Ying Ziye’s words were like a spark igniting a fire in Ying Zheng’s heart.
To build the world’s largest ship.
And sail it around the world.
It sounded… far too beautiful.
Ying Zheng was just about to laugh and say “good,” when suddenly— his expression changed.
His originally ruddy face turned deathly pale in an instant.
One hand shot up to clutch his head.
“Ugh…”
A painful groan squeezed out from his throat.
That familiar, tearing pain.
Like a drill boring wildly into his brain.
His head illness.
An old problem.
Whenever his emotions surged or he overexerted himself, this sickness would come like a vengeful ghost demanding payment.
“Father Emperor!”
Ying Ziye was startled and quickly jumped down from the couch.
He rushed over and supported Ying Zheng’s staggering, towering body.
Ying Zheng’s hand gripped the edge of the table tightly.
His knuckles turned white from the force.
Even the plate of potato beef stew on the table was jolted, spilling a few pieces.
After a long while, the piercing pain slowly began to fade.
Ying Zheng panted heavily.
Sweat slid down his forehead and into his eyes, stinging painfully.
He released his grip and slumped back into the chair.
His entire body seemed to have had its spine pulled out, instantly aging by ten years.
“Getting old…”
Ying Zheng looked at his trembling hand and let out a bitter laugh.
His voice carried an unprecedented sense of desolation.
“Ying Ziye.”
“I am truly getting old.”
“This vast empire—I still want to conquer it.”
“But this body…”
He struck his thigh hard, his face full of unwillingness.
“It’s no longer usable.”
Ying Ziye looked at him.
At this man who, just moments ago, had been full of heroic ambition—ready to split the world open with a single sword.
Now he looked like a helpless old man, worn down by illness and stripped of his strength.
Ying Ziye’s heart tightened sharply.
If nothing was done.
Then that historical ending—dying at Shaqiu, his corpse left to rot without anyone knowing—would repeat itself.
At that moment— a clear electronic voice suddenly exploded in Ying Ziye’s mind without warning.
【Ding!】
【Detected: Host actions have caused a major impact on the fate of the Qin Empire!】
【Performing phased settlement…】
Ying Ziye’s eyes lit up.
Here it comes!
Finally, it’s here!
These past few days he had been exhausting himself—confronting Zhao Gao, killing Yan Le, rebuking the Confucians, introducing the imperial examination.
Like a diligent worker.
Finally, it was time for the boss to pay wages!
【Event Settlement 1: Promotion of the “Imperial Examination System,” breaking hereditary aristocratic privilege and severing the roots of the old nobility!】
【Rating: S-Class!】
【Event Settlement 2: Implementing “Work Instead of Relief,” saving countless lives and gathering the loyalty of 100,000 people in Hedong Commandery!】
【Rating: SS-level!】
【Event Settlement 3: Displaying the “World Map,” reshaping Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s worldview and opening the path to Qin’s conquest of the world!】
【Rating: SSS-level!】
【Overall Evaluation: Defying Fate and Changing Destiny!】
【Congratulations, Host. You have obtained a legendary national fortune reward!】
Ying Ziye held his breath.
Legendary grade!
What would it be?
A mecha?
A nuclear bomb?
Or an immortal cultivation technique?
【Reward being issued…】
【Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Marrow-Cleansing Life-Extending Pill ×1!】
【Item Description: A system-produced premium item. It can cleanse the marrow, expel toxins and hidden illnesses within the body, extend lifespan by 20 years, and restore the body to peak condition!】
Ying Ziye almost cried out.
This was truly a pillow delivered just when he was sleepy!
Was this even medicine?
This was Ying Zheng’s life itself!
It was the life-extension talisman of the entire Great Qin Empire!
“Father Emperor.”
Ying Ziye’s small hand reached into his robes and rummaged around.
In reality, he was retrieving it from the system space.
When he took it out again, a simple, old wooden box appeared in his hand.
It was small, without any decoration.
It looked utterly ordinary.
“Don’t sigh anymore.”
He pushed the wooden box in front of Ying Zheng.
“That white-bearded immortal just appeared in my dream again.”
“He said that, seeing how ambitious Father Emperor is…”
“He’s giving you a little ‘deposit’ first.”
Ying Zheng froze.
He lifted his heavy eyelids and looked at the wooden box.
“A… immortal gave it?”
“A deposit?”
Ying Ziye nodded with an innocent expression.
“Yes.”
“The immortal said this pill is properly cooked!”
