"Your Majesty, there was a slight mishap during your mortal tribulation. The Demon Lord..."
Lu Heng was invited to sit on the only chair in the grand hall. The white-haired old man then began to tell Lu Heng a story that sounded utterly unbelievable.
Here, they addressed Lu Heng as "Your Majesty," the sovereign lord of this celestial realm.
He was said to govern the affairs of this world, and even the mortal realm.
Every twelve thousand years, he was to descend to the mortal realm for a tribulation, and this was merely one such occasion.
However, when he descended to the mortal realm, the Demon Lord of the Demon Realm harbored malicious intent. He employed some means during Lu Heng's tribulation selection, thereby altering the trajectory of his tribulation and causing him to enter a world filled with zombies.
But as the Emperor of the Celestial Realm, even with his tribulation path disrupted by the Demon Lord, the Heavenly Dao would correct it.
Therefore, his first entry into the zombie apocalypse was altered, and he was reborn into a second zombie apocalypse.
As for the spatial exits within his spatial realm, they were also a result of the Heavenly Dao's intervention.
As for why there were four exits, with the last one being the passage back to the Celestial Realm, no one knew.
"Ahem, so, what about that Demon Lord?"
Although the story sounded somewhat unbelievable, Lu Heng needed to understand the strength of his enemy in the Celestial Realm. He couldn't have troublesome enemies in this world as well.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Demon Lord, through some unknown means, interfered with you. He likely suffered a backlash from the Heavenly Dao. We have found no news of him in either the Celestial Realm or the Demon Realm."
The old man stood respectfully at the lower end of the hall, not daring to look directly at Lu Heng, and patiently answered his questions.
Lu Heng looked at the old man below, attempting to use his mind-reading ability to probe the truthfulness of the old man's words.
This world was too fantastical. He currently lacked the memories of the "Emperor" in this world and could not discern the truth or falsehood of the old man's account.
However, his mind-reading skills from the zombie apocalypse and the Divine Origin Continent were useless here. He could not detect the old man's inner thoughts.
Lu Heng furrowed his brows, sitting on the elevated platform and surveying the furnishings within the grand hall.
The architecture and surrounding decor gave him a sense of familiarity, yet he could not recall anything about this place.
He was unsure if he truly held the identity the old man claimed.
"Can you see my attire?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this subordinate can see it."
"Do you not find it strange?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the mortal realm below does indeed have attire and adornments such as yours."
"Hmm, then I estimate I will be away for some time. Matters there are not yet concluded. Are there any affairs here that require my attention?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Celestial Lords of each department have no unresolved issues. Currently, there is no news of the Demon Lord from the Demon Realm, nor any anomalies."
"Very well, then each of you shall attend to your duties. I shall take my leave."
"Your Majesty, when... when will you return?" Seeing Lu Heng about to depart, the old man hurriedly asked.
"My return is uncertain. Oh, right, do you have any books there? I'm somewhat bored in that world. Find me some books to pass the time."
Since he could not recover his memories of this place, Lu Heng intended to peruse the local books to gain some understanding of this Celestial Realm. This way, the next time he returned, he wouldn't be exposed as someone without memories of this place.
However, upon hearing Lu Heng's words, the old man abruptly looked up at him. Lu Heng saw surprise in his eyes.
Had he said something wrong?
Lu Heng raised an eyebrow, looking at the old man, waiting to see what he would say next.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, do you wish to see my alchemy scrolls?"
The old man held out his hands in a presenting gesture, and several scrolls instantly appeared in his hands.
Lu Heng's mouth twitched. This old man was an alchemist? Could he be Taishang Laojun?
He wouldn't dwell on it for now. He would accept them. Perhaps these would be beneficial to Lin Yu's alchemy.
With a wave of his hand, Lu Heng collected the scrolls from the old man's hands into his spatial realm.
"Ahem, are there any books about the various regions of the Celestial Realm, such as the affairs managed by each department?"
The old man was startled again, but he dared not speculate on Lu Heng's thoughts. With a thought, more scrolls appeared in his hands.
Lu Heng quickly accepted them all into his spatial realm.
"Then I shall depart. If there is anything, we shall discuss it when I return. Do not interfere with me in the lower realm."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The old man withdrew his hands, placed them by his forehead, and bowed again.
With a thought, Lu Heng left the grand hall and returned to his spatial city.
The old man remained bowed for a long time before finally looking up at the throne above.
The Emperor was indeed no longer there.
Only then did the old man lower his hands, his wide sleeves falling to his sides.
The old man turned and walked out of the grand hall.
...
Within the spatial city.
Lu Heng stood before several spatial entrances, staring blankly at the last opened portal, still unable to fully comprehend the old man's words.
After a long while, Lu Heng regained his senses and sorted through the events that had just transpired.
Lu Heng surveyed his surroundings. The modern city was so real.
Everything here served as a constant reminder that all of this had truly happened.
Lu Heng glanced at Evan nearby, who was still tinkering with something, occasionally glancing in his direction.
Lu Heng ignored him and, with another thought, returned to his apartment.
He sat on the sofa in the living room, with over a dozen scrolls laid out on the coffee table before him.
The scrolls seemed to be made of fabric, but not ordinary fabric.
A scroll appeared in Lu Heng's hand. He rubbed the material of the scroll, finding it exceptionally soft to the touch, yet with a slight resilience.
Unrolling the scroll, Lu Heng was astonished. He had never seen the script before, but he understood it all.
These scrolls were likely alchemy recipes from the old man, but the ingredients mentioned were unfamiliar to Lu Heng.
It seemed these would be of little use to Lin Yu.
After looking at a few more recipes, he found that the ingredients mentioned were all unknown to Lu Heng. With a wave of his hand, he put them all aside.
Picking up the remaining scrolls again, Lu Heng read their contents. These were reports from various Celestial Lords detailing the affairs they had handled.
These were like memorials, not the general introduction to the Celestial Realm that Lu Heng had hoped for. However, with the titles and narrative content, Lu Heng could still read them.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Heng finally finished reading all the scrolls.
He had also gained a basic understanding of the so-called Celestial Realm. Of course, Lu Heng knew that his understanding was merely a small fraction.
If the affairs of the Celestial Realm were true, and he was indeed the Emperor as the old man claimed, then there must be many more stories within the Celestial Realm.