I was the Heavenly Emperor in ancient times

Chapter 44 The Capital of the Emperor
Going down from the plateau and heading north, you reach the territory ruled by the Western Mother.

Li Jun rode his horse at breakneck speed down the plateau, his hooves kicking up clouds of dust.

On the horses.

He was fiddling with the wine vessel that the ugly woman had sacrificed to him. It looked like just an ordinary square bottle with a lid, but Li Jun kept turning it over and over as if it contained some secret.

"Something interesting."

Perhaps only in this ancient and barbaric era did he have such unhurried time and such leisurely mood.

“How is this done?”

The wine vessel made by the female clown is not simply a wine vessel. It looks no more than the length of a forearm, but the wine inside, when poured out, is enough to form a pool.

Li Jun opened the lid, and the wine inside still exuded the fragrance of peach blossoms.

This power wasn't strong for Li Jun, but it was quite interesting.

Li Jun tried to pour out the wine inside.

At first, he was just trying out drinking in a normal way.

Later, finding the pouring speed too slow, he used the power contained within the wine vessel. In an instant, a large vat of wine gushed out from the small opening, which Li Jun inhaled and swallowed.

"Ok?"

But when Li Jun shook the bottle again and looked inside, he noticed that the wine seemed to have decreased.

It's not that he poured out less, but rather that a portion of it disappeared out of thin air.

Li Jun quickly understood that the bottle would take away a portion of its contents each time it was used; this was the price of using it. If the bottle was empty, it would take a portion from the user.

Li Jun thought to himself, "Is this thing still alive?"

Li Jun studied the bottle further and found that its texture was like that of amber and fossils that had been immersed for a long time. Its color was white-yellow with some red, and it was very delicate.

The pattern on the outside is a peach tree, but upon closer inspection, it is actually a totem pattern of a sacrificial altar.

Upon closer inspection of the peach tree, Li Jun noticed a figure sitting on it; he recognized it as the female clown.

Upon seeing this, Li Jun sensed that something was wrong.

Finally, Li Jun looked at the bottle stopper.

"Sacrificial Jade?"

After all that fuss, it turns out this isn't a bottle at all, nor is it just a living thing.

"This female clown's peach wood."

Or rather, this is the true female clown.

From the moment Nüchou became the Great Witch, she transformed into a peach tree. At that time, her body turned into peach wood, and then another version of herself grew from it. She then hid the peach wood.

The female clown of today is more like a wooden knight than a female clown.

The ugly woman could have hidden her peach wood in the peach forest of the heavens, a place that was extremely safe. However, she turned her peach wood into a bottle and gave it to Li Jun.

Li Jun looked at the jade bottle stopper, which seemed to have a written inscription of ghosts and gods, as if her true place after death and everything else had already been arranged.

Li Jun unconsciously looked at the figure sitting on the peach tree branch on the bottle. Perhaps this is the place?

This was a custom and concept of the time; some people were even willing to cut off their own heads to make wine vessels, or offer their own bones to make bone artifacts to give to the tribal chief.

Some people willingly offer their flesh and blood as sacrifices to ghosts and demons, engaging in bloody human sacrifices in the most cruel way. This is very common in many tribes, where bloodshed and primitiveness are the norm. Everyone has a kind of indifference to life and death that is hard for modern people to understand.

The Hanhuang clan seems to have had a strange custom and tradition for several generations: after the death of the Emperor Wu, he would transform himself into a ghost and offer himself to the Emperor.

Li Jun didn't know where Nü Chou had heard about her; perhaps it was because of the previous Emperor Wu?

but.

Li Jun held the bottle that Nü Chou had created using her own body, and he always had an indescribable feeling about it.

"I want to become a demon god!"

The previous generation of the Cold Wasteland Emperor Witch wanted to become a ghost god, but because his own potential was too poor, he was eventually reduced to ashes.

However, if it's a female clown, it shouldn't be difficult.

Li Jun looked at his palm, where a divine stone was embedded. He possessed the power to transform a shaman into a ghost or god after death.

Li Jun sped along, following his instincts and general direction.

Gradually, he saw the most awe-inspiring thing about this era, or the most representative of civilization.

city.

