Chapter 927: The Hiding Place of the First Emperor
Chapter 927: The Hiding Place of the First Emperor
In fact, the players were right, but there was an even bigger revelation that hadn't happened yet.
On March 3rd, at 2 PM, 135 kilometers due west of Rongcheng, on a mountain called "Shenmulei."
This mountain, known as "Shenmulei," used to be a scenic area. However, due to the Skrull invasion, the scenic area closed down in June of the previous year and has since become desolate, overgrown with weeds.
Xiao Tian and the venerable Wang Mang were slowly walking through the mountain, carefully observing every blade of grass and every tree.
Leading the way was a massive white wolf, larger than an adult bull. This was Xiao Tian's first pet, the Moon Howl Wolf, known as Bai.
Bai walked ahead, his nose constantly sniffing the ground, completely focused.
...
Xiao Tian had returned to Earth just three days ago, only about five hours after Su Yu and the others.
In the Skrull world, her visit to the Rhinoceros Spirit Clan went very smoothly.
The Rhinoceros Spirit Clan was a reclusive, neutral race that had little to no interaction with the Skrulls, neither good nor bad.
During her visit, Xiao Tian revealed some of her transactions with the Bald Eagle Clan and showcased several pieces of equipment she had sold to them.
After all, Xiao Tian's primary purpose was not just to visit but to sell equipment.
When the Rhinoceros Spirit Clan saw that the equipment could be freely stored inside the body, they were immediately intrigued!
The Rhinoceros Spirit Clan was massive, with average members weighing between 3 to 5 tons. They had never worn equipment before for two main reasons: first, they were not used to it, and second, it was cumbersome to carry.
Now, seeing that Earth humans could create equipment that could be freely stored inside the body, no clan could resist such a temptation!
Thus, the Rhinoceros Spirit Clan's leader placed a large order on the spot and gave Xiao Tian a significant amount of high-grade materials as a down payment.
That afternoon, Xiao Tian returned to Earth with a space ring filled to the brim.
...
Upon returning to Earth, Xiao Tian didn't plan to rest.
First, she handed over the high-grade materials to Hammer 80 and gave the craftsmen detailed instructions on the Rhinoceros Spirit Clan's requirements for the equipment.
Then, she asked Su Yu to open a portal for her, and she traveled to Rongcheng to meet up with the venerable Wang Mang, continuing their search for the First Emperor.
...
The venerable Wang Mang had been busy over the past few days.
Even though Xiao Tian was not around, he used his experience and ancient texts to finally pinpoint "Shenmulei" as the location.
As they walked, the venerable Wang Mang explained to Xiao Tian, "Based on my speculations and the divination, 'Shenmulei' is the most likely place where the First Emperor is hiding. I hope we find something here."
"I hope so too," Xiao Tian nodded.
Then, she took out a golden, shimmering dice from her backpack and carefully held it in her palm.
She introduced it to the venerable Wang Mang, "This is the 'Fate Dice' Su Yu gave me three days ago. It can accurately measure our current luck. Let's use it to see how our luck is."
"Alright, go ahead," the venerable Wang Mang stepped aside, not objecting.
"Phew—" Xiao Tian exhaled.
She gently flicked the dice in her hand.
The dice traced a golden parabolic arc in the air and landed on the ground a short distance ahead.
After rolling a few times, the Fate Dice came to a stop, with one side facing up.
Xiao Tian's eyes lit up as she looked at the top of the dice, "It's a '6'! Venerable Wang Mang, it looks like our mission will go smoothly this time!"
"Is that so?" The venerable Wang Mang didn't know the significance of the numbers but nodded, looking around, "If that's the case, then the First Emperor should be in this mountain, right?"
Just as the venerable Wang Mang finished speaking, the Moon howl wolf Bai suddenly froze, standing still.
Then, Bai let out a sharp howl and sprinted off to the left, heading towards a mountain crevice.
Over the past three days, Xiao Tian and the venerable Wang Mang had been giving Bai "special training."
This "special training" involved familiarizing Bai with the scent of Spirit Concealment Stones.
The venerable Wang mang had several Spirit concealing stones, while the First emperor had at least hundreds of thousands of them.
Earth cultivators couldn't find the First Emperor because the spirit concealing stones completely masked his presence, blocking any spiritual energy from being detected.
Xiao Tian and the venerable Wang mang had been training Bai to recognize the scent of the spirit concealing stones, using his sense of smell to track them down.
...
Xiao tian and the venerable wangmang had been working to overcome this challenge.
The venerable Wang Mang had been using his extensive knowledge and experience to pinpoint the First Emperor's location.
Even though Xiao Tian was not around, he had managed to narrow down the possibilities to "Shenmulei."
As they walked, the venerable Wang Mang explained, "Based on my speculations and divination, 'Shenmulei' is the most likely place where the First Emperor is hiding. I hope we find something here."
