I Am King Zhou, Human Emperor!

But after that ancient battle, Demon Master Kunpeng vanished without a trace—whether he fell or went into hiding, no one could say.

By the present era, with the rise of the human race, the Demon Race's living space had been steadily compressed.

The Northern Sea was vast and boundless, but it was a bitter, cold land, sparsely visited by men, and so it gradually became a lair for the remnants of the Demon Race.

The most famous among them was the Jiao Demon King, who was said to have cultivated for many years with no mean skill, and had long entrenched himself in the Northern Sea.

Of course, this was only what lay on the surface; no one knew how many ancient great demons still lurked within the vast Northern Sea.

It was simply that the great demons surviving from the ancient era rarely showed themselves anymore, which was why the Jiao Demon King had been able to rise to fame.

"If I could subdue the Jiao Demon King directly, I wonder if the rebellion in the Northern Sea would be quelled," Zi Shou said.

For him, this was naturally no difficult matter—not when Kong Xuan was right by his side.

Let alone a mere Jiao Demon King, even if Demon Master Kunpeng were to reappear in the world, it would be hard to say who was stronger between him and Kong Xuan.

Otherwise, with his current strength, how would he dare to personally venture into the Northern Sea?

"Master, rest assured. Isn't it just the Jiao Demon King? I'll go capture him right now!" Nezha said, lifting his head with an arrogant air.

A three-year-old child holding his head high, his face full of defiance—the sight was truly somewhat ridiculous.

But few knew that this three-year-old child already possessed no small amount of strength.

In just over ten days, Nezha had already cultivated to the Sixth Heaven of Immortal Platform, the Great Saint Realm.

Though still within the Human Dao Domain, for a three-year-old child, it was still astonishing.

"Don't rush. A mere Jiao Demon King isn't worth our effort," Zi Shou said with a smile.

Ever since arriving in the Northern Sea, Nezha had stayed by his side, ostensibly for the convenience of teaching.

But in his own heart, he knew that after Taiyi Zhenren's defeat, he would certainly not let the matter rest.

In this Northern Sea, he would have to face not only the remnants of the Demon Race but very likely the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chanjiao as well.

Zi Shou's guess was entirely correct. Taiyi Zhenren was indeed unwilling to let the matter of his disciple being snatched away rest.

While he was heading to the Northern Sea, Taiyi Zhenren went to Yu Xu Palace on Kunlun Mountain to discuss the matter with the other Chanjiao Golden Immortals.

"That King Zhou dares to treat my Chanjiao with such contempt?" Guang Chengzi said angrily.

All the Chanjiao Golden Immortals showed anger on their faces; they were all indignant at Taiyi Zhenren's plight.

After all, Taiyi Zhenren was a Chanjiao Golden Immortal. How could a mere mortal emperor dare to treat a Chanjiao Golden Immortal like this?

Even in the ancient era, when Human Sovereign Xuanyuan met a Chanjiao Golden Immortal, he would treat them with courtesy.

For instance, Guang Chengzi had once been the teacher of Emperor Xuanyuan Huangdi, and still held a lofty position among the human race to this day.

And now, King Zhou had not only humiliated Taiyi Zhenren but also stolen his disciple.

Was this an insult to Taiyi Zhenren? No! This was a slap in the face of their Chanjiao!

It was utterly outrageous!

"The senior brother is right. King Zhou is benighted and unjust, and now he dares to bully even our Chanjiao. He deserves death ten thousand times over!" Jù Liúsūn echoed.

One by one, the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chanjiao spoke up, all saying how rude King Zhou was, but not one of them said how to deal with him.

None of them were fools; they all knew that King Zhou was the current Human Sovereign. Even if they wanted to punish him, they had no way to do so.

"Enough! It's useless to say these things now. For the time being, the priority is to take back Junior Brother Taiyi's disciple!" Guang Chengzi said in a deep voice.

Even though he had once been a teacher to a Human Sovereign, facing the current Human Sovereign, he was equally helpless.

The other Chanjiao Golden Immortals all nodded. No matter what King Zhou did, Taiyi Zhenren's disciple was the most important thing.

That was not just an ordinary child; he was also one of the key figures of destiny in this Canonization of the Gods, and would be of great use in the future.

Losing one key figure of destiny was a small matter, but if it affected the future Canonization, that would be a catastrophe.

"King Zhou has a powerful expert by his side. I don't know his origin, but his strength is terrifyingly great," Taiyi Zhenren said.

Even now, he still didn't truly understand how he had been defeated; no matter how he thought about it, it seemed inexplicable.

But precisely because of this, it only highlighted the terror of that mysterious expert even more.

"Hmph! No matter how strong he is, what of it? Let's all go to Chaoge City together!" Guang Chengzi said disdainfully.

All the Chanjiao Golden Immortals nodded, their faces full of contempt, not taking it seriously at all.

