Mythical Qin: I, Gao Yao, will never be a eunuch!

Chapter 1018 The Mysterious Yi Xiaochuan is Dead!

Gao Yao could clearly feel the warning signals coming from his body. It started with occasional headaches and dry mouth, followed by an indescribable fatigue that was difficult to eliminate even with sufficient sleep. His sense of smell seemed to become dulled, and his gums began to show slight redness and bleeding—all early symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning.

Thanks to the system's repeated enhancements to his physical condition, his resistance far exceeded that of ordinary people. Furthermore, he consciously reduced strenuous activity and slowed his breathing rate to minimize the inhalation of toxins and the metabolic burden on his body, which barely slowed down the onset of the toxins.

But he knew perfectly well that this was merely a stopgap measure. This palace was a massive gas chamber, slowly releasing poisonous gas. Mercury toxins would accumulate in the body, damaging the nervous, kidney, and respiratory systems. If he stayed here for another ten days or even less, he had no doubt that he would eventually die in this magnificent palace, suffering from mental derangement and organ failure. The system could provide food and water, but it couldn't directly purify the poisonous gas that permeated the entire space, nor could it instantly cure this persistent, deep-seated poisoning.

Driven by the instinct for survival and the increasingly heavy burden on his body, Gao Yao was forced to make a decision. Sitting idly by and waiting for death was not in his nature. He turned his gaze once more to the core of this underground palace, to the "Celestial Star," the source of countless disputes and mysterious energy. It hovered silently above the altar at the very center of the palace, emitting a soft yet unsettling light.

An extremely dangerous plan, but perhaps the only one that could break the deadlock, took shape in his mind—detonation.

He moved cautiously, retrieving all the explosives he had previously stored from his system space. These dangerous materials, which might have been intended for other purposes, were now his life's stake. He divided the explosives into several portions and carefully placed them at key support points and in areas with the strongest energy reactions around Tianxing.

He moved slowly, afraid that too much vibration would prematurely trigger uncontrollable consequences. Then, he connected the fuses together and extended them as much as possible to buy himself time to escape the epicenter of the explosion.

This was a high-stakes gamble. The power of the explosion would undoubtedly increase exponentially within this confined space, and the resulting chain reaction of collapses could instantly bury him, or even prematurely detonate the pervasive mercury vapors, causing an even more horrific disaster. However, Gao Yao had calculated that staying here meant certain death, while detonating the explosives, although equally fraught with peril, offered at least a glimmer of hope—the system had hinted that destroying Tianxing might activate some kind of time-travel mechanism, his only hope of escaping this desperate situation.

Between two evils, choose the greater one. Rather than dying slowly and painfully from the torment of poison, it's better to take a gamble and use the most extreme method to blast a path to survival, even if it leads to another unknown world.

When everything was ready, Gao Yao took a deep breath of the murky air, thick with the sweet, metallic smell of mercury vapor, steadied his slightly trembling hands, and prepared to light the fuse that would determine his fate. However, just before the tinderbox touched the fuse, a clear and cold electronic notification suddenly rang out from the depths of his mind:

(Ding, congratulations host, you have killed the time traveler Yi Xiaochuan, greatly changed the world, and are rewarded with Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill level +1, super-fast recovery, and doubled physical attributes.)

This sudden information froze Gao Yao in his tracks. Then, an indescribable, violent torrent of energy erupted within him! It was as if every cell had been thrown into a furnace, or as if it had been forcibly torn apart and reassembled by an invisible force.

Intense pain swept through his entire body from the inside out. He felt his bones, muscles, and internal organs swelling and strengthening wildly, and his blood surging through his veins like boiling magma. Sweat instantly soaked through his clothes, and the weakness from the enormous energy expenditure made his legs buckle, and he collapsed to the ground with a "thud." He could only gasp for breath with his mouth wide open, like a fish out of water, unable to move even a finger.

While enduring this painful transformation, the biggest question in his mind was: "The mysterious Yi Xiaochuan... is dead? How did he die? Shouldn't he have already escaped?"

Rewind to over ten days ago. At that time, the severely injured and mysterious Yi Xiaochuan, relying on his familiarity with the terrain and his last ounce of strength, managed to slip into a well-hidden, backup ventilation or maintenance passage on the outskirts of the underground palace. He reasoned that the search outside was intense, and his condition was extremely poor; forcing his way in would be tantamount to walking into a trap. It would be better to lie low here temporarily, using this secret passage to catch his breath, and wait until his injuries had healed somewhat and the guards outside had relaxed before seeking an opportunity to escape.

He successfully evaded the initial search and, using every means at his disposal, moved some rubble in the passage, barely managing to block the entrance and create the illusion that the place had collapsed and been sealed off. However, he seriously underestimated two things: first, the severity of his own injuries and his ability to recover without supplies; and second, the determination of the outside world, especially Han Xin's soldiers, to find Gao Yao.

The laxity in guard that he had hoped for did not materialize. On the contrary, in order to find the missing Gao Yao, Han Xin mobilized more manpower, expanded the search area, and conducted repeated, comprehensive patrols of the discovered areas.

On the ground, the footsteps of the patrol team, the clanging of armor, and the commands of the officers, day and night, clearly reached the narrow space where he was hiding, like a death knell, pounding on his increasingly fragile nerves.

For the first few days, he managed to hold on with sheer willpower and the small amount of medicine he carried. But the wounds began to worsen in the dark, damp environment, becoming infected and festering, which then led to a persistent high fever. Thirst and hunger gnawed at his insides day and night like two venomous snakes. He licked the faint, earthy moisture seeping from the rock walls, but it was far from enough. His strength was rapidly dwindling, and his consciousness began to fluctuate between lucidity and confusion.

He had fantasized countless times about rushing out under the cover of night, during the gaps between patrols, but every slightly violent movement aggravated his wounds, bringing excruciating pain and even more severe dizziness, leaving him unable to even muster the strength to move the obstacles he had set up himself. His chance of survival was slowly slipping away under this hesitation, his severe injuries, and the continuous external pressure.

By the tenth day, Yi Xiaochuan was so weak that even standing upright was extremely difficult. He huddled against the cold stone wall, his lips cracked, his eyes sunken, and the stench emanating from his wounds made even himself nauseous. A high fever had drained the last vestiges of his moisture and reason. He finally realized that waiting any longer would only lead to death. A powerful will to live sustained him, and with his last remaining strength, he crawled, like a broken doll, inch by inch, toward the exit he had blocked.