Chapter 1247: Fifth Clone - Zhou Sheng! Kidok Returns!

Chapter 1247 - The Fifth Avatar - Zhou Sheng! Kido-koku Returns!

"Do you truly have such confidence?"

Zhou Zhou watched the other with keen interest.

"Back in the old days, I certainly wouldn't have had this confidence. But now—what with Your Majesty's presence?"

"Your Majesty is currently the Emperor of our Qiuma Clan. As the Emperor of the Qiuma, you hold significant influence within our clan."

"Most of our Qiuma clan members naturally revere our Emperor by instinct."

"I only need to leverage Your Majesty's name, combined with my own direct lineage from the previous Emperor of the Qiuma, and the four rulers of the Qiuma Divine Kingdoms—unless they intend to rebel—will almost certainly submit to Your Majesty's authority."

Kido-koku spoke respectfully.

Zhou Zhou nodded in response.

According to what he knew of the Qiuma clan's lineage, the Qiuma indeed held an innate reverence for their Emperor.

After all, as the possessor of the Heart of Kido Talis, the Monarch of Strange and Evil Beings served as the source of countless strange and evil entities across the myriad realms. Their very essence resided within the Heart of Kido Talis, and upon each death, they were reborn anew within it—only to emerge once more into the vast expanse of the multiverse.

To the strange and evil beings, the Monarch of Strange and Evil Beings was, in essence, like their "mother."

This was precisely why the Monarch was so deeply revered.

"You may try it."

"If you succeed, then this bloodline of the Monarch of Strange and Evil Beings shall be yours."

Zhou Zhou ultimately agreed.

For he sensed that if this bloodline of the Monarch were applied to Kidoke, it might bring him a surprising revelation.

His intention in attempting to sway the four powers of the Strange and Evil God Kingdoms was merely to find a pretext for bestowing upon them this sacred bloodline.

"Thank you, Majesty!"

A spark of excitement flared in Kidoke's eyes, and he immediately bowed with reverence.

"But before that, you must first join our Yangyang Empire."

Zhou Zhou spoke.

Kidoke, hearing this, was already prepared. He immediately knelt and declared his intent to join the Yangyang Empire, becoming one of its subjects.

After all, this man was now the Emperor of the Strange and Demonish Race—someone of his own kind. Serving under the banner of his own people's emperor? What could be more honorable?

Zhou Zhou nodded, waved a hand dismissively.

Kidoke understood and departed.

Zhou Zhou then reflected, realizing that relying on Kidoke alone might not be safe. So he called another soldier over and ordered him to send a message to Kidoke: when traveling to the Four Kingdoms of Strange and Demonish Gods, Kidoke was to bring with him several Speakers and several Lords from the Star Alliance.

Speakers were skilled in subversion. If luck favored them, they might encounter a god-king with a dull mind, and with just a few words, sway the entire nation into submission.

Even if their luck turned sour and provoked murderous intent, there was no fear.

Simply have the Lords of the Star Alliance infiltrate any kingdom that showed signs of aggression—instigate internal conflict among them. That way, Kidoke and his companions would be safe.

With these two safeguards in place, Jidoku’s journey should now be much more secure.

“Lord Chioudou, you’ve truly brought me an unexpected blessing.”

After arranging everything, Zhou Zhou turned to smile at Chioudou.

“In truth, I too felt a sudden intuition—rather than kill this cheaply acquired one and let him die without serving the Emperor, perhaps it would be wiser to let him serve under Your Majesty, extracting every possible value from him. Thus, I made the decision on my own to bring him here. I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness for this unauthorized action.”

Chioudou spoke with solemn respect.

“Lord Chioudou, your words are too kind.”

Zhou Zhou bowed slightly.

They conversed a little longer before Chioudou departed.

Once Chioudou had left, Zhou Zhou summoned Ji Yuan and began discussing the next steps of their assault.

Since Jidoku had gone himself to persuade the four strange demon kingdoms, Zhou Zhou no longer placed his main focus on those strange demon realms.

