Chapter 140 My Charming Ancestor 14
"I have one more question."
Ying Zheng's voice was hoarse: "How long have I... lived?"
Zhou Jue fell silent.
"Your Majesty... is nearing the end." Zhou Jue managed to utter those words with difficulty.
"impossible!"
Ying Zheng roared and stood up abruptly, his body trembling slightly with excitement beneath his dragon robe.
"Since I unified the world, alchemists like Xu Fu have been searching for immortal mountains and concocting elixirs for me! I take them day and night, and although there are no immediate effects, I feel full of energy. Why is that..."
Why is my time coming to an end?!
“Your Majesty,” Zhou Jue interrupted him.
"If Your Majesty had not taken those so-called 'elixirs of immortality,' with Your Majesty's physique and willpower, you might have lived to be seventy, or even longer."
"But those things aren't elixirs at all!"
"That's... a deadly poison!"
Highly poisonous!
He stumbled and fell backward, but luckily he managed to grab the desk behind him and didn't fall to the ground.
The elixir he took day and night to prolong his life was actually a deadly poison.
absurd!
How absurd! What a tremendous irony!
"Xu... Fu..."
The name uttered through Ying Zheng's teeth, carrying an overwhelming killing intent.
A surge of anger at being deceived and fooled instantly overwhelmed all his reason!
He trusted the sorcerer, not because he was stupid!
It was his desire for immortality that overwhelmed the emperor's paranoia! He needed time! He needed more time to protect the empire he had built with his own hands!
But what he received in return was betrayal and poison!
"Why...why don't I kill him?" Ying Zheng's voice was filled with murderous intent.
He's going to kill him!
He wanted to tear that sorcerer who had deceived him to pieces, grind his bones to dust, and scatter them to the winds!
Zhou Jue shook his head: "He ran away."
"Does Your Majesty still remember that Xu Fu once submitted a memorial, saying that there are three fairy mountains overseas, named Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou, where immortals dwell and one can seek the elixir of immortality?"
Ying Zheng certainly remembered that Xu Fu had briefly mentioned it just before the Fengshan ceremony at Mount Tai.
"On this pretext, he asked you for three thousand boys and girls, countless gold and silver treasures, and the most advanced crafts and skills of the Qin Dynasty."
"And then?" Ying Zheng's voice trembled.
“And then.” Zhou Jue’s voice also carried a hint of emotion.
"He took everything you had given him, along with those three thousand seeds of the future of Qin, and settled down on an island overseas, establishing himself as king."
He never came back.
Boom!
Ying Zheng felt dizzy and his vision went black.
That wasn't fear, it was extreme anger and humiliation!
What he bestowed was the hope for the future of the Qin Dynasty!
What he bestowed was the culmination of the Qin civilization!
He actually used the blood and sweat of his own people to support a traitor! A liar! A king!
This was a hundred times more painful than a knife stabbing into his heart!
“That land…” Zhou Jue looked at his face contorted in pain, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, and continued, “Later, it got a name.”
"Eastern Japan".
"Not only did they fail to appreciate His Majesty's kindness, but a thousand years later, they sharpened their claws and wielded their swords...against the homeland of their ancestors!"
"They sailed in ironclad warships and used cannons capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks to blast open the gates of this land! They burned, killed, looted, and committed all sorts of atrocities!"
"They said they wanted to establish a so-called 'prosperity sphere'!"
At this point, Zhou Jue took out video footage and played it for the First Emperor to see.
If every word Zhou Jue uttered was like a hot iron branding iron, fiercely searing into Ying Zheng's heart.
Now, the sight of mountains of corpses and seas of blood before him only fueled his rage!
His people! His descendants! A thousand years after his death, they have to suffer such inhumane torment!
And the source of all this...
It was him!
It was his ridiculous attempt to "seek immortality"! It was his trust in that damned fraudster Xu Fu!
"Ah—!!!" Ying Zheng looked up at the sky and let out a roar.
That voice was filled with endless regret, anger, and pain!
He slammed his fist hard onto the desk made of hard wood in front of him!
"Crack—!"
One corner of the desk cracked open.
