Qin Dynasty: They've all turned into zombies, what's there to fear about a rebellion?

At the foot of Mount Li, a sweltering heatwave raged.

Thousands of earthen kilns burned day and night, their black smoke obscuring the sky. This was the site of the imperial mausoleum's construction, and also the largest "figurine" processing factory in the Qin Dynasty.

Zhang Han, shirtless and covered in sweat from the fire, watched as the craftsmen painted a batch of newly fired terracotta figures. As the Minister of the Imperial Household, in charge of the royal family's private finances and these projects, he saw these not merely as clay sculptures, but as the foundation for His Majesty's rule over the underworld after His Majesty's passing.

"Watch out! If that kneeling archer's finger breaks, I'll break yours off too!"

Zhang Han was giving orders while cursing when he suddenly felt a light tap on the back of his head.

"General Zhang, please don't get so angry."

Zhang Han whirled around, his hand already on his sword hilt. Upon seeing who it was, his fleshy face instantly contorted into wrinkles, and he quickly bowed.

"Oh dear, Imperial Preceptor! What brings you here? This place is so smoky and fiery, don't get your immortal robes dirty."

Su Ming stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the countless terracotta warriors covering the mountains and fields, his heart aching so much that he kept clicking his teeth.

"What a waste of money, what a waste of money!"

Su Ming shook his head, casually tapping a freshly fired terracotta general beside him, making a crisp "ding-ding" sound. "Going through all this trouble to fire a bunch of mud, what good is it besides looking nice? Can it stop the Huns' swords? Can it withstand the counterattack of the six kingdoms?"

Zhang Han looked completely bewildered, scratching his head: "Grand Preceptor, this is a burial pit built for His Majesty. After His Majesty passes away..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Su Ming interrupted him directly, "What do you mean by a hundred years later? His Majesty is about to ascend to heaven with the whole country, what's the point of talking about what happens after death? This mausoleum doesn't need to be repaired, but these terracotta warriors... need to be changed."

"Change it? How do I change it?" Zhang Han was even more confused.

"Shut down the engine, stop work."

Su Ming waved his hand and pointed to the endless kilns, "Remove all the craftsmen and put out all the fires. From today onwards, we will stop firing pottery and start 'injection molding'."

Zhang Han panicked: "Grand Preceptor, this is unacceptable! If these terracotta figures aren't fully fired, they'll melt in water and won't withstand wind and rain!"

"Who said I was going to fight with mud?"

Su Ming chuckled, his eyes turning somewhat strange. He walked up to a half-finished terracotta figurine. The figurine hadn't been fired yet; it was just a dried clay figure, looking dusty and lifeless.

"General Zhang, do you know what the Qin elite soldiers have in abundance?"

Su Ming suddenly asked a completely unrelated question.

Zhang Han instinctively straightened his back: "It's courage! It's guts!"

"Wrong, it's an obsession."

Su Ming's voice lowered, and in the sweltering heat of Mount Li, it sent a chill down one's spine. "Our Great Qin has been at war for years, and the number of soldiers who have died on the battlefield is well over a million. Although their bones have rotted away, their unwavering determination to protect their country and to achieve great deeds still lingers in the world, with nowhere to go."

"If we collected all this 'military spirit' and poured it into these terracotta warriors..."

Su Ming gently placed his palm on the top of the clay figure's head. "With my Corpse Dao Secret Technique added to it, do you think this thing would be even more useful than a living person?"

Zhang Han felt a chill run down his spine and his throat went dry: "Pour...pour it in? This...this is some kind of supernatural magic!"

"This is technology, understand? Necromancer biotechnology!"

Su Ming stopped wasting words and activated the system with a thought.

[Host detected in "Lishan Gathering Yin Land". Activate "Heroic Spirit Recruitment" function?]

"Activate! Absorb all the remnant souls of Qin soldiers within a hundred miles!"

In an instant, a cold wind suddenly swept up from the midday sun.

The sky hadn't darkened, but the surrounding temperature had plummeted several degrees. Zhang Han felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if countless eyes were staring at him.

A faint blue light emanated from Su Ming's palm.

The blue light was not static, but swirled like a vortex, forcibly drawing in countless invisible particles in the surrounding air, which converged into semi-transparent phantoms.

In the dim light, Zhang Han seemed to hear the neighing of clashing swords and galloping horses, the roar of Qin opera, and the beating of war drums.

"enter!"

Su Ming gave a low shout and pressed his palm down sharply.

The blue light, which gathered countless fragments of remnant souls, poured into the clay figure's skull like mercury spilling onto the ground.

The originally grayish clay suddenly developed an eerie bluish-black sheen. The clay seemed to have transformed into some kind of keratinized layer, even beginning to exhibit skin-like textures.

"Click...click..."

A tooth-grinding scraping sound rang out.

Zhang Han stared wide-eyed at the clay figure.

Moved.

The clay figure's finger actually moved!

Then, the lifeless terracotta figurine slowly raised its head. It had no eyeballs, only two dark holes in its eye sockets, but Zhang Han clearly felt that something was watching him from the abyss.

"This...this..."

Zhang Han was so frightened that he took three steps back, almost falling to the ground with a thud. "It's alive?! The clay Buddha is alive?!"

"Don't be afraid, we're on the same side."

Su Ming clapped his hands, looking relaxed. "Come on, show General Zhang what you've got."

The terracotta figure seemed to understand the command, stiffly turning around to face a massive boulder weighing thousands of kilograms, used for testing kiln temperature, not far away.

It slowly raised its arm, and although the movement was still somewhat hesitant, the heavy sense of oppression was truly suffocating.

"boom!"

There are no fancy techniques, just a straight punch thrown out.

That hard granite boulder shattered instantly like tofu under that punch!

Stone fragments flew everywhere, and dust billowed up.

The terracotta figurine's arm was completely undamaged, not even a piece of mud had fallen off!

Zhang Han was completely dumbfounded.

He glanced at the shattered stones, then at his own fist, and swallowed hard. That power—it could kill even heavily armored cavalry with a single punch, let alone a human!

Moreover, this thing doesn't need to eat, sleep, or even receive military pay!

"How is it, General Zhang?"

Su Ming looked at the dumbfounded Zhang Han and laughed like a child trafficker, "This not only saves on firewood for the kiln, but also solves the problem of manpower. What do you call this? This is called environmental protection!"

"But...but..."

Zhang Han stammered for a long time, his worldview having been shaken like never before, "This... how are we going to manage them from now on? Will they obey?"

"As long as you have the Tiger Tally, plus my secret technique, they will be more obedient than your dogs."

Su Ming pulled out a copy of "Beginner's Guide to Undead Manipulation (Foolproof Edition)" that he had already exchanged and stuffed it directly into Zhang Han's arms.

"General Zhang, times have changed."

Su Ming patted Zhang Han's broad shoulder heavily, speaking earnestly:

"Don't bother with pottery anymore, it's a dead end. From today onwards, you are the first 'Necromancer' of the Great Qin Empire. Do a good job, I have faith in you!"