I was the Heavenly Emperor in ancient times

Chapter 16 Peach Blossom
The moment the priestess touched the sacred stone.

On the ancient stone altar, thousands of golden, wispy tendrils extended from her body.

Peach blossoms bloomed continuously along the arm, eventually transforming into branches.

It transformed into a giant canopy that obscured everything around it.

Then, a peach tree with an enchanting shape took root on the sacred stone.

It also started from this time.

The changes on the mountain progressed further, and the main peak of Kunlun Mountain disappeared from the sight of mortals.

Within the divine stone atop Kunlun Mountain.

At the beginning.

Li Jun could still see the mountains and rivers outside, and at the same time, he witnessed the changes in the sacred peach tree.

Actually, the upper half of Kunlun Mountain hadn't disappeared yet; it was just invisible to the naked eye.

This scene is exactly the same as the initial scene on Taoshan Island.

Li Jun saw the complete appearance of the peach tree through the eyes of the bluebird under the tree. The tree looked like a woman sitting on the ground, leaning against the misty peaks, looking at a mysterious jade stone in her arms.

However, the changes did not end there.

A few months later.

A ray of light emanated from the "woman's" bosom. The light was similar in color to sunlight, but the feeling it gave was completely different.

The light of the sun makes people feel bright and real.

And this light is distorted, lost, and empty.

As the light continued to spread, it affected everything around it.

The entire summit of Kunlun Mountain became distorted, space folded everything around it, and the entire summit of Kunlun Mountain and everything on the mountain were gradually distorted and sucked into that light and disappeared, lost in an unknown place.

The entire process lasted for nearly a decade before it ended.

When everything calmed down, the entire summit of Kunlun Mountain was no longer in the human world, but in another unknown place.

At this moment.

Looking out from within the divine stone, Li Jun saw nothing but emptiness, except for the half of Kunlun Mountain beneath his feet.

"What is this place?"

This power is truly immense; the peach tree's power has been further enhanced, and it's certain that this space will continue to expand.

The scene before him made Li Jun think of the Thirty-Three Heavens, the Immortal Realm, the Paradise, the Celestial Realm, and so on.

And at the end.

A figure emerged from under the tree, resembling a priestess, but not the Wood Guest.

Her appearance was illusory and hazy, without any real material support, and it couldn't even be considered light and shadow.

But in Li Jun's eyes, she was truly standing there.

"The priestess?"

"peach?"

"That's not right either."

Although the other party had the exact same face as the priestess, Li Jun felt that she was more like the wind in the forest and the moon in the clouds than a person or a tree.

Separated from the five senses, without a human body, even the human will is lost.

The priestess has gone through the three stages of parasitism, alienation, and possession, and has entered the fourth form.

Her form was ethereal and elusive, like a soul.

Her expression was no longer frantic.

No sadness, no joy.

The priestess slowly walked up to the altar, stepping onto the winding trunk of the peach tree, and slowly made her way to the sacred stone.

She reached out her hand, and that hand actually passed through the divine stone.

He truly touched upon the "Emperor".

Only at this moment did a hint of joy appear on her silent expression.

The priestess signed an ancient contract with him, which allowed him to use a portion of the peach tree's power through her, provided he could do so through a certain method, a simple incantation, and by paying a price.

Perhaps this is the first true ritual incantation for worshipping ghosts and gods.

She came gracefully and went with the wind.

It's unclear whether they were ghosts or gods, but in ancient times there was little difference between the two.

But no matter what, they are no longer human.
-
Less than twenty years have passed, and the geese have grown old beyond recognition.

"call!"

The wind blows from the deeper northwest.

The wind blew across the vast grasslands, passing by the shaman, and even the clouds in the sky were stretched into the shape of the wind.

I wonder if it's because half of the Kunlun Mountains is missing, but the wind on this plateau has become even more biting.

The aged shaman stood there for a long time.

She recalled a scene from a very, very long time ago.

As a young man, I wore plain clothes and a straw hat and shaman's mask as I climbed Mount Kunlun.

On the altar atop the mountain, she danced gracefully before the Emperor, singing songs praising the vastness of heaven and earth.

She seemed to want to etch those memories into her heart forever, unwilling to give them up even in death.

however.

Da Li has been feeling that his memory is getting blurry lately, and many scenes from the past are gradually fading from his memory.

She didn't know how many times she had come to the foot of Mount Kunlun, year after year.

The Ximu clan has grown stronger and stronger, and is no longer what it used to be.

Many tribes in the northwest region were absorbed by the Ximu clan, and the population of the tribes grew to more than ten times their original size. They no longer needed to migrate and found more fertile and habitable grasslands and homes.

Her clothes had changed from coarse hemp to silk from the East, and the exquisite jade and gold and silver ornaments made her seem as noble as a celestial being in the eyes of the ordinary people of the clan.

