He naturally did not dare to be negligent and prepared to wholeheartedly promote this cultivation method throughout the army.
After making all the necessary arrangements and leaving Zhang Guifang to handle the aftermath in the North Sea, Zi Shou formally led the army back to court.
At the same time, news of the North Sea battle was spreading through the Great Shang Territory at astonishing speed, throwing the lords of the realm into turmoil.
"I heard that quite a few lords have rebelled, yet at a time like this, the King went to the North Sea!"
"There weren't many rebellious lords at first, and the regional commanders were responsible for suppressing them. Who would have thought the situation would actually grow worse and worse?"
"If this continues, more and more lords will rebel. The realm is bound to descend into chaos!"
To the people of Chaoge City, the rebellion of the feudal lords had long since ceased to be a secret.
Over the past month, it had even become a popular topic of conversation over tea and after meals.
The Great Shang had eight hundred feudal lords. Including some of the smaller ones, their number already exceeded a thousand.
At first, there had been very few rebellious lords, and they had all been minor lords with extremely limited strength.
With the regional commanders suppressing them, these minor lords should originally have found it difficult to cause any trouble.
But at this time, the King had stubbornly insisted on personally leading an expedition and gone to the North Sea.
With the King no longer stationed in Chaoge City, the situation throughout the Great Shang Territory suddenly became delicate.
To make matters worse, the rebellious lords who should have been swiftly suppressed were somehow still alive and well.
Not only were they alive and well, but it was said that several regional commanders had even suffered defeats while attacking them.
The King had personally led an expedition to the North Sea, and the rebellious lords had not been suppressed. The situation in the Great Shang Territory immediately took a sharp turn for the worse.
Some lords who had already harbored discontent suddenly saw an opportunity and raised the banners of rebellion one after another.
Two or three routes of lords rebelled today, and five or six routes tomorrow. It had already become an entirely ordinary occurrence.
For a time, it seemed as though all the lords in the realm had rebelled, causing an uproar throughout the entire Great Shang.
If not for Grand Tutor Wen holding down Chaoge City and directing affairs with calm assurance, even the hearts of Chaoge's people would probably have fallen into chaos.
But clearly, many people realized that if things continued this way, the situation would only grow worse.
Especially at this time, unfavorable rumors had begun to appear, all concerning the King's Imperial Expedition.
Some rumors claimed that the King had suffered a crushing defeat in the North Sea, that his army had sustained heavy losses, and that the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea had already occupied the North Sea.
Other rumors claimed that the King had been defeated in the North Sea. Not only had his army suffered heavy losses, but the King himself had also been gravely wounded and might not live much longer.
More outrageous still, some claimed that the army had already been defeated by the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea, and that the King had fallen into their hands as well.
It probably would not be long before the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea brought the King with them and marched all the way to the gates of Chaoge City.
These rumors grew more numerous by the day. Grand Tutor Wen had even personally taken action to investigate their source.
But the effect was clearly minimal. The rumors had not decreased; instead, they had multiplied.
For a time, the entire Great Shang was tottering on the brink of collapse. Even with Grand Tutor Wen stationed in Chaoge City, things were no longer as stable as before.
This could already be seen from the increasing number of lords choosing to rebel and the slow progress of the three-year plan.
Panic spread through Chaoge City. If even the heart of the empire was in such a state, it was not hard to imagine what things were like elsewhere.
But on this day, a rider came galloping over. He passed through the gates of Chaoge City without dismounting and raced all the way toward the Royal Palace.
"Great victory in the North Sea! Great victory in the North Sea! Great victory in the North Sea..."
He urged his horse onward while shouting at the top of his lungs, and the enormous Chaoge City instantly grew noisy.
Countless people showed bewilderment. What had they just heard?
A great victory in the North Sea?
Did that not mean that all the previous rumors had been false?
The King had personally led an expedition, and in less than a month, he had already achieved a great victory in the North Sea?
The entire Chaoge City erupted. Countless people began discussing the matter, and the sorrow clouding the faces of countless commoners vanished in an instant.
On this very day, news of the great victory in the North Sea and the execution of the Seventy-Two Lords spread first through Chaoge City.
But this was clearly not the end. Like a hurricane, the news soon swept across the entire Great Shang.
"A great victory in the North Sea? King Zhou won? How could the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea have been defeated so quickly?"
"It only took a month from beginning to end. The Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea were far too useless!"
"It's over! With the great victory in the North Sea, King Zhou is returning to court on the strength of his triumph. Which lord would still dare to rebel?"
