In the cramped cabin of the flagship of the Heavenly River Fleet, stationed in North Julu Continent, a celestial soldier recited intelligence from a jade tablet while another soldier, hunched over the desk, carefully transcribed every word onto a bamboo scroll.
Soon, the recording soldier handed the completed bamboo scroll to a nearby celestial officer.
The officer glanced down at the scroll, rolled it up, and strode swiftly out of the cabin. He stepped onto the deck, hurried through the ranks, and knelt behind Marshal Silver, presenting the scroll.
"Marshal, urgent war reports have arrived from Eastrealm."
Marshal Silver did not turn around.
General Trent, standing nearby, immediately took the report and glanced at it, then said, "The South Heaven Gate has begun its assault on Blossom Mountain. Prince Nathan led the vanguard in single combat against the Handsome Monkey King of Blossom Mountain, but was defeated. General Lee has now entered the fray himself."
"What?" General Helper, standing on the other side, quickly took the report from Trent, scanned it, and his face showed shock. "It seems our calculations were correct."
Marshal Silver still did not turn, his expression unchanged as he continued to watch the fleet’s grand maneuvers ahead.
Everything was as expected—now, it was merely confirmation.
When it came to intelligence gathering, the Heavenly River Fleet’s capabilities far surpassed those of the South Heaven Gate. In fact, they even rivaled Heaven’s own specialized intelligence bureau, the Celestial Surveillance Office.
Earlier, they had already received intelligence about a midnight battle at Blossom Mountain. Based on the analysis at the time, one side was the newly risen demon king of Blossom Mountain—the Handsome Monkey King; the other was likely Prince Nathan of the South Heaven Gate.
The fight ended without a clear victor, but according to the intelligence gathered then, the Handsome Monkey King’s strength was roughly equal to Prince Nathan’s.
Though the true strength hidden within Blossom Mountain was hard to gauge, if the Handsome Monkey King was on par with Prince Nathan, then a full-scale assault by the South Heaven Gate should have been enough to secure victory.
But then, a tsunami in the Eastern Sea drew the Heavenly River Fleet’s attention.
As for the tsunami and the two unexpected rainfalls at Blossom Mountain that followed, the Fleet discreetly investigated through other channels. The Eastern Sea Dragon Palace offered unofficial explanations—plausible enough on the surface. Yet the Fleet never overlooked any clue, listing every possible scenario for later review.
One possibility was this: the tsunami was not, as claimed by the Dragon Palace, a mere accident, but the result of some upheaval within the palace itself—very likely connected to Blossom Mountain. Thus, when Blossom Mountain began cultivating farmland, those two timely rains occurred.
There was a chance that the Eastern Sea Dragon King had colluded with the Handsome Monkey King, but more likely, the Monkey King had seized leverage over the Dragon King. Judging by the timeline, it was probably related to that tsunami.
To investigate, the Fleet sent agents directly to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. Despite the palace’s strict cover-up and unified official story, they uncovered one critical clue—the Ocean Pillar Rod was missing!
What was the Ocean Pillar Rod?
A quick search through Heaven’s archives made its nature perfectly clear. Its disappearance was no trivial matter. Aside from measuring the depth of the seas, what else could it do?