Chapter 300: Sorry (Please Subscribe!!)

Jiang Yan did not know how long he had been battling the Lord of the Abyss.

He only knew that he shattered the Lord of the Abyss again and again, and the Lord of the Abyss, exploiting its undying nature, kept layering the Abyss's curse upon Jiang Yan.

But with the Time Stone and the Horse Talisman and Dog Talisman at hand, the Abyss's corrosion was useless against Jiang Yan.

But it could not be said to be entirely useless.

Because each time the Lord of the Abyss clung to him, the Abyss's corrosion grew stronger, and the Lord of the Abyss reconstituted itself faster and faster.

Sometimes Jiang Yan simply could not offset the Abyss's corrosion in time before the next battle began.

The Lord of the Abyss was not having an easy time either.

Reconstituting its body was not without cost.

Moreover, in order to make Jiang Yan suffer the Abyss's corrosion, the Lord of the Abyss reconstituted itself faster and faster, and the toll on itself grew greater and greater.

Both sides could be said to have taken damage; Jiang Yan was, for all intents and purposes, tanking the Abyss's corrosive harm head-on while going berserk on the Lord of the Abyss.

And the Lord of the Abyss, bearing an ever-greater toll on itself, forcefully traded blows with Jiang Yan.

Just like that, no one knew how long they fought.

The surface of Teyvat.

The trembling of the ground lasted only a moment before the Heavenly Principles and the Seven Gods stabilized the leylines.

Although the Heavenly Principles prevented them from investigating the depths of the leylines, Morax knew exactly who had caused this trembling.

Although he was worried in his heart, the clone Jiang Yan had not vanished, which meant Jiang Yan was not in mortal danger.

Just like that, two thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

During those two thousand years, no one knew how many times the earth had trembled.

But because the Heavenly Principles and the Seven Gods reinforced the leylines, at the very least these tremors did not push the world back to the brink of collapse.

Liyue Harbor.

"Jiang Yan! This policy will have too great an impact on Liyue!"

Lady Guizhong slammed the documents in her hand down hard in front of the clone Jiang Yan, an angry expression on her face.

"Oh? Do elaborate."

The clone Jiang Yan did not even look up, speaking flatly.

"Raising the commoners' tax and the merchants' tax rashly will, to say nothing of causing some unrest among the Eight Gates, also breed complaints among the people!"

Lady Guizhong tried to persuade Jiang Yan.

After the clone Jiang Yan took power, although he had always maintained the policies of the original Jiang Yan, he had not empathized with the people's plight the way the original Jiang Yan had.

In his mind, he issued decrees, and these subjects only needed to follow his decrees.

The people's will? A bunch of mere mortals.

The clone Jiang Yan, who had inherited a cold-blooded and ruthless disposition, handled matters with extreme iron-fisted resolve.

Even for this round of military expansion, Jiang Yan did not hesitate in the slightest, directly ordering an increase in Liyue's taxes.

"Complaints? So what?"

"Liyue is thriving; only a strong military can maintain the nation's peace and stability."

Jiang Yan said coldly.

"Perhaps they will find it hard to accept for a while, but as long as such decrees continue for some time, they will accept it."

"If anyone has complaints, tell them to come find me in person to discuss it."

Hearing Jiang Yan's cold and heartless words, Lady Guizhong stared at him in disbelief.

She kept shaking her head and stepping back; looking at Jiang Yan's expressionless face, she said:

"Jiang Yan, you've changed."

Yes, Jiang Yan had clearly changed.

He had become unconcerned with the people's plight.

He had become cold.

He seemed no longer the gentle, mischievous boy Lady Guizhong had known.

Even Little Ganyu, who loved him, had a huge quarrel with him, and they had given each other the cold shoulder.

"Sigh, people always change, don't they?"

The clone Jiang Yan did not say much more.

He could not reveal that the original body was no longer in Liyue.

Suddenly, his expression changed.

He clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground.

"Jiang Yan!!!"

Seeing Jiang Yan fall to the ground in agony, Lady Guizhong's eyes went wide and she shouted in panic.

At the same time, Little Ganyu on the second floor heard the commotion upstairs, along with Lady Guizhong's startled cry.

She hurried upstairs and saw Lady Guizhong kneeling on the ground, supporting Jiang Yan, whose face was twisted in pain and pale.

"A-Yan!"

At this moment, Little Ganyu could no longer be bothered by the cold war she was having with Jiang Yan; she hurried forward, her face panicked.

"Go... go get Morax!"

"Quick!!"

The clone Jiang Yan rasped in a low growl.

"Alright, I'll go get him, hold on!"

At this moment, Lady Guizhong completely lost her composure; she scrambled to her feet and stumbled out.

"Ah Yan... Ah Yan......"

Little Ganyu hugged Jiang Yan in panic, calling out frantically.

Then, she discovered in alarm that Jiang Yan's limbs had become extremely hard; lifting his sleeve, her eyes widened.

At this moment, Jiang Yan's body suddenly took on the shape of wood.

"As expected, even though the original body left me countermeasures, it still won't work."

The clone Jiang Yan muttered with a bitter smile.

"Little Ganyu."

Suddenly, Jiang Yan spoke softly.

But when Little Ganyu looked at Jiang Yan's face, signs of petrification had already appeared at his neck.

"I'm sorry; I've been deceiving you for these two thousand years."