to stand on deck and watch the demon army across the gap drilling—an extraordinary spectacle, to say the least.
Compared to Blossom Mountain’s feverish activity, the Heavenly Fleet was much quieter.
With Heaven’s treasuries backing their logistics, the Heavenly Fleet lacked neither equipment nor elixirs. Its reputation ensured a steady flow of recruits. What it truly lacked, however, were top-tier Heavenly Generals.
From start to finish, what Marshal Silver truly feared were only Monkey and Nine-Headed Wyrm.
So, while drilling his troops, expanding sky-harbors, and building new warships, he also tried to recruit powerful cultivators. Unfortunately, his efforts met with little success.
For human cultivators—especially the truly powerful ones—survival was never as threatened as it was for demons. In such circumstances, joining Heaven, and especially the Heavenly Fleet, was far from an attractive option.
After all, joining the Celestial Army meant being bound by military law. And the rewards—small amounts of Gold Essence didn’t interest the powerful, the Heavenly Fleet couldn’t afford to offer more, and as for rare mortal treasures like Peaches of Immortality or Elixir Wine, the Fleet was no General Lee and simply couldn’t supply them.
With no real benefits to offer, the only thing left to bargain with was personal connections.
Unfortunately, even this path was closed to Marshal Silver. First, he didn’t come from a prestigious sect, so he had no fellow disciples. Second, his temperament was all business.
If General Lee, adept at cultivating relationships, were in charge, he might have more success. With Marshal Silver, it was better than nothing, but not by much.
As for the recurring problem of raids on the Heavenly Fleet...
Every so often, Marshal Silver would receive word that Nine-Headed Wyrm had led another raid on a fleet. No matter how hard they tried to intercept, they couldn’t prevent it. Fortunately, the losses were bearable, and the raids weren’t as frequent as before.
This was likely because, after being trapped that night, Nine-Headed Wyrm had grown wary of the Heavenly Fleet’s battle formations.
When choosing targets for raids, he became increasingly cautious. And with the Heavenly Fleet’s own vigilance rising, the number of viable targets shrank with each passing day.