However, they still arrived as scheduled.

Where has the Emperor gone?

Where does Kunlun Jade Peak stand now?

"Does the altar that my Ximu clan built in the past to worship the Emperor still exist?"

After the Kunlun Jade Peak disappeared, although the Emperor would still respond to her through divination, she never saw him again.

"Big Li, it's time to go back."

"it's getting dark."

Beside him, a woman dressed in plain clothes came forward and helped Da Li sit on the carriage.

As Da Li boarded the carriage, he looked at the young woman and felt as if he were seeing his younger self.

This time, the geese seemed to have some kind of premonition.

"After I die, you will become a witch."

"By then, you should change your name to Shao Li."

witch.

Despite possessing supernatural powers, he is still just a human being.

No human being can escape death.

The carriage was pulled by four horses, each of which was blue.

The carriage carried the giant geese across the land, past cattle and sheep, and wherever it passed, everyone knelt down and worshipped the geese as if they were gods.

Finally, the vehicle stopped in a huge felt tent in the distance. A large number of clan members could be seen living there, and the foot of Kunlun Mountain had become much more lively.

Every day, Da Li handled the affairs of the entire Ximu clan in this felt tent, imparting various experiences to the woman in plain clothes.

Among these, the most crucial element is one's own experience in using the power of witchcraft.

Although the other party has not yet fully inherited the power of the witch, she will still need this experience sooner or later.

gradually.

The climate at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains has changed again, and the cold is gradually approaching them.

The woman in plain clothes returned from patrolling outside on horseback, entered the tent, knelt before the giant lily, and said to her.

"Big Li, the world is about to change."

It means they should migrate again.

The giant gull didn't even look up: "This time, I'm not leaving. Let the others go!"

At this point, Da Li finally looked at the woman in white: "You shouldn't leave either, stay and follow me."

Upon hearing this, the woman in plain clothes immediately understood what was going on.

The giant lily said, "My destiny has come."

Snow and ice covered the entire foot of the Kunlun Mountains, the great river froze into an ice river, and the whole world turned into a frosty landscape.

However, in this scene, dozens or even hundreds of people followed the gull's carriage to the foot of the Kunlun Mountains.

The upper half of Jade Peak in the Kunlun Mountains has disappeared.

Therefore, the top of Kunlun today is more like a flat plateau, where the Ximu clan built an altar more than ten years ago.

It is larger and more imposing than the altar on Mount Kunlun in the past, and it better reflects the emperor's greatness and majesty.

But in the eyes of the geese.

No matter how this altar is built, it can never compare to the past, when the emperor could look up from the top of the mountains and see the stars moving to his shoulders, and look down and see the rivers and seas converging at his feet.

The great lily took off its outer fur robe and silk, and walked towards the altar wearing only a plain white robe.

"I'm leaving." She said this as she passed in front of Shao Li, who was kneeling.

Shao Li looked up and saw the giant lily dancing on the altar in the bitter cold.

In the cold wind, the geese grew younger and younger, until finally the part that was human gradually disappeared, and the part that was bird gradually took over her entirety.

So she flew up into the sky.

It flew higher and higher.

At that moment, the gull suddenly let out a sharp cry.

"Chirp!"

She seemed to see the Kunlun Mountains again, floating above the clouds. Excited, she flew towards them and disappeared into the cloud light.

the other side.

Li Jun, who had been engrossed in observing the changes in the sacred peach tree, finally broke free from the mysterious transformation.

He heard someone calling his name and immediately saw the giant geese in the clouds.

"emperor!"

Li Jun then realized that another year had passed.

If you calculate the time he spent here this time, twenty years have passed.

He was unable to move his body or speak.

But it seemed that some kind of incantation was being chanted in the clouds and mist, traveling along the sky all the way to the ears of the giant lily.

The giant lily saw the Kunlun Mountains, where layers of clouds and mist dispersed, revealing a path leading from the human world to that celestial realm.

"Chirp!"

The giant lily cried out even louder, overjoyed, for the Emperor had opened the gates of heaven to receive her.

This time, no one from her tribe urged her to return to the human world.

She could break free from all earthly constraints, soar freely in the sky, and forever surround the Emperor.

She strained her wings and flew upwards, wanting to fly there along the cloud path that only she could see.

Flying to the summit of Kunlun Mountain, where I once again stood beneath the emperor's shadow.

But halfway through, she discovered that her bird-like part was also beginning to disappear.

It disappears.

It's not that they've dispersed.

It was as if a force was devouring everything about her, swallowing her completely as a human, as a bird, and as a witch.

The disappearance began at the tips of the wings, gradually spreading to the body, then covering the head, and finally even eroding the light spots in the pupils' vision.

She didn't have time to fly to the summit of Kunlun Mountain in the past.