News of the great victory in the North Sea spread through the entire Great Shang at astonishing speed. Naturally, some people rejoiced while others grieved upon hearing it.
To those who supported the Great Shang, the great victory in the North Sea was undoubtedly wonderful news.
Without the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea holding them back, the rebellions among the lords within the Great Shang Territory suddenly became insignificant.
After all, with such a wise and mighty King, what could a mere rebellion by a few lords amount to?
The originally precarious situation reversed in an instant. The Great Shang was no longer tottering on the brink of collapse but was as steady as Mount Tai.
To the lords who had already rebelled, the great victory in the North Sea was nothing short of devastating news, leaving them stunned for a long time.
Originally, they had regarded King Zhou's Imperial Expedition as an utterly foolish act, no different from seeking his own death.
But now? King Zhou was returning to court in glorious triumph, and they had instantly become a bunch of clowns.
It went without saying that after this great victory in the North Sea, King Zhou's prestige throughout the Great Shang Territory would certainly rise even higher.
More importantly, the great victory in the North Sea had fully demonstrated King Zhou's abilities.
Which lord would not fear such a wise and mighty King Zhou?
They might not even need King Zhou to act personally. Under the army's encirclement and suppression, these rebellious lords were already like grasshoppers in autumn.
Whether they rejoiced or worried, everyone was astonished that King Zhou had pacified the rebellion in the North Sea in less than a month. It had simply happened too quickly.
It had happened at an unbelievable speed, catching everyone off guard and completely reversing the situation throughout the Great Shang Territory.
Although Zi Shou had not witnessed these developments personally, he could easily guess some of what had happened.
He had left Chaoge City for a month, but he had remained fully informed about the situation within the Great Shang Territory.
He had Grand Tutor Wen to thank for that. Every day, Grand Tutor Wen gathered intelligence from throughout the Great Shang Territory and transmitted it to the North Sea through Daoist techniques.
Within the Great Shang Territory, nearly all the lords who were going to rebel had already done so. Those who had not rebelled would not do so in the short term either.
At this point, it was time to cast the net. Waiting any longer would serve little purpose.
That was precisely why he had brought Li Jing and Nezha and left the North Sea ahead of the others, returning to Chaoge City.
Next, he had to deal with those rebellious lords. This would not be an easy task.
It was not that those rebellious lords were especially powerful, but that Deities were involved behind them.
This was no longer merely a rebellion by the feudal lords. It also involved the Immortals and Gods of the Heavenly Court, making it much like the North Sea rebellion.
"The Heavenly Court? Immortals and Gods? It's time to let them know what the rules of the Human Race are!" Zi Shou said coldly.
This time, his target was not merely those rebellious lords. He also intended to establish the rules of the Human Race.
Lords? Immortals and Gods?
Within the Great Shang Territory, even dragons had to coil up, and even tigers had to lie down!
He would tell everyone that no matter who they were, they had to obey the rules of the Human Race within the Great Shang Territory!
Within the Hall of Heroes of the Human Emperors, the Luck Torch burned fiercely, and the image of a Phoenix bathing in flames grew increasingly distinct.
Zi Shou sat cross-legged in the hall, looking as though his spirit had wandered beyond the material world. He had already sunk into deep cultivation.
A single drop of special Essence Blood could allow him to see through the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, traverse the river of time, and reincarnate through the ages.
However, although his primordial spirit was currently within reincarnation, his physical body was also undergoing obvious changes.
Although he was inside the Hall of Heroes of the Human Emperors, the essence of Heaven and Earth was exceptionally abundant, far surpassing that of the outside world.
This was thanks to the Luck Torch. As the Luck Torch continued to grow, Zi Shou's cultivation speed increased once more.
The essence of Heaven and Earth surged toward him like a vast flood, continuously pouring into his body.
A luminous treasure light radiated from Zi Shou's entire body. The essence of Heaven and Earth was refined into essence and tempered into divine essence, strengthening his being.
After proving the Dao and becoming Emperor, all five secret realms of the Human Race had reached perfection, and he had embarked on the path of transformation into a Red Dust Immortal.
He did not need to reverse his life for nine incarnations. Instead, he had to undergo nine transformations, like a divine silkworm shedding its skin. Each transformation was a qualitative leap.
He had already undergone one transformation and reversed his life into his second incarnation. Now, he was undergoing the transformation to bring forth his third incarnation.
Suddenly, Zi Shou's physical body changed. His blood and qi contracted inward, and his flesh began to decay.
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