"What year is it today?" The newly awakened Dragon Emperor glanced at Cai Lin and her subordinates, pausing at the captured Lin for a moment before turning his gaze back to Cai Lin and asking her the question.
Although he had just awakened, his sharp eyes could immediately tell that Cai Lin was the one in charge. The Shangri-La Eye in her hand, now transformed into a large diamond, further confirmed that she was the one who had revived him.
"Your Majesty, the year is now 1927. It has been 2,137 years since Your Majesty fell asleep," Cai Lin replied respectfully.
The Dragon Emperor had fallen asleep in 210 BC.
"Who are you, and why have you awakened me?" the Dragon Emperor asked again.
"I am the head of the Cai Clan of the Han Empire. For nearly a century, the Han Empire has been in decline, suffering from repeated foreign invasions. To restore our nation's strength and regain our former glory, we need a true leader. For this purpose, I, along with my fifty thousand soldiers, pledge loyalty to Your Majesty!" Cai Lin declared without hesitation, making her allegiance clear. However, she did not immediately reveal her true intentions.
Since she was surrounded by her troops, she had to speak in a manner appropriate to the occasion. Any further requests could be discussed privately later.
"Han?" The Dragon Emperor frowned in confusion.
"After Your Majesty fell asleep, countless dynasties rose and fell. Among them, the Han were the most prominent, and the people began to identify themselves as Han. But now that Your Majesty has returned, it is time for Han to become Qin again," Cai Lin explained.
"Good, good, good! However, conquering the world will not be easy. My current form is weak, and my powers are limited—I cannot awaken my army of one million Qin soldiers," the Dragon Emperor stated directly, seeing through Cai Lin's intentions but choosing not to question them further.
"Do not worry, Your Majesty. I have already made preparations. But this is not the place for such discussions. May I invite Your Majesty to a more suitable place? By the way, this woman is the daughter of the traitor Guo Ming and the vile sorceress Ziyuan. Why not sacrifice her to heaven to celebrate Your Majesty's return?" Cai Lin suggested with a sly smile, pointing at Lin.
"Oh? Hahaha! No wonder this girl's face resembles that of the traitor Guo Ming and that wretched woman Ziyuan! So she is their daughter... Very well! Let her be sacrificed!" The Dragon Emperor burst out laughing upon learning Lin's identity.
Had he been in his original body, he would not have hesitated to deal with her himself. However, in his current weakened form, he saw no problem in letting Cai Lin handle it.
Following Cai Lin's orders, the female lead of the original movie, Lin, was dragged out of the underground tomb by the soldiers.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, she was executed with a guillotine—one that Cai Lin had mysteriously acquired. At the exact moment the blade fell, far away in Shangri-La, Ziyuan, who was meditating, felt a sudden jolt of unease. She tried to divine what had happened, but found that she could see nothing.
With the resurrection of the Dragon Emperor, the fate of this world had already been thrown into complete chaos.
"Now that we're alone, let's talk about your true intentions," the Dragon Emperor said once the military tent was empty, leaving only himself and Cai Lin inside.
"It's very simple. Whatever Your Majesty desires is also what I desire—power, authority, and immortality!" Cai Lin said boldly, making no attempt to hide her ambition.
There was no point in lying to a ruler as formidable as the Dragon Emperor.
But as long as she could prove her worth, he would grant her everything she desired.
"Excellent! I appreciate ambitious people. But tell me, how are you going to prove your worth? Reviving me and offering fifty thousand soldiers is not enough," the Dragon Emperor replied, pleased rather than angered by her audacity.
"I understand, Your Majesty. But my true advantage is not just that—I have something far more valuable," Cai Lin replied.
Unlike others who might choose to keep such a thing a secret, she decided to reveal everything to the Dragon Emperor.
She told him about the existence of the Dimensional Trading System.
"A mysterious device that allows transactions between different worlds... Fascinating!" The Dragon Emperor was astonished by its capabilities.
"Aren't you afraid that I might just kill you and take this device for myself?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"The Dimensional Trading System chooses its host at random. I believe that Your Majesty, in all your wisdom, would not make the mistake of destroying the only link to such a powerful tool. With Your Majesty's strength and my trading system, conquering the world, even the universe, is only a matter of time. Does it really matter who owns the device?" Cai Lin smiled charmingly as she spoke.
She then told the Dragon Emperor what Josh had told her about Imhotep and the Egyptian Pantheon, making him realize that the supernatural powers in this world were not limited to the Han Empire.
Upon hearing this, the Dragon Emperor fell into deep thought.
If what Cai Lin said was true—that the Dimensional Trading System chose its owner at random—then killing someone to seize it would be pointless. Not only would he lose a powerful ally, but if the beacon ended up in the hands of another extraordinary being, even if he fully revived and awakened his million-strong undead army, his rule might still be unstable.
Although the Dragon Emperor was confident, he did not consider himself invincible. His Immortality was far from perfect, and he was well aware of that.
Cai Lin's mention of the Egyptian Pantheon made him even more cautious.
If the so-called "barbarians" had gods, then the gods of the Qin might also exist. The Dragon Emperor had never believed in Taoism or Buddhism—those did not exist in his time. At that time, only the gods of Qin were worshipped.
Much like the different schools of thought in the pre-Qin era, different states had their own beliefs.
For example, the supreme deity of Chu was Donghuang Taiyi.
Qi worshipped the Eight Divine Lords.
The belief in dragons came from Wu and Yue.
As for Qin, they revered the Four Emperors—Azure, White, Flame, and Yellow.
The theory of yin-yang and the five elements came from the Three Yi, not just from Taoism.
The Three Yi consisted of Lianshan from the Xia Dynasty, Guicang from the Shang Dynasty, and the Book of Changes from the Zhou Dynasty.
In other worlds, the first two were lost, but in this supernatural realm, they still existed—whether in Ziyuan's possession or within the Dragon Emperor's tomb.
Many ancient texts were not just historical records, but contained real, learnable spells.
The Dragon Emperor himself became an extraordinary being by mastering the Five Elements. His transformation was further enhanced by the Western Curse cast by Ziyuan. Unlike traditional Chinese magic, this curse originated from the Cheshi tribe of the western region (historically located in Turpan during the Qin-Han period). The secrets of Shangri-La were also discovered by Ziyuan in this region. (Tl/N: All this is pure insert, there was nothing like this in the og)
The Central Plains had been in contact with the Western regions long before the Han Dynasty—dating back to the Zhou era. The presence of golden camel figurines in the tomb of the First Emperor was proof that Qin had already interacted with the West.
However, the wars at the end of the Qin dynasty caused this history to be lost.
From all perspectives, the Dragon Emperor concluded that killing Cai Lin was not an option. Rather, he had to protect her. Torturing her for information was pointless—if the trading system could exchange life itself, then restricting the system's owner was nearly impossible.
Rather than risk the system falling into the hands of a hidden enemy, it was better to let Cai Lin keep it and make her his vassal. While he regretted not controlling the trading system himself, as long as Cai Lin was on his side, it was still acceptable.
But to ensure a stronger partnership, their relationship had to become even closer.
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