Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"Oh, that's easy. So, you also raised that snake, right?"

Chapter 307: Heaven and Earth in the Picture

"Brother, brother, brother, you're finally back! Look, your room is on fire, isn't it? And you're still mean to me."

Zhu Ling had been standing on the first floor waiting, and finally the reliable adults arrived - as well as Shangluo who seemed unreliable, and Phaethon who looked completely unfamiliar.

"Check the time. When did it start?"

"I've been counting, and it's been exactly one and a half hours now."

"It does look like they're connected. Zhu Ling, go get Mom and take her outside for a walk. Captain Lu, go explain it to her; she's not making sense."

"The Queen Mother went to Jiangning this afternoon and attended a meeting with the Shang Gong. She hasn't returned yet. She went with a motorcade."

"Huh? Why would an old lady like her join in the fun? Even though there's no lottery for other sessions, the tickets are still pretty expensive."

"Because middle-aged and elderly women like Miss Yanqiu very much, they had already made an appointment and asked Da Nei to arrange a car."

"Okay. Then Zhu Ling, you can just stay outside for a while. Don't come in unless I call you."

"Then I'll leave." She was not worried and followed Lu Huaiyang out of the gate.

"Zhu Ling is really carefree." Shang Luo looked at Zhu Ling and watched her leave without looking back and without saying anything else.

"Because of the Imperial Ancestor, what could possibly happen under his watch? Besides, there's also Master Lan watching nearby. From a cause and effect perspective, the cause of this incident is at most a Jindan-stage evil spirit, and Master Lan is only one step away from the Yuanying stage. Even if it's just Yangshen here, it won't be a problem."

"Your Majesty, this is not a trivial matter." Lan Zhenren reminded, "The reason why the map of Shanhe Sheji is a 'treasure' is because it has the power of good fortune to reshape the universe. Although the cause and effect we cast is just an evil pill , but the fruit it bears is the creation of another world. Are you ready?"

"Hmm," Zhu Xianxun touched his forehead, "That's my home, I can't not go in. Shangluo, how about you?"

"That's my magic weapon. I can't help but go in."

"Where is Phaethon?" he asked Phaethon, who was carrying a camera next to him.

“He’s my employer.”

"I don't need to say anything." Te Jiuwu shook his head. "I'm going no matter what. Anyone can choose not to go. I have to see if I live or die."

"Okay, let's go together."

Familiar stairs, familiar office, and no unusual door. But when I opened the door with the key, flames burst out.

To be more precise, it was the fire. Leaning against the desk, a blazing ring of fire spun on the wall, illuminating the unlit office with a dark red glow. Yet, the fire didn't heat the office, nor did it ignite anything. Everything remained the same as before.

"Oh!!!" Shangluo, standing at the door, recognized it immediately. He had seen a fire ring like this before. If Wen Yuan and the others were here, they would have seen it too. This was a portal, leading somewhere. The last time they saw it was in the Sacred Forest of Lake Nemi, where the forest army emerged from the flaming gate.

He told Zhu Xianxin what happened last time.

"Is it a door? So, you can see inside? Then I'll go check it out first."

"Click", Zhu Xianxun reached in and touched the switch, turning on the light.

The light from the electric lamp was much brighter than the fire, covering up the glow of the fire ring. With this light, the fire ring looked like a painting hanging on the wall, without any momentum.

"It really is the place where the window used to be." Zhu Xianxun tried to move a few steps closer, walked to his desk, and even got close to the fire ring to look, but there was no feeling of heat inside.

"Can you see what's inside?"

"It seems so," Zhu Xianxun looked for a while, "it seems like the sea. There's a huge body of water stretching to the horizon, and there are many islands. Oh, and the sun! Such a big sun. It's like a paradise in there."

"Huh?" He turned back to "Special Nine-Five," "Is that what you see?"

"It seems different. There are tables, chairs, benches, and a snake, a small silver snake, only the size of a fountain pen, swimming around on the table, among the pens, inkstones, paper, inkstones, and teapots. But I can only see a corner of it, it doesn't seem to be in the same place."

