The pale-faced, beardless young eunuch bowed and assented, then retreated step by step from the temporary palace, facing the heroic man. Afterward, a middle-aged man with a gentle smile entered, bowing deeply to the heroic man.

Standing behind the heroic man, a youth holding a weapon stood respectfully, curiously observing the newcomer.

The youth himself was a Qin elite soldier, also practicing certain arcane arts.

The emperor toured the east, with three thousand elite soldiers guarding the First Emperor, felling mountains and destroying temples.

He was quite interested in Xu Shi, who was known as the First Magician of Shenzhou. Xu Shi stepped forward, holding a jade book, speaking eloquently with the air of a detached immortal. However, the youth quickly lost interest when he heard this magician discussing absurd matters such as immortality.

Life and death are natural, how can there be immortality?

He thought.

Those who claim to be able to avoid death are all spouting nonsense to confuse the ruler and mislead the people. The Iron Eagle elite soldiers should kill them upon sight.

This Xu Shi was indeed knowledgeable, quoting classics. He finally mentioned that there were immortal mountains overseas with immortal grass. The youth scoffed, but the heroic man in the main seat seemed intrigued, raising his eyebrows slightly and asking, "Is it outside the East Sea?"

Xu Shi replied respectfully, "It is indeed outside the East Sea. There are three overseas mountains, named Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou, where immortals reside. If I am allowed to fast and bring young boys and girls, I am willing to go to the immortal mountains to seek the immortal grass and present it to Your Majesty."

The heroic man pondered, smiling, "In that case, I grant it."

"But I wonder how long this journey will take?"

Xu Shi replied joyfully, "Although the East Sea is far, it will take no more than ten years to return."

"Oh? Ten years..."

The heroic man in black robes said:

"Very good."

"But this journey is long, and I am worried about you all. I fear there will be dangers along the way, Yuan..."

The black-clad youth was slightly stunned, then stepped forward, cupping his hands and bowing his head, "Your subject is here."

The First Emperor said faintly, "You shall lead a team of Qin elite soldiers and accompany Mr. Xu Shi to the East Sea."

"Within ten years, ensure Mr. Xu Shi's safety."

The youth, from the Qin Black Ice Terrace Iron Eagle elite soldiers, an elite force that had once defeated various countries, immediately understood the hidden meaning of these words. To ensure his safety within ten years meant that if he did not return within ten years, he would be accused of deceiving the emperor and hiding his intentions to escape Qin. He would then be beheaded, and the remaining soldiers would lead the others back to Shenzhou. The young elite soldier looked at the First Magician's slightly stiff face and said:

"Your subject obeys."

"Within ten years, my Qin elite soldiers will surely protect Mr. Xu Shi's safety."

The strange look on Xu Shi's face flashed by, and he smiled and bowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

This audience with the magician ended quickly. Xu Shi was sent down by the fair-skinned eunuch. The youth, as a halberd-bearer, stayed behind. He was a descendant of Qin soldiers. His ancestors had served the old Qin people for generations. His grandfather followed Lord Wu'an in the campaign against Zhao, dying in Changping. Before his death, he beheaded seven men and received military merit.

His father followed General Wang Jian, completely crushing the capital of Zhao to avenge his family, but also fell on the road to Qin's unification of the six kingdoms. There were many such children in Qin, and they were well taken care of. He had excellent talent and was eventually recruited by the Black Ice Terrace, becoming a member of the Iron Eagle elite soldiers who had once destroyed the Wei W卒.

The First Emperor drank wine.

The young halberd-bearer seemed to have something to say. The First Emperor raised his eyes and said faintly:

"If you have something to say, speak."

The youth, wearing armor, could only clasp his fist and said in a muffled voice:

"Your subject believes that the matter of longevity is truly absurd. Your Majesty must not lightly believe what that magician says..."

The heroic man did not get angry, but laughed loudly, saying:

"Did you think that I truly believed that ghost story of longevity?"

The youth was stunned, not knowing what to say for a moment.

The First Emperor laughed, intending to speak, but suddenly his face turned pale, and an extremely vast and majestic, yet complex aura emanated from his body, as if he were a high and mighty god. The youth could not control himself and retreated repeatedly. The heroic man frowned and scolded, "Step back!"

This was not said to the youth. In an instant, those many auras were suppressed by him.

But in a short moment, the youth's face was pale, unable to speak.

