Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 8: Peace in the Four Seas

Emperor Zhuxia will not live long!

It was not just You Hou who thought so. All those with great powers who witnessed the power of the Falling Star from the North Sea thought so.

Moving stars and changing constellations is too terrifying, almost enough to cause the earth to collapse. To display such a powerful ability, even the gods in the upper realm would have to pay a certain price, not to mention that Emperor Zhuxia is not a god.

The Emperor's Seal certainly made Emperor Zhuxia ascend to heaven, and gave him the destiny of the nine states and a status comparable to that of ancient gods. However, this was not Emperor Zhuxia's own life cultivation after all.

Although his forceful action this time let the world know that the emperor's majesty could not be violated, it also allowed some people to see through his true intentions.

Emperor Zhuxia has indeed reached the final stage of his life. In three to five years at most, or one to two years at the shortest, this Golden Crow who shines upon billions of people in the Nine Provinces and enjoys the fortune of an era will truly fall.

This is the conclusion reached by powerful people from all sides after deduction.

However, precisely because they knew that Emperor Zhuxia was about to die, the kingdoms under heaven, the nine provinces and the myriad nations, and the princes of the four seas, behaved unusually submissively.

The Beihai army died down, the nine barbarians rushed to pay tribute, and the voices of rebellion in the world suddenly stopped. Everyone was waiting for Emperor Zhu Xia Bintian.

As long as Emperor Zhuxia lives, the world will still belong to the Xia Dynasty.

The rebellion of the Nine Yi and the rebellion of the Beihai could only slowly erode the authority of the Xia Hou clan, but could not shake the Xia Hou clan's destiny.

Only after Emperor Zhuxia's death, those ambitious people who hid the deepest dared to slowly show their fangs.

Everyone in the world knows that Emperor Zhuxia has not much time left. Because the emperor's life is about to come to an end, the emperor at this moment is the most terrifying.

Because no one knows what kind of crazy things the dying emperor will do for the sake of his Xia Dynasty. The best response is not to provoke the emperor at this time.

It was also because of the tacit restraint of all parties that the nine provinces of the world actually showed some signs of peace at this time.

"Father, how long can the current peaceful situation last?"

Lu Shang sat upright on a bamboo mat, his expression stern as he flipped through the jade slip in his hand.

The rebellion in Beihai started suddenly and ended suddenly. Emperor Zhuxia's move gave the State of Xu a temporary reprieve, as it no longer had to worry about recruiting troops from Beihai.

But Lu Shang knew very well that this was far from the end, it was just the beginning.

The State of Xu must take advantage of this peaceful time to strengthen itself as much as possible. Otherwise, when the world is in turmoil, with Xu's weak national strength, let alone getting a share of the pie, it is likely that it will not even be able to survive in a corner.

In fact, Lu Shang was still a little grateful to Emperor Zhuxia. No matter what, the emperor's strong move to suppress Beihai did buy some time for the State of Xu to develop.

"Five years at most,"

Wu Wenhe frowned, thought for a moment, and then sighed, "By then, the emperor will have passed away. Without the emperor to restrain us, the nine provinces will be in chaos."

Whenever the emperor passed away, there would be chaos in all nine provinces of the world.

The main reason was that the Emperor's seal was without a master at the time, and without the Emperor's authority, the princes each harbored their own ambitions, hoping to exploit the vacuum between the old and new Emperors to seek benefits for their states. Furthermore, some powerful princes even considered seizing the Emperor's seal and attempting to overthrow the Mandate of Heaven.

In the past, the Taotang clan seized the Mandate of Heaven from the Gaoxin clan, the Youyu clan seized the Mandate of Heaven from the Taotang clan, and the Xiahou clan seized the Mandate of Heaven from the Youyu clan. The ancestors had already set a good example, and the great princes who were qualified to compete for the throne naturally wanted to emulate them.

Especially the princes who have just witnessed the power of the emperor's seal. They hold the seal of the princes and naturally covet it more.

