According to legend, the land was swept by a great flood and only Fu Xi and his sister Nuwa survived. They retired to the Kunlun Mountains where they prayed for a sign from the Emperor of Heaven. The divine being approved their union and the siblings set about procreating the human race. It was said that in order to speed up the procreation of humans, Fu Xi and Nuwa found an additional way by using clay to create human figures, and with the power divine being entrusted to them, they made the clay figures come alive. Fu Xi then came to rule over his descendants, although reports of his long reign vary between sources from 115 years (2852-2737 BCE) to 116 years (2952-2836 BCE).