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

The crisp sound of jade shattering rang out like a thunderclap in the deathly silent Lingxiao Palace, instantly tearing apart the oppressive atmosphere.

Countless gazes, filled with shock, astonishment, pity, or schadenfreude, all focused on the Curtain-Raising General beside the Jade Emperor's throne.

The burly general stiffened slightly. He subconsciously looked down at the mess on the ground, then suddenly looked up at the Jade Emperor on the throne.

At this moment, the Jade Emperor's face had become extremely gloomy, and his eyes were filled with boundless rage, as if he wanted to devour everything.

General Curtain-Roller wasn't afraid of punishment, but rather his heart was churning with turmoil: "Was that monkey really right? Could it be that His Majesty would really hold a grudge against me over a mere glass cup?"

The Jade Emperor, whose face was already as gloomy as water, slowly raised his gaze and landed on the Curtain-Raising General's face, which was filled with a sense of bewilderment and disbelief.

This sudden accident, like a sharp needle, pierced through the anger and resentment he had been suppressing because of the Tianpeng incident.

An inexplicable surge of anger welled up inside him. Tianpeng had made a colossal blunder, drawing criticism from the human sages and pressure from the dragon race.

He was at his wits' end and couldn't find a scapegoat, but this usually reliable and dependable bodyguard had committed such a grave act of disrespect at this critical juncture.

What was broken was not just a glass cup, but a further blow to the face of the Jade Emperor.

"Roller, do you know your crime?"

The Jade Emperor's voice was like the icy cold of the Netherworld sweeping across the Lingxiao Palace; every word carried a chilling killing intent.

The general hurriedly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I accidentally broke the glass cup. Please punish me."

Looking at the Curtain-Raising General kneeling before him, the Jade Emperor snorted and said, "I have treated you well, bestowing upon you the position of my personal guard. You have been diligent for thousands of years, yet you have been so negligent and lazy in return."

"Today you have behaved improperly before the Emperor, breaking the imperial cup, which is tantamount to deceiving the Emperor. You are hereby punished with a thousand hammer blows and banished to the Flowing Sand River to become a demon, suffering the torment of ten thousand arrows piercing your heart every seven days. Do you accept this punishment?"

This angry rebuke, carrying the supreme majesty of the Heavenly Court, struck the heart of the Curtain-Raising General like an invisible giant hammer.

His body trembled violently, and the last trace of color drained from his face. The words "deceive the emperor" weighed heavier than a thousand pounds, pressing down on the General who was pulling up the curtain, making it hard for him to catch his breath.

He has followed the Jade Emperor for thousands of years, remaining loyal and never slacking off in the slightest, yet now he is being accused of such a heinous crime.

What terrified him even more was the undisguised coldness and ruthlessness in the Jade Emperor's eyes.

There was not a trace of lingering affection for the past in his eyes, only a violent urge to find a scapegoat and quell the anger of all sides.

Sun Wukong's words echoed in his mind like a curse: "Break the glass goblet by accident, and you will be banished to the Flowing Sand River as a demon, to be pierced by ten thousand arrows every seven days..."

It turns out the monkey wasn't exaggerating. His Majesty would actually plunge himself into an abyss of no return for such a trivial matter.

Thousands of years of loyalty, in Your Majesty's eyes, are worth less than a single glass cup? How laughable is my loyalty!

A chilling, indignant feeling instantly swept over his entire body, and General Rolling Curtain felt a chill run through him, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, to express his loyalty, and to question His Majesty's heartlessness.

But his throat felt blocked, and he couldn't utter a single word. The immense sense of absurdity and the pain of utter betrayal caused his burly body to tremble slightly.

The immortals in the hall fell silent, trembling with fear. Taibai Jinxing opened his mouth, wanting to plead for mercy, but seeing the Jade Emperor's terrifying expression, as if a storm was brewing, he swallowed his words. Everyone could see that the Jade Emperor was venting all his pent-up rage—the anger stemming from Tianpeng's misdeeds—on General Juanlian, who had walked right into his trap.

This unfortunate curtain is likely to become the first casualty in quelling the emperor's anger and saving face for the Heavenly Court.

Little did people know that the Jade Emperor's punishment of the Curtain-Raising General was not a momentary act of anger. Rather, it was an attempt to use this opportunity to demote the Curtain-Raising General from Heaven, thus preparing for the future eastward transmission of Buddhism.

Unfortunately, his approach was too extreme; he never considered whether General Rolling Curtain could accept it.

The Golden Warrior stepped forward and escorted General Curtain-Rolling out of the Lingxiao Palace. From beginning to end, General Curtain-Rolling never resisted.

Because at this moment, his heart was dead, and he had put an end to his foolish loyalty. He even had thoughts of ending his own life.

Just as General Curtain Roller was being escorted out of the Lingxiao Palace, a gust of wind swept through the palace, carrying away the two golden warriors along with them, disappearing before the palace's gates.

This inevitably startled the heavenly soldiers and generals guarding outside the Lingxiao Palace, who hurriedly reported the news to the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor was furious upon hearing this and was about to send men to capture the escaped Curtain-Raising General when someone else stormed into the Lingxiao Palace.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong, has used his mountain-moving magic to move the entire Peach Garden down from Heaven."

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor flew into a rage and immediately summoned the Haotian Mirror. The mirror showed a scene of Sun Wukong carrying peaches from the Peach Garden.

With his current saintly cultivation, the Jade Emperor could easily snatch the Peach Garden back from Sun Wukong in the blink of an eye, but he would not do so.

After all, what he wanted was for Sun Wukong to commit a serious mistake, and then he would force Sun Wukong to wreak havoc in the Heavenly Court in order to achieve his goal of reorganizing the Heavenly Court's power.

As for the Peach Garden that Sun Wukong had taken away, the Jade Emperor had no worries whatsoever. After all, he could retrieve it at any time if he wanted to.

So he directly said, "True Martial Emperor, you shall immediately lead your troops to Flower Fruit Mountain to capture the demon monkey."

"The Nine Luminaries, the Twenty-Eight Constellations, the Twelve Earthly Branches..."

Subsequently, the Jade Emperor selected a group of divine generals to follow the True Martial Emperor to the mortal realm to subdue demons.

In an instant, the entire Heavenly Court was in motion, but the Taoist Ran Deng, who was the chief officer of the Heavenly Court's Ministry of War, became the most leisurely one.

However, Daoist Ran Deng was not upset by this. On the contrary, he felt that this was an excellent opportunity for him to completely control the Ministry of War of the Heavenly Court.

After all, if Zhenwu the Great returned empty-handed, the Jade Emperor would have no choice but to send troops. At that time, with his connections in the Chan Sect and the Western Buddhist sects, dealing with Sun Wukong would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?

Even though his true spirit was on the Investiture of the Gods, the Jade Emperor dared not do anything to him. After all, as long as he had troops, he was essentially qualified to challenge the Jade Emperor.

Ultimately, it was because the Taoist Ran Deng underestimated the Jade Emperor. After all, very few people knew that the Jade Emperor had already attained sainthood.

If the Daoist Ran Deng knew that the Jade Emperor had already attained sainthood, his petty thoughts would probably be completely buried.

Even if they weren't completely obedient to the Jade Emperor, they would at least have to lie low on Ziwei Star. How could they dare to even think of challenging the Jade Emperor? (End of Chapter)