The long city wall in the distance resembled a mountain range, and people and goods from all directions converged on the road towards the city.

For the ordinary people of this era, what difference was there between such a creation and the demon that altered the terrain and changed the celestial phenomena?

The city is called the Capital of the Emperor.

It was built by Wu Shaoli of the Ximu clan and expanded by two generations of Ximu. Li Jun had seen this place during a sacrificial ceremony, but this was his first time visiting it.

Li Jun did not stop, but joined the crowd and headed towards the capital.

Li Jun entered the city, where order was strictly enforced.

Everyone entering the city was asked where they came from, and they were not allowed to wander around the city at will; they were also assigned to specific places.

This place is also quite different from the city Li Jun had imagined. In this capital city under the emperor, the Ximu clan rules over other clans, and the entire city is divided into different areas, all according to different clans.

Each clan has its own functions and tasks. It feels like moving large and small tribes into the city. There is no idle person in the entire city who does not belong to these clans. Everyone is busy and has fixed responsibilities.

In short, it can be summarized in one sentence: "We don't support idlers."

Li Jun was perhaps one of the few people who strolled around. He first looked at the copper workshop, which was smelting copper, and then went to see the textile workshop.

Even next to the altar for worshipping heaven, earth, sun, moon, and the emperor.

Li Jun also saw a tribe specifically responsible for slaughtering animals, which covered a very large area. The stench and filth emanating from this place seemed to be the opposite of the sacred and majestic altar in the distance.

Moreover, this function is passed down from generation to generation, and the names of the people here are all related to slaughter.

In several large rooms on the other side of the altar where the emperor was worshipped, Li Jun also saw some shamans from various places.

They talked at length about how to use the power of witchcraft, boasted about how powerful and strong their supernatural abilities were, and occasionally mentioned some strange events from afar.

"As long as you attach a part of the monster to yourself, you will immediately possess a portion of their power."

"Blood, blood is also very special. If you add some special herbs, you can replace your blood."

"The shamans of Snake Witch Mountain have passed down a secret technique: different parts of the monster are removed in different ways, and the power gained is also different. If the skill is high, it can also prolong the time that the shaman has been transformed into a monster."

"I heard that a clan in the west raises monsters, turns people into monsters, and then tries to control them so they don't have to pay the price."

"It's not that easy. When I came here, I heard that the clan had already been wiped out. Controlling a monster with a mortal body will surely result in being devoured by it."

"..."

To be honest, after looking them over, Li Jun felt that some of these shamans were just pretending.

At first glance, some of these shamans have a dog's head on their heads, and some have no arms but can lift things out of thin air.

Some people have a leech-like lower body, leaving a trail of slime wherever they go.

Some people have fish scales on their bodies, and it is said that they come from a clan called the Dragon Fish Clan, located east of the Su Guang Plain.

If an outsider were to come in and see the shamans inside these large houses, they would probably faint from fright.
"Not one of them looks human."

These so-called witches borrowed some of the monster's power, and some even directly attached parts of the monster to themselves, using all sorts of bizarre methods.

Some of them are estimated to turn into monsters within a few months or even a few days, and will no longer be considered to have mastered the abilities of a witch.

Most of these people have never truly come into contact with demons, let alone ghosts or gods; they have only acquired some superhuman strength through their own accidental methods.

However, even so, these forces enabled their clans and tribes to rise to prominence.

Li Jun noticed that beneath the altar where the emperor was worshipped, a ferocious monster was coiled up.

The monster was a white tiger, whose origin was unknown, and it was being held down by a shaman from the Ximu clan with a stone.

If these people turn into monsters, the White Tiger will be released by the other side to eliminate them.

This large house seemed to treat these shamans well, with various kinds of wine and meat offered to them, as if they were being offered to spirits, but at the same time it was also a place that bound them.

The topics that the witch initially brought up were not of much interest to Li Jun; they were neither particularly useful nor worth paying attention to.

But soon, one of them mentioned something that instantly focused Li Jun's attention.

The one who said this was the shaman of the Longyu clan, located in the eastern part of Suguang Plain, the one whose body was covered with fish scales.

