The Imperial Seal, Great Qin's Ancestral Dragon

After hearing Su Chen's words, Li Shuhua drew several sharp breaths.

The ancestors who had passed away had become godlike beings?

The ones controlling the descent of the Ancestor Symbols were the ancestors themselves?

These claims were simply inconceivable, almost impossible to believe.

Yet the facts were right before them.

If Sakura's ancestors hadn't intervened...

Who would have controlled the Yata Mirror to attack Huaxia's symbol?

Who else had the power to do it?

Once every impossible explanation had been ruled out...

Whatever remained, however unbelievable, had to be the truth.

Su Chen's hypothesis sounded outrageous, but it was currently the only explanation that made sense.

But the moment he thought of what lay beyond their sight...

Of countless godlike ancestors watching over Huaxia...

Perhaps even watching him right now...

Li Shuhua felt the hairs on his back rise and his legs turn weak.

Zhu Yuanzheng's expression was quite a sight as well.

As a soldier of Huaxia, he had always been a staunch materialist.

Yet recent events had shattered his beliefs time and again.

If things really were as Su Chen said...

Then over all the years the world had existed, the number of ancestors produced by its civilizations had to be astronomical.

What would happen if all these ancestors, each comparable to a god, acted at once?

A war between gods?

If that really happened, they wouldn't even have to wait for some great calamity. The entire world would be destroyed outright!

"Neither of you needs to worry too much."

One look at Zhu Yuanzheng and Li Shuhua's expressions told Su Chen what they were thinking.

"Even if my hypothesis is true, that also proves the ancestors of the various civilizations can't directly intervene in this world."

"Otherwise, Japan's ancestors could simply attack Huaxia themselves. Why bother producing a Yata Mirror to target Huaxia's symbol?"

"Besides, there's a limited window for an Ancestor Symbol to descend. Once that window closes, Japan's ancestors-or gods, for that matter-can do nothing but watch helplessly."

"So our immediate priority is still to recover Huaxia's symbol as quickly as possible."

"We don't need to think about anything else right now. It wouldn't do us any good anyway."

Within a dark, boundless void...

Several imposing figures floated, each towering tens of thousands of feet tall.

Every figure was shrouded in countless rays of radiant light, concealing their true appearance.

Yet their gazes pierced that brilliant radiance, shooting like pillars of light toward the same place.

"With a mind like his, burning our remnant souls to guide him here was not in vain."

One figure spoke slowly, his voice like thunder of crushing weight. Ripples spread through the surrounding void like waves across water.

"Unshaken by the unexpected, with exceptional insight. Young though he is, he already shows something of his past life's bearing!"

"With the six paths shattered, he is the only one across countless worlds to have successfully reincarnated. Naturally, he is extraordinary."

"Alas... the Old Gods are about to awaken, and the six paths no longer exist. For thousands of years, we have been unable to reincarnate or return to our homeland. Thinking of it, I truly envy him a little."

"Everyone! Amaterasu violated our agreement. How should we deal with this?"

"Naturally, we cannot let this go unpunished!"

"Amaterasu broke the agreement first. Amaterasu must be destroyed!"

Several other figures spoke in succession, their voices like repeated thunderclaps.

The entire void shook violently, fractures spreading through it.

"Consider our standing. If we intervened personally, would that not be bullying a lesser being?"

The figure in the center slowly raised a hand and made a gentle beckoning motion.

The radiance surrounding him instantly spread outward, enveloping the neighboring stars. The void on the verge of collapse gradually stabilized.

"Let Si Yu handle this. The boy now bears his legacy. No one could be better suited to intervene."

With that, the central figure withdrew his hand and held it behind his back.

"Amaterasu's breach is merely a minor matter."

"What we should focus on most is those Old Gods. We must do all we can to buy more time for Huaxia's descendants."

"What symbol has appeared this time? Whose is it?"

A figure on the left immediately answered.

"The Imperial Seal. Qin Emperor Ying Zheng!"