His hand was covered in blood and flesh, but he felt no pain whatsoever.
"Your Majesty, your enemies have never been just the Xiongnu in the north, the Baiyue in the south, or the remnants of the six kingdoms."
Zhou Jue seized the opportunity and spoke in a solemn voice.
With a wave of her hand, she took out the world map that Chief Zhang had prepared before her departure.
Ying Zheng's roar abruptly ceased.
His gaze was instantly drawn to the map.
"This is……"
"This is the true appearance of the land beneath our feet." Zhou Jue pointed to the map, to the majestic and imposing territory painted black.
"This is the Great Qin."
Ying Zheng's gaze was instantly drawn to that familiar territory.
But then, his heart sank.
Because, surrounding that black map, lies a much wider expanse of land!
To the east lies an endless ocean, at the edge of which lies a long, narrow island marked with the two characters "Eastern Japan".
To the west, beyond the towering snow-capped mountains, lies an even larger, more varied tectonic plate.
To the south, beyond the dense rainforest, lie countless islands.
To the north, beyond the frigid ice fields, lies an endless expanse of land.
big……
It's too big...
He devoted his entire life to conquering all under heaven, and the empire he built, which he believed encompassed the entire "world," actually only occupied a small part of this map.
"I……"
He reached out, wanting to touch that vast world, his voice carrying a hint of bewilderment and longing that even he himself was unaware of.
"I... died too young."
Yes, they died too young.
He has never seen what the world truly looks like.
He had not yet allowed the black dragon flag of the Great Qin to be planted in every corner of this land.
How could he die?
How could he accept death?!
He turned around abruptly, and once again, his dimmed eyes blazed with fierce fire!
It was a primal, most intense longing for life and for time!
He looked at the seemingly omniscient immortal before him and asked, word by word, in an almost pleading tone.
"Immortal, is there... a true method for achieving immortality?"
"I am willing to pay any price!"
This is exactly what Zhou Jue was waiting for.
She took a stone from her sleeve.
"This item is called the 'Spirit-Testing Stone'."
"This world is not devoid of spiritual energy, but it is extremely scarce. If one possesses spiritual roots, one can draw this energy into one's body and embark on the path of cultivation. Although one cannot move mountains and fill seas or achieve immortality like a true immortal."
She paused for a moment: "But living for two or three hundred years is not difficult."
Two or three hundred years!
Ying Zheng's breathing instantly became rapid.
That's enough! That's more than enough!
That's enough for him to crush all those petty scoundrels who covet his land!
This is enough for him to lay a truly unshakeable foundation for the Great Qin Dynasty!
"Your Majesty, please hold it." Zhou Jue handed over the spirit-testing stone.
"Eliminate distracting thoughts and concentrate all your attention on your palm."
Ying Zheng stretched out his hand, the hand that had just smashed the desk and was covered in blood, but now it was extremely solemn.
He took a deep breath and slowly grasped the cold stone.
He closed his eyes and, as Zhou Jue had instructed, concentrated all his thoughts on the palm that was touching the stone.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Just as Zhou Jue was starting to get a little nervous.
Buzz!
A dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth from the stone, instantly illuminating the entire hall!
The light was so intense that Zhou Jue subconsciously squinted.
"A top-grade golden spiritual root!"
Zhou Jue's voice carried a hint of disbelief and shock.
"Your Majesty, you can cultivate immortality!"
Ying Zheng slowly opened his eyes, and upon hearing Zhou Jue's affirmative words, a smile finally appeared on his face.
Very good. As long as he doesn't die, he will eventually get rid of all these troubles!
"Immortal, please teach me!"
Just then, a system notification sounded in Zhou Jue's mind.
[Ding! Detected that the host and target have a strong desire to cultivate immortality. Side quest triggered.]
Side Quest 2: Guide the First Emperor, Ying Zheng, onto the path of immortality.
[The target individual has been detected as the Human Emperor of this plane, bearing the destiny of the nation and the faith of all people. A special cultivation path can be opened: "The Path of the Human Emperor."]
This path may break the dimensional barriers.
[Task Reward: ?]
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