"We only have five years of peace left,"

Lu Shang said quietly, "Perhaps, not even five years. We don't have much time left. Once the emperor collapses, the world will be in chaos, and the nations will have to rely on military force to win."

In fact, Lu Shang could choose to fully rely on the major countries that were the direct descendants of Gonggong. With the protection of the main line of Gonggong, as long as he was more cautious, the survival of the Xu State would at least be worry-free.

However, Lu Shang also had his own ambitions. He wanted to achieve greater success in the Taiyi Divine Way. In this way, he could not allow the State of Xu to become a vassal of Gonggong.

This is the path of Taiyi Shinto. Power is fist strength, and mastering power is mastering fist strength. The greater the power, the greater the supernatural power.

The state is the fruit of Lu Shang's Tao, and the strength of the state is the strength of Lu Shang's Tao.

"Station troops, store food, build cities,"

Wu Wenhe murmured, "Time is still a little tight, but with five years of buffer time, it's already a blessing from heaven."

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The North Sea, from the abyss of the extreme,
The Classic of Mountains and Seas - Hai Nei Bei Jing says: "The abyss of Zhongji is three hundred feet deep. It is the permanent home of the Bingyi people. The Bingyi have human faces and ride on two dragons." This is also called the Zhongji Abyss.

After the connection between the heaven and the earth, Bingyi, the water god of the Yellow River, ascended to heaven and was abandoned in the Abyss of the Extreme. Later, Wuzhiqi, the water god of the Huai River, rose up and occupied the Huai River, eroding the water veins of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. This Abyss of the Extreme was reborn and became a temporary palace for Wuzhiqi.

After Wuzhiqi was suppressed in Guishan, he mysteriously disappeared from the Abyss again.

The water in the cave roared loudly, and a hunchbacked old man trembled as he bowed forward.

"Hey,"

After a long period of silence ahead, a sigh finally came from the depths of the cave.

"You are already a demon who has ruined your country and your family. How dare you call yourself the crown prince?"

"No, Prince,"

Upon hearing this, the hunched figure gritted his teeth and said, "Once you are the Crown Prince, you will always be the Crown Prince. Your Highness, have you forgotten your old friends and ministers on the Huai River? Have you forgotten the hatred of your sovereign being imprisoned on Turtle Mountain? Have you forgotten the blood feud between your two brothers?"

"Of course I didn't forget!"

In the dim cave, a huge monster with white head, long mane, snow-white teeth and golden claws, and the shape of an ape snorted coldly.

The hunchbacked old man said bitterly, "Since you haven't forgotten this national and family feud, you should go and demand retribution from the Xiahou clan. The Xiahou clan caused the destruction of your country and your family, and you should repay blood with blood, tooth for tooth, and let the Xiahou clan also taste the pain of the overthrow of their country and the fall of their empire."

"Xia Hou's family,"

The white ape said quietly, "If I had no desire for revenge, why would I have come to this muddy water of the North Sea at this time?"

"I can only lament that I am now powerless and alone. I can only resort to trivial and insignificant actions to disgust the Xiahou clan, but it is difficult to shake their foundation."

The white ape was also Benyun, the Third Prince of Wuzhiqi. He hated the Xia Dynasty, but Benyun was no longer the Third Prince of Huaishui. Even if he wanted revenge, he was powerless.

Even so, Benyun never gave up stirring up trouble. The Xiahou clan's Mandate of Heaven had been passed down through seven generations, and with each successive generation, Benyun would always seize the opportunity to stir up trouble. It could only be said that the Xiahou clan still had its luck, but Benyun's attempts were always thwarted. Twice, he nearly caught them. If Benyun hadn't possessed extraordinary magical powers and escaped in time, avoiding capture, he would likely be on Turtle Mountain by now, accompanying his father, Wuzhiqi.

The hunchbacked old man whispered, "Your Highness, there is a heaven-sent opportunity right now. Not only can you avenge the Xia Dynasty, but you can also rebuild the Huai River Kingdom. It all depends on whether you are willing to fight for it."

