The development of firearms was progressing smoothly. According to Louis Quickpaw’s report, the new prototypes would be ready for testing in another month or so. However, mass production would have to wait until Anna Yang’s Sage’s Path team was fully formed.
After sending off the sulking Louis Quickpaw, Monkey found himself bored once again. Having spent half the day stirring up trouble at the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace and exhausting a great deal of spiritual power, he suddenly felt drowsy and decided to return to Cascade Cave for a nap.
Thanks to years of careful management, Blossom Mountain now ran smoothly as long as Shortbeak and Louis Quickpaw were present—one handling internal affairs, the other external. Unless something unusual happened, the King himself rarely needed to intervene.
In a way, his style of governance fit the ideals of a civil bureaucracy: create an organized system, let the ruler avoid micromanagement, and rely on established rules to ensure the society’s own renewal. This kept the path for demons’ cultivation and promotion clear, gradually shaping the entire social structure.
For this era, such ideas were undeniably ahead of their time. Coupled with the executors’ extended lifespans, the system could run indefinitely so long as no overwhelming external force intervened—and it would only grow stronger as the years passed.
From this perspective, even without firearms research, time itself favored Blossom Mountain. The firearms project was just another way to buy more time.
After all, the project was built on existing formations and metallurgy. Monkey never believed that a single innovation could guarantee Blossom Mountain’s eternal strength. These things were too simple; once Heaven caught on, they could easily copy them. The only barrier was vision and mindset—catching up would just take a little time.
Remember, the demons of Blossom Mountain have nothing to lose—they’re always ready to risk their lives. The immortals of Heaven, on the other hand, have vast resources and no need to gamble everything. Just look at the South Heaven Gate armies.
Only a fool like General Percy would actually go to war with his life hanging by a thread.
In the end, everything they did was about buying time. As long as Blossom Mountain grew strong enough that Heaven would suffer heavy losses trying to destroy it, they’d be forced to sit down at the negotiating table.
By the time Monkey arrived at Cascade Cave, a light rain had begun to fall, shrouding all of Blossom Mountain in a hazy gray.
"Too much peace for too long isn’t necessarily a good thing. Will Blossom Mountain someday end up like Heaven?" Monkey wondered, watching the demons fighting on the front lines in the rain.
He stared blankly at the stubborn sapling sprouting from a crack in the roadside rocks, then glanced at the towering pines and cypresses nearby. Shaking his head, he let out a wry smile.
Thinking about such things now was clearly premature.
For him, the most important thing was to build a powerful force—not just for himself, but to win the right for demons to survive under this sky. And, one day, to accumulate enough strength to challenge Heaven and even Lord Lao.
......
At that moment, Lord Lao was standing at the mouth of a cave hundreds of li away, gazing up at the fine rain drifting through the sky, his face full of confusion.
"Disciple greets Master."
Seeing Lord Lao appear at the cave entrance, Golden Boy and Silver Boy hurriedly knelt.
Lord Lao ignored them, gazing a moment longer at the gray sky before walking into the cave. He looked around the chamber, which Golden Boy and Silver Boy had only moved into a month ago, as if deep in thought.
The South Heaven Gate’s campaign against Eastrealm had scattered the original demon clans. With so many wandering demons joining in, Blossom Mountain was gradually coming into its own, and its expansion was no longer as restrained as before.
Because of this, Golden Boy and Silver Boy had to move further out to the periphery, and the news they could gather grew scarcer by the day.
Picking up a clay jar from a battered chair, Lord Lao squinted his wrinkled eyes, examining it closely in the light from the cave entrance.
Seeing this, Golden Boy hurriedly bowed and said, "Master, this jar was brought back from an abandoned hunter’s dwelling. Over the past few years, as more demons have gathered at Blossom Mountain, the few scattered human households nearby have all moved away, leaving their homes deserted."
"Oh." Lord Lao pursed his lips and nodded, setting the jar down. He brushed aside the chair and sat on a stone bench nearby, then casually pulled out a jar of elixirs from his sleeve and handed it to the two attendants.
Golden Boy hurried over and took it, unable to resist opening the lid for a sniff. Instantly, his face lit up with joy. "Thank you, Master!"
Silver Boy quickly followed, reaching out for the jar, but Golden Boy wouldn’t let him have it. After a brief scuffle, they finally stood respectfully, mindful of Lord Lao’s presence.
