Ying Zheng stopped Master Destiny before he could continue to explain destiny.
"Sir before you continue can please enlighten me about your existence and my Emperor's fate."
Although master Destiny was not pleased about it he continued "My existence is something you can not understand nor fathom so let me just skip to the part about your Emperor's fate.
Emperor's fate is something that can make you invincible in this or the worlds above in fact if you go to the higher worlds you would be what they would call a human emperor if you came from higher worlds or heavens itself you would be a Heaven emperor.
If a peasant or weakling works their way to a higher world he would be a human immortal.
Do not confuse later on between the human immortal realm and the human immortal fate. It just means when you reach the human immortal realm your fate is used up and you completed your mission. It is almost impossible for a normal cultivator to kill a person with a Human immortal fate however weak the latter is. That just shows how higher up the Emperor's fate is and naturally, there are levels in fate an emperor can easily kill peasant or slave with little to no consequences."
Reaching that point Master Destiny paused and slowly drank his tea.
Seeing this Ying Zheng believed it was time to ask questions he bowed and asked
"Senior can you please tell me about how fate is arranged and their positions if you do not mind"
Hearing Ying Zheng finish his question he put down the empty cup of tea and sighed in pleasure.
"The lowest rank in fate is naturally the slave fate they usually cannot enter the immortal realms until they get rid of slave fate and mentality.
Then comes the commoner fate. The commoner fate is actually the hardest fate to get rid of. Once a person believes that they are normal then they can consider themselves dead. A slave can get rid of their mentality by cultivating and getting stronger since it is rare to see a fellow slave cultivate to the same point so naturally, they will feel they are in fact better than others but a commoner has many friends each step if the way so naturally when reaches a wall he does not look for a solution since everyone has the problem. In his mind, he believes that he is not special so he will never leave mediocrity.
Then is a talented bunch like merchants thieves assassins mercenaries prostitutes carpenters just to name a few. A useless person can actually enter this group as long as they are talented in what they do. They are what you call neither easy nor hard as long as you can endure seeing others better skilled or more talented than yourself. They can even move to be a king fate of their respective skills but are still inferior to the normal king's fate.
Alright, next we have minister and general fate. General fate are known to be strategically accurate when it comes to war for example can you say the king is more talented than general Bai Qi? Huh? of course not. The same is for ministers although they are sometimes inferior to wise Kings. Since Kings can be whatever they want for example King Zhaoxiang is, in fact, superior to most ministers, and some warrior Kings are superior to many generals.
Next, we have a King's fate as you can see there is not much to explain other than it can hold off sickness curses and poison or at least weaken it.
Next is the Emperor's fate it is similar to the King's fate but way stronger. It is so strong that a King is naturally afraid and cannot stand Infront of the Emperor. An Emperor can actually fight two whole realms above him while King can only fight in the same realm.
Next is the hero's fate. Heroes are meant to cause trouble and create tension and wars at every step. Heaven uses them to deal with its enemies and those who are about to get out of control but if a hero has a strong enough fate he can actually save the world. The hero's fate might look strong but has the worst outcome. When their fate is done Kings and ministers toy with them rape the beautiful harem they collected lose their strength and ultimately are killed or commit suicide. Hahahaha it doesn't look so good now does it?"
Ying Zheng gulped down empty air and asked "So senior you are saying emperor's fate is the best fate right?"
Master Destiny shook his head slowly and said"Hmm No I did not say that emperor is good but it has its shortcomings. First of all, an Emperor's fate gets weaker every generation. The brighter it burns the faster it dies. For example you, You will not live to be sixty you will die in your fifties and your empire will be destroyed about one to two years after your death, and if you do not believe that there was a Macedonian king named Alexander. He burned through his life so fast that he died in his 30s and his huge kingdom was destroyed the moment he died. Both of you will be considered as wise Emperors and Kings respectively but what did you leave behind and your life was so short will it be worth it."
Thinking about this Ying Zheng frowned but thought to himself 'if Genghis Khan lived to be sixty-five no no! that is a bad example after all he died from health issues his last days were not good. So this old geezer is right but let me ask a few more questions.'
"Senior Destiny is the hero's fate the strongest fate?"
Hearing this Master Destiny smiled.
"Hmmm you are wise but yes there is a fate above it. It is called the Heavenly villain fate. He has no strings attached to him and he can play with time and fate however he wants but this kind of fate is almost impossible to get. Too bad for you hahaha."
Ying Zheng's heart clenched and he asked "Senior can you please tell me how can I get this fate?" Ying Zheng's heart had practically stopped when he asked this question and his back was socked.
"You can not get and neither can I help you get and in the history of the immortal world I only heard of one person with that fate. Oh and did mention this fate is practically inexhaustible the more you kill the stronger it becomes."
Ying Zheng sighed 'My back is to a wall right now and my face is to a wall so are the sides I have no choice I can only die peacefully and luxuriously wait no! this is like the slave mentality no! there has to be a way out. Wait I seemed to have forgotten to ask about how to get rid of fate.'
"Senior Destiny can you please tell me how can I get rid of my Emperor's fate successfully?"
Master Destiny smiled and said "Yes there is a way but it is not time for you to know yet. You are too wise for your age and you do not seem to be a cultivator who reincarnated but you seem to be too wise for a five-thousand-year-old. I am sure you are reincarnated but which world did you come from?"
Ying Zheng knew there was no getting out of this and sighed in resignation "I am from Earth."
