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

With Ying Zheng's imperial edict of "universal cultivation of immortality," the entire Qin Empire was as if injected with a powerful stimulant, or more accurately, a high-concentration dose of adrenaline.

The once lifeless and dreary Qin Dynasty, characterized only by harsh laws and punishments, suddenly transformed overnight into something bizarre, fanatical, and... full of an incomprehensible, vibrant life.

The Qin River Valley, stretching for eight hundred li outside Xianyang, is in the midst of its busy farming season.

In previous years at this time, the fields would be filled with farmers toiling under the weight of their labor, pulling rickety carts with old oxen, their backs aching from exhaustion. But now? The scene would be enough to scare any unsuspecting passerby into going to see their great-grandmother on the spot.

"Hey! Old Zhang, why is your old ox tied to a tree? Isn't it going to plow the fields anymore?"

Wang Ermazi from the next village was passing by with a hoe on his shoulder when he shouted at an old man with white hair and beard standing on the edge of the field.

Old Zhang is seventy-six years old this year. If it were in the past, he would be lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) waiting to be served. But now, the old man is shirtless, showing off his muscular body, which, although not well-developed, has bulging veins, and is walking briskly through the field, holding a stone roller weighing several hundred pounds in his hand.

"What land are you tilling?!"

Old Zhang threw the stone roller to the ground with a loud thud, sending dust flying. "That beast can't even walk as fast as me! I'd rather use it to plow the fields than it's going to be a waste of time!"

After saying that, Old Zhang spat into his palm, grabbed the heavy iron plow, slung it over his shoulder, and roared, "Lift!"

The next second, the seventy-year-old man was like a wild horse that had broken free, galloping wildly across the field with the plow. The speed at which the plow turned over the soil was even more ferocious than that of a tractor in later times, and the tornado of yellow dust he kicked up behind him made Wang Ermazi, who was watching the spectacle, cough.

"Well, looks like I'll have to practice more too."

Wang Ermazi watched Old Zhang's retreating figure with envy, touching his slightly warm dantian. "I just practiced the first level of the 'Corpse Qi Technique' last night, and I feel like I have inexhaustible energy. Tonight, I'll definitely turn over all thirty acres of land!"

Under the big tree by the field, the old ox, which used to be the top labor force in the Qin Dynasty, was chewing grass roots with a look of utter despair, its eyes revealing a sense of bewilderment and sadness that said, "I'm unemployed."

This bizarre style of painting is rapidly spreading to every corner of the Qin Dynasty, not just in agriculture.

The convicts responsible for repairing the road no longer needed the overseer to whip them, each carrying a stone bigger than themselves and running faster than a rabbit, because they discovered that after cultivating the Corpse Qi Technique, not only was the work less tiring, but they could also accelerate the transformation of corpse qi within their bodies by consuming physical strength, thereby improving their cultivation.

"Working is cultivation! Laying bricks is ascension!"

No one knows who uttered this slogan, but it instantly became the motto of the working class at the bottom of the Qin Dynasty.

Even the nightlife in Xianyang has changed.

In the past, Xianyang was under curfew at night, dark and lifeless. After all, lamp oil was expensive, and ordinary people had no entertainment at night, so they could only go to bed early and have children.

But it's different now.

The Corpse Qi Technique has a significant side effect—excessive energy, and it also grants night vision.

So every night, the streets and alleys of Xianyang City did not fall into darkness, but instead lit up with green "lights".

Those are not lanterns; they are the eyes of thousands upon thousands of Qin citizens who are either cultivating or working overtime at night!

Su Ming stood atop the Zhaixing Tower, the highest point in Xianyang Palace, gazing into the distance.

The ancient capital city beneath our feet was now shrouded in a faint green light. Countless pairs of green eyes flickered in the darkness, and the streets were bustling with people, even more so than during the day.

In the blacksmith's shop, sparks fly as the blacksmith hammers, needing no lamp, he can see every hammer mark by the green light in his eyes; in the textile factory, the weavers' hands move so fast that afterimages appear, the sound of their looms blending together like a torrential rain.

"This is no Qin Dynasty at all..."

Su Ming, gripping the railing, stared at the scene before him, a sight so horrifying it would make any horror movie director kneel and beg for mercy. "This is clearly a real-life version of 'The Underworld'! This style... is completely irreversible."

"Imperial Preceptor, what are you looking at?"

Meng Yi walked over at some point. He wasn't wearing a helmet anymore because he found it stuffy. His eyes shone like two big light bulbs in the night.

"I'm looking at our GDP... oh no, I'm looking at the fate of our Great Qin Dynasty."

Su Ming sighed and pointed to the green ocean below. "Meng Yi, do you think we've gone a bit too far? I think even the historians don't know how to write it down anymore. Yesterday, the Grand Historian came to me and asked if we could change 'Great Qin' to 'Dark Qin', saying that it would be more realistic."

"Oh, Imperial Advisor, you're overthinking it."

Meng Yi looked indifferent, even a little excited. "Look at this efficiency! It used to take half a year to build a section of the city wall, but now? It's finished in half a month! People used to be afraid of the cold in winter, but now? Everyone wants to sleep in the snow, saying that the heavy yin energy is beneficial for cultivation."

