High Heaven Palace, Imperial Study.
The Jade Emperor smashed his teacup to pieces in a fit of rage.
"Outrageous! Outrageous! That demon monkey is simply beyond outrageous!"
All the Heavenly Court officials present—General Lee, General Draco Jiao, Gold-Head Warden, and even Lord Fortune and Elder Lonny Long—bowed their heads in silence. Grandmaster White in particular shrank back, desperate not to be caught up in any disaster.
Leaning on the dragon desk, the Jade Emperor barked angrily, "How many troops do we still have at our disposal?"
At these words, General Lee’s hand trembled slightly. He hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. The three armies are not yet fully prepared. This is absolutely not the time to rush into war."
"Then what do you suggest? Mortal longing is a grave taboo in Heaven. If immortals with mortal desires all flee to Blossom Mountain, won’t chaos reign across the realms? What authority will Heaven’s laws have then?"
The immortals present fell silent once more.
In the vast Imperial Study, only the Jade Emperor’s heavy breathing and the rhythmic clinking of the pearls on his crown could be heard.
He had sat on the dragon throne for tens of thousands of years, and in all that time, only this demon monkey had managed to drive him to such a state of disarray.
After a long while, Gold-Head Warden spoke softly: "Actually... Your Majesty need not worry. I’ve heard the demon monkey is Master Sage Subhuti’s personal disciple, and now it seems that’s true. This incident involves Dreamford Immortal, one of the Nine Immortal Disciples. The monkey is surely intervening for his ninth senior brother; no other immortals have such ties. It should be a one-time affair."
The Jade Emperor let out a cold laugh.
Was this just self-consolation?
He shot a cold glance at Grandmaster White, who was cowering at the back, and said, "Enduring is no solution. Every time that demon monkey advances, I retreat. If this continues, I may be cornered before any higher Daoist powers intervene."
He caught his breath, then raised his head to survey the immortals. "Since he’s Master Sage Subhuti’s disciple, let’s have Master Sage Subhuti deal with him. What do you all think?"
General Lee replied in a low voice, "I fear that won’t work either, Your Majesty. When the demon monkey caused havoc in Heaven and was even captured, Master Sage Subhuti never said a word. Clearly, he won’t easily admit the monkey is his disciple. Without any proof..."
"Then what do you suggest? What do you suggest!" The Jade Emperor slammed his fist on the dragon desk, clearly consumed by rage.
To uphold Heaven’s laws, he had once even imprisoned his own younger sister beneath Peach Mountain, leading to her eventual death. Now, a mere demon monkey was forcing him into a deadlock. How could he possibly swallow such humiliation?
Once again, silence fell among the immortals.
The Jade Emperor pointed randomly, his finger landing squarely on the high-browed Longevity Star. "You! Give me a solution!"
Elder Lonny Long nervously stepped forward, blinking and glancing about, before finally bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, as General Lee has said, it would be unwise to start a war at this moment. That demon monkey must have seen through this, which is why he dares act so recklessly. To pit the monkey's strengths against our weaknesses is truly a foolish move."
"I'm asking you what should be done!" the Jade Emperor suddenly roared.
At that furious shout, all the immortals shrank back slightly.
Seeing that Elder Lonny Long was at a loss, Lord Fortune quickly stepped out to rescue him, bowing low and saying, "Your Majesty, I believe Elder Lonny Long is correct. To pit the monkey's strengths against our weaknesses is truly a foolish move. In my view, this matter should be discussed at length."
"How do you propose we discuss it at length?!"
Swallowing hard, Lord Fortune replied in a low voice, "That demon monkey is about to descend into the Netherworld to investigate the Book of Life and Death. In my humble opinion, Your Majesty should secretly order the Ten Judges of the Underworld to fully cooperate. When the time comes..."
As the quiet whispering continued, the Jade Emperor's brows finally relaxed, little by little.
......
Although Monkey had not deliberately spread the news, half a month after the envoy left Blossom Mountain, word of Monkey slaying a Heavenly General and driving out the envoy from the Heavenly Court had spread throughout Blossom Mountain. Every army began to prepare for war on their own initiative.
Monkey himself was unconcerned. He could not imagine any reason why the Heavenly Court would dare to completely break with him at this time.
Attack Blossom Mountain? Could they even take it?
Forget attacking Blossom Mountain—the South Heaven Gate garrison wouldn't survive a single step outside the Gate.
On the battlefield, Blossom Mountain's advantage was a well-established fact. If not for Heaven's disadvantage, how could the Jade Emperor possibly confer the title Great Sage Equal to Heaven on Monkey at such a moment? Even after being severely humiliated by Monkey, he still had to swallow his pride.
Even without Old Ninth's incident, both sides were already locked in a state of mutual destruction. The only reason they could still coexist in the Three Realms was the barrier of South Heaven Gate—neither could utterly annihilate the other.
Given all this, Monkey had long resolved to resist Heaven until it submitted. But it seemed the Heavenly Court had also resolved to adopt a conciliatory policy and avoid direct conflict with Monkey. Otherwise, after Monkey refused the title Great Sage Equal to Heaven, they should have sent troops at once—how could they have simply let it go?
Of course, Monkey did not believe the matter of Fairy Cloudnymph would be so easily dismissed by Heaven.
For some reason, Heaven had always been extremely strict about matters of love between immortals and mortals. This could be seen in Princess Yara's Love Case and the Marshal Silver Love Case. In ten thousand years, not a single love case had ever escaped Heaven's punishment—even the Marshal Silver Love Case only became a muddled affair because Fairy Nisha died. Normally, the great powers of the Three Realms would never intervene in such matters.
But this time, Monkey intervened—not only did he intervene, he made it clear he would see it through to the end.
As a result, Heaven backed down once again.
Staring at the drifting clouds on the horizon, Monkey suddenly felt a little disappointed. He sighed, "If only Heaven would attack—how satisfying it would be to have a proper fight!"
"Don't celebrate too soon. Heaven won't let this go so easily," Anna Yang said, fiddling with her embroidery.
"I know they won't let it go, but I honestly didn't expect them to do absolutely nothing. The Jade Emperor can really endure."
"He can't do anything to you right now. Back then..."
At this, Anna Yang’s voice faltered. She lowered her head for a long moment before continuing, "If my mother had a junior brother like you, things might not have ended that way. In the end, having a Jade Emperor for a brother isn’t half as good as having a demon king for a junior brother. Life really is unpredictable."
Bathed in gentle sunlight, Anna Yang quietly focused on her embroidery, a hint of sadness in her posture.
Anna Yang lifted her head slightly, took a deep breath, and asked, "Do you really have to go?"
"Resurrect her, then marry her?"
Anna Yang’s lips curled slightly, but she couldn't quite smile. "Then why haven't you gone yet? While Heaven still fears you... Once the Jade Emperor regains his strength, it may be too late."
"I'm worried Heaven will make a move while I'm gone. And... Senior Brother Stillwater has been ordered to meditate in seclusion for three months before he's released," Monkey replied in a low voice.
"Oh." Anna Yang lowered her head and paused in silence, then said, "I wish you success in finding Canary."
After a while, Monkey made up an excuse and slipped away, leaving Anna Yang alone, sitting in silence and gazing up at the sky.
After a long time, she gently picked up the silk handkerchief embroidered with mandarin ducks, pursed her lips, and sighed, "If Canary comes back, the crow should leave, shouldn't it?"
At this moment, in the Underworld.
The one in red robes was Lord Fortune of Heaven; the one in black, twisted features clad in a dark python robe, was King Qin Guang, chief of the Ten Judges of the Underworld.