The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

Despite an affirmative answer from Kunpeng, Taiyi replied coldly, "I know what you are brewing, Kunpeng. Now leave a split of your Original Spirit and put it in the Demon Summoning Banner, cause that’s the only way we can trust you." In the blink of an eye, a yellow gourd, the Demon Summoning Banner of Goddess Nv Wa, showed itself in his hand.

Such words threw Kunpeng into a fury. He exclaimed in anger, "Don’t push me so far. You just want to have me completely at your mercy!" Kunpeng valued his Original Spirit over everything else, and allowing others to control his destiny was the last thing that he would do.

"Are you sure about that? You’d better think twice and figure out everything before the final decision," said Taiyi in a cold tone, playing with the transformed Bell of Chaos and intensely releasing his supernatural power. Emperor Jun standing beside still wore a smile on his face, but his menace intent was rather obvious though.

Feeling the adverse situation on his own, Kunpeng handed out a split of his Original Spirit reluctantly, which was sucked into the Demon Summoning Banner in an instant. His half-healed injury became even worse now. Anger was sowed and rooted in his mind. He now bore grudges against Taiyi, Emperor Jun, and even Goddess Nvywa, who had pushed him into dire desperation by lending out her Demon Summoning Banner.

Kunpeng’s obedience made Emperor Jun much happier. "Our Fellow Taoist Kunpeng knows exactly what’s the right thing to do. Since it’s not far from your place, I will escort you back with Taiyi." Emperor Jun smiled, handing out a Top Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure and said, "Here is what I’ve promised you before, and I hope you Fellow Taoist will kindly accept it."

That Top Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure from Emperor Jun made Kunpeng feel better. After all that had happened, Kun Peng refused to stand on ceremony, and took the Primordial Spiritual Treasure instantly, which, however, did not in the slightest degree quench his anger.

As soon as they reached the Northern Underworld, Emperor Jun announced in public the admission of Kunpeng to the Heavenly Court, after which, Kunpeng joined the Heavenly Court. Presently, the majority of the Demon Tribe in the Northern Underworld was taken to the Heavenly Court, with a few left to guard the Northern Underworld.

Though overwhelmed by sullenness, Kunpeng couldn’t, or rather dared not, contradict Emperor Jun, since Emperor Jun still had his Original Spirit in hand. "Fortunately, Foundation remains there in the Northern Underworld. Besides, nobody would be courageous enough to go to the Northern Underworld, regardless of how little cultivation these remaining members in the Demon Tribe had," Kunpeng told himself.

Hundreds of millions of Demon Tribe members in the Northern Underworld joined the Heavenly court, thus leading to a roar in its strength. As damages caused during the war against the Wu Tribe and the Demon Tribe were more than made up, all the Demon Tribe members, except Kunpeng, were in extremely high spirits.

Kunpeng saw himself more dead than alive now that his Original Spirit was still in others’ control, which eclipsed his earlier failure to secure the Hong Meng Immortal Qi. The thought of all his hard-earned power and previous efforts going to waste threw him again in the fiery pits of agitation. Now, the only thing haunting his mind was to get back his Original Spirit. After all, he was not a man of long-term subjection.

Anyway, Emperor Jun was well satisfied. The last thing that worried him was the Hong Meng Immortal Qi. Last time, he tried in vain to get that from Hongyun, only to get involved in the war against the Wu Tribe, which led to a sacrifice of over 10 billion casualties.

Strength being restored on the part of the Demon Tribe, Emperor Jun began to reset his eyes on the Hong Meng Immortal Qi. Within the Divine Wind Palace was a crowd gathering of Sacred Demons, Emperor Jun, Taiyi, and Kunpeng, the new face invited. Goddess NvyWa, however, failed to present herself this time, as she was engaged in enlightenment for the Hong Meng Immortal Qi

"To all of you present, I want to make clear that there is one thing urgent—we have to secure the Hong Meng Immortal Qi in whatever way possible. It is now in the hands of Ancestor Minghe and I want it back. Any advice from your side?"

Kunpeng broke the silence. "What Emperor Jun said is more than truth. If we managed to get the Hong Meng Immortal Qi from Minghe, we would have two Sages, and we would fear nothing. Speaking of the last Sage, who else is more competent to have the honor, if not Emperor Jun, the King of Demons?" he said enthusiastically and passionately.

His sudden support for Emperor Jun, however, cast doubts among the Sacred Demons. Ever since he was forced to join the Heavenly Court and handed out a split of his Original Spirit, Kunpeng had been cold to Emperor Jun and Taiyi, yet what he said was quite the opposite. All else present found it odd.

