I was the Heavenly Emperor in ancient times

Chapter 13 The Origin of the Woodcutters

Under the vast sky.

Outside, cattle and sheep strolled leisurely along the riverbank on the grassland, while all the important members of the Ximu clan gathered inside the tent.

The tent wasn't big, but it was already packed full.

Everyone was discussing whether the altar on the top of Kunlun Mountain needed to be repaired and expanded.

In this era, there were no temples, shrines, or ancestral halls, and no one even thought of building such things.

The altar was already the most important building for worshipping heaven and earth.

The altar on the summit of Kunlun Mountain was hastily built. For the Ximu clan, this altar was no longer sufficient to worship and pay homage to the Emperor who represented the heavens.

They must build a structure that is more in line with the Emperor's.

They had to devote all their efforts to building it in order to repay the Emperor for his protection of the Ximu clan.

This was true for the ordinary people of the Ximu clan, and even more so for Wu Dali of the Ximu clan.

"Does that mountain path need to be cleared?"

"The fog is getting thicker and thicker; it looks like it will be very difficult for us to climb the mountain in the future."

"If the great lily can fly up to Kunlun, my Ximu clan will not cease its sacrifices to the Emperor."

"Yes, even when we are not at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, the giant geese can still fly back."

"But while we're still at the foot of Kunlun Mountain and the fog isn't thick enough, we need to hurry up and make the most of our time."

Finally, everyone turned their attention to the geese.

Everyone was initially looking directly at each other as usual, but after seeing each other's appearance, they couldn't help but lower their heads.

Although Da Li has transformed into human form, she has undergone a fundamental change from her previous self. As a witch and as an ordinary mortal, she is a completely different being.

Her figure and appearance became even more perfect, with a tall and slender figure and long and powerful limbs.

Her skin was as smooth as jade, and upon close inspection, it did not have the pores and body hair of an ordinary person.

Take a closer look.

You can even find something so fine it's almost invisible, like the fine lines of a feather.

The gull was dressed in coarse linen clothes, but still wore a straw crown and a mask.

Her exposed arms, bare feet, and the skin between her neck and torso.

She still exudes a powerful and mysterious aura that transcends ordinary people.

The more mysterious she is, the more awe she inspires.

Just as the earth may be vast and majestic, everyone feels that the sky, high above and untouchable, is above the earth.

After everyone finished discussing, they finally knelt down in front of the giant lily.

Actually.

All of this was exactly what Da Li wanted them to do.

Da Li said, "Since that's the case, let's do it that way. We also need to find more jade, which will be useful during the sacrifice."

The people of Ximu did not ask any further questions, or rather, the image of the divine stone standing atop Mount Kunlun had already deeply penetrated their hearts.

In their view, even ordinary jade, and some special stones, should possess some special power.

Perhaps it was from this point that things began.

Jade, an ordinary stone, began to acquire a special symbolic meaning.
-
The problem was sown the moment the members of the Ximu clan touched the sacred stone.

The Ximu clan grazed their livestock north of Kunlun, while the Hanhuang clan gradually settled on the southern slopes of Kunlun. The Hanhuang clan even engaged in barter with the Ximu clan north of Kunlun.

At this time, Ximu was still unaware of the problem.

after all.

Clans often frequent this area, but their minds are elsewhere.

Southern foothills of Kunlun Mountains.

The Hanhuang clan was stationed in a valley, and most of its members were resting in caves at the moment.

Nu Mie stood at the entrance of the cave, her gaze passing through the vast valley and looking at the main peak of Kunlun Mountain, which stood like a pillar in the sky.

She has been standing here for a long time, motionless, lost in thought.

Exhausted, he climbed the treacherous summit of Mount Kunlun twice.

They bribed the people of the Ximu clan, enduring the constant danger of being discovered and killed.

She finally obtained a peach branch from the magical peach tree atop Mount Kunlun.

It stands to reason.

She finally obtained what she had always dreamed of, something she had longed for ever since she caught a glimpse of the sacred tree atop Mount Kunlun.

But at this moment, she became somewhat absent-minded.

