I was the Heavenly Emperor in ancient times

Chapter 81 The Sacrifice of the Female Shaman
Just moments ago, it was a scene of celestial palaces in the heavens, with all living beings below worshipping it.

In the blink of an eye, it was like the underworld.

Many of the people who had gathered beneath the living palace complex were terrified by the sight of the "flesh carpet" and scattered in all directions. Those who remained were mostly people with various motives or representing different factions.

Of course, there were still those who were truly daring and fearless, but at least the vast square where they worshipped had become sparsely populated, leaving only those whose minds had been taken over, caught in the confusion between the two Li Juns, like living corpses.

"How can there be two gods?"

Who is the true god?

"..."

The others hid to avoid being drawn into the battle between the real and fake Li Jun, while quietly approaching the living palace complex to explore the situation or rushing to nearby high ground for a better vantage point.

Some were filming inside with cameras, while others were urgently reporting the situation.

"see it?"

"We're inside, but what's inside?"

"Can't see anything."

"What exactly is that thing? Is it a human or a ghost? And what about those resurrected people?"

"So, the Li Jun with double pupils at the beginning was fake, and the one who came later is the real one?"

"One of them must be fake."

"nonsense……"

Lu Gang hurriedly climbed to a nearby high slope, took out his equipment, aimed it at the direction of the palace complex, and immediately took off a thermal imager and a drone.

"faster."

"We need to figure out what's inside."

"Only in this way will we know what it is, and perhaps then we can solve those problems in Nangang City."

"I can't see anything. There's something strange inside the main hall; it's like some force is interfering with the imaging..."

But no sooner had he finished speaking than a loud bang erupted from the main hall in front of the palace complex in the distance.

"Boom!"

The roof of the main hall was lifted off.

The team members who were fiddling with the machine, along with Lu Gang, Zheng Shiliang, and Zhao Nange, all looked over.

Then a black light pierced through the roof of the hall, and Li Jun flew out from inside.

With layers upon layers of broken tiles and what looked like bloody remains, a deluge of blood rained down around the main hall, soaking the dazed crowd in the square below.

But then another figure appeared at the top of the hall. It was another Li Jun, wearing robes that didn't seem to belong to this era, adorned with jade ornaments, and with long hair like that of an ancient person.

Zhao Nange: "They're out."

Zheng Shiliang: "The one that came out first should be real, and the one in ancient costume should be fake."

But for some reason, when Lu Gang looked at the fake Li Jun standing in the main hall, he suddenly felt that the long-haired Li Jun in ancient costume also had the feeling of the real Li Jun.

Lu Gang only glanced at the other person and felt that the long-haired Li Jun looked as if he had really appeared in history, incredibly real, and this image of Li Jun had an indescribable sense of power.

It felt completely different from the fake feeling before, even more real than the real one, making him wonder if this fake Li Jun was really fake.

Could there have been a Li Jun like this at some point in the past?

"Chirp!"

The fake Li Jun made his move. A shadow flashed behind him, accompanied by a bird's cry. This time, the fake Li Jun displayed the same abilities as the real Li Jun.

The same blue feathers, the same winged form.

They could fly through the sky and disappear into the earth, their bodies radiating divine light.

The two sides clashed once again, fighting fiercely, and this time the battlefield was no longer limited to the ground.

From the palace complex below, to the sky, to the sea of ​​clouds, two figures flashed by rapidly, leaving the viewer breathless.

In mid-air, the two ignored space and gravity, launching cunning attacks on each other from various angles. In the sea of ​​clouds, they rose and fell amidst the mist, their vision sometimes obscured by the golden light of the sun, sometimes by the fog, and sometimes caught in flashes of lightning.

Furthermore, during the battle, the opponent once again landed in the palace complex and casually grabbed the snake woman.

The snake woman also transformed into a sword, which was held in the opponent's hand, clashing with the black sword in Li Jun's hand.

Now it truly looked like two ancient and modern mirror images were locked in combat.

Lu Gang, who was observing from above, also noticed something was wrong and even became a little anxious.