Their Chanjiao was the orthodox lineage of a Sage; they were disciples of a Sage. Who could they possibly fear?

But the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chanjiao were destined for disappointment, because before they could set out, they learned that King Zhou had launched an Imperial Expedition.

However, upon learning that King Zhou had gone to the Northern Sea, the Twelve Golden Immortals of Chanjiao exchanged glances, their expressions turning somewhat grave.

To them, the Northern Sea was also an extremely important place.

With the army's morale restored, Zhang Guifang once again led the troops to campaign against the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea.

Originally, according to his plan, he should have advanced step by step, steadily compressing the living space of the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea.

When the time was ripe, he could achieve victory in a single stroke, making the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea a thing of history.

This is the safest approach, and also the most sensible one. The only issue, perhaps, is that it would take too much time.

According to his calculations, it would take three years to completely pacify the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea.

But what he never expected was that The King would personally issue an edict, ordering him to dispatch troops as soon as possible to suppress the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea.

Without even bothering to marshal the main army, he immediately went to see The King in person, laying out the pros and cons.

"What you say, my minister, makes much sense, but since Imperial We has launched an Imperial Expedition, how could Imperial We waste three years in the North Sea?" Zi Shou said.

If he spent three years in the North Sea, not to mention whether all the great lords under heaven would rebel, even Zhaoge would likely descend into chaos.

Moreover, this was a critical moment for the Three-Year Development Plan—how could he linger long in the North Sea?

He came to the North Sea only to fish; once the fish took the bait, he naturally had to return to Zhaoge at once.

However, before leaving the North Sea, the rebellion of the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea had to be quelled.

Riding on the momentum of a great victory to suppress the rebellious lords would also save considerable time.

"My King, you absolutely must not do this! The Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea are no ordinary foes—do not take them lightly!" Zhang Guifang said.

In his view, The King was clearly chasing vainglory; this matter simply could not be rushed.

If one misstep occurred, it would no longer be a question of whether they could suppress the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea, but whether they would suffer a crushing defeat.

The last great defeat was still fresh in memory; if it happened again, the situation in the North Sea would likely spiral into total ruin.

"Hmph! Say no more, my minister. Imperial We has his own plans. You need only lead the army and act according to Imperial We's instructions!" Zi Shou said.

Perhaps in Zhang Guifang's eyes, he was chasing vainglory and thus issuing reckless commands.

He naturally knew that completely quelling the rebellion of the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea was no overnight task.

But there were some things he would not reveal to Zhang Guifang in advance; after all, one must first deceive one's own people before deceiving the enemy.

Zhang Guifang wanted to remonstrate further, but seeing The King's stern gaze, he could only let out a helpless sigh.

"I hope last time was just an accident. If it happens again, the consequences would truly be unimaginable," Zhang Guifang thought to himself.

Though the plan had been completely disrupted, The King had already issued his decree. No matter how unwilling he was, Zhang Guifang could only grit his teeth and march out.

Fortunately, the strength of the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea was not particularly great; achieving some results in a short time was not too difficult.

"Who stands behind the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea? I'll find out soon enough," Zi Shou thought to himself.

His urgency in ordering Zhang Guifang to strike was simply to see who was backing the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea.

If he could eliminate the hidden threat behind them, the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea would no longer be worth fearing.

At that point, he could leave Zhang Guifang behind to clean up, and he himself would no longer need to stay in the North Sea.

"Master, I want to join the army on the expedition too!" Nezha suddenly jumped out and said.

He had a restless nature; now that he had achieved some cultivation success, he had long wanted to test his own strength.

"Don't worry! There will be a time for you to act!" Zi Shou said to him.

He was actually a bit envious of Nezha's cultivation speed. In just a few days, Nezha had already reached the Quasi-Emperor realm.

In probably a few more days, Nezha would likely Prove Dao and Become Emperor—this was much faster than his own cultivation speed back then.

But there was no helping it; Nezha was not only a protagonist of fate, but his origins were also far from ordinary.

In his past life, Nezha was an attendant of Goddess Nüwa, taught by a Sage, and had cultivated for many years, already possessing considerable cultivation.

It was only because of the Canonization of the Gods that he answered the tribulation and reincarnated into the human race, destined to become one of the protagonists of fate in this Canonization.

Blessed by the fate of heaven and earth, and bearing the fruits of his past life's Dao, it would truly be strange if Nezha's cultivation speed were slow.

However, because of him, Nezha's fate trajectory had already changed. He wondered what Goddess Nüwa would think of this.

"It seems I still need to find a way to appease the anger in Goddess Nüwa's heart," Zi Shou thought to himself.

His desecration of Goddess Nüwa in the Nüwa Temple was an obstacle he could never get past, but he had to overcome it.