"Ying Zheng?"

The central figure chuckled softly.

"That young descendant has always thought highly of himself. In life, he even claimed his achievements surpassed ours and called himself the First Emperor."

"Though somewhat arrogant, he was indeed capable, and his contributions to Huaxia will endure through the ages."

"But alongside his achievements, he possesses no small measure of murderous resolve."

"Amaterasu broke the agreement this time and let those descendants obtain this Ancestral Dragon's symbol. That may well prove to be asking for trouble."

Li Shuhua and Zhu Yuanzheng bent over with their backsides sticking out, their heads pressed together as they stared unblinkingly at the computer screen.

Just moments earlier, Sakura had held a press conference.

They had officially announced the discovery of their second Ancestor Symbol.

At the top of the report was an exceptionally clear photograph of the symbol, filling the entire page.

"Mr. Su... you're saying the seal in this photo is Huaxia's Imperial Seal?"

Li Shuhua's eyes were wide, his face practically pressed against the screen.

At that moment, he wished he could reach two hands out of his eyes and pluck Huaxia's symbol straight from the photograph.

"There's absolutely no mistake!"

Su Chen's eyes shone as well, his breathing quickening.

"Four inches square, with five dragons forming the knob! It's unquestionably the Imperial Seal!"

Zhu Yuanzheng shifted his backside, pushing Li Shuhua aside.

"Su, what do those characters on the bottom of the seal say? Why can't I read them?"

Su Chen answered without hesitation.

"That's small seal script, the writing used during the Qin dynasty. Naturally, you wouldn't recognize it."

"In modern writing, those eight characters would read, 'Mandated by Heaven, may longevity and prosperity endure forever'!"

"It means, 'I have been appointed by Heaven, and the nation's fortune shall endure, lasting and prosperous forever.'"

"Wait! Mr. Su, did you just say... the Qin dynasty?"

Li Shuhua abruptly raised his head, his eyes shining.

He had already learned quite a bit of Huaxia's lost history from Su Chen.

Great Qin!

It was undoubtedly one of the most momentous chapters of that history!

And the soul of Great Qin...

Was that peerless emperor known as Huaxia's Ancestral Dragon!

"If this Imperial Seal came from Great Qin, then the ancestor it represents..."

Seeing the excitement in Li Shuhua's eyes, Su Chen nodded at once.

"Exactly!"

"If there's one person the Imperial Seal represents above all others, it's undoubtedly Qin's First Emperor, Ying Zheng!"

"For Huaxia began with Xia, but the unification of Huaxia began with Qin!"

"He destroyed the six states and united all under Heaven!"

"He standardized writing, wagon axle widths, and codes of conduct!"

"Thus, all under Heaven were united!"

"His virtue encompassed that of the Three Sovereigns, and his achievements surpassed those of the Five Emperors!"

"Hence the title of emperor!"

"And Ying Zheng was Huaxia's first emperor-the First Emperor!"

"This Imperial Seal was carved from the He Shi Bi on Ying Zheng's orders. It was the token of his Heaven-granted imperial authority and rightful legitimacy!"

"Even after Great Qin, Huaxia's emperors through successive dynasties all used this seal as proof of their legitimate imperial authority! They revered it as a supreme treasure of the state!"

"Those who coveted the throne also regarded it as something they had to obtain!"

"To possess it was to hold the Mandate of Heaven. To lose it meant one's allotted fortune had run out!"

"This Imperial Seal passed through numerous dynastic changes!"

"Then Li Congke, the last emperor of Later Tang, burned himself and his entire family to death in Xuanwu Tower. The seal disappeared with them and was never seen again."

After explaining the Imperial Seal's origins in one breath, Su Chen could barely contain his own excitement.

Before this, he had never imagined...

That Huaxia's second symbol would be the Imperial Seal.

Still less had he imagined that the second ancestor of Huaxia to reappear in the world...

Would be that peerless emperor, Huaxia's Ancestral Dragon!