Junior Uncle is too cunning.

Everything was fine until the truth came out of the case of Zhunti, one of the two Western Saints. The smooth imperial ambitions of the Xibo Marquisate suddenly became fraught with difficulties. However, Ji Chang was only in a bad mood for a moment and then continued to develop.

But then, as if by magic, the Great Shang Imperial Court suddenly gained the upper hand and pulled them to their side.

If it were just facing the Shang Dynasty's imperial court, Ji Chang would never have been afraid of the current strength of the Xibo Marquisate. However, facing the Three Pure Ones Taoist sect and countless immortals, this was somewhat beyond his control.

Although he had the support of Buddhism, could Western Buddhism really defeat the Three Pure Ones Taoism? Ji Chang had no idea. Fortunately, Western Buddhism did not back down and put on a show of force, as if it would fight the Shang Dynasty to the end. This made Ji Chang feel a little better. Otherwise, even if he was determined, he would probably have given up his ambition by now and might have surrendered directly, becoming the Shang Dynasty's most loyal lackey again.

Leaving aside the Western Marquisate, on the third day after the Shang Dynasty court selected Huang Feihu as the commander-in-chief and Jiang Ziya as the supervising officer, the army was already prepared. At King Zhou's command, thousands of troops flew towards the Northern Marquisate.

Although the Great Shang Imperial Court is called the human imperial court, it is not just a name that it can be called the ruler of the three realms along with the Heavenly Court and the Underworld. After all, in the prehistoric world... no, it should be said that in any era, might makes right. If the human imperial court did not have some foundation, how could the Heavenly Court and the Underworld recognize its status?

Moreover, the territory of the Great Shang Dynasty is vast, and the distance from Chaoge to the Northern Marquisate is not short. If the army were to actually march there, it would probably be too late.

Although there are no airplanes or cannons now, the Shang Dynasty Imperial Court is not lacking in flying magical artifacts. Especially with the presence of the Chan Sect, one of the Three Pure Ones of Taoism, a great sect of weapon crafting, flying magical artifacts are nothing to them. Otherwise, the Shang Dynasty Imperial Court would not have such great power over the vassal states. It is because of the large flying magical artifacts that the Shang Dynasty Imperial Court's army can reach any part of the Shang Dynasty Imperial Court at any time, and it is also very convenient to manage them.

The capital of the Northern Marquisate.

At the Northern Marquis's residence, the current Northern Marquis, Chong Houhu, paced anxiously in front of a cave dwelling, his face filled with worry.

With a "click," the cave door finally opened. A hint of joy flashed across the face of Marquis Chonghou Hu of the North. Although he wanted to rush in, his remaining rationality made him restrain himself.

After a long while, a weathered voice came from inside the cave, "Come in!"

Upon hearing this, Marquis Chonghou Hu of the North hurriedly slipped inside. He saw that the ceiling of the cave was covered with pearls the size of a head. Judging from their quality, they were already considered spiritual objects. And there was more than one such pearl in the cave.

The ground was covered with white thousand-year-old warm jade. Although it couldn't compare to the ten-thousand-year-old warm jade that Li Shundao used to refine the God of Wealth Seal, it was still a precious spiritual object. If it were in Chen Fusheng's hands, refining a few acquired spiritual treasures would be no problem at all. Now, it was actually covering the ground, which was quite extravagant.

The deeper you go, the more spiritual energy you accumulate. At the very end, the spiritual energy is comparable to that of Yin Fan's cave in the Chaoge Dragon Vein.

Inside the cave was a thousand-year-old red coral, so red it seemed to drip blood. A middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes sat cross-legged on a futon with his eyes closed. There was nothing else around. Compared to the cave corridor in front, it was a world apart.

Upon seeing this person, Marquis Chonghouhu of the North immediately knelt down and respectfully said, "The 3,652nd Marquis Chonghouhu of the North pays respects to the Ancestor."

It turns out that this person was the ancestor of the Northern Marquisate, and also the first Northern Marquis Chonghou Bai Gui of the Great Shang Dynasty. He was a figure of the same generation as Shang Taizu Tang. I didn't expect him to still be alive. I guess even the all-pervasive God of Wealth Cult probably wouldn't know this information.

Even in the entire Northern Marquisate, no more than a hundred people would know about Marquis Chong, Bai Gui. Apart from the Golden Immortal powerhouses of the Chong family, only the Marquis of the Northern Marquis of each generation knew about him.

