I Am King Zhou, Human Emperor!

After the essence of heaven and earth entered his physical body to a certain degree, it began to automatically overflow, unable to accumulate any further.

His flesh decayed, his blood and qi dried up, like a rusted iron pot that could no longer hold much water—everything would leak out.

This was the sign of a waning twilight, the end of this life approaching, and it also meant that Zi Shou's second life was about to conclude.

Every transformation was a trial between life and death, not at all smooth sailing, and even carried the risk of perishing with one's dao.

Just like at this moment, when the second life's transformation reached its limit, it signified the exhaustion of his lifespan and the decay of his flesh.

If he endured it, then naturally he would live out a third life, not only flourishing in the prime of Spring and Autumn but also advancing further.

But if he could not endure, then his flesh would completely decay, his lifespan would be exhausted, and he would perish with his dao.

In this state, wanting to make that ultimate leap and live out a third life was undoubtedly extremely difficult.

Fortunately, the Great Emperor's Arena existed, allowing him to spar with countless Human Emperors and gain ample tempering.

The decay of his flesh was already irreversible. When Zi Shou weakened to his limit, he opened his eyes.

The reincarnation of A Drop of Blood returned anew, his Primordial Spirit taking command of his flesh, also bringing back the harvest of one life's cycle.

Not only the transformation of his Primordial Spirit through one life's cycle, but also the insights from that cycle, and even the transformation of his flesh itself.

The ultimate leap—right at this moment!

Within his flesh, the Five Great Secret Realms all began to glow, and the broken, decaying blood and qi started to boil once more.

Blood and qi surged, rushing to the heavens like ten thousand horses galloping, emitting sounds like rolling thunder!

The ten thousand daos wailed in lament, as if witnessing the resurgence of an inconceivable existence!

Boundless, vast blood and qi filled the sky. Zi Shou reappeared, slowly rising, reborn through nirvana amidst a sea of surging blood and powerful vitality!

It was a youthful Zi Shou, still in his original form, with black hair like a waterfall, naturally draping over his crystalline body!

He had succeeded in his transformation, living out his third life, his strength reaching a higher level, so powerful it made one's heart tremble!

A Great Emperor was comparable to an Earth Immortal, their strength likely not far apart, but now, an Earth Immortal before him was utterly insufficient.

One transformation was like a new birth, a qualitative leap, surpassing breakthroughs in ordinary realms.

After Earth Immortal, the next level was True Immortal, and after True Immortal was Celestial Immortal. Logically, one needed to advance step by step.

But the path he now walked—nine transformations to become a Red Dust Immortal—directly skipped these two major realms.

For example, right now, even if he fought a True Immortal, he couldn't say he would definitely win, but he was confident he wouldn't lose.

If he completed all nine transformations, even fighting a Celestial Immortal, he was confident he could win.

The Red Dust Immortal was such a special realm. In the world of Emperor Ye, it also spanned the two major realms of True Immortal and Quasi-Immortal King.

The dao was long and arduous! The path he had to walk was still very far, and these current achievements were nothing at all.

"The Luck Torch has risen a bit more. This should be because of the North Sea victory. I'll likely soon get a chance to draw from the Myriad Heavens Treasures!"

His gaze quickly turned to the Luck Torch. Whether his own luck had increased was actually easy to judge.

When his cultivation speed became faster, that naturally meant his personal luck had increased!

After the North Sea victory, he had clearly sensed a change—his cultivation speed had increased by quite a bit.

This was actually very normal. After the North Sea victory, his prestige as King Zhou had clearly risen considerably.

Throughout the entire Great Shang, no one called him a tyrant anymore. Words like wise and heroic, brilliant and strategic, had been placed upon his head.

Moreover, the North Sea victory also had a positive significance for the entire Great Shang.

Once the rebellion of the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea was pacified, other lords' rebellions became mere nuisances.

The originally precarious situation was instantly reversed, and the national fortune of the entire Great Shang naturally rose along with it.

As the King of Great Shang, when the national fortune rose, the luck gathering upon him naturally rose as well.

Although the foundation was still shallow, everything was developing in a good direction, and there was still hope for the future.

Thinking too much was useless. He had only been King Zhou for a few short months, and could only strive to improve himself within that limited time.

Soon, he threw himself back into the Great Emperor's Arena, engaging in extremely brutal battles with Human Emperors.

After the news of the North Sea victory spread throughout the world, for a time, everyone's gaze converged on Zi Shou.

The common people and the civil and military officials in Chaoge City were all counting the days, waiting to see when The King would return to Chaoge City.

