Chapter 208: Self-Imposed Shackles

With Apep assisting from the side and Nadixa replenishing elemental energy.

The Great Merciful Tree King's revival went very smoothly.

When all the phenomena had faded, the fully grown Nadixa appeared in the nursery.

However, Luo De no longer had the mind to pay attention to these.

He now had nothing but the thread that bound him and the Divine Throne on his mind.

"What exactly is that thing?"

Luo De's doubt was destined to go unanswered.

Whether it was Apep or Venti, they had no intention of giving an answer.

Venti even replied, "It's not yet the time for you to know," while Apep, after the Great Merciful Tree King's revival, simply left without even glancing at Luo De.

Compared to these riddle-speakers, Nadixa was quite willing to answer.

Too bad.

She didn't know anything.

Even when she saw the Divine Throne manifest and its connection to Luo De, her expression was exactly the same bewilderment as his.

"Isn't it this look? ~~~"

Facing Luo De's murderous glare, Venti shrank her neck, mimicking Apep's action, and quickly turned her head to vanish without a trace.

"."

After Venti ran off, Luo De could only turn his gaze to the Great Merciful Tree King, who was pulling Nadixa left and right, looking like a mischievous girl.

"Ah, I never expected that we would actually get to meet in reality today."

Still the same operation, the Great Merciful Tree King directly ignored Luo De's gaze, beaming as she focused all her attention on Nadixa.

"You"

"You're not the same as before."

Nadixa had clearly not yet grown accustomed to the Great Merciful Tree King's cheerful, slightly playful demeanor.

"Mm, indeed there is a bit."

The Great Merciful Tree King propped her cheek, pouted, and said, "Nabu's influence is still strong; alas, I can't help it—it's really hard to resist this instinct that comes from the body itself."

"Instinct?"

Nadixa whispered.

Let's compare.

The current Nadixa and the Great Merciful Tree King could swap physiques without any problem.

Although the Great Merciful Tree King had shown such behavior before regaining consciousness, this contrast still easily makes people think they're acting.

No matter how you say it.

Compared to the Great Merciful Tree King in the consciousness space, who had everything under control and disregarded life and death, they are still completely different people.

"Nabu, the Flower God—is she really like this?"

Nadixa has never seen the Flower God.

Records of the Flower God in historical texts are scarce, and Nadixa's memory holds no special impression of her.

The Great Merciful Tree King feigned thought, then laughed: "When she's happy, she's like this; but when she's not happy, she's also quite terrifying."

"Is that so."

Nadixa's words had not yet faded.

Luo De, who had been left hanging aside for a long time, couldn't hold back and interrupted their conversation: "Hey, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

He pointed his hand to the sky and said, "What exactly is going on with that thing? Why is it connected to me?"

Luo De said.

Nadixa also looked at the Great Merciful Tree King with the same expression.

Venti and Apep could run, but the Great Merciful Tree King couldn't escape this topic just by saying she wanted to.

The Great Merciful Tree King, realizing this, sighed deeply and spread her hands.

"Barbatos told you, didn't he?"

"You're not yet suited to know these things."

"You just need to know that we're all helping you."

"Are they all helping themselves?"

Luo De wondered to himself.

After Apep snapped the thread on the Divine Throne, he indeed felt his body become lighter.

Before, he truly hadn't noticed this.

Even if his Vision was shattered.

Besides being unable to use his Vision, he detected nothing else unusual.

Luo De extended his hand, contemplating the clump of grass elemental energy in his palm.

Although he still had no Vision, he once again gained the ability to wield elemental energy.

This is a trait of elemental beings.

It is also a trait of Descenders.

These signs basically confirm that Luo De's speculation about that possibility is true and reliable.

"Am I the same as you?"

To verify that speculation, Luo De again asked the Great Merciful Tree King.

"If I must say..."

Indeed.

The Great Merciful Tree King first nodded, then said: "However, you and I are not quite the same."

"Not quite the same?"

"Hmm, that ray of spiritual light of yours is a very special existence, not unlike Ximo Ge."

"Ximo Ge? Is that the bird?"

The divine bird Ximo Ge, daughter of the Flower Goddess Naboo·Maliyakat, born from the flower's spiritual wisdom and the sky's context, possessing the purest essence of life, is a point in the heart of the flower, a droplet that bears light among myriad sweet dews.

"Am I a special existence similar to Ximo Ge?"

