Chapter 1149

"Sethis, people say I am a Defiler of Gods. But that does not mean I deny the existence of divinity; in my view—Titan is merely a power humanity has yet to conquer."

——

Genshin.

"Quite insightful. In my view, the Titans of Fontaine and the gods of Teyvat are the same—merely a higher form of life. You could even call them animals." Alhaitham said expressionlessly.

"Animals… only you could make such an analogy so casually."

"This isn't an analogy." Alhaitham closed the book in his hands. "The people of Fontaine were already able to imprison Janus in the city's priests during the Age of Conflict a thousand years ago. This practice is almost identical to how the Academia's greatest scholar once imprisoned the little Dendro Archon."

"That's true." Tighnari lowered his head and took a sip of tea: "But this also proves a point—that the Titans of Fontaine do not possess the legendary miraculous power to create heaven and earth; otherwise, they would not have been restrained by humans."

"Master, do you think… the myths of Fontaine are exaggerated?" Collei tilted her head, looking at Tighnari.

"Of course, if these Titans were truly as powerful as the legends say, then Heichi could never have spread; the Titans could utterly annihilate those twisted monsters with their world-destroying power."

Tighnari's expression turned grave as he continued: "However, as you have seen—Heichi has spread to the present, and aside from Nicadoli, it is hard to find any other Titan capable of resisting Heichi. I am even beginning to doubt whether the Recreation of the World can truly resolve this Heichi crisis; if the power of the twelve Titans themselves is insufficient to solve it, what grounds do we have to believe that collecting the sparks within them will solve the problem? And this point, too, is left unexplained by the divine pronouncement."

"Therefore, Kexia's method of smelting Titans is necessary." Alhaitham said, "If successful, it could give the Fire Pursuit Journey another possibility—no need to be guided by the illusory divine pronouncement; the Golden Descendants could directly become Titans. Rather than pinning our hopes on the 'Recreation of the World,' we might as well solve all problems in this lifetime."

——

"Oh? Since you intend to possess power comparable to that of a Titan, then, as the divine pronouncement indicates, undergoing the trial is sufficient." Sethis said.

"Hah, merely mastering a Titan's divine power is too superficial. What I seek is the law of the source of life—the essence of the 'soul'—what exactly 'we' are." Kexia turned around, saying, "Thanks to you, the fact that 'death' is the termination of the soul I have personally verified through various signs. Where there is death, there must be life; where there is an end, there must be a beginning—"

"How is the soul born? —In my calculations, only this one unknown remains."

"Hearing your tone, you must have formed some conjecture, right?"

"... No, I already have a conclusion. Just now, during that journey through death, I personally saw the answer."

"Suddenly, a familiar and gentle female voice came from behind the two—it was Xianyun rushing to this place."

"Kexia, sir… I have come. Your Excellency Xing's life hangs by a thread; please refrain from doing anything unnecessary."

"Kexia nodded: 'Of course, I will give you the answer you want with a decisive verdict. But according to the principle of equivalent exchange, I must also take from you what I need.'"

"……"

"After a moment of silence, Xianyun nodded without hesitation: '…I agree to the exchange.'"

"You don't even ask what the price is?"

"'It concerns the truth of the Death Titan and Xing's life…' Xianyun closed her eyes, 'This might be the only chance in my life to save a life; I have no reason to hesitate.'"

"Kexia looked satisfied at his student: 'Heh heh… good, then… let the performance begin.'"

"'Hold on. Let me interject—are you preparing to simultaneously prove the whereabouts of Senatos and what exactly "we" are?' Sethis reminded."

"'First, I must admit that I have long fallen into a cognitive trap. On the surface, these two propositions seem unrelated; however, they are logically equivalent—merely two different descriptions of the essence of the soul.'"

"Kexia turned his head toward Sethis: 'Second, why do I say this? I have already explained it; the answer lies within that journey through death.'"

——

Azure Archive.

"Mm…… 'Two descriptions of the essence of the soul'? What does that mean?"

"In the office of Convenience Store 68, Lu Bamu Airou scratched her head, looking utterly confused. She completely failed to grasp what Kexia was saying, or how 'seeking the Titans' could be linked to proving 'what we are'."

"This seems to involve some kind of convoluted philosophical debate, causing Airou to successfully abandon thinking."

"I suppose it's probably related to those 'hallucinations' Kexia saw. Do you still remember the girl who resembled Xianyun in appearance that appeared in those hallucinations?"

"Of course, that person must be Xianyun's younger sister?" Upon finally hearing a familiar question, Airou eagerly replied, "Besides, she is a Golden Descendant who inherited the Death Titan, yet the Death Titan is still alive and well, and its spark has not been reclaimed… So has she gone missing? Or was she abducted by the Death Titan?"

"'Missing? It's not that simple, little Ai.' Mutsu smiled. 'Kexia wants to smelt Kefale and become a Negative World Titan. Could Xianyun's sister smelt Senatos and become a Death Titan?'"

"???"

"'Wait… smelting a Death Titan? Does that little girl really have that much guts?!' Airou froze, her mouth wide open. 'So… did she succeed?'"

"'Who knows? Maybe she succeeded, maybe she died.' Mutsu shrugged. 'Regardless of whether she is alive or dead, the key to breaking the impasse now lies with Xianyun. She and her sister were born to inherit the authority of death; if her sister succeeded, a grim fate would likely befall her—Xianyun would have to kill her sister to obtain the spark, then undergo the trial to become a demigod. But sisters slaying each other upon first meeting… that's hard to accept.'"

——

"Xianyun looked at him in disbelief: 'Teacher… did you go to the underworld?'"

"'Not bad, because I am now a living dead. But that's not important; what matters is that I heard the conversation of a host of heroic figures. Moreover, furthermore… do you remember, Sethis? I also saw you participating in that dialogue.'"