The lords who had already rebelled were also counting the days, all wanting to know what King Zhou would do next.

Would he launch another Imperial Expedition, directly sweeping through the various lords? Or would he sit in command at Chaoge City?

No matter what thoughts they held, when King Zhou's army returned in triumph, the entire Great Shang was calm and peaceful.

The various lords who had already rebelled ceased their activities, all watching the wind direction, not daring to act rashly.

The other lords who had not rebelled also had to put away their petty schemes, preparing to observe King Zhou's next moves.

At this moment, Zi Shou, who held the attention of the entire Great Shang, was unhurriedly making his way back to Chaoge City.

If he marched swiftly, although the North Sea was far from Chaoge City, it wouldn't take too long.

Logically, since the situation in Chaoge City had already become somewhat unstable, he should naturally return to Chaoge City to take command as soon as possible.

Moreover, riding the momentum of a great victory, if they could dispatch troops in the shortest possible time, sweeping through the rebellions of the various lords would be twice the result with half the effort.

But he deliberately moved slowly, even adopting a sightseeing demeanor, leaving countless people utterly baffled.

How could they know that Zi Shou was not only in no hurry but actually wished to waste more time on the road?

"Master, I have completed the first life's transformation!" Nezha ran over and said excitedly.

Hearing this, Zi Shou was speechless. How much time had passed since Nezha's last breakthrough?

At most, it had only been a little over ten days, yet Nezha had broken through again.

It could only be said that comparing people drives one to death!

Nezha's innate talent was already astonishing enough, and with the added fruit of his past life's cultivation, training was as simple as drinking water for him.

For Nezha, cultivation itself was a process of digesting the fruit of his past life, a continuous journey of breakthroughs.

However, Nezha's cultivation in this life was not based on the Dao methods of the Exposition Sect, but rather on the inheritance method of the Human Emperor.

Although the Exposition Sect's Dao methods were passed down from the Sage Yuanshi Tianzun and were undoubtedly top-tier in the Investiture of the Gods World, this did not mean that the Human Emperor's inheritance method was inferior. On the contrary, it might be a better choice.

Now that Nezha was human, the cultivation method suited for humans was the best for him, not some Sage's Dao method.

After encouraging Nezha for a while, he calculated the time and realized their group was getting closer and closer to Chaoge City.

A journey that would normally take a few days to complete had been deliberately dragged out by him to over half a month.

During this half-month, not only had the civil and military officials in Chaoge City grown anxious, but the rebellious lords had also become restless.

"I've given you plenty of time. I hope you won't disappoint me," Zi Shou thought to himself.

According to the news from Grand Tutor Wen, the reason the rebellious lords hadn't been suppressed immediately was due to the involvement of Deities.

Take the North Sea, for example. The strength of the Seventy-Two Route Lords of the North Sea was mediocre and shouldn't have caused much trouble.

But because of the Demon Race's involvement, the North Sea rebellion had escalated, even leading to Zhang Guifang's major defeat.

The same went for the rebellious lords within the Great Shang realm. With Deities backing them, they were hardly easy to suppress.

After learning of the North Sea victory, those rebellious lords would certainly panic, but they wouldn't just sit and wait for death.

Giving them ample time to prepare and fully mobilize the forces behind them—

that way, when the time came to suppress these rebellious lords, all problems could be resolved once and for all.

Half a month was more than enough. Even if given more time, those rebellious lords would struggle to come up with any new tricks.

No longer willing to waste time, he returned to the familiar Chaoge City in just one day.

The civil and military officials had long been ready, waiting thirty li outside Chaoge City, surrounded by gathered commoners.

When the familiar figure took the lead and appeared before everyone, cheers suddenly erupted.

"The King's divine might! The King's divine might!"

From the radiant smiles on the commoners' faces, one could tell how they felt at that moment.

The North Sea victory and the King's wise and heroic image had spread throughout the land. The people cheered for the great triumph, speaking from their hearts.

"Your ministers respectfully welcome the King's triumphant return!"

Led by Grand Tutor Wen, the civil and military officials hurried forward, greeting the King's victorious return with the highest ceremony.

For most of the officials, the King's triumphant return was undoubtedly excellent news.

When the King had set out on the Imperial Expedition, countless ministers had been uneasy, fearing sudden news of defeat.

Now, in just over a month, the King had returned victorious, moving many ministers to tears of joy.

More importantly, everyone understood what the King's triumphant return meant for the current Great Shang.

"Rise! Today, we celebrate first. At tomorrow's morning court, Imperial We has important matters to announce," Zi Shou said.