Ji Meng said, "Many of the powerful warriors of the Demon Tribe have gone into hiding. The Wu Tribe has the greatest influence in Untainted Land now. We can either sincerely invite them to join us or pressure them into joining, and then reward them enough to stay."
"Take Thunder God at the Thunder Marsh for example. He was converted from a Thunder Beast and has an aggressive nature. If His Majesty Taiyi pressures him and promises him with a primordial spiritual treasure, he'll definitely serve the Heavenly Court." A primordial spiritual treasure was a great temptation to Individual Cultivators like Thunder God who would have a hard time getting one otherwise.
Emperor Jun frowned and spoke after a short silence. "I'll instantly reward a primordial spiritual treasure to each Sage-to-be that joins the Heavenly Court. I won't mistreat you Sacred Demons either. If you make contributions, you're also entitled to one." These Sacred Demons must be given equal treatment because they had been following him for a long time.
The Sacred Demons were excited as some of them do not even have a primordial spiritual treasure. Though they have not reached the level of separation, they could still keep the treasure for protection. There were still some primordial spiritual treasures left in the warehouse of the Demon Tribe. Though they were mostly low-grade ones, they still hoped to get one. But nevertheless, it was not enough for all of them. Emperor Jun could only reward them based on contribution.
Emperor Jun was completely on board with Ji Meng's plan. However, Ji Meng looked like he was hesitating to speak just as everyone was buoyed with happiness. Emperor Jun asked, "Do you have anything to add, Ji Meng?" Whatever that made Ji Meng frown cannot be anything good.
Hearing Emperor Jun's words, Ji Meng replied. "There's a person who greatly benefits our Demon Tribe if you can convince him to join us. Not only will we have a great warrior in our hands, we can also increase our speed in conquering Untainted Land and Four Seas. This way, the power of the Heavenly Court will be greatly increased."
"Who's that person?" Emperor Jun asked. Ji Meng spat out two words with great difficulty. "Kunpeng." Everyone in the Divine Wind Palace fell into silence. Even Taiyi, who had been distracted all day, glanced at Ji Meng. Emperor Jun's expression changed.
Few mentioned Kunpeng at the Heavenly Court, not because he was of poor reputation, but precisely because he was well-regarded in the Demon Tribe. His reputation made him the thorn in Emperor Jun's side. Though Emperor Jun was the one who united the Demon Tribe, there was someone who enjoyed a similar reputation as he was. How could he be happy?
...
There was a fish with large scales at the Northern Underworld, whose name was Kun. It was uncountable miles long. When it transformed into a bird, its name was changed into Peng. The bird was also of uncountable miles long. When it flew away in anger, its wing was like a cloud in the sky. This ancient text that many had heard of was a description of Kunpeng.
Kunpeng was born at sea in the boundless Northern Underworld, where it was deep and dark without any sunshine. Kunpeng regarded the sea of Northern Underworld as his base and ran it well. Unlike Fuxi and Goddess Nvywa at Mount Buzhou, he not only had strength but also ambition.
Everything had to be explained from the beginning at the first sermon at Zixiao Palace. Thanks to his quick speed, Kunpeng managed to snatch a cushion seat, but eventually lost the fated chance when Hongyun gave up his seat. This prompted him to think about where the problem was.
Kunpeng was already at the peak level of the Daluo Golden Immortal then with considerable strength, but why did no one help him? In the end, he finally understood it was a matter of influence and reputation. There were five of them in front, but it was he that Zhunti chose. Was it really because he was one of the Demon Tribe?
Of course not. Three Pure Ones were converted from the Original Spirit of Pangu and enjoyed high reputation in Untainted Land after the first catastrophe of Longhan. No one dared to offend them because they were completely united. Goddess Nvywa's strength was not bad and she was also a woman. Zhunti was naturally embarrassed to snatch her seat. But what did Kunpeng have?
Without reputation, influence, or support from others, he was the most obvious choice for Zhunti. If it was Emperor Jun sitting there, would Zhunti even dare to ask? If he really asked, would Emperor Jun really give his seat off? Would Taiyi and the Sacred Demons agree?
From that moment on, an ambitious seed was planted in Kunpeng's heart and sprouted one day. He took advantage of the expansion of Wu and Demon Tribes and quietly housed some Demon Tribesmen that suppressed by the Wu Tribe. Over the 3,000 years since the first sermon, Kunpeng had housed more than one billion Demon tribesmen in the Northern Underworld sea.
