National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

The glimmer of hope in Amaterasu’s eyes, shining like brilliant stars, was instantly doused as if by a torrential, icy rain, extinguished completely without a single ember left.

Her once gentle eyes instantly locked onto Xu Fu as she shrieked hysterically, "You despicable bastard, are you toying with me on purpose?

That last wisp of Emperor’s Qi you had must have already scattered into the ether, vanished without a trace, hasn’t it?"

At this moment, Amaterasu was trapped in a desperate situation. Her heart, filled with despair, was turning it into a raging fire, and she urgently needed an outlet to release all her pent-up fury.

Xu Fu, however, remained detached, observing everything with cold indifference. His expression was as serene as a calm lake, without a single ripple.

The corners of his lips curled into a faint, yet deeply mocking arc as he unhurriedly retorted, "My bit of Emperor’s Qi is gone. Have you ever considered that you might be the root of the problem?"

Seeing Amaterasu on the verge of a complete meltdown,

Xu Fu paused, then added in that same unhurried tone, "The corpse of Qin Shi Huang contains an amount of Emperor’s Qi so immense it’s beyond imagination."

"Nonsense!" Amaterasu shot to her feet. "A corpse is just a corpse! A pile of cold, lifeless, rotting flesh! So what if it’s been imbued with Emperor’s Qi?

In the end, it still has to walk the Yellow Springs Road and can’t escape its fated death!"

As she spoke, her voice trailed off, all the strength draining from her. The light in her eyes dimmed completely, like a snuffed-out candle flame.

She collapsed limply to the ground, sinking into a bottomless abyss of despair.

In truth, what made Amaterasu’s heart turn to ash wasn’t the looming shadow of death,

but the methods of those high-and-mighty senior Deities who held the power of life and death over all creation.

Back in the day, she was, after all, a member of the Deities’ faction,

and she was as familiar with their ruthless, treacherous, and ever-changing methods as she was with the lines on her own palm.

Those methods were like unbreakable, invisible shackles that bound her tightly, leaving her to struggle in this dark mire with no glimmer of light, no shred of hope for escape.

Amaterasu took a deep breath, trying desperately to calm the turbulent waves of emotion in her heart. She continued, "What I seek isn’t some temporary protection.

What I yearn for is a method that can provide me with a continuous, unending supply of Emperor’s Qi.

Only then will I have the confidence to resist that suffocating Divine Power of the senior Deities.

The Emperor’s Qi attached to a corpse will eventually run out, just like the sand in an hourglass. If your proposal—your so-called solution—is this shortsighted, with no long-term plan,

then you’d best just shut your mouth. Don’t waste my time and add to my frustrations!"

At this point, Amaterasu had completely lost all patience and interest in what Xu Fu had to say.

Deep down, she was convinced that Xu Fu was most likely using this opportunity to get his revenge,

wanting to see her humiliated and made a laughingstock, paying her back for their previous grievances.

"Then why not reforge an emperor for the Mortal World?"

Xu Fu seemed not to have heard Amaterasu’s tirade at all.

His gaze was so profound it seemed to pierce through endless time and space, through the mists of this mortal plane, as he suddenly dropped this earth-shattering question.

Seeing everyone’s blank and confused expressions,

he raised his head slightly, a trace of weathered nostalgia in his eyes, and continued to explain, "In the long-gone and once-glorious Great Qin Dynasty,

there was a mysterious and unpredictable Secret Technique from the Nine Netherworld, known as Reincarnation.

Though I have been sealed in this sunless place for countless ages,

and the world outside has undergone drastic changes, becoming completely unrecognizable—a different Mortal World entirely—

I can still tell that the situation for the Human Race is now critical, hanging by a thread.

If we don’t rise up and resist now, the Human Race will truly be finished.

And this destruction isn’t a simple matter of physical demise, of turning to dust and ash.

It is a complete collapse on the level of spirit, soul, and consciousness, like a magnificent edifice being utterly destroyed from its very foundations.

At that point, our descendants, for thousands of generations, will be reduced to slaves at the mercy of others, with no hope of ever breaking free, forced to eke out a meager existence in the darkness."

Xu Fu’s voice was deep and powerful, like the resounding toll of an ancient bell, echoing through the silent air.

Every word seemed to carry immense weight, striking heavily upon everyone’s hearts and making them thrum.

"Reforge an emperor for the Mortal World?" Chu He and Amaterasu’s eyes widened in unison,

the shock in their gazes so palpable it threatened to overflow.

They never would have imagined that Xu Fu would come up with such an audacious, fate-defying idea that shattered the rules of heaven and earth.

Just then, inside Chu He’s mind,

a cold, robotic, electronic voice rang out of nowhere:

"DING! Host’s current status detected.

New mission triggered: Reincarnation, Achieve the Body of an Emperor!"

Immediately after,

another, equally emotionless voice sounded:

"Mission Completion Reward: Perfect Body-Soul Fusion."

"Mission Failure: No penalty."

Chu He felt his heart lurch, as if he had just been struck by a violent bolt of lightning.