I Was the Heavenly Emperor in the Primordial Age

Chapter 10: The Second Journey into the Primordial Wilderness

Lu Gang finally found Li Jun at the edge of the peach grove in the center of the island.

This was the source of all the anomalies, and at this moment, it was also the place where the island had mutated the most severely.

Li Jun stood motionless outside the grove.

When Lu Gang discovered him, Li Jun was actually standing upside down above Lu Gang’s head.

From his perspective, that peach grove seemed to grow upon the heavens, while the light deep within the grove looked like the sun in the sky.

But from Li Jun’s position looking back, the road behind him that connected to the city twisted outward like a spiral, and the light deep within the peach grove resembled a black hole, a vortex that sought to draw everything outside into its depths.

Lu Gang circled along that spiral-like street again and again, until he finally approached Li Jun.

Lu Gang felt dizzy, panting heavily, and said to Li Jun,

“This island isn’t right. The island residents outside have already begun to evacuate, but those Wood Guests and the people whose bodies mutated seem to have no way of completely escaping this place.”

“Li Jun, we should leave too.”

Though not much time had passed, Lu Gang—who felt as though he had already gone through countless ordeals—considered Li Jun incredibly important.

Therefore, even if it meant taking an enormous risk, he still had to find him here.

However.

Lu Gang failed to notice that Li Jun’s figure had changed once again.

Compared to before, he seemed a little younger.

Li Jun shook his head. “I cannot leave yet.”

Lu Gang did not understand. “Why?”

Li Jun gazed at the light deep within the peach grove, as though staring into a riddle.

“The problem hasn’t been resolved.”

Of course, Lu Gang knew the problem hadn’t been resolved. He understood that everything had only just begun. The matter of Tao Mountain Island appeared to have come to a close, but the power and origin behind its anomalies were beyond their comprehension.

This alone—

Just the distorted space before his eyes was enough proof.

Everything here had already gone beyond their imagination and control.

Although they had saved most of the island’s people, they still could not stop the abnormal transformation.

At this very moment—

Lu Gang’s mindset had completely changed from when he first arrived. He had already accepted the mythologization and anomalies of this world, and faintly prepared himself for the major crisis to come.

Lu Gang grew anxious, his urgency revealed in his words. “Where are you going?”

“Li Jun, the problem here is too severe.”

“So severe that people like us can’t possibly resolve it, do you understand?”

Lu Gang took a deep breath and earnestly persuaded him.

“Li Jun, come with me!”

“We need your strength.”

Li Jun pointed at the depths of the peach grove. “I must go in there. Perhaps I can find the answer inside.”

He wanted to solve the problem here, to uncover its secret, so that he could learn more and unravel the mystery of himself.

But at this moment, these words carried another meaning to Lu Gang’s ears.

The other felt that going into the outside world, resolving one abnormal event after another, would not change anything. Only by delving into the most dangerous source, only by approaching the most perilous place—

Could the problem be solved.

“Li Jun intends to sacrifice himself, to stay behind and resolve the troubles here.”

In Lu Gang’s eyes, the figure standing outside the peach grove suddenly appeared towering and majestic.

For a moment, he wanted to open his mouth and say the words he had always thought of whenever facing crises too great for him.

“As long as the green hills remain, one need not fear a lack of firewood!”

But this time, the words were stuck in his throat and refused to come out.

Because it was precisely this man, again and again, who had thrown himself against enemies that seemed unbeatable to Lu Gang.

Again and again, he had taken actions that, in Lu Gang’s eyes, were like moths flying into flames, like a mantis trying to block a chariot.

And in the end, that was the reason they had reached this point.

Otherwise, Lu Gang could not imagine how much worse the island’s situation might have become.

What if Tao Yougen had continued to send Wood Guests into the outside world, spreading this monstrous power to other cities?

What if creatures like Tao Shu rampaged unchecked across the land?

The thought alone made him shudder.

In the silence—

The light deep in the peach grove grew brighter and brighter, as though the morning sun was slowly rising toward noon.

Li Jun began to move, stepping into the depths of the peach grove, walking toward the light.

Lu Gang watched his figure, and before his eyes appeared the image of a moth flying toward a flame.

He opened his mouth but could not call out to stop him. This grown man’s eyes turned red, and he removed his glasses to wipe them.

Looking only at the old records, he had never truly understood what kind of person Li Jun was.

