Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

Deep within the imperial mausoleum at Mount Li.

The night wind howled and howled as it passed through the dense pine and cypress trees.

The temperature was at least ten degrees lower than in Chang'an city.

The heavily laden carriage, bearing no insignia, stopped in front of a dilapidated white marble archway.

White cooling steam sprayed from the nostrils of the mechanical bionic horse.

Two craftsmen dressed in black night clothes jumped off the carriage.

They swiftly tore off the thick black cloth covering the carriage.

The black cloth slipped off.

By the pale moonlight.

A huge, cold machine was visible on the carriage.

The outer shell is made of pure black titanium alloy.

It is covered with Taoist runes drawn with gold powder and complex miniature integrated circuits.

This is not one of those cheap, pale server racks you find on the black market.

This depleted the last of the Tang Dynasty's reserve funds.

The "Supreme Nine-Five Rebirth Regalia" was secretly crafted by the most skilled craftsmen of the Gongshu family, who worked day and night.

An eternal life capsule exclusively for the emperor.

In the shadows behind the archway.

A hunched figure emerged.

The eunuch Wang De was carrying an electronic lantern that emitted a faint red light.

"Your Majesty... the goods have arrived."

Wang De's voice was very low, with an undisguised tremor.

Li Shimin emerged from the shadows.

He wasn't wearing a dragon robe.

He was only wearing a plain blue cloth robe.

I shivered slightly in the cold night wind of Lishan.

His once dignified face is now gaunt and emaciated.

Sunken eyes and sallow skin.

The fright I experienced at the Colosseum in Rome a few days ago, coupled with the shock of witnessing Wei Zheng's death before my eyes, all contributed to the experience.

It completely breached his last line of defense against death.

He couldn't overcome that deep-seated fear.

Li Shimin walked to the carriage.

He stretched out his hand, covered in age spots, and stroked the cold titanium alloy casing.

The instant your fingertips touch the outer shell.

The unit emitted a low buzzing sound.

A purple light shone along the lines of the runes.

It illuminated Li Shimin's cloudy eyes.

"Good...good stuff."

Li Shimin muttered to himself, a sickly smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"With this, I will no longer be afraid of those cold, lifeless coffins."

"Don't worry about your body rotting and getting maggots."

He took a deep breath, as if he could already smell the scent of immortality.

"As long as consciousness remains, the Tang Dynasty will forever belong to me."

"No matter how much Chengqian tries to cause trouble, he can't escape my grasp."

He is deceiving himself.

He understands the ironclad rules of the Virtual Reality Security Act better than anyone else.

But he was more afraid of dying.

"Your Majesty! You mustn't!"

Wang De suddenly knelt down with a thud.

The electronic lantern in his hand fell to the ground and rolled a long way.

The old eunuch knelt on the ground and crawled all the way to Li Shimin's feet.

He was wearing a specially made blast helmet for the imperial guards.

At this moment, however, it recklessly smashed its head against the hard bluestone slab.

Bang, bang.

The helmet struck the rock with a dull thud.

The helmet visor was chipped and cracked.

"Your Majesty! His Highness the Crown Prince has repeatedly emphasized that the human body must not be discarded!"

"This thing is weird!"

Wang De cried with tears streaming down his face.

"Lord Changsun and the others have gone mad."

"You are the emperor; you cannot confine yourself to such a box like they do!"

"Get out of here!"

The sickly smile on Li Shimin's face vanished instantly.

Instead, there was rage.

He suddenly raised his foot and kicked Wang De in the shoulder.

Wang De was old and frail, and was kicked to the ground.

The helmet struck the carriage wheel with a loud thud.

"Why should I just wait to die?"

Li Shimin pointed to his chest and roared in a hoarse voice.

"Why should I hand over the empire I conquered to death?"

"What does Chengqian know?"

"He has the highest authority, so of course he's not in a hurry."

"And what about me? Every night when I close my eyes, I'm afraid I won't be able to open them again tomorrow morning!"

He was breathing heavily.

A sawing sound, like a broken bellows, came from my lungs.

"Move the machines into the underground palace!"

Li Shimin turned around and roared at the two terrified craftsmen.

"Anyone who dares to leak even the slightest word will have their entire family executed!"

Half an hour later.

The deepest part of the imperial mausoleum's underground palace.

The place where the coffin should have been placed.

Now stands that enormous "Supreme Nine-Five Rebirth Tablet".

Purple light cast eerie shadows on the walls of the underground palace.

The cabin door is already open.

It wasn't filled with nutrient solution, but rather with a soft, high-molecular-weight neurotransmitter gel.

Li Shimin stood in front of the cabin.

He had already taken off his outer garment, leaving only a white undergarment.

He was holding a special "crown" in his hands.

This is not made of pure gold.

Instead, it is woven from a dense array of high-pressure nerve stimulation probes.

Simply put it on and turn on the power.

The powerful electric current would burn out his cerebral cortex in an instant.

His entire life's memories and consciousness were forcibly compressed into a piece of code.

It was sent to the deepest part of the Tian Shu system.

This is the price of immortality.

Li Shimin's hands were trembling violently.

The probes on the crown struck each other, making a soft rustling sound.

Sweat streamed down his forehead and into his eyes, stinging painfully.

He didn't blink.

"My Great Tang Dynasty... My Immortality."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He raised the crown covered with probes with both hands.

Slowly press down towards the top of your head.

Those cold, sharp probes were only a fraction of a millisecond away from his scalp.

Even the moment a strand of hair touched the tip of the needle.

Click.

A soft, yet unmistakably clear, sound of power failure.

The entire underground palace of the imperial mausoleum was bathed in a purple glow.

Along with the faint electronic lantern in Wang De's hand.

At the same time, it suddenly went out.