"Something's wrong!"

"That thing is constantly imitating Li Jun, and it's becoming more and more like him."

"Is Li Jun caught in the middle, perhaps he's too close to the situation to see clearly?"

"That thing wasn't meant to kill Li Jun at all, or even to fight him, but rather to become more like him."

As the battle progressed, Lu Gang could see that Li Jun's condition was not good.

Lu Gang had witnessed Li Jun use many methods, endless supernatural powers and strengths, all related to that peach tree.

But this time, Lu Gang discovered that Li Jun hadn't used any of them.

Although Li Jun's close-combat skills were dazzlingly powerful, he no longer possessed the completely invincible feeling he used to have.

"Shouldn't that kind of power solve the problem?"

"Why not?"

"If this drags on any longer, it's hard to predict what that thing will turn into."

“No, I have to remind him that he must not get stuck in this kind of place.”

The power this thing has shown so far is already strange and dangerous enough; if it also imitates or even possesses all of Li Jun's power...

Thinking about Li Jun's past deeds, Lu Gang felt a chill run down his spine. He was worried about Li Jun's current situation and also feared that the situation would spiral out of control.

At this moment, Zhao Nange spoke up.

"Could it be that Li Jun was also injured or overexerted during the battle with Zhulong?"

"He is actually just like us. Every time he uses his power, he has to pay various prices. Although he is more tolerant of these prices, he has tried every means to avoid paying them."

"His body has regressed to a dangerous point. The peach trees of Taoshan Island are binding him tightly, and there may be some unimaginable costs involved. I remember he summoned two different peach demons. What was the cost of the other peach demon?"

Lu Gang was stunned for a moment: "He is Li Jun, he has double pupils, he is the reincarnation of an ancient immortal..."

Zhao Nange: "But he is not a true immortal yet. Perhaps the price he has paid has accumulated to an unbearable level, and he has now reached a critical point where his power is at its weakest."

As Zhao Nange spoke, she also came to believe that this was indeed the case.

"That's Zhulong. How could killing it be so easy? He must have paid a price."

"His disappearance and return to the mortal world may have been due to his power weakening to a certain extent, but when you went to find him, the situation was so critical that he had no choice but to come out."

In Lu Gang's eyes, Li Jun was omnipotent, as if no enemy could stop him.

He didn't know when he forgot that Li Jun was actually a person, just like him not long ago.

After hearing what Zhao Nange said, Lu Gang seemed to have figured something out.

"We just thought he might be tired."

Zhao Nange: "He didn't say it, but his strength was weakened to the extreme, yet he couldn't show any signs of his weakness to the outside world."

Lu Gang: "We shouldn't have let him come."

The atmosphere was somewhat heavy. Lu Gang didn't speak, but prepared to walk forward.

Zhao Nange stopped him, shaking her head at him.

"He is Li Jun."

“I think he should understand the current situation better than you do; it's impossible that he's blinded by his own involvement.”

"Since he's here and is still stalling with the other side, he must have some kind of confidence and plan."

indeed.

It's different from before.

Li Jun was not at his peak condition this time; he couldn't fully utilize the power of Nuwa, and the same was true for the priestess.

The power and cost of the two are intertwined, like a chain reaction.

Having lost the power of the Peach Demon, Li Jun can only rely on the Blue Bird's supernatural abilities and the sword in his hand.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Momoki's power is completely useless, but he will only use it at the last crucial moment when he feels he can kill with one blow, and he will have to pay the price after using it.

However, this protracted struggle put him in a stalemate.

In the collapsed and torn palace complex.

He brandished his sword, and the fake Li Jun also brandished his sword.

Li Jun flew into the sky, and the fake Li Jun also spread his wings. The two swept together like two sides of a yin-yang symbol.

Beneath the sea of ​​clouds, amidst the raging winds.

Li Jun was able to anticipate his opponent's movements, and gradually his opponent was also able to anticipate his movements.

