All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

"Uncle, I know I'm going to lose today, but I still want to fight you one more time!"

Han Chunming laughed heartily, then nodded and said.

"Okay, let's talk after we finish fighting!"

Han Chunming did not draw his sword. He sat quietly on his horse, head held high and chest out, watching as Xiang Yu raised his Overlord Spear, its tip like a dragon, fast as lightning, and thrust it toward his chest.

Xiang Yu's Overlord Spear was forged by a peerless blacksmith using the same meteorite material as the Starry Sky Sword. It weighs 166 jin (approximately 83 catties) and is 3.8 meters long. This spear accompanied Xiang Yu in several battles and has already killed dozens of generals; none could rival it.

Han Chunming maintained a faint smile as he watched Xiang Yu's spear thrust, which seemed to possess unparalleled power. Perhaps this was the ceiling of combat strength for mortals, but unfortunately, Han Chunming was no mortal.

When the spear tip reached his chest, Han Chunming pinched it with two fingers, and the spear shaft seemed to be frozen in place, emitting a series of trembling sounds. Xiang Yu, on the other hand, blushed and could not move forward even an inch.

Xiang Yu exerted all his strength but could not move forward or pull out his Overlord Spear. He was heartbroken and finally stopped trying. Han Chunming released the spear easily, laughed loudly, and then shouted at Xiang Yu.

"Let's go, let's talk by the river!"

As Xiang Yu watched Han Chunming's retreating figure, all his former ambitions vanished. This man, whether in terms of his own strength or the army he brought, was not in the same league as him.

Several years ago, he had a match with Han Chunming at this moment. On that occasion, Han Chunming's punch caused him to feel chest tightness and vomit blood.

Over the years, his martial arts skills have improved considerably, and he has also obtained the Overlord Spear. He originally thought he had the strength to fight, but today he realized that he had always been a frog in a well.

Xiang Yu rode his horse, his expression somber, following behind Han Chunming. The two arrived at the riverbank.

Looking at the churning river, Han Chunming couldn't help but think of Xiang Yu, who committed suicide at the Wujiang River in history. Unfortunately, this was not the Wujiang River, and he was not Liu Bang.

"I wonder if Xiang Yu and his Yu Ji will ever appear in future history books," Han Chunming sighed, speaking to the churning river.

"From this day forward, there will be no more Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu. You and Xiao Yue should choose a secluded place where no one knows you and live a good life together. From now on, this world will belong to the Dragon Kingdom. I will build a true empire, a empire a hundred times, ten thousand times stronger than the Great Qin, a powerful empire that you cannot even comprehend!"

Xiang Yu looked dejected, sighed, cupped his hands in greeting to Han Chunming's retreating figure, looked at the Overlord Spear in his hand, slowly shook his head, threw it to the ground, turned and left, his back view desolate, devoid of any domineering aura.

Among this group of rebel warlords, Han Chunming also saw a man he had met once before, a middle-aged man named Shen Yang, who was now also a warlord. When Shen Yang saw Han Chunming, his eyes momentarily lost focus.

The past is no longer important. One by one, the various warlords were defeated, more than 300,000 of the 700,000-strong army were annihilated, and the rest all chose to surrender.

After defeating the various rebel armies, Han Chunming led 100,000 cavalrymen straight towards Xianyang.

When Liu Bang arrived at the gates of Xianyang, he was stunned to learn that all the feudal lords had been annihilated. He hadn't expected the Dragon Kingdom's army to be so strong, and his little brothers to be so weak. Even Xiang Yu was powerless to resist. What was the point of fighting him?

Faced with the imminent capture of Xianyang, Liu Bang ultimately heeded Zhang Liang's advice and decided to abandon the city and flee.

Liu Bang had many talented and capable men under his command. After some discussion, they decided that since they couldn't defeat him head-on, they should find a safe and secure place to avoid his advance. After deliberation, they decided to go to Shu to temporarily avoid the threat of the Dragon Kingdom.

However, Liu Bang clearly underestimated the technological level of the Dragon Kingdom, as well as the strength of Han Chunming.

However, Han Chunming did not have time to deal with Liu Bang for the time being. After arriving in Xianyang, Qin Ziying, the third emperor of Qin, surrendered the city, and the Qin Dynasty officially came to an end.

This year was 207 BC!

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Appearance of the First Generation Yi Xiaochuan

Han Chunming, clad in golden armor, rode his Akhal-Teke horse slowly into Xianyang City. Behind him, countless cavalrymen stood tall and proud, following in a mighty procession. The clanging of their armor was like a torrent of steel.

