Chapter 245: Good news?

For Xiao, staying in the densely populated Liyue Harbor was not something that made him very comfortable.

Fortunately.

Venti helped him suppress the karma on his body, so it would no longer fluctuate as often as before.

Otherwise.

No matter how Luo De wore his lips out talking, Xiao would not agree to stay overnight in Liyue Harbor.

But even so.

After a day.

He also could not hide the weariness on his face.

Night fell.

Luo De, who had just finished communicating with Sumeru, looked at the figure that suddenly appeared outside the window and said without surprise, "If you can't sleep, come in and have a drink together."

The visitor was Xiao.

Knowing he would definitely not sleep tonight and surely had many questions to ask, Luo De had already been waiting here.

After Xiao entered.

His first words were: "Can I see him?"

He said that.

Luo De then took out the crystal storing Fushe's remnant consciousness and handed it to Xiao.

He didn't know whether it had sensed his brother.

The remnant consciousness of Fushe, which had shown no movement since being in Luo De's hand, suddenly flickered with a faint purple glow within the green crystal.

However, under the isolation of Apep's crystal.

Even though Fushe's remnant consciousness had responded to Xiao, it still could not bring any further change to this crystal.

"Fushe."

Xiao stared at the hint of purple light in the crystal, his face full of complex emotions—regret, joy, and bewilderment about the unknown.

When saying farewell to the remnant soul of Fushe in the Layered Rock Abyss.

He had already prepared himself to live on alone, carrying the will of his brothers and sisters.

Unexpectedly.

Just as he was about to begin shouldering all of this, Zhongli suddenly gave him the news that Fushe still had hope of living again.

Although he did not know how much time would be needed to make this a reality.

But this ultimately meant there was hope.

It was far better than having no hope at all.

It was precisely this news.

That lifted Xiao's originally despondent spirit, which is why he became willing to follow the immortals to try engaging with the mortal world.

After returning Fushe's remnant consciousness to Luo De.

Xiao, remaining silent, still showed a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

When Luo De handed him a cup of apple cider, he naturally took it and they drank together under the moonlight.

Apple cider is not a product produced in Liyue.

Rather, it is a non-alcoholic beverage from Mondstadt.

Its developer is Diluc, whom Luo De is already quite familiar with.

Who would have thought.

The owner of Teyvat's largest winery, who actually has a low tolerance for alcohol, has therefore specially developed multiple fruit-flavored drinks without added alcohol.

Among them, the apple-flavored apple cider is the best-selling.

Although it was his first time drinking it, Xiao appeared to quite like this new beverage.

"The texture is quite strange."

After a brief comment, Xiao couldn't help but take two more sips of the golden drink in the cup.

"This is the latest model not yet on the market; if it weren't for my connections, you wouldn't be able to get this new product for at least a few more months."

Luo De proudly shook the cup in his hand.

Traditional apple cider is a fruit-flavored drink with the fruit's sourness removed, not very sweet, yet retaining the fruit's aroma; it is usually used as a decorative drink at banquets and is generally taken as a sobering-up beverage.

The last time Luo De went to Mondstadt and was invited to the Dawn Winery.

He had once given Diluc a suggestion.

That was to combine the technique of carbonated water with the craft of apple cider.

Simply put.

It is simply using a small amount of juice combined with the carbonated water process to produce a new, inexpensive flavored drink similar to a carbonated beverage.

However, given Teyvat's craftsmanship level.

Even the Dawn Winery, which leads the continent in winemaking technology, could not produce the carbonated drink Luo De is familiar with.

However, after Diluc carefully evaluated the suggestion, it was confirmed to have excellent feasibility and market prospects.

The reason is simple.

Dawn Winery has consistently produced high-end products.

Due to cost considerations, they have no competitiveness in the low-end market.

This is not only evident in other countries.

It is the same in Mondstadt itself.

This is also why, despite Dawn Winery's power and technical ability, many taverns not belonging to them can still open right under their noses.

The sparkling drink, which focuses on the low-end market, is just right to break the current situation.

While seizing the low-end market, it will not overly suppress the local liquor industry.

Inspired, Diluc immediately gathered the winery's managers, starting from their two most-produced fruit drinks, apple brew and grape brew, to try researching the low-priced sparkling drink Luo De mentioned.