Hearing this, Benyun glanced meaningfully at the hunched figure and said, "Opportunity? What opportunity?"

The hunchbacked old man said directly, "The Lord of the North Sea's Nether City has long heard that Your Highness possesses immense magical powers and is the bravest of the four rivers. He is a pillar of the Water Nation and a sage among the demons. Therefore, I wish to take Your Highness as my son-in-law to inherit the Nether City's legacy."

"Your Highness, this is a heaven-sent opportunity. As long as you marry the young lady of Youdu, you can leverage the power of the You Kingdom in the North Sea and summon the old Huaishui people. You can either seek revenge on the Xia Hou clan or seek to rebuild the Huaishui Kingdom."

"Beihai Youguo?"

Ben Yun sneered and said, "I forgot that you are no longer the Left Historian of Huaishui, but the Prime Minister of Beihai You State."

"Why, are you targeting me?"

This hunchbacked old man who regarded himself as a former minister of Huai River was actually the prime minister of Beihai You Kingdom, second only to the most powerful monster among all monsters.

Who could have imagined that the dignified Prime Minister of Beihai You State was actually a follower of Wuzhiqi and a die-hard fan of the Huaishui faction.

The Prime Minister of You State bowed his head again and said earnestly, "This old minister has received great kindness from the Lord of Huai River for generations. I was born as a demon of the Huai River, and I will be a ghost of the Huai River in death. During the great battle, this old minister was injured by the gods. I luckily escaped and went into exile overseas. Later, I took refuge in You State. I dare not ask for wealth or honor, but only hope to remain useful and contribute to our Huai River Kingdom."

"Your Highness, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Marquis You has only one daughter who has reached marriageable age and is yet to be betrothed. If Your Highness marries her, you will have the title of heir to the throne. With the assistance of our veteran ministers, you will surely be able to seize the foundation of the You Kingdom."

"Your Highness, I am an old minister of loyalty. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this, as can Taiyi!"

Ben Yun looked at the Prime Minister of You State coldly and suddenly said, "I was wondering how the Marquis of You could see through my whereabouts. It turns out that you, an old wretch, had already planned this."

The transformation technique passed down by the Benyun family is a superior method of fetal transformation and shape-changing.

It is different from ordinary mirage techniques. After the fetus changes its shape, it will become whatever it is. If it changes into a bird, beast, fish or insect, it will become a bird, beast, fish or insect; if it changes into grass, tree, bamboo or stone, it will become grass, tree, bamboo or stone. People who do not know the wonder of the fetus changes its shape will never be able to see through it no matter what.

Benyun also relied on this magical power of transformation to escape the pursuit of the Xiahou clan several times.

"It was this old minister who reported Your Highness's hiding place to Marquis You. Otherwise, how could Your Highness marry the Young Lady of Youdu?"

The Prime Minister of You said frankly, "Your Highness, when the star fell from the North Sea, even though you are in the Abyss of the Extreme, I believe you know who was responsible. You understand the current situation of the world better than this old minister. They say that if you don't take what God gives you, you will suffer the consequences. This North Sea is destined to be the place where your dragon will rise!"

"The place where dragons rise,"

Benyun is a monster born to Wuzhiqi and the Dragon Girl. He is half ape and half dragon, so it is not wrong to say that he is Longxing.

Although Emperor Zhuxia had wiped out more than half of the 72 Demon Kingdoms of the North Sea with a single move, their ancient foundations remained intact, providing a ready-made foundation. As long as Benyun was willing to put in the effort, work hard, and gather his old followers, he could completely unify the 72 Demon Kingdoms of the North Sea by leveraging the North Sea You Kingdom as his base.

By then, Benyun will have established control over the North Sea, commanding millions of demons. If he were to overthrow Guishan, rescue the suppressed Wuzhiqi, and gain his father's full support, the mortal princes would find it impossible to resist him, unless Wuzhiqi's nemesis, Xia Yu, descended to the mortal world.

In this way, the great cause is accomplished!
(End of this chapter)