The Great Qin Dynasty: The egg of the Black Bird was revered as a national guardian beast.

"Destiny?"

But upon hearing Xu Fu's reply, the First Emperor sneered.

"You, Xu Fu, keep talking about destiny. I asked you to discuss the method of immortality, what does that have to do with destiny?"

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

Xu Fu bowed again, but then narrowed his eyes, his palms slightly sweaty: "Please allow me to finish speaking."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Xu Fu raised his head, and his eyes met the First Emperor's gaze, cold and indifferent.

He quickly lowered his head.

"I dare to say to Your Majesty that fate is what people are born with, whether they are noble or lowly, or whether they live long or die young."

"For people,"

"The Mandate of Heaven is one's life and death, wealth and poverty."

"Life and death are preordained, wealth and honor are determined by Heaven; all of this is related to the destiny that hangs high in the sky."

As he said this, he slowly raised his hand.

"And Your Majesty, who holds the power over the life, death, wealth, poverty and status of all people under heaven, can also be said to be ordained by Heaven."

"Only those destined by Heaven can attain immortality."

But upon hearing this, the First Emperor laughed.

He asked, "If what you say is true, then wouldn't all monarchs be able to attain immortality?"

Your Majesty is mistaken.

Xu Fu shook his head and spoke slowly.

"Throughout history, there has always been a destiny ordained by Heaven, and also the opportunity to achieve immortality."

"But this chance for immortality..."

He paused for a moment, then added, "It only existed during the reign of the founding monarch."

The First Emperor squinted his eyes.

His gaze fell upon Xu Fu: "In that case, wouldn't my era have a chance to achieve immortality?"

Although the Qin state existed for several hundred years.

But he was the monarch who, like Tang of Shang and Wu of Zhou, founded a dynasty.

Xu Fu nodded slightly.

He chuckled and waved his hand, "Continue."

"Yes."

Xu Fu had been waiting for these words. He lowered his eyes, gave a soft reply, and then raised his hand.

"Xia Jie was tyrannical, and Shang Tang replaced him; this was the mandate of Heaven. Shang Zhou was tyrannical, and Zhou Wu overthrew him; this was the mandate of Heaven."

"However, even in recent times, the Qin dynasty, relying on the strategic passes of Xiaohan and possessing the land of Yongzhou, held fast to this position for six generations, keeping a watchful eye on the rest of the world."

"At this point, Zhou had lost the Mandate of Heaven, and the Mandate of Heaven now belonged to Qin."

At this point, Xu Fu bowed deeply, kneeling on the ground without moving, his voice muffled.

"Your Majesty, by the mandate of Heaven, has unified the six directions, and among the nine provinces of the world, none dare disobey you. The opportunity for immortality has now been bestowed upon the world!"

"Has the secret to immortality now descended upon the world?"

After pondering it for a while,

The First Emperor tapped the hilt of the Tai'a sword with his fingers, his eyes coldly fixed on Xu Fu.

He asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Your Majesty," Xu Fu smiled and said, "You are destined by Heaven; how can mortal things grant you immortality?"

At this point, his smile faded, and his tone became more serious.

"Only something from the heavens can grant Your Majesty eternal life and immortality."

"A gift from heaven..."

The First Emperor raised an eyebrow and said those words.

Then he lowered his eyes and looked at Xu Fu: "Xu Fu, what you said..."

"Your Majesty, are you aware?"

Xu Fu raised his head, interrupting the First Emperor.

"Xia Jie was licentious and tyrannical. Shang Tang raised an army to overthrow Jie. Shang succeeded Xia as the mandate of heaven. Then a black bird of heaven descended and gave birth to Shang."

"Hmm." The First Emperor nodded.

As a monarch, he frequently consulted historical documents about these examples of rulers who failed in their time, taking them as a warning.

Xu Fu then said.

"However, Emperor Xin and Xia Jie are collectively referred to as Jie and Zhou."

"During his reign, he imposed heavy penalties and levied exorbitant taxes, refused to listen to advice and covered up his mistakes, and indulged in wine and women, which led to the downfall of the Shang dynasty, which was now on the verge of collapse."

"Heaven's mandate departed from the Shang and returned to the Zhou, hence the phoenix's cry on Mount Qi."

After a long silence, the First Emperor looked at Xu Fu and then spoke in a mocking tone.

"The ancestor of Qin was Elai, who served as a subject of King Zhou."

