Somewhere in a side hall.
Amid the darkness, Li Lin seemed to see the Four Seas and Eight Wastes, with ten thousand nations coming to pay homage.
He heard the clash of weapons and the thunderous roar of charging cavalry.
He sat alone atop a high dais with jade steps. Beneath his feet were the prostrate masses and mountains and rivers stretching ten thousand miles.
A tremor of longing from deep within his bloodline threatened to overflow.
Boom!
Suddenly, the sound of something enormous striking the ground reached his ears.
Li Lin frowned slightly and opened his eyes.
His eyes adjusted to the dim light of the side hall in an instant.
At that moment, he was seated upright inside a vast, imposing carriage.
The carriage was pitch-black throughout, made of a peculiar material, with several fierce, lifelike black dragons coiled upon it.
Their heads were raised and their claws gripped tight, exuding an emperor's majesty that could subdue the eight wastes and six directions.
It was the First Emperor's Dragon Carriage.
Li Lin rose, descended the carriage steps, and glanced back.
Only then did he raise his hand and press his palm toward the carriage from a distance.
The enormous carriage turned into a streak of black light and vanished into a dark pendant at his waist.
He straightened his robes and walked out of the side hall.
Outside lay a vast plaza, directly before Xianyang Palace.
At that moment, a bronze strongman figurine nearly a hundred feet tall lay toppled in the plaza.
Crisscrossing wounds covered its body.
One thick bronze arm had broken off at the shoulder and rolled several dozen feet away.
Its body now lay motionless.
Clearly, the crash just now had been the sound of this colossus falling.
Many figures stood around it.
Counting