It then melted into the vast expanse of clouds and light above the sky.

The scene Li Jun was watching ended there. He was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly understood something.

"The price of the Bluebird Divine Power?"

Li Jun had been observing the peach tree in front of him for a long time and believed that he had gained a certain understanding of the sacred peach tree, and could even see through its appearance to its essence.

At this moment, he also gained a deeper understanding of the strange creature he controlled called the Bluebird.

"Demon!"

No matter how powerful his double pupils are, or how firmly he can control the Bluebird, the essence of the demon will not change.

Using the power of demons comes at a price.

That cost will never disappear, it will only be postponed.

However, to the people of the Ximu clan, this scene appeared as a giant geese flying out of the human world and arriving at another realm or another heaven above the sea of ​​clouds.

The entire Ximu clan knelt and slapped the ground in worship while shouting excitedly.

"The great lily has returned to heaven."

"They went to Kunlun."

At this moment, the meaning of Kunlun seems to have changed again.

It refers to another world or another realm.

In Shao Li's eyes, Da Li transformed into a beautiful bird.

She hovered in the sky, letting out a few sharp cries, as if calling out to something.

At last.

It transformed into streaks of light in the air, with only one blue feather falling to the ground.
The jade landed precisely in front of Shao Li.

Shao Li picked up the jade and looked up at the sky.

"Big pheasant!"

From this moment on, she became the next shaman of the Ximu clan.

But after Shao Li stood up holding the blue feather, she looked down at it and, lost in thought, felt her mind go blank.

Aside from the name Da Li, he could remember nothing more about the other person.

She couldn't remember anything about the other party as the Great Li, or what she looked like as the Great Mother.

like.

Except for the name Da Li, which will remain in mythology, everything about the other party has disappeared into the past.

However, at this moment, Shao Li was not afraid, because in her view this was another manifestation of the fact that Da Li no longer belonged to the human world.

The mountaintop shrouded in clouds and mist.

Within the divine stone, Li Jun's pupils split into double pupils.

The phoenix-like divine bird on the sacred tree began to move, as if Li Jun wanted it to do something.

"Go, bring..."

Li Jun wanted Qingniao to bring Qingyu back, but at this moment his gaze overlapped again.

The mystical land shrouded in mist gradually faded, and another realm slowly came into view.

He's going back.
-
Taoshan Island.

It was an incredibly bizarre sight: the ground and the dense peach orchard meandered into a circle, spinning from your feet all the way up to the sky.

At the end, a mysterious light grew increasingly dazzling, as if drawing all those who had lost their way toward it.

In the peach orchard hanging upside down overhead.

Li Jun was dozing under one of the trees, as if only a short while had passed.

"emperor!"

The sound, which sounded like a ritual or a shout, reached Li Jun's ears again, and he opened his eyes with a slight tremor.

"This is?"

"Oh!"

"It's Taoshan Island!"

Li Jun covered his face with his hands. This dream was too long, so long that he almost forgot where he was.

He slowly stood up, supported by the peach tree. He was no longer the immortal emperor who looked down on the vicissitudes of human life from Kunlun, but Li Jun, who had just escaped death.

Li Jun leaned against the peach tree, somewhat lost in thought.

in front of you.

Figures moved around in front of him, each one vividly lifelike.

Within that ancient divine stone, he could look down upon everything without fear of the passage of time, as if no emotion could stir even the slightest ripple in his heart.

But at this moment, a myriad of emotions surged into this mortal body, and he felt a tightness in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

It took Li Jun quite a while to shift his attention to other things around him.

He took out his phone and checked the time.

About an hour has passed.

He looked at the light in the distance again, which wasn't much closer to the light he had been before he "dozed off".

The island first disappeared from sight, just like the scene in ancient times when a female priest sacrificed herself to appear.

At this moment, the light in the center of the island has begun to distort the surrounding space and devour everything around it, just like the scene that happened on the summit of Kunlun Mountain.

However, according to Li Jun's observation, the light was engulfing Taoshan Island much faster.

"It took more than a decade for the Kunlun Mountains to be relocated there, but it may not take that long for Taoshan Island."

As Li Jun was about to leave, he suddenly remembered the soft call he had made when he first woke up.

It felt like a dream, yet incredibly real.

He turned his head to look around, but there was no one there.

suddenly.

He looked up at the peach tree he had been leaning against.

He vaguely saw the figure of another person on the peach tree where peach blossoms were in full bloom.

"Female nun?"

Li Jun spoke in ancient language, calling out the name of that ancient person.

Unfortunately, there was no response.

Only the blooming peach blossoms were blown away by the wind and gently landed on Li Jun's shoulder.

Following the fragrance of the flowers, Li Jun turned around and walked deeper into the area.

Stepping on the petals scattered on the ground.

(End of this chapter)