When Master Destiny heard this he wanted to beat the hell out of Ying Zheng "Why the fuck were you sighing like you were telling me a big secret. Do you know how many Earths are there why don't you go fuck yourself?"
"Senior Destiny I swear I am from Earth."
"I can tell you are not lying but which Earth are you from?"
"I do not know senior."
"Alright, it is not like I give a fuck it is not like I am marrying you now let us move to destiny."
Ying Zheng stopped Master Destiny and asked the question he wanted to know most.
"Sir, can you please explain to me what causes the downfall of empires? Why the latter generation is weaker and why did the Emperor's health fails in his middle ages?"
Master Destiny frowned a little then continued "Hmph for your first question and second question they have the same answer let me quote these Hard times create strong men strong men create easy times easy times create weak men and weak men create hard and tough times and so on and so forth.
For your situation, it is quite literal. First of all the Qin dynasty came after the warring states period when people wanted to only keep their lives.
During wartime people only want to keep their lives after wartime they only want to have enough food to eat during peacetime they start wanting more and more unreasonable things for your case it is something like getting rid of the tyrant's family who actually brought them peace. After your death, the warring states actually start all over again.
And the Han dynasty won. Do you know why the Han dynasty always stays in power for a long time and is even considered a golden age?"
Ying Zheng noticed something weird about how the old man said "Han dynasty always stay in power for a long time."
'Did he say it intentionally or just to confuse me? but I doubt that since I already know he is something else since he knows about Alexander and the Macedonian kingdom. Once could be said to be a blunder but twice and even know the future hmph this old man sure knows a lot and he must be very strong even amongst the immortals and gods since he said not many people can come to this world. That is if I take him for his word but this old man can not have good intentions by telling me all this he must want something from me in return but what? what in the heavens do I have that he can not have? The only special thing about me is me being a transmigrater or a person who went back to the past.'
Seeing Ying Zheng not answering him yet the old man had a glint in his eyes and smiled
"I have determined that you are not a cultivator and that you know about the future since you did not react to me telling you about the Han dynasty. Hmph, why are frowning did you think I will tell you all this without expecting anything in return hmph naive!"
Hearing this Ying Zheng sighed in relief in his heart and said "I was hoping the older generation was kind to the younger generation but senior Destiny can you tell me why the Han dynasty stayed in power for a long time?"
Hearing Ying Zheng's answer the old man sneered but decided against entertaining Ying Zheng's childish thoughts.
"The Han dynasty always stay in power for a long time because of the barbarians or the Xiongnu.
But your Qin dynasty chased them away while they were weak and disunited took their lands made them run away and forced them to unite practically balancing things out for the Han dynasty.
You can see after an empire gets rid of outer enemies inner ones will develop killing your empire faster than the outer enemies.
You can see another example of this in the Han dynasty when they got rid of and chased away the Xiongnu people. The ministers started rebelling and holding power it was the Zhou dynasty all over again with the Emperor just being a figurehead and this is not so long away but less than a hundred years after they got rid of the Xiongnu."
Hearing this Ying Zheng thought to himself 'That means I need outer strong enemies but not too strong to wipe me out but there is no empire like that right now since Alexander is gone hmmm but if I can use my momentum to conquer Egypt and Syria I can come close to the Roman republic since they will form an empire around 250 years later.
There is the Seleucid Kingdom and the Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt but they do not count since they are on good land for farming and trade, especially in Egypt where we can have the Roman republic by the balls since Egypt brings them bread food supplies, and trade that would cause wars between the Roman Republic and Qin dynasty but I hope my plan does not backfire.'
"Alright senior Destiny can you please tell me about Destiny now and I thank you for playing along with my curiosity."
"Alright although I can not explain it to you in a way you can actually understand I will try.
Destiny has much more positive connotations than fate.
destiny means "that which has been firmly established." While this definition also refers to the idea of predetermined events, destiny is something we can actively shape and alter. Unlike fate, there is an element of choice in destiny. Qualities such as courage, compassion, willpower, and patience can all help to change your destiny.
You can say that fate is the road on which you travel on and destiny is the destination.
Spiritually, destiny is intimately connected to our ultimate life path. When we choose to step up and take responsibility for our lives, then we are actively shaping our destiny instead of leaving our lives to fate. Fulfilling our destiny involves consciously developing a connection to our deepest inner selves and maturing on an emotional, mental, and spiritual level.
Fate is that which you cannot change. Destiny is that which you're meant to do. While fate is what happens when you don't take responsibility for your life, destiny is what happens when you commit to growing, learning, and taking chances. Being "destined for greatness" only comes through active and conscious decisions. But fate is what happens when you let other people and external circumstances dictate your life."
Ying Zheng noticed how Master Destiny is biased against fate and even tried to make Ying Zheng hate it but Ying Zheng stayed quiet.
And the old man did not disappoint and continued "Fate and destiny can be perceived as two sides of the same coin: both are predetermined. But the important thing to remember is that there are infinite possibilities in life. Fulfilling our destiny means consciously directing the stream of our lives in a certain direction.
Alright, I am done do you have any questions you want to ask."
Ying Zheng thought for a while then answered "I have another one yes how can I attain immortality?"
Hearing this Master Destiny nodded and answered "That is simple when I give the mission I called you here for you will naturally learn how to become immortal. Now, do you have any more questions?"
Ying Zheng answered "I have countless questions but they can wait. I do not believe senior Destiny told all this to me from the kindness of your heart please tell me what you want me to do. Quid pro quo is the law of the world after all."