At this moment, the priestess walked up behind her and asked.

"what happened?"

The priestess saw through Nuwa's thoughts, or rather, she saw through her abnormality.

The woman finally came to her senses, her gaze shifting from the Kunlun Mountain peak. She turned her head to look at the priestess.

She said, "I received the peach branch, and I remember you, priestess, recorded the entire process of the Ximu clan's worship of the emperor, right?"

The priestess nodded: "Yes."

Then, the woman asked another question.

"And then you went to see the Emperor, twice, right?"

The priestess nodded, saying that was indeed the case.

According to the priestess, what Nu Shao was about to say was how to imitate the process and procedures of the Xi Mu clan's worship of the emperor in order to obtain power like the Xi Mu clan's Wu Da Li.

On the summit of Kunlun Mountain, it wasn't just the bluebird that possessed power; compared to it, the divine tree was even more eye-catching.

Since the Bluebird could make the Great Li into a witch, the power of the Divine Tree could naturally also make them witches of the Cold Wasteland Clan.

However, at this moment, the nun changed her tone.

The nun stepped forward, staring intently into the priestess's eyes, and asked excitedly.

"What does the emperor look like?"

"Have you touched that divine stone? Have you touched the Emperor?"

Previously, the woman who most desired the power of witchcraft was Nuwa, but now she seems to have forgotten about it.

The priestess looked into the eyes of the nun who was staring intently at her, as if the other woman wanted to see the scenes she had witnessed before, or even hear the words she had spoken with the emperor, through her eyes.

Seeing the strange look in Nu Shu's eyes, the priestess, who had been with Nu Shu and grown up together, immediately sensed that something was wrong with her.

"Nüshan, what's wrong?"

"Something's not right with you."

The nun was indeed acting very strangely; she was muttering something in a neurotic manner, her gaze constantly following the priestess's eyes.

"why?"

"Why can't I find the sacred stone every time I go up Kunlun Mountain?"

"Why is it that you always see it first, but I never see it?"

Then, the woman became extremely agitated.

"You want to talk to the Emperor again, don't you? You even want to touch that divine stone, don't you?"

The priestess felt terrifying; the nun seemed to have become a completely different person.

"What happened to you?"

The nun was still looking into the priestess's pupils, speaking.

"I'm very good."

“I saw the Emperor, and the Emperor was looking at me.”

"That feeling was just wonderful; he truly is the embodiment of the heavens."

"I felt myself becoming one with heaven and earth... Something is coming out of my body... Ah..."

"That felt so good."

Her appearance became increasingly erratic, and the priestess could no longer understand what she was saying.

then.

She seemed to have truly "discovered" something from the other person's pupils, and said happily.

"I saw."

"The Emperor rejected you; he will not allow you to become his witch."

"No wonder, no wonder, no wonder you looked so distraught when you came back!"

She was overjoyed, as if it were a good thing that the priestess could not become the emperor's sorceress.

This caused the priestess's emotions to shift from worry and confusion to extreme agitation.

Then the woman didn't say anything more and simply turned and left.

This left the priestess with no time to discuss the ritual with the nun; her mood was already filled with irritation.

She planned to talk to the nun about it later, but when she went to find her, the nun had already disappeared.

The priestess searched the entire tribe, inside and out, but could not find him.

"Where is the nun?"

"do not know."

Wasn't she here this morning?

"I didn't see it this afternoon."

"I saw her on the other side of the river before. She was wearing a plain white dress and holding a tree branch in her hand. I don't know what she was doing."

The priestess questioned one member of the Hanhuang clan after another, and in the end, she only received this one piece of information.

The priestess rushed over immediately and found the peach tree by the river, but the priestess herself was nowhere to be seen.

"She even threw away the peach branch?"

This is something the other party risked their lives to get.

The woman still hadn't returned by late at night.

She disappeared.

The priestess looked up at the main peak of Kunlun Mountain. Although no one had told her, she already knew where the other party had gone.

"She went up again."

If the first time Nuwa went up the mountain was because of that sacred tree, the second time was because of the power of the shaman.

