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

Snapped!

Li Shimin slammed his hand heavily on the edge of the control panel.

The heavy alloy tabletop vibrated and emitted a low hum.

The cup of hot tea that Wu Zetian had placed next to her was knocked over.

Tea dripped down the edge and onto the carpet.

"Are you crazy?!"

Li Shimin pointed at the rebellious son on the screen who was still leisurely sipping cola.

His voice became hoarse from extreme anger and fear.

Like sandpaper rubbing against each other.

"My Tang Dynasty's veteran generals... Changsun Wuji, Wang Bancheng..."

"They risked everything, their lives, just to survive!"

"By pulling the switch, you've severed the path to immortality for the entire court!"

Outside the Taiji Hall.

Several old ministers who had just been forcibly "resurrected" helped each other cross the threshold.

Changsun Wuji was carried in on a stretcher.

His head was wrapped in thick bandages, which were oozing black blood.

"Your Majesty..."

As soon as Changsun Wuji saw Li Shimin, he rolled off the stretcher.

His knee hit the white marble floor tiles.

He burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

"This old minister's rank in the celestial realm is gone..."

"This old minister was about to be freed from this wretched body!"

"Your Highness is so cruel!"

Several senior officials knelt on the ground, wailing and lamenting.

The main hall instantly transformed into a massive funeral procession.

They hated Li Chengqian to the core.

The feeling of almost achieving immortality is more painful than killing them outright.

Hawaii. Safe house in the basement.

Li Chengqian looked at the group of "pillars of the Tang Dynasty" weeping bitterly on the screen.

The sarcasm at the corners of his mouth grew stronger.

He crushed the empty plastic cup and threw it into the trash can.

"The Path to Immortality?"

Li Chengqian let out a cold laugh.

He took off his sunglasses, revealing eyes that were bloodshot from staring at the screen for too long.

He stared intently at Li Shimin on the other side of the screen.

"Li Lao Er, have you gone mad from staying in that dilapidated underground palace?"

"You really think you can just wear an iron hat full of needles and electrocute your brain?"

"So you can become an immortal god?"

Li Shimin's face stiffened.

He subconsciously touched his scalp, where the probe had almost pierced him.

"What do you mean?"

"You bunch of bumpkins who can't even understand basic code."

Li Chengqian's fingers flew across the keyboard.

"Being sold out and still helping the seller count the money."

"Tian Shu" (天枢).

Li Chengqian didn't waste any words and directly issued the order.

"Initiate offline cleaning protocol."

"The underlying logic of their so-called 'immortality and divine status'."

"Spread it all over the roof of the Taiji Hall!"

[Command confirmed, data projection in progress]

Above the Taiji Hall.

The once ornately decorated dome vanished instantly.

Instead, there was a pitch-black virtual space.

Countless green waterfalls of code cascaded down from the sky, hanging above everyone's heads.

The old ministers who were crying and shouting stopped.

They looked up, staring blankly at the rapidly flowing characters.

Changsun Wuji rubbed his blurry eyes.

"Look at the divine shell you bought for millions of taels of gold."

Li Chengqian's voice echoed in the empty hall.

The green code began to be reassembled.

It transformed into the young "code avatar" that Changsun Wuji had just seen in the Lingxiao Palace.

But now, this Dharma body no longer possesses the lofty and aloof demeanor of a deity.

It's like a broken puppet.

In mid-air, it mechanically repeated a few simple actions and words such as "Long live the Emperor" and "Ascension to Immortality".

Li Shimin was stunned.

"What... what's going on?"

"Wuji's consciousness was clearly inside just now..."

"fart!"

Li Chengqian immediately swore.

"There's no such thing as a soul uploading anything!"

"Human consciousness is a complex quantum entangled state!"

"The high-voltage electricity from that broken server rack only burned out their physical brain!"

"I can't upload anything at all!"

Li Chengqian rested his hands on the control panel.

His gaze was like two cold knives, scraping across everyone present.

"The vibrant, energetic version of yourself that you see in the virtual world."

"It's not your soul at all."

"That was just a small AI program written by hackers from the Gongshu family using data about your behavior during your lifetime!"

"A poor imitator!"

The main hall was deathly silent.

The color drained completely from Changsun Wuji's face in an instant.

He pointed to the Dharmakaya in mid-air, which was mechanically repeating its movements.

His lips trembled violently.

"No...it can't be...that was me...I could feel it inside..."

"That's just an illusion created by the system's simulation feedback!"

Li Chengqian ruthlessly shattered his illusions.

"You burn your bodies and give your property to the black market."

"In return, all you get is a program that will forever loop your memories from your lifetime in the background."

"You think that's eternal life."

"Actually, you were already completely dead the moment your brains were burned out by the electric shock!"

"What's alive is just a string of unclaimed code bearing your names!"

Li Chengqian spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice devoid of any warmth.

After clearing the memory.

"The few typos in your code that were cleaned up by the system backend."

What are the differences?

This sentence.

It's like a basin of ice water that's been frozen for millennia.

It poured over Li Shimin and all the old ministers.

Changsun Wuji rolled his eyes.

A hissing sound, as if leaking air, came from his throat.

He immediately fainted.

The main hall was completely silent.

Those powerful and wealthy people who were just dreaming of immortality.

Looking at the cold, mechanical code repeating endlessly above my head.

The faith in my heart was shattered into nothingness.