This time, representing the Knights of Favonius, they visited Sumeru.

Diluc then took their latest research results to promote.

The result was as he expected.

This drink, focusing on taste and low price, was indeed well received.

The elder Sanga Mahabali of Sumeru also signed a large order with him, directly monopolizing all of Sumeru's supply rights, becoming the exclusive agent of Dawn Winery in Sumeru.

What Luo De and Xiao are drinking now.

This is the new product that Diluc used to promote in Sumeru, still unreleased.

Earlier, when Luo De landed in Liyue, he specially gave Luo De a small box.

Compared to the fruit-flavored carbonated drinks Luo De drank in his previous life.

Dawn Winery's newly developed drink based on apple brew still inevitably has a stronger juice flavor, and its carbonation level is considerably weaker.

Setting these aside.

This drink still has its own outstanding qualities in sweetness and texture.

At least, as far as Luo De's taste goes, he still likes this flavor.

Especially when slightly frozen with Ice Elemental Power, carrying a hint of frost, the mouthfeel becomes even more refreshing.

Xiao usually does not like mortal food.

He is particularly fond of sweet and refreshing almond tofu.

Luo De guesses he probably prefers sweet foods.

That's why he specially prepared this sparkling drink focused on sweetness.

The effect looks pretty good.

The drink in Xiao's cup was gone in an instant, even faster than Luo De's.

Then he poured another full cup.

This time Xiao didn't rush to drink, pondered a moment, and asked: "The Emperor told me to let me succeed him—was that your idea?"

"Hmm."

"Indeed, it's me."

Luo De leaned back in his chair, leisurely saying: "Are you wondering why I chose you?"

"No."

Xiao shook his head: "I just wanted to ask, what condition has the Geo Archon fallen into? Is there any danger?"

He's quite a sensitive fellow.

Luo De glanced at him and spoke frankly: "If he doesn't step down, he could very well become another Ratuo Dragon King."

Another Ratuo Dragon King.

Those words clearly frightened Xiao.

He himself had witnessed the stark difference in the Ratuo Dragon King before and after its wear.

Defeating a single Ratuo Dragon King required gathering Liyue's strongest combat forces, and in the end only its own brief moment of clarity could finally put an end to the battle that could be called Liyue's most terrifying conflict.

When the Ratuo Dragon King goes mad, Zhongli can subdue it.

If what Luo De said is true, then Zhongli might have gone mad as well.

Xiao dared not think about it.

The Geo Archon is the oldest deity in Teyvat, the ancestor of all adepts in Liyue; one could say that the adeptal arts, mechanisms, elixirs, and other techniques that the adepts now skillfully employ are all methods passed down from him.

Xiao did not believe that gathering all of Liyue's adepts could be compared to Zhongli.

What's more.

When corrupted, its strength triples; when purified, its strength is reduced to one-third.

This is no joke; it's real.

When one harbors benevolent thoughts.

In battle, they always act cautiously, fearing to harm the innocent.

But once those benevolent thoughts are replaced by malice.

then they strike without restraint, acting as fiercely as possible, seeking to inflict maximum damage on the enemy—in fact, this allows them to unleash even greater combat power.

Just as, in the past, the adepti yaksha Fazhan and Mi Nu, who fought alongside Xiao.

Due to the impact of karmic debt.

These two yaksha lost their sanity, becoming rampaging killing machines.

Their battle also unleashed destructive power far beyond their own strength, and in the end they perished together upon losing their sanity.

Gazing at Xiao's drastically changed countenance.

Luo De chuckled: "You've already agreed to his terms—what's there to worry about?"

"I didn't know the Geo Archon's condition had become so dire."

Xiao lowered his head with an inscrutable expression.

In his mind, Zhongli was the almighty Geo Archon; he had never imagined that even such a Geo Archon would suffer this ordeal, both mentally and physically.

"Even if it's more dire now, that was in the past."

"As long as he sheds his burdens, he need no longer worry about being worn down."

"That means you too will eventually face a similar situation."

Luo De downed the cup of apple wine in one gulp, spread his hands, and said, "After all, you also have to abide by the contract he set; as long as the contract isn't lifted, this wear will last a lifetime—even if you go mad, it will continue to cling to you."