But as the saying went: don’t listen to what people say, look at what they do.

In Lu Gang’s view—

Even while afflicted with illness and death, even when left completely alone, Li Jun had not given up.

The Longevity Temple and Zhou Shentong had used him and countless others as experimental material to achieve their vile purposes. An ordinary person, after such experiences, would have harbored deep hatred toward everything around them. But he had not.

When facing powerful enemies and disasters, Li Jun was always the first to stand out. He lured enemies outside and eliminated those Wood Guests one by one to prevent them from causing harm.

Upon learning of Tao Mountain Island’s crisis, he rushed there at once, fighting terrifying foes without regard for danger or his own life—no matter how powerful or dreadful they were.

“He may have been quiet and taciturn, appearing cold and rational.”

“But he was surely an immensely strong and brave man, and one who cared for and loved others. Otherwise, why would he face the most terrible dangers time and again? He had no need to go that far.”

Lu Gang asked him, “Do you have anything you want to say to the people outside?”

Li Jun paused briefly, then continued forward.

“I have nothing to say.”

Lu Gang thought—

That was the most carefree sentence he had ever heard in his life.

He no longer felt that Li Jun was pretending. When a man was willing to give up the real world, to follow this collapsing Tao Mountain Island into the abyss—

When faced with the danger of death and the greatest of unknown terrors, yet still confronted it with such calm—

No praise could be excessive.

In the end, Lu Gang said one final sentence: “Thank you.”

It was not only thanks for saving his life—without Li Jun, he would never have survived this ordeal—but also as though he was thanking him on behalf of everyone here, for the sacrifice he had chosen to make.

Finally.

Li Jun quietly walked into the peach grove, his figure slipping through the gaps between peach trees.

Lu Gang stood watching from behind, until he completely disappeared.

He stood there for a long time.

Only then did Lu Gang begin walking outward.

He passed through the twisted space, through the mutated city, and along the streets until he walked out.

At last, he reached the shore.

Behind him lay a misty void; before him, radiant light.

At that moment, many ships crisscrossed the sea, and a helicopter flew toward him. His companions had come to retrieve him.

Most of the survivors on the island had been rescued. Now, only he remained here.

He boarded the helicopter, looking down upon the island below.

Through the lens, he saw the light at the deepest part of Tao Mountain Island gradually twist and consume the entire island. That massive landmass slowly, yet unstoppably, sank into nothingness, falling into another unknown space.

The people around him cried out in alarm, but this time Lu Gang appeared unusually calm and silent.

--------------

After everything ended.

Lu Gang remained very busy, with no chance to catch his breath.

The research report on the Wood Guest virus, the further study on the Double Pupils virus and the abilities of its adapters, the report on the Tao Mountain Island anomaly.

And also the studies on the form of beings known as “Demons,” and so on, all required his participation.

He carried a stack of documents, pushed open the door, and came before the Director.

“I believe that the anomalies in this Tao Mountain Island incident all originated from that unknown Divine Tree. It is a type of ‘Demon’ recorded in mythological legends, and it is highly likely to be the Peaches of Immortality Tree from the ancient myths.”

“According to our investigation, the anomalous phenomena on the entire island occurred in three stages.”

“The first stage is parasitism. The people on the island would be parasitized by certain plant roots, then lose their perception and cognition, falling into chaos regarding their sense of surrounding space.”

“The second stage is mutation. The people’s perception and cognition would further deteriorate. They could no longer maintain a stable body shape, their bodies began to mutate, and even disintegrate, until finally transforming into a special plant-like lifeform—the Wood Guests.”

“The third stage is possession. Tao Yougen was in this state. He must have formed an extremely close bond with that Divine Tree, which does not exist in this world. He abandoned the outside world, abandoned everything as a human being, even abandoned his own will, entrusting everything to the void. Ultimately, he distorted the boundary between reality and nothingness, and even dragged the entire Tao Mountain Island into the void, lost within this world.”

“But all of this is merely the surface phenomena we observed, only a shadow of the power hidden beneath that Divine Wood.”

“Perhaps it is only in the third stage that the true essence of such a Demon’s power begins to reveal itself.”

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“But as for what specific abilities it possesses, for now it is mostly conjecture.”

Lu Gang put down the documents and looked at the attentive Director.

“Director, what you said is correct.”