These tribesmen were not particularly strong, but given careful guidance, they would grow into a considerable force in Untainted Land. Besides, how could mere one billion tribesmen occupy the vast Northern Underworld sea? Moreover, his sea was near the North Sea. With the limited power the Dragon Tribe had, they would probably have a little reaction even if some of those tribesmen occupy their sea.
After the second sermon, the Heavenly Court was created and the Demon Tribe migrated there. Due to the actions of the Wu Tribe, there were still ten billion tribesmen remaining in Untainted Land. To be precise, they were abandoned by Emperor Jun. Kunpeng took the opportunity to rescue billions of Demon tribesmen from the hands of the Wu Tribe.
So far, there were no less than 30 billion Demon tribesmen in the Northern Underworld sea. Kunpeng knew how to pick the talented ones out. He reorganized the Way of Great Way he learned in Zixiao Palace and taught them to the tribesmen in his sea. Furthermore, the tribesmen were able to recuperate and enhance their strength without the disturbance from the Wu Tribe.
If this was all Kunpeng had done, Emperor Jun would naturally not find him a pain. But he did something that made Emperor Jun worry about his existence. That was why Emperor Jun's expression changed when Ji Meng proposed Kunpeng's recruitment.
In Untainted Land, the Spiritual Inheritance of transforming exercises were all recorded in the Taoist characters. They were also the characters for the Way of Heaven and understood by everyone in Untainted Land. The condition was they had to be in the Realm of the Veridical Immortal. Though the 3,600 Enlightenment Tablets Minghe refined were written in the Taoist characters, the tablets used as a Postcelestial Spiritual Treasure could directly instill transforming exercises in the mind.
However, the size of the Demon Tribe was enormous with more than 100 billion tribesmen. No one knew how long it would take to instill the transforming exercises in them. Furthermore, Minghe had recovered the Enlightenment Tablets in case his special refining approaches were revealed to others after the first catastrophe of Longhan. They were embedded with some merits and Luck due to the teaching of transforming exercises to the Hundred Tribes of Untainted Land. Minghe did not want to leave them outside.
This was why, despite its size, the Demon Tribe was incomparable with the Wu Tribe. The Wu Tribe also cultivated only one transforming exercise, Pangu's Nine Cycles Arcane Techniques. The Great Divinity Pangu also left them a Spiritual Inheritance recorded in the Wu characters.
Characters were the core Spiritual Inheritance of a tribe. The Wu Tribe had theirs, yet the Demon Tribe did not. Recognizing the importance of the Talisman Spiritual Inheritance, Kunpeng went into the Closed Door Meditation for thousands of years and eventually developed a set of characters for the Demon Tribe.
When the Demon characters were born, clouds hung over Untainted Land and Heaven rewarded merit to Kunpeng, helping him to drive the Good separation. Although the treasure he used was a Mid Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure, this made Kunpeng a top expert in Untainted Land and improved the Luck of the Demon Tribe.
After creating the Demon characters, Kunpeng's name naturally became known throughout Untainted Land. His status rose rapidly in the Demon Tribe. The strength of the Northern Underworld sea expanded greatly after the Demon Tribesmen from Untainted Land and Four Seas sought refuge there. Someone even called him Demon Master and his influence was comparable to Emperor Jun.
Emperor Jun was naturally worried about such Kunpeng with his power, fame, stature, and high reputation as Demon Master among the tribesmen in the Heavenly Court. No one would believe that Kunpeng was not an ambitious man.
But what Ji Meng said was indeed right. If Kunpeng was willing to join the Heavenly Court, it would bring them great advantages. Firstly, with another Secondary Stage Sage-to-be with them, it would be easier to fight the Twelve Ancestors of Sorcery. Secondly, Kunpeng was wise enough to make plans to defeat the Wu Tribe in the future.
Thirdly, the Demon Tribe at Northern Underworld had great power. If Kunpeng joined the Heavenly Court, their power would rise by combining their tribes together. Fourthly, As Kunpeng had great prestige as Demon Master in Untainted Land, the Heavenly Court could use him to recruit the tribesmen of the Wu Tribe and the top Individual Cultivators in Untainted Land.
Though one stone could kill all four birds, some risks still existed. If they could not recruit Kunpeng, it would affect the prestige of Emperor Jun and the Demon Tribe at Heavenly Court. Even if Kunpeng joined them, such an ambitious man would not be willing to serve other people. Thus his stay in the Heavenly Court would also make Emperor Jun insecure.