Chapter 558
The faces of old friends had all changed beyond recognition due to power, and he aspired to become the most powerful man in the world.
Thus began the grand endeavor of unifying the realm.
In the span of ten years, the iron cavalry of the Great Qin swept through the states of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi, bringing an end to the chaotic era of strife.
Relatives, friends, and enemies had all vanished like whispers in the wind.
The Great Qin emerged as the first truly unified dynasty, with all power concentrated solely in his hands.
Yet, at the same time, the weight of that power pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe.
The daily burden of two hundred pounds of bamboo slips left him feeling increasingly overwhelmed.
But the Great Qin could not afford to stop, like a speeding carriage that would plunge into ruin without a diligent driver.
He had already been consumed by power.
Unless he could pursue the elusive promise of immortality.
But Xu Fu and the others had vanished without a trace. He had been deceived, and in his fury, he executed many, earning a notorious reputation in history for burning books and burying scholars.
Now, the last sand dune he visited had become a flickering candle in the wind.
“Am I... going to die?”
Li Mo felt his heart spiral out of control, a fierce unwillingness burning like fire on oil.
If it weren’t for this unwillingness, perhaps he would have already succumbed.
As his consciousness sank into darkness, he heard someone say:
“Yun Zhongjun has returned! He brought back the elixir of immortality!”
And so, a crystal-clear pill, resembling red jade, was presented before him at the brink of death.
He swallowed it.
His ambitions, his unwillingness, his obsessions, and his thirst for life all peaked at that moment.
Whispers echoed in his ears:
“Eat it, and you will achieve immortality, forever standing at the pinnacle of power.”
“You’re going to die; what will your grand life amount to?”
“Do you want to see the empire built by the legacy of the six generations collapse in an instant?”
“Hahaha, Zheng’er, come down and keep me company!”
The voice was like a siren’s call, clear even when he covered his ears, for it all came from within his own heart.
“No…”
“No, I’m not Qin Shihuang…”
“I’m not alone.”
At that moment, half of Li Mo’s face was already shrouded in a crimson hue.
The people of Mo City surrounding him could do nothing but fret in place.
“Wow, Little Li looks kind of sinister like this. He’s not going to start cackling, is he?”
“What’s he mumbling about?”
“I, Qin Shihuang, need money?”
“Who’s Qin Shihuang?”
The crowd was utterly confused about the current situation. Not only the people in Tianren City, but even the heavens and earth had no idea who Zheng Ge was.
They could only tell that Li Mo seemed to have identified himself with some emperor.
In the Wan Chunting, Shang Qin Qing woke up to find the sky had fallen.
She had missed the candy, and now Little Li had turned out like this.
Would he never have candy again?
“What kind of trick is the Blood God using?” Shang Wu crossed her arms, her gaze sharp.
“This move has a deep history,” Qin Yuzhi replied, her expression as cold as water.
It was well-known that Qin Yuzhi had slept through a change of dynasties because she knew too many secrets.
“What history?”
Shang Wu sighed, “Back when the Blood Refining Hall was still called the Martial Refining Hall, there was a martial genius who was exceptionally gifted.”
“How gifted?”
“About as much as that Yin Yang Hall Master who turned himself into a woman.”
“Well, that’s certainly…”
“This person was obsessed with martial arts, neglecting his wife at home. Left alone, she grew tired of solitude and began an affair with his disciple.”
“Ah?”
The crowd was momentarily speechless at this juicy gossip.
But they were puzzled about how this related to the Blood God’s methods.
“Don’t rush me; let me explain.”
Qin Yuzhi took a sip of tea and continued, “That martial genius, despite being green with jealousy, truly loved his wife. He couldn’t bear to punish her, yet he felt he had his own faults.”
“He couldn’t let go of martial arts, nor did he want to wear a green hat, so he sought help from the ancestral god.”
“The ancestral god manifested and taught him a method: as long as he used his blood, he could create a doppelgänger, called Blood Rebirth!”
The crowd fell silent.
If you set aside the background, this martial art was almost divine.