"No problem."

"As long as I can relieve the Geo Archon's worries and solve his troubles, what does it matter if I bear this wear?"

Xiao put on an expression of regarding death as homecoming, and his visage grew resolute.

"You should still look after yourself first."

Luo De pursed his lips and said, "The Geo Archon must have told you the benefits of inheriting the divine position, right?"

"Hmm."

Xiao nodded.

"Then it's fine."

"Wear doesn't appear instantly upon becoming the Geo Archon."

"As long as you successfully inherit the divine position and dispel your own karmic obstacles, the wear will become a future matter—at the very least, you don't need to worry about it now."

After Luo De finished saying this, it not only failed to dispel Xiao's faint worries, but made him even more doubtful.

It sounded like.

What Luo De meant was that the wear wouldn't appear immediately; after completing the transfer of the divine position with Zhongli, he would have a fairly long period of safety.

But if you think about it carefully.

you would discover that the true meaning behind Luo De's words is that the wear might not occur at all afterward.

This left Xiao not quite understanding.

On what basis could Luo De be so certain that the wear wouldn't reappear?

Xiao speculated to himself over there.

Luo De continued chatting: "In short, when I previously discussed this with the Geo Archon, he clearly said that you just need to position yourself as a protector; it's best not to meddle in what the people of Liyue do or what happens to them, lest you end up like him—having only just become the Geo Archon and already fallen into wear. What you need to do is make the Liyue people remember that they still have a god."

"Didn't the Adepti Liuyun conclude that mortals show disrespect to the gods only because they lack a beating?"

"Then let them get beaten."

"If Liyue faces no major crisis, you should, like the Anemo Archon, stay as far away as possible, giving them the freedom to govern their nation—that's enough."

Xiao listened seriously to Luo De's words, then wore a thoughtful expression.

Actually, these words were summarized by Zhongli based on his own experience.

The so-called wear.

In Zhongli's view, it is merely a kind of consumption of the spirit that occurs when the gods perform their divine duties.

In the short term it's fine.

But over a long period.

such wear will cause an irreversible drain on the spirit.

If it's the Yaksha King, it's rather special.

Its wear arises from its own nature, but the result is the same: due to excessive spiritual depletion, although reason remains, memory is utterly worn away, eventually descending into utter madness.

And the gods each have their own ways of dealing with wear.

For example, the Electro Archon, one of the Seven Archons, simply discards her flesh, places her spiritual form in an unchanging state, directly erasing from the root the time-based augmentation of wear, thereby avoiding suffering wear herself.

Venti's approach is even simpler and more straightforward.

He outright abandoned his divine duties, becoming a vagrant who wanders all over Teyvat.

By doing so.

he lets himself avoid the internal spiritual drain of performing divine duties.

Of course.

This method cannot completely erase the torment of wear.

Thus Venti will occasionally fall into a sleep state, completely emptying his mind, pushing all things that could possibly cause wear out of his brain; he will not actively awaken unless Mondstadt faces danger.

And this approach.

Its drawback is a total loss of control over Mondstadt.

The several internal strifes in Mondstadt are thus the consequences.

What Zhongli now needs to do.

is to emulate Venti's approach, keeping Xiao in a state that seems like he is performing divine duties but isn't truly doing so, so that Liyue's nobility dare not forget that they still have a Geo Archon above them, and at the same time have the adepti take Xiao's place in carrying out some reprimands, to prevent occurrences like the Academy and the Laurence family directly usurping the gods.

Luo De doesn't know how Zhongli explained this to Xiao.

Anyway, he just dumped his own understanding and everything Zhongli had said before onto Xiao, letting him digest it slowly.

No matter how you say it.

Getting the point across is best.

Letting Xiao understand what he needs to do in the future is the key.

After last night's conversation, which could be called frank and open.

Xiao, once again preparing to set out with Luo De, is visibly in a better mental state than yesterday.

Luoshalin also arrived on time.

At the same time she also brought Luo De some good news.

"Hmph, consider yourself fortunate."

"After Her Majesty the Empress gave her consent, the Doctor agreed to your request."

(End of chapter)