I was the Heavenly Emperor in ancient times

Chapter 9 Emptiness
At this moment.

Below Tao Shu’s enormous head hung only a body the size of a palm, half boy and half embryo, a sight that sent chills down one’s spine.

No matter who sees it, they will no longer think of it as a human being. However, in a sense, it does retain a part of its humanity. At least it has not completely lost all aspects of being human like the wooden puppet and become a puppet here.

Li Jun gazed at the face on the sacred tree, while the face on the sacred tree gazed at the pottery tree.

"My dear grandson!"

"My dear grandson!"

"Don't be afraid!"

"Don't be afraid, Grandpa is here to save you, Grandpa is coming to save you right now."

This mythical creature, for the sake of such a monster, was now bowing and scraping before Li Jun.

"Let him go!"

He's just a child!

From his tone, Li Jun and Lu Gang also learned his identity.

Tao Yougen.

Li Jun asked the other party, "You sent Mu Ke to attack me, why?"

Tao Yougen gave a strange answer, his voice calm yet tinged with a sense of vicissitude.

"You know why, because you're special."

“You possess the greatest power. Although you have demonstrated the abilities of double pupils and a great shaman, this is far from the power you truly possess.”

His words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but Li Jun seemed to understand what he meant.
Li Jun asked, "How did you know?"

Tao Yougen: "I saw it."

Li Jun frowned: "No, you're not Tao Yougen."

If it were Tao Yougen, he couldn't possibly know so much, including about ancient times, and even be able to mention the Great Shaman and Double Pupils.

But when Li Jun asked further questions, Tao Yougen couldn't answer any more.

Tao Yougen seemed unaware of the whole picture, only able to see fragmented images, as if he were being controlled and influenced by someone or some being in the dark.

Li Jun looked at the sacred tree; perhaps this was it.

It is the source of all this.

It is also the strange and eerie thing that causes all the abnormalities.

Li Jun: "Why did you try to kill me? How did you know where I was?"

Tao Yougen's tone suddenly changed at this moment, becoming like that of an ordinary old man.

"As long as we take away your double pupils, we can give Tao Shu your power, and Tao Shu will definitely have a bright future."

Tao Yougen avoided discussing the latter, seemingly out of some concern.

Li Jun seemed to be mocking, "Does having power automatically make you a healthy and successful person?"

Tao Yougen was extremely strange. On the one hand, he acted like an ancient, non-human being, and on the other hand, he acted like a real, ordinary old man named Tao Yougen.

Provoked by Li Jun, Tao Yougen revealed his true colors.

"If you could gouge out your eyes and give them to him, I definitely would."

"With your eyes, our Tao Shu will surely have a bright future."

"He will become a god, he will become an immortal."

"They will be omnipotent."

“Our Tao family is about to produce a talented person.”

"My dear grandson, my dear grandson will be successful, he will be very successful."

Tao Yougen seemed to have gone mad at this point, laughing loudly, and then roaring at Li Jun.

"Let go of my Tao Shu! Let him go!"

Seeing that he couldn't get any more information out of Tao Yougen, Li Jun gradually figured out Tao Yougen's situation, and Tao Shu was no longer of any use at this point.

Li Jun was quite obedient; he threw the pottery tree out.

At this point, Tao Shu had lost almost all of its power and could no longer suppress the other strange creatures.

Immediately, the mutated people who had been enslaved and controlled by Tao Shu rushed up to Tao Shu and plundered him completely.

At last.

The pottery tree also became a shadow on the wall, transforming into a puppet-like object called "Wooden Guest" in this place.

Tao Shu did not die; he eventually integrated into the community and became one of them, blending in with the crowd.

They could no longer escape the control of this strange place and its underlying causes, nor could they ever be human again.

Upon seeing this, Tao Yougen let out a scream.

"No!"

The enormous face on the divine tree let out a painful scream, roaring at Li Jun with boundless hatred.

"I want you to die!"

Li Jun said, "Isn't he alive and well, here with you?"

Tao Yougen was filled with hatred: "Die, die! My dear grandson, he could have been successful. You ruined him, you ruined him!"

“I have nothing left. You have ruined our Tao family.”

"You're not getting out of here again."

Tao Shu did not die, but he lost the potential to become another "Li Jun".

For Tao Yougen, the meaning of the Tao tree's existence was dead; it was no different from it being truly dead.

In his utterly deranged state, Tao Yougen immediately saw a power spreading out along the shadow of the divine tree in the center of the island.

"Dong dong dong dong dong dong..."

Li Jun and Lu Gang both looked down at their feet and saw that the road beneath them was beginning to twist.

The road that had been stretching out into the distance suddenly twisted and turned like a snake.

Countless roads intertwine, existing not only beneath your feet but also to your left and above your head.

