Chapter 253: Scattered Geo Authority

The news that was finally released.

It caused the whole of Liyue to fall into a rather chaotic situation overnight.

This widespread chaos even affected the Liyue high-ranking officials who had been mentally prepared in advance.

Zhongli's relinquishing of authority was not something that happened temporarily.

But it has been ongoing for a long time.

After that wave of purges.

The current powerholders of Liyue can be said to have seen their influence surge; many positions previously controlled by infiltrators were divided up among the powerholders in this turmoil.

Among them, Ningguang obtained especially many.

As an insider with firsthand information.

She skillfully took advantage of this information gap, placing her own people in departments previously completely out of reach, thereby gaining greater influence in the the Liyue the Liyue Qixing.

However, with more departments under her control, it also means Ningguang has more matters to handle.

The Heaven's Authority Star itself is the most affairs-heavy among the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing.

Nowadays it's even busier.

Not only must she prepare the ceremony she will preside over on the day of the divine succession, but also calm the unrest of the Liyue people, and furthermore devote great energy to guarding against movements from other nations or Liyue's own forces, while also digesting and absorbing the newly acquired power departments under her control.

She is busy.

That doesn't mean others can idle.

After Ningguang issued the Geo Archon's edict, confirming that the previous Archon's relinquishment of authority was due to the imminent ascension of the new god, and that the newly appointed Geo Archon would return power to the people.

The similarly shocked and bewildered Thousand Rock Army promptly headed to various places in Liyue; Beidou's responsible South Cross Fleet likewise fully equipped set sail to Cloud Come Sea to begin day-and-night patrols, directly placing itself in an official position within Liyue.

The recently opened parts of the Layered Rock Abyss were sealed again.

The miners who had difficulty returning to their posts were temporarily placed in villages near the mining area.

Fortunately, the subsidy given by the Radiant Mountain Bureau this time was extremely generous, not lower than the miners' wages during normal work, which soothed the agitated miners.

The same situation also occurred in other important resource areas.

Not only that.

Even the Eight Gates, whose status is second only to the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing, were all placed under close surveillance.

Especially the employees of the Silver Mint who have long spoken ill of the Geo Archon.

Speaking of these people.

In Liyue, when someone like Keqing of the Liyue the Liyue the Liyue Qixing questions the Geo Archon, they will face strong exclusion from others.

Not to mention the employees of the Silver Mint who regard themselves as followers of the Salt God.

Furthermore, whenever the Geo Archon is mentioned, they always criticize with terms like 'murderer' and 'hypocrite' without mercy.

If it weren't for the explicit provision in Liyue's laws that tolerates followers of foreign gods and prohibits conflict.

Otherwise, someone would have long wanted to give these Salt God followers a proper physical lecture.

This is precisely out of vigilance against those who blaspheme the Geo Archon.

Ningguang personally ordered that during the Geo Archon's succession ceremony, they must keep a close watch on those who harbor full hostility toward the Archon, especially their mouths, which must be kept shut; now in this sensitive period, if they dare to speak recklessly, they will be thrown straight into prison without the slightest hesitation.

Apart from these measures.

Ningguang also summoned envoys from other nations stationed in Liyue, including Luo De, and formally delivered the invitation to the divine succession ceremony.

Changing the Geo Archon is no trivial matter.

It is originally meant to notify the remaining six nations to come and witness the ceremony.

According to the unspoken rules of the Teyvat continent.

As for the gods, the remaining six gods should also come to witness.

But this is not something Ningguang can worry about.

What she needs to handle are the divine representatives from the remaining six nations.

Excellent Mountain is easy to handle.

Luo De is the best representative of the Dendro Archon as a divine representative.

Sending him an invitation is just a formality.

The main invitees this time are still other nations; at that time they will all send forth prominent figures who can better represent the divine name to attend.

Meanwhile.

The Liyue General Affairs Department also dispatched capable agents who hid among the crowd.

Their goal is simple.

First, using disguised identities to investigate possible safety hazards; second, to probe public opinion among the populace, and at an appropriate moment they can also guide the direction of public opinion to avoid radical remarks affecting the subsequent succession ceremony.

"The sixth one."

At Harmony Abundance Teahouse, Luo De took a sip of tea and seemingly unintentionally muttered to himself.

"What sixth one?"

The confused Paimon patted her belly angrily: "I've only eaten the fifth one; you, you can't be spouting nonsense!"

She was referring to the lotus pastry she had just eaten.

And what Luo De was talking about—the number of General Affairs Department spies appearing in the teahouse—is completely a different matter.

Such cross-channel dialogue made Luo De chuckle: "Is it enough? If not, I'll call for more."

"If you and Ying don't eat,"

Gazing at the table where only four lotus pastries remained, Paimon sucked in a breath of saliva, suppressing her gluttonous desire.

"Hahaha——"

"You eat; I won't."

Her appearance made Luo De laugh out loud.

"I'm not eating either."

"Paimon, go ahead and eat."

Ying also laughed and echoed.

Paimon eats whatever she wants, and Ying has never stopped Paimon.

That's exactly why.

Just Paimon's monthly food expenses alone come to 300,000 Mora.

