Chapter 1145

The next day.

Zhu Yuanzhang unusually declined all his duties, rising at dawn to have palace maids dress him.

He donned a brand-new dragon robe, smoothing it again and again, fearing even a single crease might cause the Zhu Yuanzhang from another world to look down on him.

As an emperor, he had stood at the highest peak for many years, no longer caring what others thought.

Now, he was like a child waiting for family to witness his great achievements.

As for cooperation, he was not overly concerned.

His world was not without chat groups; cooperating with the Xu family was no different.

Though the Xu family disliked power, as long as he appealed to emotion, could his old friend Xu Ruowu, who had fought alongside him to conquer the world, possibly refuse?

"Your Majesty, the hour of Chen has arrived; it is time to receive your guest."

Time slipped away quietly; when Zhu Yuanzhang came to his senses, the sky had brightened, and the palace maids promptly came to report the time.

The hour of Chen corresponds to seven to nine in the modern day.

Zhu Yuanzhang gazed outside and, seeing the sky fully lit, rose at last.

Arriving at the imperial garden, he saw Ghost King Xu Ruowu and Xu Yeyue already waiting there.

"Mr. Xu, may we begin?" Zhu Yuanzhang sat down, his mood gradually calming, and asked.

Xu Ruowu looked toward his daughter.

Xu Yeyue nodded: "Yes."

As soon as she spoke, a portal glowed into existence in the void.

The Shadow Eunuch's expression hardened; he stared at the portal of transit, his face shifting, yet utterly unable to comprehend its nature.

This thing was far too advanced for him.

A mere Grand Master could not possibly fathom the mysteries of the portal of transit.

"Step!"

Footsteps sounded, and next, a young man of noble bearing, clad in an ornate dragon robe, stepped out from the portal of transit.

Though young, his aura was extraordinary, clearly shaped by years of supreme authority, radiating an innate air of submission.

"You are Zhu Yuanzhang?"

Seeing the old man with white hair, near death, his body hunched, the elder Zhu Yuanzhang of Great Ming, though filled with dissatisfaction, could not utter a word.

He was already an old man.

No different from the elderly in ordinary households.

After aging, he too struggled to walk, suffered memory loss, reacted slowly, and made faulty judgments.

He was no immortal!

Failing is normal.

"Indeed. I am...?" The old Zhu Yuanzhang looked up. "You are also Zhu Yuanzhang?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Yes."

"I rose from obscurity, unified Shanhe, founded Great Ming, and became its founding emperor!" the old man said with great pride. "Are you the same?"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily: "Of course I am. But my achievements are greater than yours. In my world, there were no Wu Lingaoshou to aid me!"

The old man's expression changed; he gazed at the youthful, spirited Zhu Yuanzhang and nodded. "In the late Ming era, the world was in chaos. If you built Great Ming without any Wu Lingaoshou..."

"Then indeed, it was harder than mine!"

"Please sit!"

At that moment, the old man fully recognized the Zhu Yuanzhang from the other world.

Only those who had lived through that era understood how difficult it was to establish Great Ming.

In that era, rebel armies had nothing at all.

He was fortunate—he had forces like the Cihang Jingzhai supporting him from behind.

Though Wu Lingaoshou could not sweep away entire armies, they could spy, assassinate, cut down generals, seize banners, and protect their own leaders.

The presence of Wu Lingaoshou indeed lowered the difficulty of founding Great Ming.

In the other world, Great Ming was built entirely by ordinary people, with no Wu Lingaoshou—only the flesh and blood of rebel armies driving out the Tartars to establish Great Ming; the difficulty was maximized, truly one inch of Shanhe, one inch of blood.

Such a figure was truly worthy of his respect.

The young Zhu Yuanzhang sat down.

"I hear you wish to cooperate with Great Ming!"

"Yes. To jointly build the Multiverse Great Ming. In the future, we shall stand together in adversity." The young Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "Do you share this intention?"

"With your abilities, this old, decrepit body has little use, does it not?" The old man's eyes gleamed, puzzled by his intentions.

The young Zhu Yuanzhang smiled: "What does age matter? With your intellect, if you learn the knowledge of the Multiverse, you will surely become one of the greatest. Why belittle yourself?"

"Even if this world has only you alone, this cooperation is still worthwhile for me."

The old man laughed, as if meeting a kindred spirit: "Is that so? Then thank you for respecting this old man. If so, let us discuss cooperation."

The old man smiled, as if he had found a kindred spirit: "Really? Then thank you for regarding this old man with such respect. If that's the case, let's discuss a partnership."

The Zhu Yuanzhangs from both worlds finalized their cooperation terms—mainly sharing talent and resources.

Though this Great Ming world was still weak, its future was uncertain.

In essence, the Zhu Yuanzhang of Great Ming gave only some talent, yet stood to gain immensely in the future—truly a profit of a hundredfold.

The elder Zhu Yuanzhang did not lose either.

Immortality, an eternal nation.

These were his dreams—and through this cooperation, his wishes were fulfilled.

This was also his dream, and through this collaboration, his wish had been fulfilled.

Of course, the cooperation between the two could not bypass the Xu family.

In the end, the three signed a contract under the witness of the chat group, setting their respective shares of benefits—all were delighted.

"By the way, be careful of the Sect of Heavenly Fate." As he left, the young Zhu Yuanzhang condensed the world's essence into a jade slip and tossed it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Sect of Heavenly Fate?" Old Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, about to ask further—when the portal of transmigration vanished, and the visitor was gone.

His eyes sharpened; following the jade slip's usage, he pressed it to his third eye and absorbed its contents.

"Sect of Heavenly Fate!"

"Dongying!"

Old Zhu's gaze grew fierce and cruel. "No wonder his eyes looked so strange when he arrived. He must have been deeply dissatisfied with my final failure! I've disgraced myself across other worlds!"

"Crack!"

The jade slip shattered in his hand; Zhu Yuanzhang turned his gaze to the cultivation technique jade slip and the elixir.

After reading the cultivation technique, he crushed the jade slip again.

One day later.

Zhu (Nuo Li Hao) Yuanzhang reversed his aging; above the imperial palace, a Golden Dragon glided, shaking this era to its core.

That terrifying pressure, that piercing aura—everything proved the age had changed.

That day, the Sect of Heavenly Fate's leader Shan Yuru and the Dongying swordsman Shuiyue both received their death warrants and departed together to the Yellow Springs.

"Your Majesty has indeed regained the ruthless vigor of his youth! Dongying is in trouble!"

In the Ghost Wang Fu, Xu Ruowu received the news and was unsurprised.

In his youth, Zhu Yuanzhang was always this decisive.

"By the way, Yue'er, have you sent Miss Zhuang and Fanghua to Dalaotian?"

Xu Yeyue sniffed. "Of course I have."

"Good!" The Ghost King nodded. "The imperial decree selecting maidens for the Immortals has been issued. If we send them to Dalaotian alongside Your Majesty, even if Miss Zhuang and Fanghua are the most beautiful in the world, it will still be hard for the Dao Lord to remember us."

Xu Yeyue sighed. "Father, you think too much!"

Xu Ye Yue sighed helplessly: "Father, you think too much!" as she