Qin San Shi knelt on both sides with a group of civil and military officials, all with their heads down, not daring to look at Han Chunming even once.

Gao Yao was not among the crowd, clearly having already left Xianyang City. Han Chunming had no interest in where Gao Yao had gone.

The army marched all the way to the front of Xianyang Palace.

Han Chunming had been to Xianyang Palace once before, but that time he only disguised himself as a eunuch and sneaked around inside. Now, Xianyang Palace belonged to him, and he was the master of this place.

With a shout of "Giddy up!", Han Chunming rode his white horse at breakneck speed through the Xianyang Palace, passing by one palace after another, startling many eunuchs and palace maids!

In 207 BC, the Qin Dynasty officially declared its demise, and the Dragon Kingdom was officially renamed the Dragon Empire. Han Chunming also officially ascended the throne and became the first Dragon Emperor!

After taking office, Han Chunming issued thirteen decrees!

Most of the thirteen decrees abolished the old Qin laws, including the abolition of all corvée labor and harsh policies.

Within three years, all agricultural taxes will be abolished nationwide to encourage and restore farmers' enthusiasm for farming. In addition, more births will be encouraged, and three years of compulsory education will be universally implemented.

At the same time, simplified Chinese characters and Mandarin were promoted, the written language and currency were unified, and papermaking and printing techniques were promoted free of charge.

The decrees issued by Han Chunming were almost all related to various aspects of people's livelihood, and they also relieved the burden that had been weighing on the people for thousands of years.

Just as Han Chunming was preparing to implement various reforms, an old friend suddenly appeared in Xianyang Palace. The visitor was none other than Yi Xiaochuan.

Yi Xiaochuan, whom Han Chunming hadn't seen for several years, looked somewhat haggard, and even seemed to have aged considerably, making him feel somewhat unfamiliar to Han Chunming.

However, Han Chunming was quite happy to run into an acquaintance.

Han Chunming noticed that Yi Xiaochuan wasn't in high spirits, so he asked if he had encountered any difficulties.

Yi Xiaochuan shook his head and then said.

"You must have taken the elixir of immortality, right?"

Han Chunming was stunned. He stared blankly at Yi Xiaochuan, wondering how Yi Xiaochuan knew that he had taken the elixir of immortality.

Han Chunming stared blankly at Yi Xiaochuan, who was also looking at him. Then, a playful smile appeared on Yi Xiaochuan's lips.

Upon seeing that smile, Han Chunming suddenly stood up and pointed at Yi Xiaochuan.

"You're not Yi Xiaochuan?"

Yi Xiaochuan still had that playful smile, and shook his head as he spoke.

"I am Yi Xiaochuan, and Yi Xiaochuan is me. I've come to find you this time because I want to take you to a place. Haven't you always wanted to know why we came to the Qin Dynasty? Today, I will take you to find the truth!"

Looking at the man in front of him who looked exactly like Yi Xiaochuan, Han Chunming's thoughts gradually returned to his mind. He slowly walked up to Yi Xiaochuan, carefully examined him for a long time, and finally said.

"You must be the first Yi Xiaochuan who traveled here, and the Yi Xiaochuan who traveled here with me is the second Yi Xiaochuan, right?"

Yi Xiaochuan smiled, then shook his head, stood up, and said wearily in a tone that carried the weight of a thousand years of history.

"Your arrival was unexpected and disrupted all my plans. If I'm not mistaken, you weren't originally from this world, were you?"

Han Chunming didn't know how to answer the question. He certainly didn't belong to this world, but he didn't even know which world he came from.

Over the years, he has traveled through countless dreams and encountered so many worlds. Each world seems the same, yet each one is different, and he cannot figure out this problem.

Seeing that Han Chunming did not answer, Yi Xiaochuan was not annoyed. He then put his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky outside the palace, and murmured as if talking to himself.

"Three thousand great worlds, three thousand middle worlds, three thousand small worlds, all returning to one, an endless array of worlds, each with its own mission, this world does not belong to you..."

Han Chunming was baffled. How did things get so complicated? He immediately interrupted Yi Xiaochuan's continued pretentious act and asked impatiently.

"Alright, alright, just tell me, where are we going?"

Yi Xiaochuan smiled, turned around and said.

"A place that can tell you all the answers!"

With that, Yi Xiaochuan turned and walked out of the palace.

