He has been reincarnated through countless worlds, adorned with billions of mythological terms!

Yunyi sat in the carriage, looking out through the gap in the curtain.

Once outside the imperial city, the sky seemed higher and the land more expansive.

The early spring sun shone on the remaining snow, making it dazzlingly white.

In the farmland on both sides of the official road, the winter wheat had just sprouted tender shoots, appearing and disappearing among the snow and soil.

Consort Rou sat opposite him, holding a hand warmer, with a relaxed expression on her face that he had never seen before in the palace.

She lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, looking at the fields and villages flashing by outside, occasionally sighing softly, "The snow here is more beautiful than in the palace," or "The trees over there are so tall."

The carriage swayed and rattled for most of the day, passing through several towns along the way.

The further downstream you go, the colder it gets and the thicker the snow becomes.

Rolling hills and dense forests gradually rose on both sides of the official road, with icicles hanging from the branches, shimmering in the sunlight.

Yunling's carriage was just ahead, and occasionally you could hear her lifting the curtain and laughing with the palace maids accompanying her.

Her face was flushed red from the glow of the charcoal fire, and there was still a little soup stain on the corner of her mouth.

Yun Yi didn't say anything, and turned to walk back.

As we passed the open space in front of the post station, a plump merchant in a brocade cotton robe got off his carriage and was wiping his hands with a white handkerchief.

Upon seeing Yun Yi, he smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture:

"Young master, are you also going downstream to see the snow? The snow is heavy this year, and the river is frozen solid; many people are heading that way."

Yun Yi glanced at him and walked straight over.

The merchant paused for a moment, but didn't pay much attention, rubbing his hands together and breathing on them to warm them as he walked into the post station.

"Shopkeeper, bring me a pot of hot wine!"

Inside the inn, the fire was burning brightly, and the warmth, along with the aroma of charcoal and hot soup, filled the air.

Consort Rou was sitting in the innermost seat, serving him soup. Seeing him enter, she smiled and waved.

"Yi'er, come and warm yourself up."

Yun Yi walked over and sat down next to her, taking the bowl of soup from her.

The porcelain bowl was scalding hot, and a few scallions and oil floated on the soup noodles, emitting a fragrant aroma.

He lowered his head and took a sip; the warm liquid slid down his throat and spread through his stomach.

Outside the window, the wind, carrying fine snowflakes, pattered against the window paper, making a rustling sound.

Yunyi put down the bowl and looked out the window.

Through the semi-transparent window paper, one could vaguely see the white, slightly raised outlines outside, covered silently under the snow.

"What's wrong?" Consort Rou asked softly when she saw him lost in thought.

"...It's nothing." Yun Yi picked up the bowl again and finished the rest of the soup.

The warmth still lingered in my stomach, as if something had been swallowed down with it, weighing me down heavily.

"Brother 101, what are you thinking about?" Yunling's voice pulled him back to reality.

Yun Yi put down the empty bowl, his gaze shifting from the blurry white shadows on the window paper to her face.

Soup stains still clung to the corners of her mouth, and a nonchalant smile graced her cheeks, which were flushed red by the charcoal fire, as if her question had been asked casually.

He remained silent for a while without answering.

The wind was still rustling against the window paper, and the charcoal fire occasionally crackled and popped. The portly merchant had already ordered hot wine and was chatting loudly with the passersby at the same table, talking about how the harvest was this year and how thick the ice was on the lower reaches of the river.

Yunling didn't ask any further questions. She picked up her soup bowl, took a slow sip, put it down, and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"Brother 101," she said in a low voice, so low that only the two of them could hear, "you said this place is right under the emperor's nose, not far from the capital."

She paused, then looked up at him with her round eyes.

"If it's like this around Kyoto, what must other places be like?"

Yun Yi did not respond.

Of course he knew the answer.

Those snow-covered corpses don't lie; their frozen, purple fingers, sunken eye sockets, and emaciated silhouettes beneath the coarse linen—they tell a story more clearly than any words about what the world is going through.

The Yunming Empire, a second-rate nation in the Southern Region, appears peaceful on the surface, but is rotten to the core.

My father is busy having babies in the harem every day. The last time he attended the morning court was when he ascended the throne. He hasn't attended since.

The eldest and fourth brothers were constantly vying for power and profit, while the imperial relatives were also single-mindedly plundering the people's wealth.

The entire country is rotten to the core.

While he was in the palace, he only had some awareness of things, but he never imagined that things could have deteriorated to this extent.

He picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup. The tea was no longer hot; it was slightly cool to the taste and had a bitter aftertaste from being steeped for too long.

Yunling looked at him; there was a composure in his eyes that seemed beyond his years.

She suddenly smiled, a very gentle smile, like the wind blowing through a candle flame, flickering for a moment before settling back down.

"Brother 101," she said, "I can assist you."

Yun Yi paused slightly in the hand holding the cup.

"Assist me in what way?"

"To become the master of this world."

Yunling's voice was still very soft, but every word was pronounced clearly: "Of the five continents of Tianwu Continent, the Yunming Empire is just the beginning."

"You can become the supreme ruler of this world—the kind of emperor who rules over all directions, the master of a dynasty, the sovereign of an immortal dynasty, the one who governs all in the cultivation civilization."