“From then on, he practiced martial arts with his main body, dropping a drop of blood each day to accompany his wife. But over time, he discovered she was still having affairs.”
“Enraged, he dripped his blood onto his disciple.”
“Something strange happened: he found he could be reborn in his disciple’s body! As long as he dispelled the disciple’s consciousness, he could gain a new body!”
“Of course, the cost was also great… I wonder if the Blood God has perfected this method.”
At this point, everyone’s expression changed, as if they understood each other’s intentions.
Did the Blood God want to destroy Li Shao Xia?
This meant that if he succeeded, he could use Li Shao Xia to wield the Tianren Divine Sword, and Tianren City would be utterly finished.
“Let me in!”
Shang Wu was genuinely anxious now, rolling up her sleeves and preparing to charge into the Jiangshan Sheji Map.
But Shang Qin Qing held her back.
“Xiao Qingluan, why are you stopping me?”
“Xiao Bing’er is still inside. She’s even more worried than you, yet she hasn’t shown herself.”
---
Chapter 635: Reforging the Tianren Divine Sword!
“I’m not alone…”
In the darkness, a bright moonlight pierced through the gloom.
Li Mo’s twisted spirit gained a moment of clarity as he assessed his situation.
What he was experiencing now was akin to a soul possession in a novel.
No, unlike possession, his consciousness wouldn’t be replaced; it would merely be assimilated, transforming his thought patterns into those of another person.
All of this would happen after he swallowed that blood-red elixir of immortality.
Yet, he found himself unable to control his actions, helplessly watching his hand tremble as it reached for the elixir, bringing it to his lips.
The instinct to survive and his greed for power had consumed his sense of self.
“Immortality…”
“But I’ve already died once.”
Li Mo closed his eyes.
He began to recall a book that had been pressed under a large-headed doll just days ago.
It was Bing Dong’s diary.
Ying Bing had never been fond of writing such things; she had lived a life filled with grand yet lonely experiences, lacking in anything noteworthy.
But ever since entering the Tianhuang Domain and working alongside Li Mo from dawn till dusk, she had taken to recording her life.
“On the first day in the Tianhuang Domain, I didn’t know where he was.”
“On the twenty-seventh day, I found him. He was still as silly as before, but he didn’t remember me. No giggles…”
“By the fifth year, he still hadn’t remembered me, so I made him the hot pot he once cooked for me, imitating how he cleaned and did laundry at Qiushui Pavilion…”
“I noticed the village chief’s daughter looked at him strangely. No giggles.”
“On the twelfth year, he had grown into a man, but he was still a childish fool. Everyone called me the village chief’s wife. Giggles.”
“Giggles, no giggles, giggles, no giggles…”
“Giggles… I’ll just draw a smiley face for all the happy days in my notebook. He says I look beautiful when I smile.”
“…”
“By the fiftieth year, he had become an old man, with a white beard, but still a childish fool.”
“Li Mo is nearing death, and I secretly cried, but I didn’t let him see, because he says I look best when I smile.”
“Li Mo said he wants to see me in the next life, and I will wait for him.”
“The underground city is celebrating again. He got the purple mask and said he wanted to roam the world with me. I agreed.”
“But I didn’t learn to ride a horse. He said he would teach me. Is ‘teaching by example’ done with words? I don’t know, but my heart races so fast…”
“Hmm? Did he peek at my diary??”
A figure, softening in the dim light, was seen writing with a brush.
At that moment, Li Mo’s heart found complete peace.
He was never alone.
He had no reason to fear death.
“Eat it, and you will gain eternal life.”
“You will live as long as the heavens and earth, becoming forever supreme. Isn’t that wonderful?”
“Eat it, hurry and eat…”
The seductive voice continued to echo.
Smack—
An aged hand swatted the blood-red elixir away.
The illusion before him shattered, and a blood shadow was forcefully expelled from his body, staining half the sky red.
In Tian City, the winds and clouds shifted.
The deep crimson sky seemed to weep blood from above.
The blood shadow in midair twisted into a grotesque face:
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