"King Wu was killed when he attacked King Zhou of Shang. His successor was not the one who established the Qin Dynasty, but the one who became the ancestor of our Great Qin."

"I know that Emperor Xin's policies were repeatedly tarnished by the people of Zhou."

"But the victor is king and the loser is a bandit. More than eight hundred years have passed, and I do not wish to delve into the mistakes of that time."

The First Emperor always looked down on the Zhou dynasty, and he scoffed at its enfeoffment system.

He lowered himself to the status of the emperor, acting on behalf of Heaven to govern the people.

Although he was the ruler of all under heaven, he lavishly bestowed titles upon members of the royal family and meritorious officials, euphemistically calling it "protecting the emperor."

Ultimately, it led to warring states and widespread chaos.

If it weren't for him, who ended the chaos of the Warring States period and unified the six kingdoms, the land of China would probably still be engulfed in constant warfare.

Xu Fu lowered his head and remained silent.

The Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment system initially posed no immediate threat, but by the time the dangers were realized, it was already too late.

"Cough cough."

Suddenly, the First Emperor coughed.

He then turned his back, clenched his fist, pressed it against his lips and beard, and coughed.

After a long while, he sat back down at his desk.

Upon seeing this, Xu Fu was overjoyed. The First Emperor's health was deteriorating, so how could he not believe him?

Thinking of this, he raised his head and said.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember what I said, that the founding monarchs of the nation had the opportunity to live forever?"

"Hmm." Behind the curtain, the First Emperor held his forehead with his hand.

Raise your head and cross your arms in front of you.

Xu Fu said, "The secret to longevity for the Shang dynasty was the arrival of a black bird from heaven, while the secret to longevity for the Zhou dynasty was the phoenix of Qishan."

The First Emperor did not respond to Xu Fu's question for a long time.

One of his hands rested heavily on the table, his index finger tapping the surface silently, lightly yet heavily.

After a long pause, he laughed and said, "You want me to use the Heavenly Mandate Black Bird to grant you immortality, don't you?"

Without explanation, Xu Fu simply lowered his head.

The next moment, the First Emperor rose from behind the desk, lifted the curtain, and walked out.

He lowered his eyes and looked at Xu Fu, who was lying on the ground.

"Xu Fu," he said, narrowing his eyes and smiling, "you instigated me and the Heavenly Mandate Black Bird, aren't you afraid of death?"

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Xu Fu squinted, his palms slightly sweaty.

He knew that the First Emperor's personality was unpredictable and that he might cause his blood to spill in the palace at any moment.

But it's also possible that he could gain unparalleled wealth and power.

Now that the words have been spoken, there's no turning back. Even if he's wrong, he can only continue down that wrong path.

"Your Majesty, the chance to achieve immortality is right before our eyes."

"The Shang and Zhou dynasties missed the opportunity for immortality, which led to the downfall of the dynasty due to mediocre rulers in later generations."

"If Your Majesty does not attain immortality, the world will fall."

At this point, he bowed his head to the ground.

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that you prioritize the well-being of the people, attain immortality, and grant the people of the land eternal peace!"

Seeing that the First Emperor still did not react, Xu Fu panicked.

He had already used the greater good of the nation to coerce the First Emperor, so why was he expressionless? Shouldn't he be overjoyed?

"His Majesty."

Xu Fu looked up and couldn't help but call out again.

He wanted to say something more, but the First Emperor raised his hand to stop him.

Then, the First Emperor closed his eyes and laughed, "What will become of the world? Is that something you can decide?"

"Your Majesty?" Xu Fu's expression changed drastically. He raised his head and looked at the First Emperor in disbelief.

The immortality he had always dreamed of was right before his eyes...

Ying Zheng!

Why?! Why the hell did you do that?!

And why not take the immortality that is so close at hand?

With these thoughts raging in his mind, Xu Fu turned ashen-faced and collapsed to the ground.

At the same time, the hall was filled with a chilling cold.

The First Emperor lowered his eyes and looked at Xu Fu, his eyes filled with coldness and murderous intent.

"As for you..."

He pointed at Xu Fu and gave a cold command.

"This sinner spreads falsehoods and misleads the public, and commits insubordination."

"Do you really think I'm heartless and ruthless, a foolish and tyrannical ruler like Jie and Zhou, and would believe a single word of discord?"

"Drag it away, throw it into the boiling cauldron, and cook it!"