“Demons may really not be a type of creature, or rather, their origin is not merely a type of living being.”

“The Demon that appeared on Tao Mountain Island may have taken the form of a tree, but I think its essence might be something like a rule. Its so-called external form is merely surface manifestation, capable of shifting at will.”

“But it may also relate to what this Demon once experienced.”

Director: “You discovered this?”

Lu Gang: “Not entirely. Most of it was what Li Jun told me, and part of it was my own speculation.”

The Director was satisfied, and then informed Lu Gang of a highly confidential location.

There, he would attend a meeting.

“You will participate in this meeting. Be prepared to report.”

“From now on, heavier responsibilities may be placed upon you.”

The level of this meeting was far above what someone of Lu Gang’s rank could normally participate in.

Yet Lu Gang became the central figure.

He stood at the podium, narrating with the large screen the entire course of events. No one could have understood it better than he, a witness from beginning to end.

This incident—

From the initial attack on the Hospital, to the appearance of the Wood Guests—

Then the emergence of the Double Pupils adapter Li Jun, who transformed into the Feathered People of the Classic of Mountains and Seas to fight the Wood Guests and defeated them.

Lu Gang wore a solemn expression, glasses adding a professional aura.

“But according to research, Wood Guests are extremely difficult to truly kill.”

“They depend on that strange region of Tao Mountain Island. Once killed, they may very well be recreated there again.”

Then came the Tao Mountain Island incident itself.

But whether it was the Double Pupils virus at the root of everything, the later Wood Guest virus, the Demon that resembled mythical rules, or all the events on Tao Mountain Island—

They were inseparable from one key figure: Li Jun. Yet at this moment, he had vanished.

The meeting concluded.

Luo Zhen, the commander-in-chief of the Tao Mountain Island incident, caught up with Lu Gang. At first, they spoke about other matters.

Then suddenly, he asked, “What kind of person do you think Li Jun is? Do you think he will come back?”

Lu Gang thought for a moment. “Perhaps it sounds exaggerated, but to me, he seemed like a lone hero.”

Luo Zhen: “By adding ‘lone,’ your evaluation is neither clearly good nor bad.”

….

Lu Gang returned home, where he saw his daughter, just released on vacation, sitting on the sofa with a few classmates. They held phones, watching videos of the Wood Guest incident.

“Is this real?”

“See?”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Did you hear? Tao Mountain Island disappeared. They say it’s connected to this too?”

“That’s way too fake. No matter how powerful, could they really make such a huge island vanish?”

“I heard they built some kind of secret base on the island, that’s why it got sealed off.”

“Exactly. If superhumans really existed, how could they keep such a low profile? If I had superpowers, I’d definitely do whatever I wanted.”

“Like Homelander, right?”

“Hahahaha!”

Lu Gang walked past the sofa, looking at the video of Li Jun fighting a group of Wood Guests. Again, he recalled the events on the island.

Lu Gang picked up a glass of water, falling into deep thought.

“Li Jun, who disappeared together with Tao Mountain Island… can he really return?”

….

The distant light grew increasingly dazzling.

The surrounding space became more and more twisted and abnormal as Li Jun passed through the peach grove, approaching the light step by step.

“That depth… is it the Peach Blossom Spring?”

“What is the Peach Blossom Spring?”

Suddenly, an overwhelming drowsiness surged over Li Jun.

His vision began to overlap. In one, he was staring at the light deep in the peach grove. In another, he was overlooking the land from above.

Since it was not his first time experiencing this, Li Jun naturally knew what was about to happen.

“Why come at this time?”

Without any warning at all.

Li Jun found a tree, sat beneath the peach tree, and fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes, he had once again returned to the Primordial Wilderness.

He once more stood at the peak of Mount Kunlun.

He looked down upon the vast land swept by the wind, and at the immense clouds rolling through the heavens.

His gaze shifted slightly, and he saw beside him that giant tree transformed from a man. Compared to when he had last left, it had grown taller and more flourishing.

He carefully observed the tree.

Indeed, it resembled the Divine Wood he had seen on Tao Mountain Island.

Only, that Divine Wood was unimaginably larger, and its strangeness and power countless times greater.

He carried countless mysteries in his heart that needed unraveling, but he could not simply ask the tree and expect it to answer him.

At that moment—

The tree suddenly spoke.

“Emperor!”

“You have awoken.”