What Kunpeng had said did make sense. If Emperor Jun was titled Sage, there would be two Sages in the Demon Tribe. In that case, ideally, the Demon Tribe would never be in fear, even if the Wu Tribe called the Real Entity of Pangu.

As an Advisor of the Demon Tribe, Ji Meng saw more than the possible backfire, and therefore recommended, "I don’t think it’s adaptable, Your Majesty." Such words, as soon as they were said, drew all else’s attention over. Emperor Jun’s face also changed color, apparently resentful.

Regardless of all the skeptical looks around, he continued, "Your Majesty, Ancestor Minghe has the power next to only a Sage. To defeat him might take something special, and that should be the Cosmic Stars Formation. Yet Honourable Ancestor had warned that there couldn’t be another war in at least 10,000 years, and Demons shall rule the Heaven, while the Wu Tribe shall govern the Earth.

"If we gather the forces and headed for the Blood Sea now, the Wu Tribe is very likely to take it as an excuse and declare another war, which is the last thing we want. Besides, it is against the will of Honourable Ancestor." After his words, the crowd became silent again.

Ji Meng continued, "Though Ancestor Minghe has only a disciple and a mount with him in the Blood Sea, you should never forget the saying: ’Minghe will never die until the last drop of the Blood Sea is dry’. And don’t forget that he owns 480 million Clones of Blood God Avatars. So narrow is our chance of victory, we shall evade conflicts with Ancestor Minghe, spare our efforts and try instead to figure out a way against the Wu Tribe. By the time Your Majesty becomes the governor of Heaven and Earth, you can easily make use of Untainted Land’s Luck and get the Fruit of Origin."

Emperor Jun knew more than what Ji Meng meant. Minghe seldom showed his power in Untainted Land, yet with more and more people pouring to the Blood Sea for Spiritual Products or Blood of Essence from Divine Beasts, rumors about his great power began to spread. Some of these are made intentionally as a deterrence against outsiders. After all, Minghe didn’t want unexpected visits of all kinds.

Though reluctant to give up, he had no better way out. Minghe had power beyond his imagination. He wouldn’t give up if he could make the Cosmic Stars Formation by the Demon Tribe, but now he could do nothing but face the reality.

"What Ji Meng has said did make sense. The Demon Tribe is weaker than the Wu Tribe, not to mention the great weapon, the Real Entity of Pangu, that the Wu Tribe has secured recently. If we are to make Minghe our enemy now, the Demon Tribe might be completely crushed." Emperor Jun, as the head of the Demon Tribe, weighed all things clearly in mind.

That Emperor Jun tended to back out dampened Kunpeng. Of course, he understood Ji Meng’s points well and that was the reason why he made that proposal. Now his scheme was seen through, there seemed no hope left. Kunpeng actually wanted to see Emperor Jun suffer a crushing defeat.

Kunpeng never had faith in Emperor Jun. Without the Cosmic Stars Formation and the Demon Tribe, Emperor Jun was far weaker than Minghe, even counting in Taiyi and senior members of the Demon Tribe. If flared up, it was not impossible that he destroyed them all. By that time, the Demon Tribe would be scattered headless sheep, which Kunpeng could naturally take advantage of.

Unfortunately, Kunpeng’s plan to "kill with a borrowed knife" failed. He had to drop it for a while. After all, there would be more opportunities in the future. All he had to do now was to wait in the Heavenly Court, biding his time for the opportunity of revenge.

Emperor Jun had a headache from the thought of dealing with the Wu Tribe. The Real Entity of Pangu was so powerful that the Cosmic Stars Formation could not resist. Now he could only hope Goddess Nvywa became a Sage sooner, so that the Demon Tribe could have its corresponding rise as well.

However, on the other hand, he was afraid that once Nvywa became a Sage, the present situation would turn against him. Now, as the leader of the Demon Tribe, and with Taiyi as his blood brother, he was highly respected by all the members. Besides, Royal Fuxi, Royal Nv Wa, and Demon Master all governed nominally without real power, so Emperor Jun alone seized all the powers of the Demon Tribe.

It was universally known about the great power of a Sage. Once she became the first Sage in the Demon Tribe, Goddess Nvywa would imaginably be highly positioned. What Emperor Jun and Taiyi had gotten was by no means comparable with that of a Sage. What worried Emperor Jun most was whether Goddess Nvywa would overthrow his reign.

Goddess Nvywa was fully engaged in cultivation at present, showing the least interest in the Wu Tribe affairs. Yet things could change, and the more powerful one was, the more ambitious one would become. As a royal, Emperor Jun would have never wanted his authority challenged, and yet Goddess Nvywa becoming a Sage was the only way to deal with the Real Entity of Pangu, so he could not stop her, for the sake of the Demon Tribe. And that was exactly what Emperor Jun was obsessed with.