That aura came from gods, from the gods of various countries. The Great Zhou gained the world, but because there were many Earth Gods in the coalition forces, it had to enfeoff various countries to appease the hearts of the gods. Eight hundred years of division, fighting each other, and the strong countries that remained all had their own gods and customs.

This is also why the situation in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods remained unchanged for five hundred years.

This was the third tour of the First Emperor.

The matter of felling mountains and destroying temples along the way was not a one-time occurrence. Most of it was not even allowed to be recorded. The first tour was to Longxi, Beidi, out of Jitou Mountain, passing through Huizhong, touring the road that the thirty-fourth generation of Qin emperors had traveled, and returning to Xianyang.

The second time, he performed the Fengshan sacrifice, sacrificing to the major rivers of Huai, and also felled mountains and destroyed temples, beheading all the Xiangjun Mountains.

Along the way, there were gods who were willing to accept the Qin state's enfeoffment, so they bowed down to His Majesty, and there were also those who were unwilling to submit, who were killed by His Majesty the First Emperor. There must have been some other things that he did not know, but the youth believed that His Majesty's frequent tours were not that simple.

The heroic man seemed to have suppressed the riotous aura. His eyes swept over the youth who was standing quietly with his head bowed and said, "You are not curious."

The youth replied, "Your subject knows his duty, which is to be a halberd-bearer, and Your Majesty is the ruler of the world."

"Those in their position should seek its governance. Moreover, in any case, Your Majesty is still Your Majesty, the common ruler of us all. Your subject only needs to know this, to know where the Qin sword in my hand is pointing."

So the First Emperor laughed and said, "Your words do not sound like a swordsman, halberd-bearer, you are wasted."

The youth was silent, standing respectfully.

The heroic man said, "Since that is the case, then it is not impossible to tell you, after all, you are about to leave for the East Sea, and you do not know if you will return in ten years. Your life and death are uncertain, so I should naturally tell you what you are going to do."

He stretched out his hand, his five fingers slightly curved, and a jade seal appeared in his hand.

Solemn and respectful, with the words 'Having received the mandate from Heaven, may you enjoy longevity and prosperity' below it.

But Yuan, as a halberd-bearer, knew that this was not what those subjects interpreted as 'obeying the mandate of Heaven and becoming emperor'. This Heaven was not the昊天Haotian God of Zhou, because the Qin state only had sacrifices to the Four Directional Emperors and did not respect that昊天Haotian. The Heaven in this sentence was the Great Way of Heaven and Earth, the cycle of nature.

He had seen this jade seal in the past.

But this time, he found that the jade seal seemed to have undergone different changes compared to the past.

There were faint streams of light overflowing, and one could see the rise and fall of gods, but they were forcibly suppressed, unable to break free. Cold sweat seeped from the youth's temples, and he dared not look again. The heroic man lowered his eyes, his expression calm, and said, "The world began with Zhou, eight hundred years ago. The countries conquered each other, and although there were cases of losing all their land, they were often able to restore their original territory."

"What do you think is the reason?"

The youth was silent and said, "Each place has its own gods, each place has its own culture, and each place has its own writing."

The First Emperor said, "That's right, each place has its own culture and writing, making it difficult for government orders to circulate and difficult for rule to be stable. Therefore, the world should use a common writing system, so that even if local accents are different, they can naturally communicate. Secondly, each place has so-called gods and earth spirits, who regard each other as enemies and constantly conquer each other..."

"The foundation of the earth spirits is the fortune of a land and a country. Their struggles are also struggles for fortune. The Zhou Dynasty enfeoffed hundreds of earth spirits, and now they have fought to this point, and they have long since checked each other. If we want them to naturally converge into one, it is already impossible. Then, the fortune of Shenzhou will forever be divided into seven parts, devouring each other."

"When I tour the world, I will distinguish between orthodox gods and lewd cults. Those who are sealed by me are orthodox, and those who disobey should be killed."

"Eliminate evil gods and enfeoff orthodox gods."

"In the end, all the gods of this world will be sealed by my Qin jade seal, protecting Shenzhou, without distinction between friend and foe."

The youth looked at the still young emperor, lost in thought.

The First Emperor's eyes were deep. He looked into the distance, like a lion staring hungrily at his hunting ground, like an arrogant and resolute monarch. He said, "At that time, I will gather the fortunes of the seven kingdoms into this seal. Yu cast the nine tripods, and I will use the fortune of the nine provinces to cast the fortune of my Shenzhou for all time. As long as the dragon of fortune is still there, my Shenzhou will not be divided."

