Chapter 178 The Past

Wei Yuan followed Xiwangmu and the young Tiannv Jue while holding the bronze lamp.

The bronze lamp in his hand emitted golden light, illuminating the surrounding mist, allowing Wei Yuan to see the surrounding scenes. As he understood it, these were all things that had happened on this Jade Mountain. Over time, Jade Mountain might no longer have the Xiwangmu and the gods of that time, but the traces of their existence still remained on this divine mountain.

And these traces, when they came into contact with the flame of the bronze lamp in his hand, were briefly activated, transforming back into the scenes that had once occurred.

Xiwangmu held Jue's hand and said softly, "You took the immortal flower."

"If it was planted by me, it would be better, but the immortal flower is guarded by the Kai Ming beast, and there are phoenixes and luan birds watching around. Now you have to give them an explanation."

Jue raised her eyes slightly and said, "Immortal flower."

"We often go there to play. The phoenix, the luan bird, and Kai Ming never said we couldn't touch that flower."

Xiwangmu said, "You and they alike have long lives. The immortal flower is just a beautiful flower to you, with no great value; but for someone like King Yu, the effect of the immortal flower is a little too weak, so this flower is rare but not very practical."

"They say they care, but they don't really care that much."

"Even if you crushed it, they might not be angry."

"But you took this flower and gave it to a mortal to eat, and they think you've committed a taboo."

"In a while, you should obediently admit your mistake and then go and retrieve that person's true spirit."

"Then they'll be appeased."

Wei Yuan, holding the bronze lamp, realized at this moment that this was what happened after Jue picked the immortal flower and used it on him after his death in the very first life. Jue nodded and followed Xiwangmu into the mist, but the bronze lamp in Wei Yuan's hand could no longer illuminate the road ahead.

Wei Yuan tried to move forward, but as soon as he took a step, he felt a jolt in his shoulder, and a feeling of extreme heaviness pressed down. The concentration of spiritual energy was too pure, and even breathing caused him to feel a sharp pain in his lungs and respiratory tract, like being scraped by blades.

His cultivation was not enough to support him going higher.

Wei Yuan had to withdraw his right foot, and the feeling that the heavens and earth were collapsing disappeared in an instant. In the earliest years, there were heavenly ladders and Tongtian Jianmu (a mythical tree that connects heaven and earth), and mortals could climb to the realm where gods resided through Jianmu, but this required extremely high levels of cultivation, physique, and soul.

A careless move would result in death.

It seemed that even though he didn't know what the current situation of Jade Mountain was, this height was the limit with his current cultivation. This was still relying on the foundation of the mountain god outside Chaoge City. If he came in a mortal body, it was still unknown whether he could reach this height.

However, if the ancestral vein outside Chaoge City was nearby.

The body of the mountain god could exert stronger power, and he should be able to go higher.

Wei Yuan was a little regretful, and then he thought that Kunlun Mountain in the human world was the residence of Xiwangmu, and Jade Mountain in the world of mountains and seas was also Xiwangmu's territory. What was the relationship between these two mountains? Were they the same mountain, but when King Yu split the world of mountains and seas, part of it remained in the human world, or was it like Zhuzhao Zhulong (Torch Dragon)?

Controlling the spiritual veins of two mountains at the same time?

Wei Yuan pondered, no longer overestimating his abilities to challenge higher altitudes. He calmed the pressure that had just been exerted on him, and holding the bronze lamp, he walked to other places at this height, wanting to see if he could discover anything new.

He carefully walked along the steps of Jade Mountain.

In the mist, he would occasionally see the figures of maids who had existed thousands of years ago.

These were purely mountain spirits and wild monsters, light and ethereal spirits, and the spirituality of all things. They were not the same type as the demons of later generations. If strictly speaking, the immortals in paintings he had seen before, if not affected by magic, would be more similar to these spirits.

Wei Yuan vaguely heard a voice again, and when he shone the lamp, he saw a tall and handsome man.

He recognized this man.

This man had once come to the human world as the leader of the Kunlun divine generals. The first time, he had helped the Yellow Emperor fight against Chi You, and the second time, he had helped King Yu defeat Wu Zhiqi. He was a dragon who came in response to the times and seasons, and a dragon who came in response to the call of the people. He was Yinglong, Yinglong Gengchen.

In front of Yinglong were Xiwangmu and several other men and women.

Each of them exuded the aura of a top powerhouse.

Xiwangmu said in a calm tone, "This time, the Huaiwo Water Lord has been temporarily sealed, and the water god Gonggong has been sealed far away in the East Sea. The human water system cannot be without a master for a day. Gengchen, you should go down the mountain and replace Wu Zhiqi to preside over the affairs of the Huai River water system."

Gengchen nodded in response.

Xiwangmu paused and said:

"Usually you only need to be in the Huai River."

"But you must remember that once West Kunlun stirs up the stars, you must come back."

Wei Yuan's eyes lit up slightly, and he wrote down what Xiwangmu said.

West Kunlun stirs up the stars. It seems that during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the approximate time point when Yinglong Gengchen returned to West Kunlun should have seen a special celestial phenomenon. At that time, he could go back and search for information, which should be able to narrow the target range.