Now that she has obtained the peach branch, they can gain the power of the witch through it.

It's fair to say she got everything she wanted.

What is she planning to do up there this time?
The top of Kunlun Mountain.

Nu Shao encountered no obstacles on her way up the mountain this time, nor did she get lost in the clouds and mist on the mountain peak or wander aimlessly on the mountain path.

But this didn't mean she had escaped the fog; rather, it seemed she had merged with the mist, falling deeper into a state of disorientation. Soon, she arrived before the altar built by the Ximu clan.

The female priestess and the female monk looked very similar. At first glance, Li Jun thought the female priestess had come again.

"Why have you come again?"

Upon hearing this, Nuwa panicked and began impersonating a priestess.

"After thinking about it, I still really want that power, I want to be by the Emperor's side,"

However, her nervous demeanor and somewhat strange movements immediately alerted Li Jun to something.

Li Jun finally recognized who was in front of him. He had seen the person before; she had come here with the priestess.

"No!"

“You are not a priestess, you are a nun.”

Nuwa admitted that she was outside the altar, looking up across the stone steps at the sacred stone at the end.

"I am a female nun."

Looking at the woman in front of him, Li Jun realized that she had also been parasitized by the peach tree.

Her condition was even more serious than that of the priestess.

He could vaguely see in her that she had begun to move from the first stage of parasitism to the second stage of alienation, and in the future, at this stage, there was nothing that could be done.

Li Jun looked at the peach branch and learned more.

“You have plucked branches from the sacred tree and are now preparing to become sorcerers.”

The peach tree possesses an uncontrollable power, and Li Jun, unaware of what might happen after becoming a sorcerer associated with it, was left wondering what kind of strange things would occur.

The nun knelt down and said that this was not her wish.

"But I hope to become the Emperor's witch, not the Peach Witch!"

Li Jun said, "You have already been corrupted by the power of the peach tree, and there is no way for you to obtain another kind of power."

He also refused the nun, but at this moment the nun also showed a sad expression, but soon she made another request.

"If I cannot become the Emperor's sorcerer, may I touch this divine stone?"

"I want to touch it!"

"I touched Your Majesty."

The woman's condition was relatively stable at first, but after Li Jun refused her, she began to enter an abnormal state.

She began to be consumed by a certain obsession, immersing herself in the scenes she had seen and the feelings she had experienced at the very beginning of the birth of that sacred peach tree.

"When I touch you, I feel as if I am one with the mountains, rivers, sun and moon."

"I am no longer just a person, bound to this physical body. I can go wherever I want. I am the stars in the sky, the earth beneath my feet..."

"That felt so good."

She saw that scene again, raised her head and met the Emperor's double pupils in the eye. The stars surrounded the heavens and the mountains were at her feet. She touched the divine stone.

It seemed as if a voice was speaking to the nun.

"Touch the divine stone."

"Go, touch the divine stone."

"Touch it!"

She was determined to touch that divine stone, to touch a part of the Emperor, at any cost.

Nuwa ascended the altar and approached the divine stone step by step.

At that moment, the bluebird startled her awake.

"Chirp!"

With the bluebird protecting her, she cannot get close.

"Your Majesty, since you did not choose the priestess, why could you not choose me?"

"Is it only Ximu who is special?"

The female nun's condition became increasingly unstable. Li Jun could see that she was undergoing a transformation, and her form was gradually changing into another life form.

At that moment, she uttered something that seemed familiar.

"No, how could I sprout?"

"emperor!"

"I was wrong, I was wrong."

“Forgive me, forgive me…”

Finally, Li Jun watched as Nuwa hurriedly and frantically fled the altar and retreated back into the depths of the mist.

The woman ran frantically along the mountain path, but as she ran, her body continued to sprout new roots.

Not long after, her body transformed into a new peach tree on the mountain path.

But it's not over yet.

Suddenly, a figure squeezed out from inside the peach tree and shouted to the outside.

"No, I still have things to do."

"I still have things to do."

"I haven't touched the divine stone yet, I haven't..."