"Wow, that's quite big." Zhu Xianxun touched his chin. "It feels pretty good in here, facing the sea, the emerald sea, the bright sunshine and the blue sky. Can I borrow this little piece? It's right behind me anyway, so it's convenient for me to climb out the window and fish when I'm tired from work. I want to move a lounge chair in to bask in the sun."

"No problem." Shangluo made an OK gesture.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Xianxun also gestured with him.

"It means O(*Jinling Yayan*)K."

"Oh~~ I completely understand." Jinling Yayan made Zhu Xianxun understand everything immediately. "Thank you very much. Let's go in and take a look. Master Lan, do you want to come in with us?"

"I have to wait outside." Lan Daoxing replied, "If anything unexpected happens, someone has to be outside to pull you out."

This is a "reliable old man" who is more reliable than a "reliable adult".

"Then shall we go in now?" Shangluo asked.

"Wait a moment." Zhu Xianxun walked to a corner of the room, opened the floor-to-ceiling cabinet, and took out a backpack from it.

"This is my emergency backpack. It contains food, water, a radio, and other things. I used it when I was a kid because I often ran away with it through windows. It's still better to carry it with me now. In addition to normal food and water, it also contains fasting pills, which is enough to sustain me for a long time. What if something goes wrong? At least we won't starve to death. Walking on."

He habitually tried to put on his backpack, but it was too small, so he could only carry it on one shoulder. Pressing the edge of the fire ring, he skillfully "climbed" out the window.

"Yeah, everything is fine." He waved his hand, motioning Shangluo to come in. "The scenery in here is even better than it looks outside."

"Really?" Shangluo poked his head in first.

The sea was azure, the sky was blue, and the sun was warm. A gentle sea breeze blew in, without the salty smell of the ocean, but with a delicate fragrance. The sun hung in the rising sun, not far from the horizon. It looked much larger than the sun outside, but also softer.

There are no boundaries in any direction, it looks like another world.

"This place is really nice!" He climbed in through the window, and Phaethon also came in with a camera, taking pictures of Te Jiuwu's shadow.

"Ah~" Shangluo took a deep breath. This fragrance actually contained a hint of spiritual energy. Although the distribution was uneven and intermittent, it seemed extremely pure, like a bit of essence that surged out when the world was first created.

Chapter 308 It

Stepping onto the lush green grass, he looked around. They were on a small, crescent-shaped island, at the very tip of the crescent. The azure sea and sky stretched far to the horizon, dotted with islands scattered across the azure sea and blue sky. Besides the crescent-shaped islands, there were also curved ones and long, narrow ones, but most of them had a curling outline.

"The island here is quite unique," Zhu Xianxun said as he sat down and stretched out his arms and legs. "The grass is soft and green. It feels like a great place for a vacation."

But after resting for two seconds, he sat up straight: "But we have to figure out the situation here before we can go on vacation with peace of mind."

"By the way, where is the snake?" Shangluo looked around but saw no trace of a snake, nor any tables, chairs, or benches.

Te Jiuwu stood quietly for a moment, then shook his head. "I used my inner vision, but I couldn't see where we were. The snake was still crawling around."

"Where is that snake?" Zhu Xianxun thought for a moment. "This place is pretty good. Excluding that snake, this is a very nice place. I think Shangluo, you can rent out a few more islands, just enough to raise some funds for your Thunder Department. Well, you can just sponsor me as a friendly sponsor. I don't have much money, right? And the entrance is in my office."

"Sure, sure." Shangluo waved his hand. Zhu Xianxun had always been very kind to him, so it went without saying that he had given him a small part of his destiny to use for his leisure time.

Before he finished speaking, he noticed that Zhu Xianxun was suddenly stunned.

"what happened?"

"Something's wrong, this smell. Do you smell the fragrance?" He was referring to the delicate aroma that wafted through the entire space upon entering. Although it was tinged with a hint of divine energy, the fragrance itself was still quite refreshing.

