Inside the high and tall palace walls, in the wide stone-paved square, there was a row of large tripods placed under the long stairs. Going up the ninety-nine stairs and passing through two heavy palace doors, one arrived at the palace, where one could see the solemn throne and King Huan wearing a red and black crown.
The entire palace was built on a huge ancient relic. It mobilized tens of thousands of slaves, a large number of priests and sorcerers, and took ten years to build. Finally, this unimaginable palace was built.
The court meetings of the Dahuan Dynasty were held at night. The palace was brightly lit, and most officials sat on their knees. The throne at the top was directly attached to the ground and had no legs.
Most of the officials and nobles below are no longer like the wild beasts and barbarians who ate raw meat and drank blood, wrapped themselves in animal skins, tattooed their faces, cut their hair, and brought animals to eat humans as they did in the Xun State period.
After decades of recuperation and continuous development, the people of Dahuan also understood the beauty of splendor and the importance of etiquette. They not only wore gorgeous clothes, but also began to wear jade, tie their hair, and wear crowns and hats.
However, some shaman priests and wizards still retain the early customs of the Xun Kingdom.
Next to King Huan sat the historian, and below him were the priests in charge of sacrifices, the sorcerers in charge of the army,
After the court meeting was over, people were seen leaving in ox carts or sedan chairs, and each of them brought with them a number of slaves and retainers.
The aged King Huan was finally held by two bright and dignified ladies in red clothes. Although the once powerful King Huan's witchcraft skills were still strong, he could not stop his fate of aging and decaying, and he even needed someone to support him to walk.
King Huan had a mark on his head that looked like a divine birthmark. It was a sign that he was born as the man of destiny. Everyone believed that he was the one chosen by the heavens and the witch god. Many people even believed that he was the incarnation of the witch god.
Everyone believed it, including him, and it was because of this that he established the Dahuan Dynasty.
"The destiny is in Xun!"
"Now that destiny has come to an end, has it also come to the moment of its end?"
King Huan's hands and face were full of wrinkles. He stood outside the palace, his hands, which were full of wrinkles like chicken skin, stroked the cool stone railings, his crown and robes dragged across the stone slabs, and he walked down the stairs little by little.
He raised his head and looked into the distance.
Xundu appeared and disappeared in his eyes in the darkness, and thousands of houses stretched into the distance. What he saw was not only houses, but also endless people, both noble and humble, living in Xundu.
Looking further away, one can see cities, towns, tribes, vassal states and foreign countries, all under the Great Huan Dynasty he established. The entire human race, countless people, live and survive in the new era he created.
Human beings used to eat raw meat and drink blood like wild beasts. They had no written language and no future. They fought against demons and strange beasts in the jungle and on the earth. At that time, humans were just one of the wild beasts, no different from ordinary tigers, leopards, birds and animals in the jungle.
It was he who, bit by bit, ignited the fire of civilization in a tribe called Xun from the wilderness, established the Kingdom of Xun in Wujin, and then, after twenty-seven battles of varying sizes, finally established the Huan Dynasty.
They expelled the demons and strange beasts, opened up city-states in the wilderness, established fiefdoms, and protected the entire human race.
Thinking of this, King Huan could not help but feel high-spirited, as if he had fallen into the old days again, leading his army to conquer the world, as if the heaven and earth were praising him, and the mountains, rivers, and seas were all overwhelmed by him.
King Huan Hua stood in front of the huge bronze tripod, a sacrificial ritual vessel, on the wide square, and drew the bronze sword from his waist. The gorgeous sword looked powerful as he waved it.
But after just two moves, Huan Wanghua was so tired that he couldn't breathe. The two Ji girls hurriedly supported him. He leaned on his sword and kept gasping for breath.
Then he burst into hearty laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"Old! Really old!"
"but!"
When he said this, King Huan Hua changed the subject and looked around his world.
"That's enough!"
He could feel that his vitality was being drained away from his body bit by bit, and he was decaying and dying bit by bit.
But he did not show any fear, just like the endless difficulties and crises he had faced before, whether it was the repeated invasions of countless clans and tribes, or the powerful Xuanyuan Kingdom, or the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Longqiu, or the direct confrontation with gods and demons in Xuanyuan.
Every time, he faced death, and he also defeated death.
