Honghuang: Creation of the Green Lotus, the beginning of the Three Pure Ones

Sun Wukong narrowed his golden eyes, sizing up the legendary Mighty Bull Demon King.

The Bull Demon King was a burly figure with a pair of curved bull horns that gleamed with a metallic sheen. His demonic power surged yet remained restrained, clearly indicating his considerable cultivation. But in his eyes, he was nothing special.

Sun Wukong found a rock, sat down in a grand manner, and looked at the Bull Demon King, saying, "I, Old Sun, have heard that Brother Bull is a man of great righteousness and have come here to make your acquaintance. I also wish to learn some strategies for leading troops."

A glint flashed in the Bull Demon King's eyes, and he laughed heartily, "Monkey King, you jest. I'm just a rough mountain man; how would I know anything about the art of commanding troops?"

"I've heard that the Monkey King has been training his troops on Flower Fruit Mountain recently, and it's quite a large-scale operation. He's already trained a powerful demon army."

Sun Wukong's lips curled slightly, a barely perceptible glint of sharpness flashing in his golden eyes. He lightly traced a line with his fingertip in front of him, and a golden light flashed, carving an exquisite array diagram on the ground.

"Brother Niu, please take a look. This is the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend Formation, a little trick I, Old Sun, learned from the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan of the Fire Cloud Cave. I wonder if it can fight against the Heavenly Army?"

Sun Wukong tapped his finger lightly, and starlight flowed in the array diagram, vaguely showing the momentum of thousands of troops galloping.

The Bull Demon King's pupils shrank sharply, and his heart was filled with shock. Although he was not knowledgeable in military strategy, he could tell that this formation was exquisite and beyond the reach of ordinary demons.

What shocked him even more was that Sun Wukong had so easily revealed this secret technique to others. This made the Bull Demon King somewhat uneasy.

After all, as the saying goes, the more you know, the more dangerous it is. Now that Sun Wukong has declared war on the Heavenly Court right in front of him, how can the Bull Demon King remain calm?

Left with no other choice, he could only gesture to Sun Wukong and say, "Old Niu really doesn't understand military strategy and tactics, so it's difficult for me to give the Monkey King any advice."

"However, Old Ox has some good wine here. If Monkey King doesn't mind, you can come into the cave with Old Ox. We won't leave until we're drunk tonight."

Sun Wukong smiled and nodded, then casually waved his hand, erasing the array diagram on the ground. He then followed the Bull Demon King into the Banana Cave.

After several rounds of drinks, the Bull Demon King tentatively asked, "I wonder if the Monkey King's training of troops is intended to make him a regional overlord of the demon race?"

Sun Wukong tilted his head back and drank the wine in his cup to the last drop, his eyes gleaming with golden light: "The Heavenly Court has gone too far in bullying my demon race. Not only did they seize my demon race's Heavenly Court, but they also killed countless of my demons."

"If given the chance, I, Old Sun, would naturally want to unify the demon race. Then I would lead my demon soldiers and generals to attack the Heavenly Court and reclaim the foundation of my demon race."

Upon hearing this, the temperature inside the cave plummeted. The Bull Demon King's wine cup trembled slightly, spilling a few drops of wine that landed on the table with a crisp sound.

Seeing the Bull Demon King's appearance, Sun Wukong couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He then directly said, "If Brother Bull is willing to lend me a hand, I would like to become sworn brothers with you."

At this moment, the Bull Demon King was extremely uneasy. Although he wanted to do something for the demon race, he couldn't help but feel discouraged when he thought about his cultivation level as a Taiyi Golden Immortal.

Finally, he sighed and said, "It's not that I, Old Niu, am unwilling to do my part for the demon race, but unfortunately, my cultivation level as a Taiyi Golden Immortal is probably not up to the task."

Sun Wukong downed the wine in his cup in one gulp, then patted the Bull Demon King on the shoulder and said, "As long as Brother Bull has the heart to do his best for the demon race, that's enough."