Thus, after careful consultation with Ji Duok, He decided to return to the Prajya Empire, to continue expanding its borders around the empire.

Although the generals did not trust the man known as Ji Duok with such immense capability—how could he possibly bring back four monstrous demon kingdoms?—they nonetheless did not object. They all obeyed, and swiftly led their armies through the interdimensional portal of the Ogrin Kingdom, returning to the Prajya Empire, where they would then proceed to expand its surrounding territories.

Zhou Zhou also went along, but after exhausting his Universal Sage’s power, he immediately handed over command to Ji Duok and returned.

As the original form, He, though already powerful enough to dominate the highest continent, had grown accustomed to a certain routine. Thus, He did not intend to accompany the army on further campaigns.

After all, with His current ability to instantaneously teleport, He could reach the army in a single blink. Should any crisis arise, He could respond instantly. Thus, He had no concern that the army would falter without Him.

Yet, He soon thought of another matter.

"Currently, I am practicing within the Palace of Cycles. Zhou Zheng handles domestic affairs at home."

"Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu are engaged in combat against the race lords on Blue Star."

"Zhou Tianming is currently completing missions across the myriad realms."

"If I do not accompany the army in battle, although I can instantly teleport there, this might disrupt my deep meditation..."

Zhou Zhou pondered for a long time, and finally murmured to himself:

"Create another duplicate."

At the thought, Zhou Zhou immediately activated his innate ability—the Technique of Duplicates—and forged another one.

Soon, his fifth duplicate stood before him.

While quietly sensing the depletion within his essence, Zhou Zhou calmly observed the fifth duplicate before him.

"Greetings, the original."

The fifth duplicate chuckled.

Zhou Zhou nodded and said:

"Your name shall be Zhou Sheng!"

"You are to immediately assist the main army in conquering the territories of the foreign tribes surrounding our nation."

"Good!"

Zhou Sheng nodded, then turned and departed without a single hesitation or delay.

Zhou Zhou saw this, swallowed several true-divine grade elixirs to replenish his essence, and as he restored his fundamental energy, his divine consciousness manifested and entered the cycle realm to comprehend the laws of the Lord.

Time flew by swiftly.

In an instant,

Night fell.

The Capital of the Prideful Sun.

Within the Imperial Palace,

Zhou Zheng was handling state affairs.

Over the past few days, the borders of the Prideful Sun Empire have expanded rapidly, resulting in numerous domestic issues.

Mostly these were issues arising from the differing ethnic customs and traditions of the various peoples, and in recent days, Zhou Zheng had been continuously issuing policies to foster mutual understanding and harmonious coexistence among the tribes.

Thus, though it may appear that Zhou Zheng appears infrequently in warfare, in reality, He is the busiest among all of Zhou Zhou's manifestations.

At this moment,

A guard from the Imperial Palace strode swiftly forward, bowing respectfully:

"Reporting to the Emperor."

"The Supreme Sovereign of the Strange Demon Nation—Kido-k, requests an audience."

"Allow Him to enter."

While Zhou Zheng wrote his thoughts on the virtual scroll, he spoke calmly.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The guard bowed and withdrew with respectful dignity.

Very quickly.

Kidoke stepped forward.

"Report to the Emperor!"

Kidoke spoke with respectful solemnity, yet a subtle pride bubbled beneath his words:

"I have convinced those four aberrant demon-empires to unite and pledge allegiance to our Sun Empire!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zheng's eyes flickered with a moment of surprise.

His will, silent and unobtrusive, spread like a whisper through the air, instantly weaving into Kidoke's divine consciousness, beginning to sift through the depths of his memories.

Now his will had reached infinite proximity to the second realm of will—the realm of Willful Divinity.

This realm, typically attainable only by the Supreme Deities, allowed his will to effortlessly penetrate the memories of a true god or higher.

After flipping through the pages, Zhou Zheng understood.

Yet, he was also surprised.

He had still underestimated the prestige the Strange Demon Emperor held within the Strange Demon clan...