"I hope so too," Xiao Tian agreed.
Then, she took out a golden, shimmering dice from her backpack and held it carefully in her palm.
She introduced it to the venerable Wang Mang, "This is the 'Fate Dice' Su yu gave me three days ago. It can accurately measure our current luck. Let's use it to see how our luck is."
"Alright, go ahead," the venerable Wang Mang stepped aside, not objecting.
"Phew—" Xiao Tian exhaled.
She gently flicked the dice in her hand.
The dice traced a golden parabolic arc in the air and landed on the ground a short distance ahead.
After rolling a few times, the Fate dice came to a stop, with one side facing up.
Xiao Tian's face lit up as she looked at the top of the dice, "It's a '6'! Venerable Wang Mang, it looks like our mission will go smoothly this time!"
"Is that so?" The venerable Wang Mang didn't know the significance of the numbers but nodded, looking around, "If that's the case, then the First Emperor should be in this mountain, right?"
The venerable Wang Mang's words had barely finished when the moon howl wolf Bai suddenly froze, standing still.
Then, Bai let out a sharp howl and sprinted off to the left, heading towards a mountain crevice.
Over the past three days, Xiao Tian and the venerable wang mang had been giving bai "special training."
This "special training" involved familiarizing bai with the scent of spirit concealing stones.
The venerable wang mang had several spirit concealing stones, while the first emperor had at least hundreds of thousands of them.
Earth cultivators couldn't find the first emperor because the spirit concealing stones completely masked his presence, blocking any spiritual energy from being detected.
Xiao Tian and the venerable Wang Mang had been working to overcome this challenge.
If they could find a large number of Spirit Concealing Stones, it would mean they had discovered the location where the First Emperor was hiding.
Seeing that White, the Howling Moon Wolf, suddenly began sprinting at full speed, Little Tian and the venerable Wang Mang were overjoyed! White must have found the Spirit Concealing Stones!
Although White couldn't speak, it continuously used its mental energy to send messages to its owner, Little Tian. The messages conveyed that it had smelled the scent of multiple types of Spirit Concealing Stones.
Little Tian translated this information for the venerable Wang Mang, and the two became even more elated.
With the help of the Fate Dice, they might have truly found the location of the First Emperor!
...
White led the two for about three to four kilometers, finally stopping in a mountain hollow.
"Awooo~" Upon arrival, White looked around with a puzzled expression, appearing somewhat bewildered.
Through its sense of smell, it could detect the chaotic scents of many Spirit Concealing Stones. However, when it looked ahead, it saw no Spirit Concealing Stones at all. The scenery before them looked like any ordinary valley.
What was going on? Had its sense of smell failed it?
Fortunately, the venerable Wang Mang was right behind it.
As soon as they arrived, Wang Mang immediately sensed something unusual about the place.
He turned to Little Tian and said seriously, "If my suspicions are correct, this is an illusion. The illusion is concealing the First Emperor's hiding place. This location is likely an entrance, but it might be just one of several entrances in the area."
Little Tian asked, "What should we do, venerable predecessor?"
She had some experience exploring secret realms on the Skrull planet, as they were similar to dungeons in the Evolution game. However, when it came to the First Emperor's hiding place, which was more aligned with cultivation, she was at a loss and could only follow Wang Mang's advice.
"I'll handle this," Wang Mang said, taking a slow step forward. White, seeing him approach, moved aside with a glance and a tongue-lolling grin.
Wang Mang stood in the spot where White had been, took a deep breath, and loudly recited a series of ancient Chinese phrases that Little Tian couldn't understand.
From her guess, she thought Wang Mang was introducing himself.
After finishing his words, Wang Mang shot a pale green spiritual energy toward the front.
The energy swirled in the air before vanishing.
About five seconds later, a ripple-like disturbance appeared in the space before them. Then, a pitch-black, three-meter-wide gate materialized in front of them.
Seeing the gate appear out of nowhere, Little Tian's eyes lit up with excitement! It seemed they had indeed found the right place!
However, Wang Mang's expression didn't change much.
He walked up to the gate with a calm demeanor and knocked on it rhythmically about ten times.
Finally, on the 15th knock, the two black doors creaked open.
"Let's go in," Wang Mang said, turning to Little Tian, then stepping through the gate first.
"Y-Yes," Little Tian quickly summoned White back into her pet space and followed Wang Mang. After all, they were about to meet the First Emperor, and bringing a pet might be considered disrespectful. It was safer to keep White in the pet space.
...
...
As they stepped through the black double doors, the scenery changed dramatically, revealing an expansive and open landscape!
Now, Little Tian and Wang Mang were no longer in the ordinary mountain hollow but standing at the base of a towering immortal mountain.
This mountain was incredibly tall and majestic, its peak piercing the clouds.