He said that in the far western part of Suguang Plain, an incomparably powerful being had appeared.

No one believed that its power was comparable to that of the Candle Dragon, which had caused great calamity in the past.

But he said, "That being is called Nuwa's Intestines."

Everyone asked him, "What's so special about Nuwa's intestines? How are they so powerful that they dare to compare with Zhulong?"

The others nodded: "That's right, it was only the Emperor who killed Zhulong. Otherwise, who in this world could have done anything to it?" Someone else said: "If it was really that powerful, how could we not know?"

Others should also agree: "That's right, the birth of Zhulong in the past was earth-shattering, and the descent of Buzhou Mountain directly separated the East and West."

"When Nüba was born, the land was dry for thousands of miles, and Yinglong in the easternmost region even influenced the weather and wind for thousands of miles."

"If the Nuwa Intestine you're talking about is so powerful, the entire Western Wilderness and Northern Wilderness would have been so astonished by the commotion surrounding its birth that everyone knew about it."

The shaman was probably drunk; he slammed his fist on the table and stood up angrily, saying...

"You didn't see it because the movement didn't happen on the ground or in the sky, but underground."

"When Nuwa's intestines were born, a cave stretching for an unknown distance appeared deep in the earth. Our tribe's previous generations of shamans went down to see it and found that a sea had appeared at the very depths of the earth. At the end of that sea, a divine being came out and spoke to us."

According to him, Nuwa's intestines created a special space underground as soon as they were born.

He was drunk and said that once people entered that underground place, they would be neither alive nor dead, as if they had returned to the womb from being a living person.

They even said that Nuwa's intestines could bring people back to life by dripping blood, but the person who came back to life would not be the original person, but someone exactly like themselves, and that the other party could even bring the dead back to life.

Finally, it was even said that the real way to achieve immortality was not on Zhangwei Mountain, but somewhere else.

To be honest, the shaman's words were so vague and unclear that it was impossible to understand what he meant.

However, this strange description, the underground world he mentioned, and the eerie power of the so-called Nuwa's intestines are very intriguing.

Most of the people present were just talking nonsense at the time.

However, Li Jun paid special attention to what this person said.

"Nuwa's intestines?"

Putting everything else aside, those first two words alone are enough to pique one's interest.

However, before Li Jun could figure out or see the true nature of Nuwa's intestines, he heard a familiar name.

The person who mentioned this name was not the shaman in the altar house.

Instead, news came from outside that a large group of people had run outside, and even more soldiers of the Ximu clan were gathering.

Someone ran out to ask, and then came back to report.

"Yu Jiang has rebelled."

"He became a great shaman."

Upon hearing this, the shamans present fell silent. The name Yu Jiang seemed to carry more pressure than the demons, especially among those within the Ximu Clan Alliance.

"It's going to get chaotic."

"Something big is definitely going to happen."

"This generation of Xi Mu is too young, while Yu Jiang is too strong."

"The Queen Mother is the Emperor's witch. Where did Yu Jiang get the audacity to cause trouble? Even Zhulong was killed by the Emperor."

"This generation of Xi Mu has not been recognized by the Emperor, so she cannot be called an Imperial Witch."

"Something really bad is about to happen."

Some of these shamans were worried, some were gloating, and some were even anticipating something.

Yu Jiang was neither an ordinary person nor an ordinary shaman.

He was born into a branch of the Ximu clan and had followed the previous generation of Ximu Shaoli in battles across the north and south.

Later, Shao Li stationed him at the foot of Zhangwei Mountain and even made him a shaman.

From then on, Yu Jiang's branch separated from the Xi Mu clan and became the Xi Mu clan's representative at the foot of Zhangwei Mountain, ruling over a region.

However, after the previous generation's Queen Mother Shao Li entered the Gate of the Underworld, Yu Jiang no longer obeyed the orders of this generation's Queen Mother.

especially.

After Zhulong died, some unusual things happened at Zhangwei Mountain.

The power of the Candle Dragon is divided into three parts: the eye in the sky, the Yellow Springs on the ground, and these two entities are far removed from the human world, so most people do not have a deep understanding of them.

But the other one is different.