Before long, the figure squeezed out of the peach tree and ran down the mountain.

That is no longer a human being.

Instead, it was a wooden craftsman.

In a sense, this was the first woodcutter, born ten thousand years ago, far before the woodcutters Li Jun had seen.

But for Li Jun, this was yet another woodworker he had met.

She left with a certain obsession and persistence.

But eventually she will return here and become one with this peach tree.

It was as if what ran away was just a corpse with some kind of obsession, while the soul remained forever on this mountain path, transforming into a peach tree.

The peach tree stood guard on the mountain path, making the fog on the road even thicker.

Even the clouds and mist atop Kunlun Mountain became even more profound.

They enveloped the sacred stone on the mountain from all sides, preventing anyone from ever detecting its existence.

Southern foothills of Kunlun Mountains.

The return of "Nüshu" brought great joy to the Hanhuang clan and the female priestess.

The priestess stepped forward and looked at the nun.

Nuwa was still wearing the plain clothes that imitated those of the Ximu clan priests, though they were somewhat tattered. However, the priestess noticed that Nuwa's figure and appearance had changed.

"You're back."

"what's going on?"

The priestess was unaware that the female spirit had not only undergone some changes in appearance, but had become a different species from the inside out.

The nun raised her head and looked at the priestess.

He said, "Priestess, you must become the Peach Witch and touch the sacred stone on Mount Kunlun."
-
North of Kunlun Mountains.

The Ximu clan finally decided how to build the altar, where to obtain the stone from, and its design.

They even prepared a considerable number of jade artifacts, intending to use them for the next imperial sacrifice.

A group of people, carrying various tools, prepared to go up the mountain to do the preliminary work.

"Go up the mountain and take a look, and fix the road again."

"Everyone stay close together, and we'll go in together when the fog clears at noon."

"Bring the rope."

The rope was used to measure dimensions. Although there was no universal system of measurement at that time, the Simulacians had their own methods.

As the group climbed higher, they realized something was amiss.

"what happened?"

"The sun is already high in the sky, why hasn't the fog cleared yet?"

"This is really not right."

The fog had not dissipated, and the Ximu clan members naturally dared not enter, as they had heard the great lily warn them just how dangerous the fog was.

However, when the time came, they were unable to enter, and the Ximu clan members naturally became anxious, wandering around and looking around.

"Why is this happening?"

"This fog is spreading way too fast!"

"Look, there seems to be a shadow on the mountain path."

The group soon discovered something on the mountain path high up; it seemed to be a tree in the mist.

The high mountains and steep ridges were barren, so the presence of a single tree was naturally very conspicuous. However, this was not the strangest thing. What was even stranger was that they faintly heard a sound coming from the clouds and mist.

"The tree, the tree seems to be talking."

"It made us leave."

"Yes, I heard it too."

"It won't let us go up the mountain."

At that moment, the fog suddenly rushed down, and the three people were caught off guard and swept into it.

When the fog dissipated, the people had vanished, as if they had been swept away by a giant tongue.

Everyone was terrified and hurriedly fled down the mountain.

They were just ordinary people, how could they dare to confront such an extraordinary thing? They didn't even dare to look at the shadow in the clouds for long before they hurriedly went down the mountain and reported the matter to Wu Dali of the Ximu clan.

"Big pheasant!"

"Oh no, oh no!"

"Something serious has happened."

Hearing the commotion outside, Da Li came out of the tent and asked the others.

"What happened?"

Everyone fell to the ground, pointing at Kunlun Mountain and saying, "On the mountain, on the mountain... there's a peach tree that's blocking the road."

The giant lily frowned: "Another tree has appeared on the mountain?"

The man added, "Yes, and it's like the peach tree is preventing us from going up the mountain."

The geese then asked, "Why won't the tree let you up the mountain?"

The man replied, "That tree seems to be able to talk."

For the Ximu clan, this was indeed a disaster, as an unknown strange object blocked their way to the mountain to worship the emperor.

What was blocking the way up the mountain was not the path itself, but everything belonging to the Ximu clan.

(End of this chapter)