It was called an "immortal mountain" because it was covered in ancient pines that exuded a mystical aura. One could even glimpse cranes flying around, making the term "immortal mountain" entirely fitting.
Before them lay a zigzagging staircase leading up the mountain.
Halfway up the mountain, a grand palace stood, with a massive black stone monument in front of it.
Apart from that, they could see little else from their vantage point.
"Let's go up and take a look," Wang Mang said, showing no signs of tension as he began climbing the stairs.
Little Tian followed closely behind, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.
While this place seemed safe, like in tomb-raiding novels, ancient imperial tombs often contained traps and hidden weapons to deter future tomb raiders. It was best to be cautious.
......
However, Little Tian's caution turned out to be unwarranted.
They ascended the mountain path without any hindrance, reaching the grand hall at the mountain's waist, standing before a massive black stone stele.
Little Tian raised his head to gaze at the enormous black stele, which was five meters wide and several meters tall. The surface was inscribed with tiny golden characters, each about the size of a fingernail.
The characters were written in the Clerical Script, allowing Little Tian to understand most of them, and even when he couldn't, he could infer their meaning from the context.
Of course, Elder Wang Mang found reading these characters effortless.
Thus, the two stood before the stele, patiently reading the inscriptions.
......
Before they knew it, half an hour had passed.
Elder Wang Mang finished reading the stele's inscriptions first and began to stroke his chin, lost in thought.
Little Tian also managed to finish reading the text on the stele.
After reading, many questions were immediately clarified for her. For example, "Where is the First Emperor?" "Why did the First Emperor build a hiding place here?" "Why did the First Emperor collect all the 'Spirit Concealment Stones' in the world?" and so on.
To answer these questions, we must go back to the time when the First Emperor unified the six states.
Over 2,300 years ago, the First Emperor successively defeated the states of Yan, Qi, Chu, Zhao, Wei, and Han, unifying the entire nation and ending a century of division and warfare, thereby achieving his imperial status.
His own strength also grew during the process of unifying the six states, eventually reaching the peak of the Great Ascension realm (the peak of the Divine Tier), making him one of the strongest beings on Earth.
However, after unifying the nation, the First Emperor suddenly lost his purpose.
With the entire nation under his control, there were almost no enemies left within the four seas.
The southeast was the vast ocean, and the northwest was barren and uninhabitable, offering no value for conquest. Even if there were, the human resources of that time were insufficient to claim it.
As for his strength, reaching the peak of the Great Ascension realm was already the limit on Earth. To break through to the Planetary Tier, the combined resources of the entire planet would be far from enough, making it impossible.
As for ensuring his descendants' rule for ten thousand years? He had no interest in that.
Thus, the First Emperor fell into a state of confusion.
But in the fifth year of his reign, one day he awoke from a dream with a brilliant idea—this world was so vast, he wanted to explore it!
Of course, this world did not refer to Earth but the vast, boundless universe beyond.
The Milky Way alone has a hundred billion planets, and the neighboring Sacred Silver Galaxy has a trillion stars!
Such a vast world must be full of wonders!
The First Emperor developed a strong desire to venture out and explore.
However, a problem soon arose—he couldn't leave.
Emperor Zhou of the Shang Dynasty, Di Xin, had once left Earth, but he did so through a fortunate encounter with a space traveler. With the help of this space traveler, he managed to leave.
The First Emperor had no such acquaintance with space travelers and, to be honest, had never even seen an alien.
Without alien assistance, his own power was insufficient to leave the solar system.
Thus, the First Emperor fell into a state of depression.
With no other choice, he could only wait, hoping that aliens would visit Earth again and take him away.
This wait lasted 32 years.
During these 32 years, the First Emperor eagerly awaited the arrival of alien visitors, but unfortunately, he never saw even a trace of them.
His patience was completely drained by the long wait.
After much deliberation, he decided not to wait idly for aliens and instead adopted a crude method.
This method was—time travel!
He wanted to travel to the future, to an era when Earth had already connected with the cosmic civilization.
Based on his estimates, it would take at least 100,000 years for humanity on Earth to develop to the point of interstellar travel (the dinosaurs ruled Earth for about 100 million years, so 100,000 years wasn't that long).
However, the lifespan of a peak Divine Tier powerhouse was at most 3,000 years, far short of the required time.
Therefore, he built this hidden sanctuary, sealing his body within. Every cell and molecule in his body was bound by spiritual energy, entering a state of complete hibernation.
In this state of complete hibernation, his lifespan would be significantly extended, allowing him to live for 100,000 years or even a million years.
This was what he called "time travel."
It was somewhat like how some wealthy people today have their bodies cryopreserved, hoping to be revived in the future.
Through this crude method, the First Emperor could smoothly "travel" to the future and then use the technology of that era to explore the universe.
(End of Chapter)
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