Thank modern technology.

In ancient times, he would have had to go through countless books.

This scene also slowly dissipated, and Wei Yuan, holding the bronze lamp in his hand, continued to walk slowly on this Jade Mountain, the light stable and calm, illuminating the mist on the left and right.

He sometimes saw Kunlun maids, and sometimes he saw divine generals coming and going.

He even saw the time when Da Yu brought him to visit. He saw the afterimage of King Yu from afar, which was quite befitting of Xiwangmu's gracefulness. However, it disappeared in an instant. At least, from the mouths of those divine generals, Wei Yuan heard that they believed that the heroic king of the human world, the hero who controlled the waters, and the master of West Kunlun, the goddess of Yaochi, were still a good match.

Looking at those two divine generals, Wei Yuan's mouth twitched.

He finally knew why Nvjiao asked him and Yu to change Xiwangmu's entry to that way.

Every cause has its effect.

Why didn't he realize that these divine generals also gossiped?

As he walked to the last part of Jade Mountain, the bronze lamp in Wei Yuan's hand suddenly brightened, repelling all the surrounding mist. Wei Yuan's vision suddenly became wide open. In a majestic palace, Xiwangmu sat in a high position, with gods sitting on both sides around her.

There was Kunlun Mountain God Lu Wu, and Kai Ming beast, the mountain god guarding the other side.

There was Zhuzhao Jiuyin, the god of Zhongshan, Ying Zhao, the mountain god of Huaijiang Mountain, phoenixes, and luan birds.

And the young Jue stood in the hall.

"Tiannv Jue, you picked the immortal flower and gave it to a mortal."

"That is the treasure of my Kunlun divine realm."

"Do you know your mistake?"

It was Mountain God Lu Wu who spoke.

He was a true Kunlun Hill mountain god with a higher status than the Kai Ming beast, who could control the nine departments of heaven. When he spoke, even across the long years of the afterimage, his aura still made Wei Yuan feel stiff, feeling that he was rapidly becoming small, while the heaven and earth were boundless and vast.

Tiannv Jue raised her head and looked at Mountain God Lu Wu, who was sitting high above, and replied softly:

"I picked it."

Lu Wu said slowly, "Why did you do this? Do you know that you were wrong?"

The young Tiannv replied, "He is my friend."

"So I wanted to save him."

Lu Wu frowned and said, "That's just a mortal. How could you feed him the immortal flower?"

The young Tiannv was a little at a loss, and said puzzled:

"...But, that's just a flower."

"God Lu Wu, you are already immortal."

"Why not allow ordinary humans to be immortal like you?"

God Lu Wu was slightly stunned, and then became furious for some unknown reason, and left with a flick of his sleeves. The entire palace suddenly became solemn, the light suddenly dimmed, and Zhuzhao Jiuyin stared at the Tiannv, his voice calm, and said, "You still don't think you are wrong, and you are unwilling to retrieve the true spirit protected by the immortal flower?"

The young Tiannv nodded.

Zhuzhao Jiuyin said: "In that case, you must bear the punishment."

"This is also part of the rules."

The Kai Ming God stretched out his hand and made a grasping motion, and a wisp of aura was extracted from the center of the Tiannv's eyebrows, turning into a light, and falling into the hands of this divine beast. His character was gentle and fair, his eyes slightly lowered, and said:

"Since you are unwilling to pursue, then don't pursue it. It's fine to leave this matter to others."

"It was you who used the immortal flower, and only you can recognize the true spirit protected by the immortal flower. Now I have taken away your knowledge of the aura of that immortal flower. You can no longer recognize it... It is possible to feel it when you see the immortal flower in person, but you will not be able to directly lock the location. In this case, even Lu Wu will not be able to force you."

"But you have violated the contract of the Kunlun gods after all."

"The punishment that should be given must still be given."

"I will ask you one last time, do you not regret it?"

The young Tiannv lowered her head and shook her head.

With a cracking sound, golden chains appeared on her wrists and ankles. This was not done by the Kai Ming beast, but by Lu Wu. The Kai Ming beast sighed and said, "Next, you will be imprisoned here for a thousand years and not allowed to go down the mountain as punishment."

He stretched out his hand to let that wisp of aura overflow and fall in front of Xiwangmu, and said:

"Empress, this person's aura is left to you."

"It is up to you to decide whether to bring him back."

The gods dispersed, and the long wind of Kunlun was trapped by chains, and could only stay on Jade Mountain forever, unable to go down the mountain like her sisters. She sat on the mountain with her knees in her arms. When it was sunny, she would look at the lights below the mountain from afar, just like Wei Yuan had seen in her dream.

When it rained, she mixed water with the soil from Kunlun Mountain, and learned the pottery knowledge discussed by her friend when they first met, and kneaded a rough and simple pottery, dried it in the sun, and then picked flowers from Kunlun Mountain and put them in the pottery.

"Pottery is for use."

Because her first friend, the former potter, had said proudly.

The mist slowly dissipated.

That potter saw the pottery that truly existed on Jade Mountain.

ps: The second update today... 3,000 words