Lord Lao pursed his lips and cleared his throat. "Things here are settled for now."
"What?" The two attendants were taken aback.
Silver Boy quickly pulled a bamboo slip from his sleeve and handed it to Lord Lao. "Master, this is the latest report. We already sent it to Tusita Palace, but you hadn’t replied, so I kept it in mind."
Lord Lao didn’t take the report, simply looked at them coolly and waved his hand. "I've received all the messages you’ve sent. Now that things are settled, you’ve both neglected your studies for some time. Do you want to stay here or return?"
The two disciples were caught off guard and couldn’t answer right away.
"If you wish to remain here, you may, and the elixir allowance will continue. If you return to Tusita Palace, you’ll resume your training—naturally, the elixir allowance will end."
"Master, you mean we can choose?"
"Yes."
The two attendants exchanged glances. Golden Boy scratched his head, hesitating, then said, "Of course... it’s better to stay here."
Silver Boy stared wide-eyed at Lord Lao but said nothing, silently agreeing with his senior.
"I understand. Then you may stay here," Lord Lao said with a blink and a sigh. "He really knows how to teach his disciples."
His eyes were full of exhaustion.
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Faced with the scene, both disciples were at a loss.
Their master was supposed to be the greatest in all three realms—always full of vitality, all-knowing and all-powerful. But now...
Staring blankly at the empty ground for a long time, Lord Lao sighed deeply, shook out his sleeves, and stood up. He walked step by step toward the cave entrance. "Since that’s settled, you may stay here. Everything continues as before. Also—"
He paused, pursing his thin lips, and said slowly, "A young woman in purple has arrived at Cascade Cave. If you see her, treat her with courtesy."
With that, he walked out of the cave, his figure vanishing into the wind.
"A girl in purple?" The two disciples exchanged confused glances, unable to make sense of it.
......
The waves from the tsunami hadn’t yet subsided, and now a fine rain was falling from the sky. The demons left behind huddled close to Belle, not even daring to seek shelter.
Because of the earlier incident with Ao Cunxin, Shadow was especially strict with his subordinates. Fortunately, no punishment was dealt to Ao Cunxin that time—otherwise, who knows what might have happened.
Belle lay quietly on the beach in her purple robe, her clothes, long hair, and face streaked with seawater. Under the sunlight, the water crystallized into salt, only to gradually dissolve again in the gentle rain.
At this moment, her face was rather pale, but her breathing was steady—she didn’t seem to be in any real danger.
Soon, Shadow arrived with his squad. When he saw Belle’s face, he paused for a moment, then turned to gaze out at the surging sea wind.
"Could the tsunami have brought her here?" he wondered, bending down to check Belle’s pulse. "Spirit-Refinement Stage... Wait, Spirit-Refinement?"
Suddenly realizing something, he quickly knelt down and gently pried open Belle’s eyelids. What he saw made his eyes widen in surprise.
"They’re really blue!"
The nearby demons craned their necks to look as well.
"You—go report to the King at once! Tell him the person he’s been looking for has arrived. She seems fine, but just in case, you—go ask Anna Yang for some elixirs... and see how she’s doing; it’d be best if she could come herself. And you—help me carry her back to Cascade Cave!"
......
Inside the little cabin at the mountaintop.
"How am I supposed to do this?" She sat on the bed, fumbling with silk threads in frustration. "Why does it feel even harder than drawing formation diagrams?"
"Don’t worry, Anna," said Isabel Su, grabbing a pear from the basket of fresh fruit and handing it to her. "Embroidery isn’t something you master in a day."
Setting down her needle and thread, Anna took the pear and nibbled it, her eyes still fixed on the embroidery as if facing a formidable enemy.
After a long while, she muttered, "It looked so easy when you did it just now."
"It’s not that easy! I practiced for days myself," Isabel Su giggled, resting her chin on her hand.
Finishing the fruit, Anna took a deep breath, furrowed her brow, and glared at the needle and thread. "If I can’t beat you, I don’t deserve to be called Anna Yang!"
She quickly started again, her determined look making Isabel Su sigh helplessly from the side.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Who is it?" Isabel Su turned toward the door.
"It’s me, Damon. Shadow sent me to ask Anna for some elixirs."
"Come in and speak." Anna kept her head down, fiddling with the embroidery. "What kind of elixir do you need?"