After Zhulong died, a storm began to sweep across Zhangwei Mountain. The terrifying wind gradually melted everything in the world, including Zhangwei Mountain itself.

Black water flows down from Zhangwei Mountain, covering and melting all directions.

Souls from all over the world kept heading west, and after falling into the black water, they further enhanced the power of the black water, making it wider and wider. Now, a special "sea" has appeared behind Zhangwei Mountain.

He is known as "Bei Ming!"

The demon god that one-third of the Candle Dragon transformed into was also called Xuanming.

With the birth of the demon god Xuanming, the power of the Black Water and the Northern Underworld spread, and the souls of the dead rushed to the Northern Underworld. Yu Jiang's power and influence have also grown stronger recently.

Especially now that he has become a high priest, his ambition has grown even larger, and he wants to challenge the current order.

Although Li Jun was very interested in Nuwa's intestines, he still remembered that his purpose in visiting Nanshan Kingdom was to find a way to completely kill Zhulong, and Yu Jiang clearly had a very deep connection with Zhulong.

Perhaps the answers to many questions can be found in Yu Jiang.

Li Jun turned towards Zhangwei Mountain, further north, having already made his decision.

"We should go and take a look."
-
It seems that Ximu has forgotten about Dali and Shaoli.

As time goes by, the imprint of Da Li and Shao Li in this world becomes weaker and weaker, and people will instinctively forget or ignore everything about them.

The specific phenomenon is that the Ximu clan forgets many things from the previous generation with each generation, and changes constantly occur.

At this moment.

Inside a grand hall in the capital city of the Emperor, which appeared somewhat simply decorated but was of magnificent scale, all the shamans of the Ximu clan and the leaders of other clans in the city had gathered.

All those named such as butcher, butcher, weaver, and executioner were present; their names represented their respective positions in the capital city.

This generation of Simu sits cross-legged on top, wearing a fierce mask that makes her seem unapproachable.

The crowd began to discuss amongst themselves, each offering their opinions.

"We must punish Yu Jiang."

"It's not that easy. The situation at Zhangwei Mountain has been extremely bad recently. The entire Zhangwei Mountain is shrouded in black water. Humans and ghosts live together there, and ferocious monsters roam freely. Going there will likely be dangerous."

“Yu Jiang is just talking; he won’t dare to attack. Why should we pay him any attention?”

“If Yujiang rebels and we ignore him, how will the other clans and shamans view us? Will they think that the Ximu clan has declined? How will we mobilize and command them in the future?”

“That’s right. If we don’t react at all, who will listen to us?”

"We are the Ximu clan, we must..."

In the end, everyone looked at Ximu.

Xi Mu said, "Yu Jiang has betrayed me and must be punished. I will go there myself."

At that moment, everyone spoke in unison.

"If the Western Mother arrives, Yu Jiang will surely die."

finally.

Xi Mu decided to devote all her strength to attacking Yu Jiang.
-
Li Jun thought he would soon witness the great war between humans and witches in this era.

To be honest, this was quite an eye-opening scene.

It is also an opportunity to further study and understand the methods and approaches to using various extraordinary powers, as well as the characteristics of different demonic powers.

especially.

Looking at those shamans who "none of them look like humans," one can imagine them appearing on the battlefield, engaging in various supernatural battles with those fierce and monstrous shamans.

That scene is the best interpretation of the mythology of mountains and seas.

but.

People in this era were slow to act. Even though Ximu was considered swift and decisive, she still prepared for a full month before setting off.

It was also very difficult for the Ximu clan to mobilize the other clans.

This morning.

Outside the city, tens of thousands of troops from various clans, along with a large number of ferocious non-human witches and some monsters controlled by various means.

From the military's perspective, this army's composition is extremely chaotic and complex. If it were to encounter an elite force, it would likely scatter at the first charge.

but.

Even the most elite army can be overwhelmed by the presence of shamans with dog heads and nearly ten feet tall, shamans with fangs and sharp teeth who spew black smoke, and shamans covered in scales with eyes that bulge out like fish and snakes.

It seems that even before the fighting begins, the morale of the troops has already been shattered.

And so, a terrifying and chilling ancient human alliance set off from the capital of the Emperor.

(End of this chapter)