Han Chunming was both puzzled and intrigued. This first-generation Yi Xiaochuan should know all the secrets, including the secrets of time travel and immortality. Isn't that exactly what he wanted to know?

Han Chunming hurriedly called out to Yi Xiaochuan's retreating figure.

"Hey, where are we going? How long will it take?"

Yi Xiaochuan continued walking forward without stopping, but his voice was erratic, as if it came from a thousand miles away.

"I will be waiting for you outside Xianyang City at Chenshi (7-9 AM) five days from now. This is a one-time opportunity, and you won't get another chance!"

After saying that, Yi Xiaochuan's figure began to appear and disappear intermittently, and finally slowly disappeared. Han Chunming was dumbfounded. What was going on?

He ran to the spot where Yi Xiaochuan had just disappeared, looking around, but there was only empty grass, without a trace of him.

Han Chunming suddenly felt a chill run through him, a coldness rising in his heart.

Damn it, there really are gods in this world. I am already the best in the world, immortal and transcendent, but when it comes to the legendary gods, I still haven't even touched the threshold.

To go or not to go?

Han Chunming suddenly felt conflicted. He had finally established the Dragon Kingdom, and now it was his turn to make his mark, to bring the Dragon Empire into the steam age, into the electrical age within fifty years, and into the moon and Mars within a hundred years!

But then "Yi Xiaochuan" suddenly appeared, making Han Chunming feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave. This world was more complicated than he had imagined!

Yi Xiaochuan just said five days later, so the meaning behind that is quite clear: the place we're going to this time may be very far away and very dangerous, so you should make your final arrangements as soon as possible!

It's even possible that this was a trap, a deliberate scheme to lure Han Chunming there.

However, Han Chunming had no choice but to go. He had a premonition that if he missed this opportunity, he might miss it forever and never have the chance to get in touch with "Yi Xiaochuan" again!

Just like in the original drama, after Yi Xiaochuan took the elixir of immortality, he never saw the Northern Rock Hermit again or heard of Cui Wenzi for the next two thousand years. It was as if the two of them suddenly appeared in Yi Xiaochuan's life and then suddenly disappeared.

Upon seeing this first-generation Yi Xiaochuan, Han Chunming secretly made a guess: perhaps this Yi Xiaochuan was the Northern Rock Hermit.

He was manipulating things from the shadows all along, because he himself was "Yi Xiaochuan" and naturally couldn't show his face. That's why he never appeared in the original series.

Han Chunming secretly speculated, his heart filled with conflict. What would happen to his Dragon Empire if he were tricked by "Yi Xiaochuan" and couldn't come back?

Who else but the newly established regime can control it?

Perhaps it will fall apart and disintegrate?

Han Chunming was caught in a deep dilemma. Only then did he suddenly realize that the reason "Yi Xiaochuan" appeared at this time was to force him to make a choice.

Perhaps there was a deeper meaning in what he just said. He knew he was not a person of this world, and he wanted to make a choice for himself: whether to continue being an emperor or to pursue what Han Chunming truly wanted to pursue.

At this moment, Han Chunming just wanted to curse.

"Damn it!"

Can't he come looking for me a hundred years later?

By then, he might have had enough of being an emperor, and he might have had offspring, allowing his empire to continue for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Even if it's fifty years later, or thirty years later, it's fine to come back!

But he chose to do it less than a month after the founding of his country. Han Chunming was so conflicted that he was about to go crazy, but in the end he still chose to accept reality.

Perhaps this is just my guess, or perhaps I'm just going to take a look and will soon be able to return and continue being my emperor.

However, just in case, Han Chunming had to make some preparations.

He then gathered a group of his die-hard fans and announced that he would be leaving for a period of time. During this time, he instructed them to keep a close watch on the situation inside and outside the palace, and that they would have the authority to act first and report later if anyone plotted against him.

Han Chunming didn't dare to make too much of a fuss, so he just made some simple arrangements. He didn't know what would happen to these loyal followers if he really didn't come back. Who could guarantee the fate of people's hearts?

He then convened a cabinet meeting to announce the general direction of future policies and formulated a detailed five-year plan. He assured that as long as his policies were implemented, the Dragon Kingdom would not experience any major chaos within five years, and would continue to operate even in his absence.

The reason for only formulating a five-year plan instead of a ten-year plan is that, let alone five years, even if it were only one year, if Han Chunming still didn't appear, the Dragon Kingdom could still remain stable, and he would be thankful!