The fight between the two looked more and more like a pre-arranged play, with the battle raging fiercely, yet neither of them was injured, not even a scratch.

Everyone knows what the other will do next, but neither side can hurt the other.

During the battle, Li Jun also discovered a problem.

"It's more like me than I am!"

"No, nothing could possibly want me more than I do."

"This defies common sense."

Li Jun looked at the other person and gradually understood what was going on.

"Because it simulates not only me, but also the ancient me." "This thing may have seen me in ancient times, but it can't access my things from ancient times, so its physical form simulates the present me."

The further they went, the more realistic the other side's simulation of Li Jun became.

His aura, strength, and even his movement habits began to be exactly the same as Li Jun's, making it seem completely indistinguishable from the real thing.

At this time, however, Li Jun himself began to run into problems.

When Li Jun glanced at his shadow during the battle, he noticed in a fleeting moment that his shadow seemed to have come to life.

It started to drift out of sync with his movements, and even seemed to transform into something else entirely.

Something emerged from my shadow.

“Using the power of Yuanlong Daoist also comes at a price.”

"The Demon God Xuanming?"

"Or Yu Jiang?"

Not only that.

As Li Jun continued to use the black sword that Yuanlong Daoist had transformed into, he also felt another being within the sword slowly reviving.

That's Peach Demoness.

When it rains, it pours; all the bad things seem to come rushing to my head at once.

Here, the fake Li Jun was completely immersed in the joy of playing the role of Li Jun.

It constantly imitates Li Jun, down to the details of every movement, and even every facial expression.

Gradually.

All the pressure on Li Jun had piled up, finally reaching a critical point.

They were just waiting for the final moment to erupt like a volcano and devour Li Jun completely.

at last.

The shadow behind Zhen Lijun suddenly twisted and turned into the appearance of Yuanlong Daoist.

The shadow raised its head and looked at Li Jun from behind. Even the shadow of the sword in its hand moved out of sync, pointing at Li Jun himself.

At this moment, Li Jun stopped.

He held a sword in his hand, and the shadow behind him in the sunlight was that of another person, poised to strike.

On the other side, his enemies, who had almost completely imitated Li Jun, were drawing their swords at him.

At the same time, the black sword in Li Jun's hand was twisting and changing, as if it was about to return to the state of the sacrificial dagger. An incomparably powerful ancient peach demon was about to emerge from it, carrying the power of the most ancient demon god peach tree.

Li Jun remained motionless.

He seemed to be in a completely desperate situation.

The fake Li Jun was like Li Jun's reflection in a mirror; as Li Jun stopped, the fake Li Jun also stopped abruptly.

Fake Li Jun: "Hmm?"

It seemed not to understand why Li Jun had suddenly stopped; it hadn't imitated him enough yet!
Li Jun pointed his sword at the ground and glanced back at his own shadow.

The fake Li Jun also imitated him, glancing at his own shadow.

Li Jun glanced at the outline of Yuanlong Daoist on the ground, then finally turned around and looked at the fake Li Jun.

"Your eyes are not my eyes; they must be double pupils that control some other demon or spirit."

The other person: "Hmm?"

Li Jun: "You imitated the power of the Bluebird, but it's only superficial. You can't borrow the real power of the Bluebird."

Fake things are ultimately fake; no matter how well they are imitated, they still lack the essence.

Li Jun understood these things back in ancient times, but that did not prevent the other party from still being an incomparably powerful being, one that ordinary beings could not possibly resist.

It asked, "What is the true power of the Azure Bird of the Emperor like? Are you going to use it? I want to see."

"I want to be more like you."

The other party even knew about the Emperor's Bluebird.

Li Jun: "You can't see it. Its power isn't in the visible places. If you can see it, it means you have that power."

If the other party can't see it, it means they've lost.

The voice just fell.

The black sword in Li Jun's hand collapsed and transformed back into a peach wood dagger.

"boom!"

At this moment, Li Jun fell backward, directly into his own shadow, as if he had fallen into a pool of black water.

"Clap!"