Luo De continued to ask: "Didn't the Flower Goddess leave behind only a ray of spiritual light?"

"Huh? You know quite a lot."

The Great Merciful Tree King let out a soft 'huh', then responded directly: "You don't know? Naboo herself is formed from that spiritual light."

"Ha—ah!"

This answer made Luo De's heart jump involuntarily.

"Is the Flower Goddess herself just a ray of spiritual light?"

Does the Great Merciful Tree King's words mean that my true form is actually a reincarnation of the Flower Goddess? No, it should be a transformation of the Flower Goddess's remnant body?

"The consciousness of a descender plus the Flower Goddess's remnant body, so the Sky Island wants to imprison me to prevent me from becoming the fifth descender?"

Luo De directly voiced his speculation, throwing the problem to the Great Merciful Tree King.

That's the only explanation he could think of.

The Vision is a shackle.

"What are the characteristics of a descender?"

Besides possessing a will comparable to that of a world, it also has unparalleled compatibility with elemental energy, signifying that the Gnosis of the Seven Archons is crafted from the remnants of descenders.

That thread connected to the divine throne.

For Nadixa and the Great Merciful Tree King, it is the symbol of their Dendro Archon identity.

For Luo De, however, it continues to tug at his shackles after his Vision shatters.

Following this speculation, we can sort out the prior events.

Roughly, we can piece together such a timeline.

Before King Weichi opened the Abyssal Gate, the Flower Goddess separated a ray of spiritual light and gave it to the Great Merciful Tree King; the Great Merciful Tree King then fashioned a body for it, namely the divine bird Ximo Ge, in which a ray of spiritual light resided in the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness.

Afterward, the Flower Goddess opened the gate; she herself was swallowed by the Abyssal force, her remnants turning into another ray of spiritual light that wandered the desert until Luo De's consciousness descended and merged with it.

The spiritual light itself lacks the ability to forge a body.

And the Flower Goddess's consciousness had already been obliterated in the disaster brought by opening the gate.

Thus, the unconscious spiritual light found his body in Luo De's memories and successfully constructed for him this body that operates on the Tiwatedalu continent.

Had it not been for the pursuit by the Tanit tribe, Luo De might have faded among mortals, living an ordinary life in Teyvat, not becoming involved in various affairs as he is now.

But that's unfortunate.

No 'ifs'.

Luo De's intense will to survive, bursting forth at the brink of life and death, triggered the Vision discharge system of the Sky Island.

The first Vision, which is also the first shackle, thus descended from the heavens.

While granting Luo De the ability to manipulate Ice Elemental Power, it also sealed his fate from growing into a descender.

Afterward, the Fire Vision, the Grass Vision, and likewise were the same.

Whenever Luo De's will touches the Sky Island, a new shackle descends, firmly locking him under the Sky Island's control.

The acquisition of the Wind Vision may truly have been an accident.

Because Luo De had actually succeeded in using the Wind God's Gnosis at that time.

According to the speculation of the shackle theory.

Luo De's three Visions at that time bound him to three divine thrones, but not the Wind God's throne.

Thus he could stir the Wind God's Gnosis with the will of a descender.

Thus the Sky Island urgently bound him with a fourth shackle, completely sealing his ability to use wind elemental power beyond permitted limits.

This is also why Luo De thereafter could no longer use the Wind God's Gnosis no matter how he tried.

His inability to manipulate the Grass God's Gnosis with his own strength should also be due to this.

Subsequently, we jump in time to when the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness was reborn.

Before, Luo De had never figured out why a fragment of the Great Merciful Tree King's consciousness would reside in his Vision.

Now he roughly has an outline.

That is, he himself is connected to the divine throne of the Grass God, and the concrete manifestation of that connection at the time was the Grass God's Vision.

The three gods of Sumeru once shared the authority of the Grass God.

Thus that speck of spiritual light preserved the purified remnants of consciousness, drilling into this Vision that is connected to the Grass God's divine throne.

And this matter.

Was noticed by Apep.

As the primordial Grass Dragon King, Apep is extremely sensitive to the power of the Sky Island.

Moreover, the divine thrones of the Seven Archons themselves were forged from the dragon authority stripped from the Dragon Kings.

Thus those divine thrones that even second-generation Dragon Kings cannot see are actually perceptible to the primordial Dragon King.

After perceiving this,

Apep then generously bestowed his Oasis Source.

The purpose, besides accelerating the Great Merciful Tree King's recovery, was also to help Luo De break free from the Vision's shackles.