"As for Brother Niu's cultivation level, that's not important. After all, improving his cultivation level doesn't seem to be too difficult for Brother Niu."

"If I remember correctly, Brother Niu's elder brother is the mount of the Daoist Shangqing Tongtian Saint. His sister-in-law, Princess Rakshasa, is the daughter of the Netherworld Blood Sea Lord and the Styx Ancestor." "With such a background, wouldn't it be a matter of Brother Niu simply saying a word to improve his cultivation and acquire a few top-grade innate spiritual items?"

After being praised so highly by Sun Wukong, the Bull Demon King couldn't help but feel a little smug. However, thinking about how he had married Princess Rakshasa, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

He then said to Sun Wukong, "Monkey King, you may not know this, but although Old Bull's wife is the daughter of the Styx Ancestor, she eloped with Old Bull."

"If I were to actually meet the Styx Ancestor, he would surely tear me apart. Not to mention asking for any innate spiritual treasures."

Sun Wukong had been waiting for this very sentence from the Bull Demon King, so he spoke directly: "If I, Brother Bull, can help you mend the relationship between your wife and the Styx Ancestor, I wonder if you, Brother Bull, would be willing to lend me a hand?"

Upon hearing this, the Bull Demon King's eyes lit up. After all, this had been a knot in his heart for a long time, and he had even seen Princess Rakshasa weeping sadly more than once.

So he said directly, "Brother, if you can really accomplish this, I'll give you my life."

At this point, the Bull Demon King had changed his address to Sun Wukong from "Monkey King" to "Brother." This shows that the Bull Demon King was already interested.

Meanwhile, inside the Lingxiao Palace in Heaven, the Jade Emperor was discussing countermeasures with his celestial officials.

Venus, holding a whisk and frowning, bowed to the Jade Emperor and said, "If it is truly as the image shows, the fighting power of this monkey army is probably no less than that of the Yellow Emperor's personal guard."

"With the heavenly soldiers and generals of my Heavenly Court, the chances of winning in a head-on confrontation are not very high. However, if we win by sheer numbers, it is not a problem."

The Jade Emperor's face darkened, for if the Heavenly Court were to win by sheer numbers, its authority would be completely destroyed.

The Heavenly Court's influence in the Three Realms was already significantly diminished due to the Investiture of the Gods. If it has to overcome overwhelming odds to defeat a demon king, then the Heavenly Court will truly become a mere decoration.

The Jade Emperor's gaze swept over the assembled immortals in the hall. His expression darkened as he spoke, "What wise counsel do you, my esteemed ministers, possess?"

Marshal Tianpeng stepped forward and said, "I am willing to lead 100,000 heavenly soldiers down to the mortal realm to wipe out Flower Fruit Mountain in one fell swoop while it is still weak."

The Taoist Ran Deng immediately objected, saying, "Behind that monkey is not only the Fire Cloud Cave, but also the Azure Lotus Island. If our Heavenly Court rashly sends troops, I'm afraid the human race and the Azure Lotus Island will not stand idly by."

Although the Taoist Ran Deng was the Ziwei Emperor of the Heavenly Court, he commanded the Four Saints of the North Pole and millions of heavenly soldiers and generals.

However, not all of the Four Saints of the North Pole were his confidants. At the very least, Marshal Tianpeng was a confidant of the Jade Emperor. They had always outwardly obeyed but inwardly defied him.

The True Martial Emperor showed him no respect whatsoever, and had clearly become a separate force within the Heavenly Court.

Therefore, Daoist Ran Deng naturally did not want Marshal Tianpeng to gain merit through this opportunity. Otherwise, he would truly become a mere figurehead in the Heavenly Court's Ministry of War.

Furthermore, he was unaware that the Great Tribulation of Journey to the West was about to begin. He also didn't know that Sun Wukong was the chosen one for Journey to the West, so naturally he wanted to use Green Lotus Island and the human race to make the Jade Emperor hesitate to act. (End of Chapter)