He had vaguely smelled this scent somewhere before, yet it seemed different. It was the same everywhere, as if it were the very air itself. Within this endless blue sea and sky, the same elegant fragrance permeated every corner.

"Wait a minute!" Te Jiuwu suddenly jumped up, "The little snake moved. It seems to have smelled us."

"That's great." Shangluo clapped his hands, drew his sword, and prepared to start. "Where is the little snake?"

"It was beside the ink bottle. It swam past the pen, it swam past the lamp. It climbed onto the teapot and went down the spout."

"Teapot!!!" Zhu Xianxun was suddenly shocked. "I know! This smell is from my pot of Biluochun! This is the aroma of Biluochun!"

"Huh? What Biluochun?" Shangluo asked.

"We're inside the teapot! Biluochun tea curls up after brewing, and we're standing on the tea leaves!" Before he finished speaking, the sky and the earth changed color. The bright sun hanging in the sky was eroded by darkness—replaced by a yellow and black vertical pupil, a characteristic of a snake.

There was no more light between heaven and earth, only the eerie eyes of a snake hanging high in the sky. The snake's eyes moved slightly, and every time the snake's eye membrane blinked, the sky and the earth changed color.

"It discovered us," Te Jiuwu murmured.

In a split second, the snake's eyes trembled, focusing. The snake's eyes shifted, but its tongue immediately thrust forward—a crimson serpent streaking across the sky like a galaxy, its dripping saliva creating a vast wave in the distance. The snake's head burst forth from the sun's rays, the light emanating from the "hole" in the sky enveloping the giant snake as it streaked across the sky at terrifying speed.

Northwest of Kunlun lies a mountain with a circumference of 30,000 li. A giant snake coils around it three times, making the snake 90,000 li long. The snake lives in this mountain and eats the vast ocean. This is...

“This is the World Serpent!!! It’s the World Serpent born in this world! Run!” Apollonia shouted.

"Yeah, run!" Shangluo turned around and ran back, pulling Phaethon back with him. Zhu Xianxun didn't waste a second either, and turned around and ran when he saw the situation was not good.

"Wait, there's another one!" Standing in the doorway, he saw Te Jiuwu still standing there—without the camera, he could maintain his form in this world. But now he was staring at the sky, at the snake's eyes. The sky-swallowing maw had opened, directly above their heads.

"Hey! Come back soon!" Shangluo was also shouting at the door, but Te Jiuwu did not move at all. It seemed that he was not at this time at all, but in some other time stream.

"Do you want to know the meaning of life? Do you want to truly live?"

"What do you mean?" Te Jiuwu stared directly at the snake's eyes in the sky, and the snake's eyes stared back at him. Time froze at that moment, and the gaping maw was only there to speak to him.

"You, why are you here?"

"I was injured in the line of duty and was treated at the Imperial Guards General Hospital. However, the treatment plan went awry, and I was thrown into this world."

"No." Snake stared at him. "I'm asking where it all started. Why did you go and shut down that dangerous machine?"

"For the institute, for the project, for everyone. This is my ideal, my"

The snake interrupted him: "Your so-called ideals, feelings, beliefs, and hopes are nothing but fleeting moments. Beyond all of this, above all of this, have you ever thought about it—have you ever thought about 'yourself'?"

The snake hissed:

"Is all this worth it?"

"."

"Your fate should not be manipulated by others. Only you can save yourself. Come, dragon, control this world with me, and truly live with me - in the intestines of the snake, and live as long as all creatures."

Shekou descended towards the dragon spirit of this world—

"Who are you, this monster? How dare you show off your skills in front of an expert!" A loud thunder suddenly exploded.

Suddenly, a thousand-foot-high light descended from the sky! The brilliant light spread across the sky and earth, illuminating the Huachi in all directions.

The lid of the pot was opened! A pair of dark jade hands, as thick as the sky, reached through the lid and, with just two fingers, grasped the snake's head and twisted it away, just like twisting a pen.

"I will be back!!!"