Venti should also be helping her with this.

Otherwise he wouldn't have let Luo De go listen to the prayers of the Flower God's followers, thereby exposing Luo De's connection to the god's throne.

As for why Apep wants to help me break my shackles.

"The Descender."

Luo De's facial expression twitched slightly, and he shook his head.

Without a doubt.

It's precisely that—the Descender.

The natives of Teyvat cannot defy the Heavenly Principles—this is beyond doubt.

Only a Descender from outside the world, not subject to Teyvat's fate system, could possibly have this ability.

Of course.

Actually, the previous few Descenders all failed in the process.

Moreover, the third Descender was torn apart, becoming the Gnosis representing the Seven Archons.

But even a sliver of hope is better than none.

Therefore Apep chose to help me break one of my shackles, releasing the elemental affinity that should rightfully belong to a Descender.

"What's there that can't be said?"

Luo De didn't believe that Apep, Venti, and the Great Merciful Tree King would think he couldn't have guessed these things.

Then.

What exactly are they hiding from me?

"Alright, alright, don't overthink it."

The Great Merciful Tree King patted Luo De on the shoulder, speaking in a grave, elder-like tone: "Everyone means well for you; just knowing this is enough~~"

"For my own good?"

"You mean rushing me to help you fight the Heavenly Principles?"

Luo De raised an eyebrow, and his voice became less pleasant.

These speculations are not good things for him.

However, he had just finished speaking.

The Great Merciful Tree King burst out laughing with a "pfft," doubling over for a while before covering his belly and saying: "You've always considered yourself smart, so how could you be so clueless about this?"

"Huh?"

Luo De furrowed his brows even deeper: "What do you mean?"

"Stupid."

The Great Merciful Tree King chuckled: "As long as your connection to Sky Island remains, how could you possibly fight the Heavenly Principles?"

"Hiss——"

Upon hearing this, Luo De's eyes lit up instantly, and his foul mood suddenly cleared.

Exactly!

As long as the shackles on me remain, isn't it just that I can't unlock a Descender's privileges? So even if Apep harbors ill will toward me, what could he do?

She could use the opportunity of the Great Merciful Tree King's rebirth to locate the exact position of the god's throne and, in one fell swoop, break the shackles binding me there.

But this does not mean she would then have another chance to seek the thrones of the other gods.

So as long as Luo De himself does not attempt to break the shackles.

then no one can force him to restore his Descendant status.

"I understand——"

Having understood this, Luo De swept away his earlier gloom, and in high spirits carefully stored away the remaining three Visions, lest he attract attention again.

Moreover.

He is now considering whether to make a trip to the other three nations, find a pretext to borrow the Gnoses of those three gods, and thus tighten the shackles on himself even further.

"Wind, fire, ice, grass."

"Still missing Geo, Electro, and Hydro."

Luo De stroked his chin, thinking to himself: "The Hydro Archon's Gnosis isn't in my hands—troublesome; the Electro Archon's Gnosis, uh, forget it, I'll skip that too—too difficult; as for the Geo Archon's Gnosis,"

Having thought this far,

Luo De narrowed his eyes and involuntarily licked his lips.

The difficulty of borrowing the Geo Archon's Gnosis isn't great.

The Lady is currently on a business trip to Sumeru, and the young man from Mondstadt has only just left, meaning it hasn't yet come to the time when the Geo Archon feigns death and transfers Liyue's divine authority to human rule.

I can fully take advantage of this opportunity to create a time lag, rush ahead to Liyue, and brush up against the Geo Archon Morax to borrow a bit of his Geo Gnosis.

Luo De's demand isn't large.

As long as it's like in Mondstadt—just a brush with the Gnosis's power to let Sky Island shake off the fifth shackle—then it's done.

Such a demand isn't so difficult as to require signing some unsolvable contract; it can be done.

Putting it optimistically.

He is now heading to Liyue on official business under Nahida's name, taking the chance to meet the Geo Archon and ask to borrow the Gnosis—he might just achieve his goal outright.

"We must set out before the Lady departs."

"Yeah, we definitely need to get ahead of her."

A long‑absent smile broke out on Luo De's face.

That's settled then.

The Great Merciful Tree King was right—if the shackles on me remain unbroken, no one can entertain any ulterior motives.

Apepu, you're not willing to give up, are you?

Then I'll just tie up my own hands and feet myself—let's see what you can do!

(End of chapter)