The shadows splashed up like water, and Li Jun actually disappeared, merging into the shadow that had transformed into the outline of Yuanlong Daoist.

The peach-shaped dagger fell and stuck into the ground, and the various ancient sacrificial scenes on the scabbard came to life.

In an instant, everyone saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

The soaring blood energy surged towards the heavens, where the corpses of various ancient beings piled up into a great mountain, from which a sea of ​​blood flowed swiftly down.

Then all the images disappeared, and a ghost emerged from the void, singing ancient and savage songs and performing a sacrificial dance to worship heaven and earth.

Behind it, the sacred peach tree continued to grow, and after the mountains of corpses and seas of blood disappeared, a huge sacrificial altar appeared at its feet.

She quietly approached, picked up the dagger from the ground, and locked her gaze on her target.

They locked their gaze on the "Li Jun" in front of them.

The other party possesses Li Jun's aura, Li Jun's appearance, Li Jun's power, and all of his characteristics.

The power of the demon god behind it made Li Jun almost like another human body, making it impossible for him to distinguish between the real and the fake.

Its appeal lies in its striking resemblance to Li Jun, making one feel that it's impossible for a person to defeat another version of themselves.

But at this moment, it lost because it was too similar.

This time, "Li Jun" seemed to be dumbfounded as well.

But it was all too late.

The power of the Peach Demoness, wielding the ancient artifact, was elevated to a level beyond reason. The moment it was locked onto, it could not escape, and all space was locked.

Then, the altar beneath Nuwa's feet finally revealed its true form: a kingdom of mountains and seas.

Nuwa ascended the high platform step by step, knelt in the center of the altar, and raised the dagger high with both hands.

"Li Jun" fell into the altar-like Mountain and Sea Kingdom, where the kneeling Nuwa used a raised dagger to rip out his heart. Then, Nuwa picked up "Li Jun" and walked towards the peach tree, and everything around him began to disappear.

The peach tree is gone.

The altar is gone.

Li Jun has also disappeared.

A profound silence fell over the surroundings until a shadow twisted in the darkness, and a hand reached out and grabbed the peach wood dagger on the ground.

Li Jun crawled out of the shadows and stood on the ground.

He looked at the peach wood dagger and noticed that the peach demon woman who had been demanding payment from him seemed to have calmed down, as if he had paid his price.

Soon, a black dragon darted out from the shadows. Li Jun twirled the peach wood dagger in his hand, and the black dragon was drawn into it, transforming back into a black sword.

In the blink of an eye, everything seemed to be over.

but.

The palace beneath Li Jun's feet began to collapse continuously.

This palace complex, built overnight by the fake Li Jun, was pieced together directly from various trees and plants, and later incorporated the flesh and souls of countless people who had died and been resurrected.

At this moment, one can see the palace made of trees and plants beginning to decay, with people who have been resurrected struggling and wailing inside, revealing what lies beneath this palace complex.

A huge cave extends diagonally into the depths of the earth.

All decaying things, and wailing figures, fell into it.

It's not a straight hole, but rather like intestines and tree roots, winding its way deep into the ground.

Li Jun stood at the edge of the cave, looking inside.

"Chirp!"

At that moment, he heard the bird's call again, this time belonging to the fake Li Jun from before.

The other party appears to have been killed by Peach Demon Girl, but what was killed was a materialized entity; the existence and rules behind it still exist.

Li Jun looked up and saw streaks of blood energy condensing in the void.

At last.

It transformed into a gigantic shadow of a ghost or god.

Just like the one Li Jun had seen on the altar in the main hall, this person had female features, feathers, claw-like hands and feet, and a pair of wings on their back.

It had no expression and uttered no words.

It seems to have returned to its original state, the state before it began to receive a large amount of external information and imitate others, and before it even spoke.

It flew over Li Jun's head and disappeared into the cave.

"Chirp!"

As it flew deeper into the air, it glanced back at Li Jun and let out another sharp cry.

After watching for a while, Li Jun finally jumped down and chased after them.

(End of this chapter)