Corpse Liberation

Xu Fu stepped forward and placed the Heavenly Dao Purple-Veined Ganoderma atop the idol's head.

The moment the ganoderma touched the idol, it acted as if it had found fertile soil; its mycelia instantly took root and began to grow wildly!

More of the Heavenly Dao's purple energy erupted, nearly shrouding the entire altar.

Chen Jin's sense of crisis reached its peak.

I can't wait any longer! I must act now!

He secretly adjusted his posture, his muscles coiled like compressed springs, his target locked firmly on that golden ganoderma.

However, the very instant before he was about to explode into action, a strange phenomenon occurred!

The angle of the sunlight shifted eerily, and the shadows of the three thousand children connected with the Emperor's shadow to form a web.

In that same heartbeat, Xu Fu launched his assault, driving a dagger toward the Emperor standing beside him!

Now is the time!

A brilliant light erupted in Chen Jin's eyes!

With Xu Fu making his move, the entire audience's attention was drawn away; this was the moment chaos began, and it was his only chance!

"Traitor!"

Almost as the First Emperor Ying Zheng spoke, the space around him distorted. Massive amounts of mercury surged from the void, instantly transforming into nine ferocious black mercury dragons that circled him, dancing and roaring.

The nine dragons lashed their massive tails in unison, slamming them toward Xu Fu, who had just launched his sneak attack.

Xu Fu seemed to have anticipated this; his figure slid backward like a ghost while several golden talismans flew from his sleeves. They collided violently with the mercury dragons, emitting a deafening roar.

The shockwaves rolled outward, blasting several nearby officials who were too slow to dodge.

"Law Eye, execute the traitor!"

The First Emperor spat out four more words, his command manifesting into reality.

In the sky, the countless "Law Eyes" that had been coldly looking down suddenly changed.

Deep within their originally pitch-black pupils, something seemed to be writhing and struggling frantically.

The next moment, the pupils of those Law Eyes contracted sharply, transforming into the embryonic forms of Black Birds, while the whites of the eyes rapidly calcified, turning into massive white stone eggs.

Crack... crack...

A continuous series of crisp sounds echoed as countless fissures appeared on the surfaces of the stone eggs, and scorching blue flames erupted from the cracks.

Finally, countless Black Birds burning with ghostly blue flames broke through their shells. Emitting shrieks that pierced the soul, they dove down like a rain of fire, covering the sky as they descended upon Xu Fu and the children and Alchemists under his command.

That was not all! Standing at the "Sun" focal point of the formation, the First Emperor resonated with the entire territory of Great Qin.

He raised his hand in a phantom grasp and said in a deep voice, "Twelve Golden Men, where are you?"

In an instant, from the foot of Langya Mountain and even from distances beyond sight, came the sound of countless metallic hums and the whistling of air!

From all directions, countless points of cold light streaked toward them—weapons flying from across the land: bronze swords, long halberds, crossbow bolts, and even fragments of broken armor from the six fallen states.

They converged into torrents of metal, madly gathering and assembling atop Langya Terrace.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Amidst the deafening sound of metal striking metal, twelve bronze giants, each over ten zhang tall and exuding an aura of iron and blood, rose from the ground.

They were primitive in form with blurred faces, save for the blue flames burning in their eyes—the same flames as the Black Birds. With steps that made the earth tremble, they began to clear the "idle traitors" from Langya Terrace.

Facing the pincer attack from heaven and earth unleashed by the First Emperor, Xu Fu showed no despair; instead, a sinister grin of a scheme fulfilled spread across his face.

"Your Majesty, pray, try this gift of 'Ten Thousand People Praying for Longevity' that I have prepared for you!" he shrieked, his hand seals shifting abruptly.

The three thousand boys and girls kneeling on the ground shuddered in unison!

Eerie expressions surfaced on their faces as their bodies began to swell rapidly, as if being pumped full of air.

"Destroy the tyrannical Qin!"

Accompanied by twisted, fanatical shouts, the first child leaped from the ground. No longer fearing the majestic Emperor, the child became a human cannonball, hurling themselves toward the First Emperor at the center of the formation without regard for their own life.