If the Great Shang Imperial Court knew that Marquis Chong, Bai Gui, was still alive, it would probably cause an uproar. Even the current Yin Patriarch would only be considered a servant in his presence.

In fact, few people in the Shang Dynasty court or even the prehistoric world knew about Chonghou Baigui. His existence was the biggest secret of the Northern Marquisate. Back then, Chonghou Baigui and three other first-generation Southeast and West Marquises were tricked by the Shang Dynasty's founding emperor, Tang, and were exiled to the frontier. Although they eventually defeated the four barbarians, all four vassal states suffered heavy losses. Even Chonghou Baigui, the Northern Marquis at the time, was seriously injured in a battle with the Rongyi chieftain, the largest of the Western Yi tribes. In the end, Chonghou Baigui chose to fake his death and left the Southern Continent alone to recuperate overseas.

Chonghou Baigui was quite lucky. He actually obtained a demon king's cave during the Great Calamity of the Lich King overseas. Not only did his injuries recover quickly, but he also broke through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm in one go. He didn't return to the Southern Continent until tens of thousands of years ago.

Meanwhile, the Great Shang Dynasty had been established for hundreds of thousands of years. The once arrogant and domineering Emperor Tang had been dead for hundreds of thousands of years. Chonghou Baigui had lost his desire to continue ruling. He secretly met with the Chonghou clan and built a cave in the Northern Marquis State to live in seclusion.

In fact, not to mention the people of the Southern Continent, even the current Marquis of the North, Chonghou Hu, was seeing Chonghou Baigui for the first time. If he hadn't really had no other choice, he wouldn't have bothered this ancestor.

Chonghou Baigui slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Chonghou Hu, and asked slowly, "What's wrong?"

He knew in his heart that if the Northern Marquisate hadn't encountered an insurmountable problem, they certainly wouldn't have bothered him.

Upon hearing that Chonghou Baigui wanted to ask, Chonghou Hu hurriedly recounted the recent events in Nanzhanbuzhou, especially the affairs of the Shang Dynasty's imperial court and the feudal lords, particularly the Shang Dynasty's recent attack on the Northern Marquis.

Upon hearing this, Chonghou Baigui was startled. He had just returned from overseas, fully expecting to annihilate the Shang Dynasty with a single blow. However, as soon as he approached Chaoge, he felt a sudden tremor in his heart, which frightened him so much that he hurriedly retreated. He knew that the person must be a Great Luo Golden Immortal who was even stronger than him. At that time, he had only just broken through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm and had not even opened the first of the Three Flowers, the Heavenly Flower. Therefore, he had no choice but to retreat.

After years of cultivation, he finally broke through to the mid-stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal ten thousand years ago and came to the smallpox. However, he did not provoke the Great Shang Imperial Court again. After all, the heart palpitation that Chaoge gave him back then was definitely not something that an ordinary mid-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal could handle. He did not expect that even after he had endured for so many years, the Great Shang Imperial Court still did not choose to let go of the Northern Marquis Kingdom.

This immediately reminded him of the schemes he had suffered at the hands of Shang Tang and the blood debts of countless brothers and sisters of his clan. Chonghou Baigui's originally calm heart was suddenly stirred up, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes. "This is really too much!"

However, Chonghou Baigui still didn't quite understand. Logically speaking, even if the Great Shang Dynasty was in its final years, it wouldn't need to target the Northern Marquisate!

Although he was in seclusion, he still knew some of the secrets of the Great Shang Imperial Court. Leaving aside the strength of the Great Shang Imperial Court itself, the Western Marquisate, one of the four great vassal states, was incomparable to the Northern Marquisate. When he first arrived in the Southern Continent, he had traveled around the entire continent and found no Great Luo Golden Immortals in the Eastern Marquisate or the Southern Marquisate. The highest cultivation level was only at the Golden Immortal Perfection Realm. He sensed that the Golden Immortals had only reached the Second-Rate True Monarch Realm.

What alarmed him most was the Xibo Marquisate. Putting aside its domestic strength and fortune, what shocked him most was that the Xibo Marquisate actually had a Grand Luo Golden Immortal, and one whose cultivation was even higher than his. If it weren't for his vigilance after his trip to Chaoge and the innate spiritual treasure he possessed, he might have been discovered.

Logically speaking, since the Great Shang Imperial Court has a Golden Immortal, how could they not see that the Western Marquisate is much more dangerous than the Northern Marquisate? Why would they choose to attack the Northern Marquisate?