"Ugh.."
Li Shen groaned as he tried to sit up but his head felt like it was constantly being smashed by a brick.
There was also a slight ringing in his ears that further made the feeling of waking up as regrettable as it could be.
Li Shen took some time to recover before he fully sat up on the dragon throne.
"Are you finally awake?"
A voice asked, and Li Shen recognizing it as Go Su responded.
"Senior, what happened?"
"You're asking what happen? I should ask who are you."
"..What?"
Confused by that question, Li Shen raised his head and turned to the direction he heard the voice. However, his confusion multiplied when he saw Go Su standing in front of him with a confused expression. But the thing was, Go Su was no longer an old man, but a middle-aged man.
Li Shen stared at him strangely.
"Senior, did you change your appearance?"
Go Su looked at him and said.
"What? Brat look here, if you don't answer me about how you appear here then I'll report you to the sect. I never heard of anyone being selected to enter the Ancestral grounds."
Li Shen opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He couldn't understand what was going on.
As Li Shen's mind spun and spun to comprehend the current situation, he saw Go Su suddenly look up behind him and said.
"Emperor Li Bai, I apologize for this brat's interruption of your tour."
‘Emperor Li Bai? That name sounds familiar.'
Li Shen thought as he quickly turn to look behind him.
Floating in a cross-legged position in the air, a young man that looked around his late teens was seen.
His clothes looked like simple robes but the air around him would make some feel like they were in the presence of someone they should kneel before and worship. It was very overwhelming and was an aura that would develop when a person was below none and above countless.
His golden hair similar to Li Shen's own flowed over his shoulder while his head rested on his arm. Since Li Shen had woken up, his golden pupils filled with child-like curiosity never left him.
When Li Shen looked towards him, he released a smile that turned his eyes into crescent moons. His handsome facial features radiated a strange sense of warmth.
Go Su who was nervous as he apologized, was stumped when he saw Li Bai smiling. Asides from the Sect Master, he always wore a casual expression on his face when speaking with anyone. But the feeling one would get was that he wasn't seeing them. As if he truly thought that person and anything they have to say was nothing but air.
Go Su silently looked between Li Bai and Li Shen wondering if he knew this disciple, but he also realize a weird fact.
‘With their unnatural pure golden hair, they looked awfully alike.'
Immediately, as Li Shen's eyes landed on this person his entire body froze. He hadn't sensed this person's presence at all.
However, his pupils suddenly dilated into pin size needles when he saw the headband around this person called Li Bai's forehead. It was the image of a golden lotus, one he recognized as his Li Clan's emblem.
"What's your name?"
Li Bai suddenly asked.
Li Shen stared at him for a moment before he opened his mouth and said.
"My name is L-"
‘Wait…'
"Long Shen."
Li Shen chose not to use his real name. Being through into this situation all of a sudden caught him off guard, but he quickly calm down and began thinking things through.
‘What did that gluttonous bastard do, I definitely didn't awake in the same Dragon Palace.'
Li Bai hearing Li Shen's answer had his smile get wider for some reason.
"Long Shen is it? That's a nice name."
Li Shen was already feeling that this situation was weird but the way this person was looking at him didn't make it any better.
"Emperor Li Bai, do you perhaps know this person?"
Go Su ask from the side as he shot Li Shen a strange look.
"Go Su."
Li Bai said in a completely different tone than he use to speak to Li Shen.
"Leave and forget you saw this person."
Go Su found the command strange, but he didn't dare say anything, instead he cupped his fists and turned into specks of golden light before entering the throne.
After he left, Li Bai as if he had been holding back his joy had his eyes shine brightly as he stared at Li Shen.
His figure suddenly vanished from his position in the air to appear in front of him. He then grabbed Li Shen by his cheeks and squeezed as he happily said.
"To think I would meet you like this! Hahaha, I knew I would meet one of my descendants but not on a different continent in someone else's Ancestral Grounds!"
Li Bai's demeanor was completely different.
His Emperor air vanished to be replaced with that of a hyperactive child that had unexpectedly received their birthday gift early.
His hand which was glowing golden for some reason grabbed, pinched, prodded, and poked Li Shen's face as if he was molding clay. He was just too happy to see Li Shen.
"You even have my golden hair and eyes."
Li Bai grabbed a hand full of Li Shen's hair he had disheveled.
Though that wasn't the case as Li Shen's hair had originally been ash brown, but turned golden due to his Heavenly Physique.
But Li Shen was unable to take note of that fact, as in the midst of this he didn't exactly know how to react.
He already remembered where he knew Li Bai's name from. It was the name of his Clan's first Emperor and who was given the title the founder.
However, he was wondering if this was even real.
He didn't know what happened after his Time Seed had vomited out that white light. Whether he was seeing illusions of the past or even more absurdly, had somehow traveled to the past?
‘But he said he was expecting me, what did he mean by that?'
Li Bai after a while looked up from Li Shen's strands of hair in his hand to see he was staring at him.
Li Bai smiled sheepishly before he let go of his hair and coughed a little in his fist.
With hands on his hips, Li Bai opened his mouth to say something but paused and measured his height against Li Shen's own.
Seeing that Li Shen was a couple of inches taller than him, he rose from the ground just enough to be a few inches taller than him.
Coughing once again, Li Bai ignored Li Shen's strange look as he said.
"You don't have to hide your identity from me, I can sense my Clan's bloodline running through your veins. Well…"
Li Bai paused there and sported an amused expression. He then lifted his hand and swept it through Li Shen's body, revealing he wasn't here in his physical form.
"I can a the very least sense a bloodline connection between us, despite time being in the way."
Li Shen stared wide-eyed as Li Bai's hand went through him lost for words.
"You probably have a lot of questions, and even questioning if all of this is real. But I assure you little Shen this is year 38,301 of the Spirit Era calendar. You have traveled into the past from whatever future you came from."
Li Shen stood there and took a moment to let what Li Bai just said to sink in. He just found it crazy that this is even possible.
Even if it was, what would be capable of such a thing?
Li Shen thought back on his Time Seed. His curiosity towards it increased and his image of it just being a gluttonous bastard began to shift a little.
Especially the fact that the simple act of him being here had broken one of Heaven's Empyrean Rules.
‘This-This…'
Li Shen remembering what an Empyrean Rule was started to shake with nervousness.
Li Bai seeing this patted his shoulder, his hand glowing golden as he said.
"Don't worry, you don't have to be so shocked. Anyway, for your questions, I'll answer them, but I want to ask some of my own."
Li Shen looked at Li Bai and then took a step back away from his hand. He then shook his head vigorously before saying.
"No, I shouldn't be here. The consequences of being here talking to you is beyond anything anyone could imagine."
Li Shen started to fidget and his head turned left to right, wondering how he could leave.
"Huh?"
Li Bai seeing Li Shen acting like this was taken aback.
He then watched as Li Shen walked back and further anxiously. Tilting his head to the side he said.
"I thought you would want to ask me some questions, aren't you curious? I'm sure you've been told about our origins, have you not?"
"Of course I want to ask you questions, but we shouldn't be talking in the first place! This-This entire situation isn't possible, it shouldn't be happening!"
Li Bai held up a hand to his chin and thought for a moment before he said.
"But it is happening, we might as well take advantage of this and tell each other our timelines."
Li Shen froze upon hearing this before he looked at this Ancestor of his like he was an oblivious idiot.
**
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