"BOOM!!!"

Without giving the guards any time to react, the child detonated with a roar while still ten paces from the First Emperor!

There was no spray of flesh and blood; instead, the child exploded into a dark red mist of blood, tangled with resentment and vital essence.

This blood mist possessed intense corrosive and penetrating power, causing even the mercury dragons circling the First Emperor to hiss and dim in brilliance.

And this was only the beginning.

Like the first domino falling, the second, the third... the tenth, the hundredth... the children rushed forward one after another like moths to a flame, madly charging at the First Emperor and detonating in succession at varying distances.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!"

The continuous sound of explosions was like a string of firecrackers, and the entire altar plaza was shrouded in a thick, impenetrable blood-colored mist.

The mercury dragons danced frantically, constantly wearing down the blood mist, but they could not withstand the relentless onslaught.

Even more eerily, every time a child detonated, the shadow line connecting their feet to the First Emperor's shadow would shudder violently, transmitting an invisible curse directly toward him.

"Cough!"

The First Emperor's body swayed imperceptibly, and one of the magnificent patterns woven in gold thread on his black imperial robes—symbolizing the sun, moon, stars, mountains, seas, and exotic beasts—snapped in response.

The exquisitely embroidered Black Bird pattern seemed to lose its spirit, turning dull and lusterless.

This meant that a portion of the destiny he carried had been forcibly severed by this sinister ritual.

At almost the same moment, a roar like a mountain collapsing and a sea surging, filled with irrational madness, erupted from the foot of the mountain.

The commoners of Langya City, who had been implanted with suggestions by the "Spirit Rain," now had blood-red eyes. Like a tide, they surged from the forests and streets, wielding hoes, wooden sticks, or even their bare hands, charging frantically at the regular Qin Army troops who were forming ranks to ascend the mountain.

Completely disregarding life or death, they slammed their physical bodies against the steel defensive line, temporarily stalling the Qin Army at the foot of the mountain with the chaotic human tide.

"Bastards!!!"

A roar of extreme fury from the First Emperor descended from the clouds, causing the entire Langya Mountain to tremble under his rage.

He clearly had not expected that Xu Fu would dare, or even be able, to utilize the destiny he had bestowed and the three thousand children to perform such a vicious, evil art that directly shook the foundation of his state and his own being.

"Xu Fu! I strip you of your rank and salary, revoke your titles! I erase your merits and cast you into eternal reincarnation!" The First Emperor's voice was like thunder from the nine heavens, manifesting as golden lightning that appeared out of thin air and struck toward Xu Fu, intending to completely strip him of the Great Qin's destiny and beat him back to his original form.

However, Xu Fu let out a wanton and frantic laugh:

"Hahaha! Your Majesty, it is too late! Everything is far too late!"

The moment the golden lightning reached him, the five-colored aura of destiny belonging to Great Qin that surrounded his body actively receded, replaced by an eerie luster interwoven with gray decay and pearly white, exuding a cold aura that belonged neither to the living nor to ordinary spirits.

"Relying on the destiny and merits of your Great Qin, I have reversed yin and yang and completed the transformation into a Corpse-Dissected Immortal! I have transcended the shackles of flesh and blood, leaping out of the Three Realms and Five Elements! The laws of humanity and the shackles of imperial power are now like a breeze passing my ears, binding me no more! Your Majesty, your era should come to an end!"

Xu Fu laughed wildly, his body becoming somewhat illusory, as if existing between presence and absence—a bizarre state free from the constraints of human rules.

--The Corpse-Dissected Immortal is formed.

At the same time, beneath the cliff on the seaward side of Langya Terrace, the waves exploded with a roar!

Hundreds of Shark Person warriors leaped from the water, wielding tridents condensed from currents. They stirred up monstrous waves, transforming them into massive water spouts that crashed violently into the Black Birds dancing in the sky.

The Alchemists displayed their various supernatural powers; lightning arts, talismans, poisonous miasmas... The multicolored light of spells collided frantically with the power of imperial authority, and the entire summit of Langya Mountain seemed to turn into a massive furnace, with storms tearing everything apart.