The entire space of Taoshan Island has changed.
All the roads intertwined, like winding, interwoven tree roots connecting to the foot of the divine tree.

All people and the strange creatures were trapped in this maze-like space, with no hope of ever getting out.

"So it was the power of space!"

at this time.

Li Jun also saw through part of its essence; this was the true power of this strange creature.

This strange entity parasitized these people and gradually released its power through them and the entire Taoshan Island.

now.

As Tao Yougen descended into madness after losing the Tao tree, this power erupted even further.

The outermost layer of disorientation is merely a facade; the physical distortion and alienation of those in the middle layer is only the beginning; and then, the emergence of beings like Tao Yougen...

They lost their way, their bodies and minds became alienated, and even their will was completely lost.

Everything that has been abandoned will be entrusted to emptiness.

A distorted space was thus created.

At the other street corner, Lu Gang felt dizzy.

He hurriedly looked up at the street above and to his left and right. At this moment, he couldn't even distinguish up from down from left from right. He was just spinning around in circles like a headless fly.

Lu Gang didn't see it as clearly as Li Jun, but he looked at the twisted street that resembled gnarled tree roots.

And now I finally understand why they always ended up back where they started or appeared in places they shouldn't have been on the road.

The crisscrossing roads on Taoshan Island are disjointed; you don't know where they lead or what they connect to.

As the true, eerie power of this place unfolds.

Li Jun raised his head and looked towards the sacred tree.

"Chirp!"

The double pupils emitted light, and the bluebird's supernatural power was activated.

In a trance.

Countless images flashed before Li Jun's eyes, as if many versions of himself were walking in different directions.

In most scenes, he is lost and confused, and even dies at the end of the road.

Finally, he looked at the road on the other side.

"So that's it!"

At the end of the road, he saw a house with a peach tree growing behind it.

This is the home of Tao Yougen and Tao Shu that we saw in the previous materials.

Tao Yougen's real body was nothing more than the peach tree behind his old house.

Li Jun looked at the divine tree that filled the heavens and the earth, and Tao Yougen's face that was attached to it. Tao Yougen was just its possession, and he had accomplished all of this by relying on its power or by being driven by it.

However, the real thing has not yet truly appeared in this world.

Having understood this, Li Jun embarked on that path.

He transformed into a feathered person.

It flew along the twisted ground, following the road that wound its way up to the sky.
-
"It's over, it's over."

"Let you pretend."

"They're all staying here now. After the younger ones were beaten, the older ones came, and the older ones are even more powerful. You know there are always people more powerful than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding!"

Lu Gang hurriedly hid his belongings in a building, which contained his camera and various instruments and equipment, which contained important information.

He estimated that he might not make it out alive, but these things could perhaps be left to future generations.

Before Lu Gang could finish, he saw Li Jun transform into a feathered being and fly along the road, which resembled a heavenly path, heading towards its end.

From a distance, Li Jun looked like a moth drawn to a towering pillar.

The scene was both shocking and pitiful, and also laughable, given the enormous size difference between the two.

"Is this guy crazy?"

That moment.

An ant trying to shake a tree, a mantis trying to stop a chariot, an egg striking a rock, a moth flying into a flame.

One after another, idioms like these popped into Lu Gang's mind.
The series of events that had occurred before had caused the name Li Jun to exceed Lu Gang's expectations time and time again.

Even though his expectations for Li Jun were already very high, Lu Gang didn't think Li Jun could do anything about the divine tree that filled the heavens and earth.

This is something that has already exceeded the limits of human capability.

The other party is a being from mythology, possessing power that is unimaginable to ordinary people.

Even if Li Jun possessed the power to destroy buildings and slay terrifying monsters like the Tao Tree, what could he do? Falling upon that divine tree would be nothing more than a drop of water falling into the ocean.

"Ugh!"

Lu Gang couldn't understand the other person's madness, but he admired their courage.

He watched the other person's disappearing figure, then took off his glasses and lowered his head.

A moment of silence has begun.

Regardless, in Lu Gang's view, Li Jun made this move for the sake of others.

Otherwise, given his abilities, escaping from here should have been no problem at all.

however.

At this moment, the giant face on the divine tree panicked and let out an incredulous scream.

"How did you know?"

"How did you see through it? How did you know you were here?"

"impossible."

"impossible."

The face on the divine tree tried to make amends, but it was too late; the enemy had already struck at the heart of the enemy's territory.

Lu Gang suddenly raised his head and looked at the face on the divine tree that seemed to have broken down, before he could come back to his senses.

At that moment, Lu Gang suddenly felt a huge shadow slowly rise up behind him.

Lu Gang raised his head, the angle getting higher and higher, almost flipping over to the back.