"Besides, if His Majesty doesn't care, why should we worry about it?"

Su Ming glanced back at the direction of the main hall.

There, Ying Zheng sat cross-legged on the dragon throne, his body radiating an aura of death, with the faint phantom of a black dragon circling behind him. These days, besides attending court, he led his civil and military officials in a collective "cultivation of immortality." His domineering aura had left the surrounding countries dumbfounded.

"Yeah, what does it matter if the art style is a bit grotesque, as long as it makes me stronger?"

Su Ming shrugged and casually pulled out a handful of "Corpse Fang Rice" (a special type of glutinous rice that has absorbed the aura of corpses) that he had redeemed from the system shop. While eating it, he said, "However, with this commotion, it's probably already spread. I wonder what kind of expressions those remnants of the six kingdoms are making now?"

...

Meanwhile, in the Chu region, inside a secluded mountain stronghold hall.

The atmosphere was so heavy it seemed like it could drip water.

Xiang Yu sat at the head of the table, holding a bronze wine cup in his hand. His domineering face was now filled with disbelief and... existential doubt.

Opposite him stood Zhang Liang, hailed as the "Sage of Strategy," and the shrewd and calculating Fan Zeng. Meanwhile, in the corner, Liu Bang hunched his shoulders, wearing an expression that seemed to say, "Don't try to fool me, I'm not well-educated."

In the center of the hall, a spy who had just escaped death in Xianyang was kneeling on the ground, shivering violently, his pants still wet.

"You... say what you just said again."

Xiang Yu took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound less trembling. "What are the Qin people... doing?"

"Return...return to the Overlord"

The scout kowtowed repeatedly, his voice trembling with sobs, and cried out, "The Qin people have gone mad! They've all gone mad! They...they don't sleep at all!"

"I saw it with my own eyes: that eighty-year-old woman was doing squats at the village entrance in the middle of the night, carrying a millstone instead of sleeping! And that baby who had just been weaned was staring at me with eyes that were practically glowing green, like he wanted to eat me alive!"

"And then there are those farmers in the fields, they don't even need oxen anymore, they pull the plow themselves and run so fast... I almost couldn't outrun them on horseback!"

"Clatter".

The bronze jue in Xiang Yu's hand fell to the ground.

The feather fan in Zhang Liang's hand stopped in mid-air.

Fan Zeng accidentally plucked out several strands of his white beard.

Liu Bang slid off the mat and sat down on the ground with his eyes wide open.

"What...what kind of sorcery is this?"

Fan Zeng stood up shakily, his voice hoarse, "Did Qin Shi Huang sacrifice the entire population of Qin to evil spirits in order to prolong his life?"

"No...it doesn't look like a sacrifice."

The scout swallowed hard, shuddering again at the memory of that horrific scene. "They...they all looked so happy and excited, chanting slogans like 'May the Great Qin last ten thousand years, may the Corpse Immortals be boundless' while they worked..."

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

Xiang Yu slammed his fist on the table, shattering the hard pear wood table into pieces. "How can a person not sleep? How can a person be stronger than an ox? This must be a smokescreen! It's a tactic that tyrant Ying Zheng is using to intimidate us!"

Although he said that, Xiang Yu was actually not sure himself.

He was born with superhuman strength, capable of lifting a cauldron—a source of immense pride for him. But now, suddenly, he was told that any old man in Qin could squat while carrying a millstone? Where would that leave his reputation as the "Overlord of Western Chu"?

"Brother Xiang, please calm down."

Zhang Liang, being a strategist of exceptional talent, quickly regained his composure from the shock. He narrowed his eyes, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "This matter is far too strange. If the Qin people have truly become so terrifying, then our previous plans for restoring our kingdom... will likely have to be completely overturned and started anew."

"If they don't need to sleep, don't need supplies (because they eat little or nothing), and are even tireless..."

Zhang Liang's face grew paler and paler, and finally he uttered a sentence that filled everyone with despair:

"So this is a... never-tiring, never-ending demon army. What do we have to fight them with?"

The hall fell silent once again.

A feeling called "despair" spread through the hearts of these elites from the six countries.

Just then, Liu Bang, who had been huddled in the corner, suddenly raised his hand weakly.

"Um... everyone, I have a small, albeit immature, suggestion."

All eyes immediately focused on him.

Liu Bang chuckled dryly and shrank back, "Since the Qin people are so fierce, a direct confrontation is definitely not an option. How about... we send a beautiful woman over to scout out their strength?"

"I've heard that Su Ming, the Grand Preceptor of Qin, is a lecherous... cough cough, a real womanizer. If we could use a honey trap to win him over and extract the secret method of 'cultivation,' wouldn't we be able to do the same?"

Xiang Yu frowned, about to rebuke Liu Bang for being despicable.

Fan Zeng's eyes lit up: "Brilliant! Duke Pei's plan is brilliant! If we can get our hands on that 'Corpse Qi Technique,' we'll cultivate it too! Who's afraid of who?"

All eyes turned to the screen behind Xiang Yu.

There sat a stunningly beautiful woman.

Yu Ji.