Even if the Dahuan Dynasty was established, the struggles between the countless shamans, sorcerers, vassal states and tribal chiefs at home and abroad could have resulted in the disintegration of the entire Dahuan if there was even the slightest mistake.
The newly established Dahuan Dynasty seemed powerful, but it was like a fragile and cracked bronze mirror that could shatter with a slight blow.
Death and failure are like his shadow, sitting on this throne is like sitting on swords and sea of fire.
At this time, two minor officials from the inner court came hurriedly and arrived in front of King Huan.
"King, the Great Wizard wants to see you!"
The Great Witch refers to the Great Witch Priest, who was the highest position in the Dahuan Dynasty in charge of all sacrificial activities and responsible for communicating with the witch god. During the Xun State period, the Great Witch Priest was held by King Huan himself. After he became King Huan, the position of the Great Witch Priest has been vacant until now.
Until a man appeared, demonstrating witchcraft skills more powerful than King Huan, a man who was proficient in the ways of heaven and earth and the art of communicating with gods. This man claimed to be able to communicate with witch gods. In a sacrificial ceremony, he defeated all the witches, borrowed the power of the witch god, and was named the Great Witch.
His name is Yun.
The great wizard Yun walked in wearing a wizard robe. This wizard, who looked like an immortal with a long beard, was extremely shocked when he said the first sentence after he came in.
"Your Majesty, I have a technique that can ensure your immortality!"
The aged King Huan looked fifty years older than the so-called Great Shaman Yun, but according to the Great Shaman Yun, their ages were almost the same. Moreover, the Great Shaman Yun was the most powerful person in the art of shamanism in Da Huan, so what he said was still convincing.
King Huan took the silk scroll from the ground by the chief shaman priest, glanced at it, glanced at the chief shaman priest, then threw the scroll directly to the ground with a cold snort.
"How many people will die? I'm afraid the entire Xun City doesn't have enough people to sacrifice for your immortality technique?"
"I don't need this kind of magic!"
All I saw was the silk scroll unfolded, revealing densely packed runes and spells inside. Each spell carried a terrifying and strange power, and there was even a picture painted on the scroll.
All that was seen were evil ghosts and dead souls, struggling to rise from the abyss with ferocious roars. A Ghost Emperor wearing a crown and robes was sitting on his throne, guarded by the endless evil ghosts and dead souls.
The great wizard Yun picked up the silk scroll, rolled it up carefully, and continued to persuade King Huan with great sincerity, as if he was wholeheartedly thinking about King Huan.
"Why is your Majesty so? We, the shamans, can communicate with the gods above and ghosts below, but we cannot pray for immortality."
"Now that we have the secret of immortality, why don't you give it a try!"
King Huan chuckled, his old body and face revealed the imperial arrogance accumulated over decades. He flicked his long sleeves and looked down at the great witch.
"It's just life and death, there's nothing to be afraid of!"
He spread his hands and looked at the entire Xundu. He stood at the bottom of the long steps in front of the main hall and walked around the bronze tripod in a circle. The long sword with its scabbard swung, making a knocking sound.
"See? As long as Dahuan is still alive, I am still alive!"
"As long as the human race exists, I will still be here!"
"Hundreds of millions of people will praise my name, and history books will record every word and every sentence of Huan Wanghua. Even if thousands or tens of thousands of years have passed, I will live in everyone's heart!"
"Why should I be afraid of death?"
King Huan placed his hand on the bronze tripod, raised his head and laughed heartily, turned his head, and finally uttered four words in a decisive manner to the great wizard Jiyun.
"I am Dahuan!"
"I am the King of Men!"
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The great witch Jiyun walked out of the palace hall little by little in the night, passed through the heavy guards and the lights in the palace, stepped through the wide witch god gate, and stood outside the palace.
Looking at Xundu outside the palace and the thousands of households hidden in the darkness, the great wizard Jiyun finally smiled.
"Huan Chen? Huan Wanghua?"
"You are indeed... my good disciple!"
Taoist Qingyun, who had transformed into a great witch priest, threw away the silk scroll in his hand that was covered with spells and ghosts, then knelt and sat on the sedan chair that had been waiting in the corridor outside the palace. Four strong men carried the sedan chair away under the dim starry night.
The silk scroll burned into ashes in the wind, then turned into black smoke and floated into the sky.