Straining his wings, Skypride surged forward through the biting wind.
When the clouds finally parted, a vast and eerily strange fleet appeared before him.
The 'Yang' banner whipped in the wind, towering warships twisted like tangled roots looming ahead. The soldiers aboard wore Celestial Army uniforms and insignia, but each was a massive, many-limbed creature with green or brown skin—clearly not human.
Spotting Skypride Eagle's arrival, a squat, rotund plant spirit god hung himself from the mast with a vine and blew his whistle with all his might.
On deck, a wood-spirit god with tentacle-like whips for arms slowly shifted his bulk aside, clearing a path.
Skypride Eagle quickly lowered his altitude, gliding toward the flagship. Midair, he transformed into his demon form and landed steadily in the corridor the plant spirits had opened on the prow deck, dropping to one knee.
"Reporting, True Lord: The Third Saintess has led her army to seize Cloudrealm Sky Harbor... Of the Nine Star Generals of the Milky Way, all have died in battle except Marshal Silver, who is imprisoned in Heaven."
The moment these words left his mouth, a commotion erupted on deck.
"The Third Saintess wiped out the Milky Way navy?"
"Ka-ka-ka, that's fantastic news!"
Back then, Marshal Silver even wanted to challenge the True Lord. Forget the True Lord—just the Third Saintess alone wiped out his entire Milky Way navy!
The various plant-spirit gods, each with their own odd shapes, waved their weapons and cheered.
"Uh... I think the Milky Way navy is technically our ally now," a pumpkin plant spirit murmured.
But his voice was so soft that no one heard him at all.
Amid the jubilation, Erik Yang stood facing the wind, his brow furrowing slightly in faint astonishment.
Unexpected, yet not altogether surprising.
Erik Yang didn’t know all the details of Blossom Mountain’s strength, but he knew enough. Seizing Cloudrealm Sky Harbor as it stands today isn’t hard. But a hundred years ago, when his rebellious little sister left Crescent Star Cave with a monkey at her side, when that battered warship hijacked from the South Heaven Gate garrison carried eight or nine hundred defeated demon remnants to Blossom Mountain—who could have imagined this day would come?
He couldn’t help but smile wryly.
Others may not have known, but before the war at Blossom Mountain, he always thought she was just causing a little trouble to vent her frustrations. Maybe in a few days, when hope ran out, she’d obediently return to Crescent Star Cave.
But he was wrong.
The truth was, setting aside the demon monkey now trapped in Heaven, a hundred years had passed—and Yang Chan had become one of the foremost warlords in the Three Realms, commanding a million demon troops. Even the Guang River Estuary couldn’t compare to her might.
This proud woman had spent a century proving that, on the path of rebellion against Heaven, she could do better and go farther than her elder brother.
With a sister like this, Erik Yang truly didn’t know whether to worry or to feel proud—or perhaps a bit of both.
At the very least, Yang Chan had proven she was no longer the little girl who used to trail after her brother with a runny nose.
Taking a deep breath, Erik Yang asked softly, "Does she know I’m leading the army toward Blossom Mountain?"
"She should know."
"Should?"
"Judging by what I know of Blossom Mountain’s intelligence network, this must have been reported to the Third Saintess long ago."
Erik Yang’s eyes narrowed to slits. "What do you mean? She hasn’t returned to defend?"
Skypride Eagle dipped his head slightly and replied, "The Third Saintess is preparing to march on South Heaven Gate. The vanguard has already set out..."