While hissing, the snake was lifted into endless light and disappeared from view.

"Tsk, it really is this thing." Lan Daoxing chased the pen-sized silver snake and said disdainfully, "It really deserves to be a treasure. It can actually condense a snake."

"Hiss!!!" The snake opened its mouth and roared at the giant in front of it - Lan Daoxing moved his two fingers slightly, lightning appeared, and the snake was struck by the thunder and stood up straight like a bamboo stick, and there was no movement anymore.

"Shangluo, I'll give it to you. Play with it as a little toy. Don't be afraid, it's already dead." He put the silver snake body in Shangluo's hand.

"This is..." As it reached his hand, the snake's tail suddenly exploded. Then the back, all the way to the head—the snake, already breathless, suddenly opened its mouth, a streak of silver light flew out of its mouth, and then disappeared, leaving only the silvery slough.

"Don't look at it. You can't catch it because snakes are immortal. But snake skin is a good thing. Have you heard of 'light silver'? This is it. It's very interesting. You can make a rubber band with it."

Chapter 309 Dragon and Snake

"He's fine, everything is normal." Shangluo used a light silver thread to feel Te Jiuwu's pulse. "He just fainted. Phaethon, lower the lights a bit and let him lie on the floor first. We'll take him to the Leibu activity room and settle him down. We'll deal with the rest after he wakes up."

After saying that, he took back the snake skin, stretched it between two fingers, and flicked it with a "swoosh", and it actually made a sound of breaking through the air.

Lan Daoxing was stunned: "You've played this before? How come you're so good at it?"

"Zhang Tianshi gave me one before, but I used it as an antenna and was afraid of breaking it."

"Ah, Zhang Tianshi himself gave it to you, that's right. These snake skins are a specialty of Wudang Mountain. Wudang Mountain is the mysterious mountain where the dragon veins from all directions converge."

"Are there snakes outside too?"

"Remember Journey to the West? There's the Sea Dragon King in the sea, the River Dragon King in the river, and the Well Dragon King in the well. The same goes for snakes. Even the smallest world has snakes living there. The word 'snake' is a 'worm' with an 'it' next to it. Those creatures that haunt the night are snakes. There are three thousand great snakes in the Three Thousand Worlds. There are Jörmungandr, the Hydra, and the Nagas of the Asura clan slain by Indra—these are all great snakes. What you see is also a great snake."

Shangluo nodded. He had just witnessed the terrifying power of the snake—a massive serpent that obscured the heavens and sun. With its eyes open, it was daylight, and with its eyes closed, it was darkness. The entire world flickered when it blinked, not to mention the sight of its serpent's tongue and even its body slipping through the "hole" into the world. If there were Jörmungandr in equal proportions out there...

He glanced at the wall. If the window was still there, he could see the moon from here. What if the moon wasn't a celestial body, but just a hollow hole like the spout of a teapot? What if moonlight wasn't reflected sunlight, but a projection of the light world? What if a giant snake really entered this world through the gap between the sun and the moon?

That would be like swallowing the heaven and earth, the end of the world.

"Is there really such a big snake?"

"Yes, and there are many. The world is formed by the five elements of earth, fire, water, wind, and space, and thus there are five kinds of great snakes. What you just saw was the 'sky snake', because it did not enter the world, but wandered outside of it."

"Wait, there are four more snakes that big in there???"

"There's a bottomless ocean in that pot, so it's no surprise there's a water snake hiding in there."

"How can there be so many things in the teapot??? Are there also some in the tables, chairs and benches?"

"That's not the case. I looked through everything in there, and only the teapot possessed all the elements of earth, fire, water, and wind—the tea leaves came from the earth, the tea soup was water, and the aroma of the tea was wind. Finally, the Sha Dan exploded with fire and spiritual energy, and the earth, fire, water, and wind evolved, turning the teapot into a pot-in-the-sky. After the pot-in-the-sky was opened up, a snake from the outer space of heaven and earth began to linger. It smelled the human scent and entered."