"Thus, for thousands of years, the world will be one country."

The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors possessed the Central Plains of Shenzhou, and King Yu suppressed the nine provinces and cast the nine tripods, becoming the common ruler of the world.

After that, the Xia and Shang dynasties remained unchanged, and the Zhou dynasty had vassals everywhere.

Now, the young emperor wielded his sword to whip the world, integrating the originally subjugated nine provinces together.

Not only the land, but also the culture, writing, language, weights and measures, and even the gods of these nine provinces, were to be integrated by him. He said in a relaxed tone, "From me onwards, there will only be one emperor in the nine provinces of the world, only one kind of writing, one kind of measurement, and only sacrifices to the same gods."

"Throughout the world, unite hearts and minds. Standardize weapons and measurements, unify writing."

The youth took a long time to recover. He vaguely felt that this country was vastly different from the vassal states of the past. He suddenly understood what the seemingly heroic and calm young emperor was going to do and murmured:

"Your Majesty, then going to the East Sea..."

The First Emperor said, "I have heard that there are still countries beyond the East Sea, as well as the three overseas mountains."

The youth subconsciously replied, "Your Majesty, you already possess the seven kingdoms."

The heroic emperor's eyebrows opened up, and he suddenly laughed loudly, "What are the seven kingdoms?!"

He said: "To the west, cross the quicksand; to the south, reach the northern households; to the east, there is the East Sea; to the north, pass the Great Xia."

"Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever boats and carriages travel, wherever human footprints reach, there is no one who is not a subject."

"This is my Great Qin!"

"What is that expression on your face? What difficulty is there in this? And why is it necessary to seek longevity to accomplish this? If I had the lifespan of King Zhaoxiang, it would be enough. Is Heaven really so stingy that it is unwilling to grant me even this?"

The First Emperor shook his head with a smile and said, "You will go to sea with that magician and see what is beyond the East Sea."

"Originally, I was still troubled by how to deal with these magicians. Since they took the initiative to come to my door, I will use them. Within ten years, whether you gain anything or not, you must return."

The young Iron Eagle elite soldier accepted the order, hesitated, and said:

"Your Majesty, why did you tell me this?"

"Your subject is just a mere..."

The First Emperor replied, "Because you are a Qin person, a citizen of my Great Qin."

"My world should naturally be shared with the people of Great Qin."

The emperor in black robes, holding the jade seal, suppressing the gods, and suppressing the world, finished speaking and took off his jade pendant, intending to bestow it, but suddenly saw that a clear aura seemed to be transforming into flowers blooming and falling between the youth's eyebrows. He was slightly surprised, and then realized, saying softly, "So that's how it is. How interesting." He lightly tapped the jade dragon pendant. The young halberd-bearer still lowered his head, but heard the emperor say:

"That is all, raise your head."

The young elite soldier subconsciously raised his head.

The First Emperor threw the jade dragon pendant he carried with him to the elite soldier, who hurriedly caught it.

Seeing that this was a treasure jade from King Mu of Zhou, he was speechless for a moment.

At this moment, streams of light overflowed from the jade dragon pendant.

Wei Yuan, who should have been immersed in the memory, suddenly regained his post-mortem self-awareness.

Thus, he and the young Yuan opened their eyes together and saw above the palace where this memory was located. In that distant past, in the dim time and space, there were white jade steps. They saw the only emperor in China's thousands of years who did not wear a crown or ceremonial robes, but wore black robes and a 通天冠 Tongtian crown, smiling and reaching out to himself.

He was speaking to the youth of the past, and also to the people of the distant future who might glimpse this scene—

Asking:

"Are you willing to see with me, this dream of a thousand autumns and ages, a world as one country?!"

ps: Today's second update... Thank you for the ten thousand reward from月棺Moon Coffin

The Iron Eagle Elite Soldier is taken from the fictional Black Ice Terrace of the Great Qin Empire.

Xu Fu returned honestly nine years after his first voyage, but he never returned the second time.

The words spoken by the First Emperor are from the Qin Dynasty Lang琊 Langya Stone Inscription, which has always been considered a famous saying of the Han Dynasty, "Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever the mountains and rivers reach, all are subjects," which is from the First Emperor...