“If you eat it, you can go conquer that whatever Rome and whatnot India.”
Ying Zheng’s hand trembled slightly.
He slowly reached out and opened the wooden box.
Click.
The lid opened.
A strange fragrance immediately drifted out.
It was a very unusual scent.
Not floral, not medicinal.
Just a single breath of it seemed to clear the heaviness from his mind.
Inside the box lay a black pill.
Only the size of a thumb.
Its surface was uneven and rough, looking extremely unremarkable.
Far inferior in appearance to the “golden pills” refined by the palace alchemists.
If it had been before…
Anyone who dared to give Ying Zheng something that looked like a sheep-dropping pellet to eat…would definitely be torn apart by five horses and have their entire clan executed.
But now.
The one who handed it over was Ying Ziye.
The same son who had produced potatoes, produced the world map, and devised the divine imperial examination strategy.
Ying Zheng stared at the pill.
He did not call for imperial physicians.
He did not order a poison tester.
Not even the slightest hesitation.
He reached out with two fingers and picked up the pill.
“Good.”
Only one word.
Then—he tilted his head back, opened his mouth,
and swallowed it in one gulp!
Gulp.
The pill entered his stomach.
Ying Ziye watched from the side, his palms sweating.
Even though the system said it was a premium item, this was still the First Emperor of Qin.
If something went wrong with his stomach… that would be a disaster.
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Ying Zheng sat there motionless, as if he had fallen asleep.
Then suddenly—his eyes snapped wide open!
His eyeballs were instantly covered in bloodshot veins!
“Ugh!!”
A suppressed roar rolled out from deep in his throat.
Pain!
Extreme pain!
A hundred times worse than his previous headache!
It was as if a ball of blazing fire had exploded in his stomach!
That fire surged through his blood vessels, burning through his entire body.
Every limb and bone!
Every organ!
“Father Emperor!”
Ying Ziye was startled and stepped forward.
“Don’t come near me!!”
Ying Zheng let out a thunderous roar!
He clenched the armrest tightly.
The solid purple sandalwood armrest was actually crushed into pieces by his grip!
Crack!
Wood splinters pierced his palm, blood flowing out.
But he seemed not to feel it.
Because the burning sensation inside his body had already drowned out everything else.
Heat.
It was so hot.
Ying Zheng felt as if he had been thrown into Laozi’s alchemy furnace.
Every inch of his skin was trembling.
Every bone was cracking.
Crackling!
A series of popping sounds, like exploding beans, came from within his body.
Then—a bizarre scene occurred.
From Ying Ziye’s pores, something began to seep out.
Black.
Sticky.
Reeking of a nauseating stench.
It was poison!
The accumulated residue from the countless heavy-metal “longevity pills” he had taken over the decades in pursuit of immortality!
It was also the fatigue and hidden illnesses built up from years of handling memorials day and night!
At this moment—under the overbearing medicinal power of the marrow-cleansing pill—all this filth was being forcibly stripped away and expelled from his body!
Ying Ziye covered his nose.
So foul!
The smell was even worse than eggs left rotten for half a month.
But he did not step back.
He stared fixedly at Ying Zheng.
On the system interface, Ying Zheng’s vital signs were fluctuating wildly.
The red warning bar was slowly turning green.
One quarter of an hour.
Two quarters of an hour.
The black grime on Ying Zheng’s body grew thicker and thicker.
It even soaked through his black imperial robes.
He looked as if he had been pulled out of a vat of ink.
Yet the expression of pain on his face was gradually fading.
In its place—was an unprecedented sense of relief.
It felt as if a mountain he had carried for decades had suddenly been lifted off his shoulders.
Light.
Clear.
A vast surge of power rose from his dantian and instantly flooded his entire body.
His dried-up blood and qi began to surge again!
Like the Yangtze River!
Like the Yellow River!
Endless and unstoppable!
“ROAR—!!”
Ying Zheng suddenly opened his mouth.
And let out a long howl!
The sound—full of energy!
piercing the skies and splitting stone!
It shook the windows of the entire hall into a humming vibration!
It even startled the guards outside into kneeling on the ground!
Bang!
Ying Zheng suddenly stood up.
His movements were as agile as a leopard just awakened from sleep.
He lowered his head.
Looked at his hands.
The slightly loose skin had become firm and taut again.
The slightly cloudy eyes had become clear and sharp once more.
He clenched his fist.
His joints cracked loudly.
Power!
Long-lost power!
He could feel it again!
The Ying Zheng of twenty years old… had returned!
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