Chapter 84: Bearing the Survival of Liyue on His Back, He Would Not Lose, Nor Could He

This question seemed to be directed at him, but in truth it was asking "Zhong Li."

Could Zhong Li win?

He could.

Having obtained Zhong Li's template, he understood the power Zhong Li possessed better than anyone; moreover, they were originally one and the same — how could a future Zhong Li not know the weaknesses that Morax carried?

If he truly had to go all out, he had countless ways to make Morax lose.

But—

Elder Zhong gazed at Morax, and at this moment, his thoughts seemed to be perfectly synchronized with the real Zhong Li.

【The him of that time should not have lost.】

That's right — how could his younger self possibly lose?

He would not lose, nor could he afford to.

Because once he lost, the Liyue behind him would be utterly destroyed.

During the Archon War, what Liyue needed was not Zhong Li as a "human," but Emperor Rex Lapis, who swept aside the gods and stood unmatched beneath the heavens!

The him of that era bore the survival of all Liyue on his back, the lives and deaths of countless subjects.

He could not afford to lose, nor did he dare to.

Even if it cost his life, he had to stand before every enemy and shield Liyue from them.

Therefore—

"I have lost."

Elder Zhong calmly repeated it, his tone carrying not the slightest reluctance.

Morax was stunned.

He could not comprehend this answer, yet he read something from the look in the other's eyes.

After a long silence, he withdrew his spear:

"Boring."

Ye Xuan watched the two of them, and a strange thought suddenly popped into his head—

(If I were to say "Guizhong is gone" right in front of them, would I become the next Osial?)

The thought made him shake his head and chuckle despite himself.

Still, the influence of a myriad-heavens character template on a person in reality was truly astonishing; he did not know what Elder Zhong's personality had originally been as a human, but at this moment, the Elder Zhong who had obtained Zhong Li's template gave him the feeling that it was exactly as if the Zhong Li from Genshin had truly walked into reality.

That composure settled over a thousand years, that world-weary indifference, even the bearing in every gesture was identical.

He did not know how high he had already raised the compatibility.

At this moment, Elder Zhong turned to Ye Xuan, his voice warm and smooth as jade:

"Young friend, might I trouble you to let me take him for a walk through this Great Xia?"

Ye Xuan did not refuse. Although his hands had been itching unbearably after watching their battle, Elder Zhong could have refused his request to observe the fight earlier, yet ultimately agreed; by every sense of reason and propriety, he ought not to turn him down now.

"By all means."

He said with a nod.

Hearing this, Morax finally asked the question that had been lingering in his heart since his arrival:

"Where is this place?"

He had long since realized that this world was neither Teyvat, nor did the Heavenly Principles exist here, but he had not had a chance to ask until now.

Elder Zhong stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze cast toward the distance:

"This is my Liyue."

He turned to look at Morax, a faint, hard-to-detect softness in his eyes: "Will you come with me to take a look?"

Morax glanced at Ye Xuan, and seeing the other nod in assent, he stepped forward to follow.

As the two walked side by side, Ye Xuan caught a conversation drifting on the wind—

Elder Zhong: "By the way, did you bring any money?"

Morax: "???"

The young Geo Archon did not understand at this moment why, as his future self, the other party would have no money.

Had he already forgotten how to write the "Mo" in "Morax"?

But on second thought, since this was not Teyvat, presumably Mora was not the currency in circulation here either.

Morax pulled a handful of glittering Jin Guang Mora from the void: "This is all I have."

Elder Zhong nodded in satisfaction: "That's enough."

Morax: "."

Then can't you just make some yourself?

Elder Zhong seemed to see through his thoughts and gave a light cough:

"You wouldn't understand."

Morax glanced at him — as if he would understand.

"Pfft—"

Ye Xuan beside them finally couldn't hold back a laugh. He quickly pretended to cough to cover it, but the curve of his lips simply wouldn't go down.

This young Geo Archon probably never imagined that his future self couldn't even produce money when going out.

He would never imagine that not only him, but the Anemo Archon and the Electro Archon were all the same.

The three Archons together couldn't scrape up a single Mora.

Morax glanced suspiciously at Ye Xuan, who had suddenly laughed, then at the composed Elder Zhong, feeling that there was something between these two that he did not know.

"Let's go."

Old Zhong turned around as if nothing had happened; the Mora in Morax's hand had already vanished.

"I'll take you to taste this world's 'Liyue' cuisine."

"Liyue is vast and rich; surely Emperor Rex Lapis can't afford to pay for a meal?"

"Mondstadt, the free city-state; is that how their god cheats for food and drink?"

"My money was earned through hard work; can't you, the one who mints coins, have some shame?"

"I'm retired! And not only do you cheat for food and drink, you also trick people into stealing, and they break things; who knows how it happened?"

"That's still better than you; do you call that retirement? Holding your own funeral; are you out of your mind?"

"What's wrong with a bit of ceremony for retirement? It's better than having your heart ripped out right at your own doorstep."

"Old relic, putting on airs."

"Little liar, ungrateful!"

"."

Morax and Old Zhong watched a video inside the restaurant looping endlessly: two marmots, with their heads replaced by his and Venti's, were fighting while arguing, while another marmot with Lei Shen's head tried to break up the fight, saying things like, "No, go ask Childe to pay; stop fighting," leaving them somewhat silent.

Morax slowly turned his head, looking at Old Zhong with an incredulous gaze.

Old Zhong silently turned his face to the other side, pretending to look at the menu; he hadn't expected that simply bringing Morax to taste roadside food would lead to such an embarrassing scene.

"Boss, you've really gone too far!"

"Aren't you afraid Old Zhong will see this?"

A diner laughed loudly while slapping the table.

"Hahaha!"

The boss, tossing the wok, said with a laugh:

"How could Old Zhong possibly come to my roadside stall?"

"If he did come, I'd definitely say—come on, do you understand Emperor Emperor Yanwang better, or do I?"

The entire small shop instantly erupted in laughter; obviously, everyone understood the meaning behind the boss's words.

Only Old Zhong and Morax could not laugh.

"Since it has come to this, let's eat first."

Old Zhong remained silent for a long time, then slowly raised his hand to order food.

Meanwhile, as online attention regarding Ye Xuan's video continued to climb, the golden pillar of light piercing heaven and earth in the video, along with the scene of him casually annihilating an entire beast tide, had already spread wildly across major platforms.

Under public pressure, the Hangzhou Sky Pivot Bureau was "forced" to release relevant information.

【Sky Pivot Bureau Official Announcement · Supernatural Being File】

【TOP2: Ye Xuan】

【Ability: Fox Spirit World, Holder of the Sovereign's Ambition Template】

【Commentary: Possesses all abilities mastered by the Sovereign's Ambition, with skills 'Sword of Heaven and Earth' and 'Sovereign's Wan Wan Jianyi'; 'Sovereign's Wan Wan Jianyi' was self-realized, and the time from obtaining the template to realizing the intent did not exceed ten days; possesses self-healing abilities no inferior to those of super-regeneration type ability users】

【Comprehensive Combat Power: Tier Five (Nuclear Level), suspected to exceed the Sovereign's Ambition template itself】

【Note: Ye Xuan has not joined the Sky Pivot Bureau, only reached a cooperation agreement with it; he has actively participated in handling crisis events multiple times; his not joining the Sky Pivot Bureau is our regret】

Zhong Li: Hand the bill to Dandelion.

Raiden: Hand the bill to Kujou Sara.

Venti: Hand the bill to... How about I sing a verse for you?





(End of Chapter)