He finally saw the huge shadow behind him clearly.

Amidst the layers of mist, a figure hundreds of feet tall emerged and headed towards the divine tree.

Judging from his face, it was indeed Li Jun.

"?"

At this moment, Li Jun transformed into a colossal figure thousands of feet tall.

He raised his hand, and layers of blue feathers extended out, transforming into a sharp blade.

Like Wu Gang in the myth, he cut down that towering divine tree.

"Boom!"

Lu Gang watched helplessly as the sacred tree, which filled the sky and dominated the entire Taoshan Island, collapsed with a roar and slowly dissipated in the clouds and shadows.

Lu Gang couldn't hold back any longer and shouted out loud.

"I rely on!"

"He can also manipulate the heavens and the earth?"

Lu Gang couldn't remember.

This is the umpteenth time he has used such vulgar language, unbecoming of his status, because of Li Jun's outrageous behavior.
-
From the outside, it appeared that Li Jun had severed the sacred tree with a method akin to the laws of heaven and earth.

And actually.

Li Jun simply followed the correct road to its end, arriving at the back of Tao Yougen's old house, where he chopped down a peach tree that was over ten meters tall.

Although this peach tree is also very tall, it is worlds apart from the shadow of the sacred tree that condenses in the thick fog above Taoshan Island.

The scene outside is merely a projection of this place, a colossal illusion.

However, this does not mean that the sacred tree is fake.

Li Jun looked at Tao Yougen.

Tao Yougen had long lost his human form; he had lost everything, leaving only his face clinging to the peach tree, which was gradually being devoured by it.

At this very moment, he too began to perish, slowly collapsing along with the falling peach tree.

However, Tao Yougen did not struggle anymore. It was as if he had lost all hope and fallen into an endless emptiness when Tao Shu lost the potential to become another "Li Jun".

Actually.

When Li Jun saw the peach tree that Tao Yougen had possessed, he had a feeling of familiarity.

"That tree!"

The image of a wild man reaching out to him from the top of towering mountains, beneath a sea of ​​clouds, and finally transforming into a tree resurfaced in Li Jun's mind.

As it gradually faded away, Tao Yougen was finally completely devoured by this strange entity.

He seemed to remember something.

Or rather, more ancient images stored deep within these eerie memories flooded into his mind.

The old man in the tree no longer looked ashen-faced; his eyes slowly began to move, gradually turning towards Li Jun.

Then, his eyes seemed to light up.

"I saw."

"I know, I know who you are!"

"I remember now."

The old man's words also began to change.

It transformed from modern Chinese into the language of the Xi Wangmu tribe in the ancient, primitive era.

And coincidentally, Li Jun knew this language.

The old man spoke in an excited, trembling voice, his gaze fixed intently on Li Jun.

“I saw you.”

"On the summit of Kunlun."

"At the beginning of mythology, the Queen Mother of the West knelt at your feet."

"Above the heavens, all the gods and immortals bow down and worship you."

Tao Yougen's voice gradually changed, as if he had become a different person.

It was as if, in that infinite emptiness, they had found a new source of solace.

Li Jun asked him, "Who are you?"

The aged face clinging to the tree trunk smiled: "You know who I am."

"You know!"

"You know, I know you know everything."

Tao Yougen shouted wildly, roaring in ancient language that no one in this world could understand.

"Although I don't remember who I am, I know you know who I am, don't you?"

The old man looked at Li Jun's face and seemed to see the answer in his expression.

"Look, you recognize me."

As Li Jun looked at the old man's face, the aged face gradually overlapped with another face.

Ten thousand years ago.

that day.

Li Jun looked down at him from high above within the divine stone, while he reached out and touched the meteorite from outer space.

For a moment, Li Jun's eyes became unfocused.

At this moment, the old man revealed another name for Li Jun.

"emperor!"

Li Jun snapped out of his daze at the address. He didn't deny it, but asked another question.

At this moment, Li Jun took out the head of the wooden man he had captured earlier from his backpack and threw it next to the fallen tree.

I asked him, "How did you know I would appear there?"

The other person replied, "Someone told me."

Li Jun asked, "Who?"

Tao Yougen: "I don't remember her name, but you know her."

Li Jun: "What does he look like?"

Tao Yougen: "I can't quite put my finger on it, but... her smile is like a fox's!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the face on the peach tree gradually stiffened, and then stopped moving completely.

However, the alienation of the entire Taoshan Island did not end there.

The eerie power clinging to the peach tree continued to spread like a law, further distorting the space around the island.

Li Jun looked towards the center of Taoshan Island.

The area was covered with peach trees, and deep within the peach grove shone a light, as if there were another space inside.

At this moment.

The ball of light began to distort everything around it, engulfing the entire Taoshan Island.

(End of this chapter)