That's enough for Luo De to eat and drink well in the desert for a year. Today he received an invitation from Ningguang.

Luo De was able to temporarily stop working and rest, and Ying and Paimon followed suit, running out of the Jade Void Immortal Mansion.

Zhongli, Venti, and the adepti all have their own things to do right now.

Specifically.

They went to help Xiao tidy up properly.

As Venti said.

The adepti have come up with a set of clothing specially made for formal occasions, which is said to have been personally designed by Minu of the yaksha among the adepti, and not only this set of robes, but all the adepti, including the female ones, were also personally designed by him.

"Wearing clothes designed by my own brother truly feels ceremonial and meaningful."

This was Venti's evaluation at the time.

Of course.

Preparing a set of formal attire for Xiao to replace his battle-worn war robe is just a small matter.

What the adepti truly need to do.

It is to, with the help of Zhongli and Venti's power, jointly seal the karmic obstacles within Xiao's body, ensuring he does not go berserk during the handover ceremony; all other matters, compared to this, are merely minor things that can be set aside.

Sealing the karmic obstacles is not an easy task.

With the power of the two oldest extant gods in Teyvat, they barely managed to complete a seal formation that only lasts temporarily for one month, and then they all became exhausted to the point of near collapse, naturally they no longer had the time or leisure to visit the Harmony and Abundance Tea House as before.

"Right."

"Will the Dendro Archon also come?"

While watching the show, Ying casually asked a question.

Just now Luo De said that Zhongli was stepping down and making such a fuss; according to etiquette, other gods should come to witness the ceremony.

Thus Ying thought of Nadixa, who is far away in Sumeru.

Earlier she had already planned that after finishing her Liyue trip, she would go to Sumeru to seek the God of Wisdom and continue asking about her brother's whereabouts.

It just so happens that if Nadixa were to come,

Isn't that saving oneself a lot of time that would otherwise be wasted on the road?

However, Luo De's reply was indeed just a slight shake of the head.

"I also don't know."

This is certainly not perfunctory.

But Luo De truly doesn't know who will come.

He had a vague premonition: perhaps the one coming to Sumeru would be the Great Merciful Tree King.

There isn't any complicated reason.

Simply, the Great Merciful Tree King was, in the official sense of Sumeru back then, one of the Seven Earthly Sovereigns recognized by the Heavenly Principles.

Along with the other six gods.

She is also very familiar.

Opposite to her.

Because she failed to inherit the memories and identity of the Great Merciful Tree King, and moreover was imprisoned by the Academy for five hundred years, Nadixa has never had any contact with the other gods; she merely issued an official statement after her restoration.

It just depends on what the two of them are discussing.

If one is just going through the motions, then the Great Merciful Tree King coming would certainly be most appropriate.

If one intends to let Nadixa come to draw closer to the other six gods, doing so also leaves nothing to fault.

And the reason Luo De has stayed in Liyue for so long.

Actually, it's also because he knows they will at least send one, and even if they go back, when the handover ceremony occurs, Luo De will also follow the Sumeru gods to attend the ceremony.

No way.

Who let Sumeru currently have no one capable of representing the Dendro Archon besides Luo De, other than the present Great Sage Nafis being qualified.

Referring to the current situation of the Academy being so busy they're running around.

Even if Nafis wanted to come, he wouldn't have that opportunity.

No matter how you look at it, it has to be Luo De representing the Dendro Archon in the mortal observers' ceremony.

So Luo De also couldn't be bothered to leave; he simply stayed in Liyue waiting for the Sumeru gods to come.

Speaking of the Sumeru gods.

Luo De idly muttered: "I don't even know where Apep ran off to."

Since that day when he delivered the horn of the Dragon King Ruotuo and personally applied a seal, compressing that dragon king's crown into the size of a jade pendant, Apep has not been seen since.

Anyway, with Luo De's abilities, it's utterly impossible to find him.

Zhongli also doesn't seem worried.

Looking at his appearance, Luo De has more than once suspected whether Apep had returned to Sumeru.

But when in contact with Sumeru.

But the Great Merciful Tree King clearly told him that Apep had not returned to Sumeru; she even urged Luo De to hurry and urge Apep to return to Sumeru. Now, in order to settle Apep's curious subjects who are curious about everything, she is almost dying of busyness every day.

In the midst of wondering where Apep actually was.

Luo De was also astonished again by her strength.

At first this guy was definitely an incarnation of consciousness, shaping a temporary body from shadow.

But no one knew when.

Her temporary body was silently replaced by her true form, which had come rushing from Sumeru.

"Apep?"

Luo De muttered softly, not escaping Ying's ears.

Heard that unfamiliar name.

She then curiously asked: "Are they your friend?"

Luo De weighed his words, replying: "She can be considered one of my elders, with a bad temper. She also came to Liyue before, but has been missing for a while."

"Ah?"

"Then why don't you hurry and look for her?"

Compared to the unflustered Luo De, upon hearing someone had been missing for a while, Ying's reaction was who knows how many times more urgent, and she even suggested letting Luo De go ask Zhongli for help finding someone.

"Don't worry."

Luo De pressed his hand, gave a wry smile, and said: "My elder might not even be a match for Zhongli; instead of worrying about her, you'd better worry about anyone who harbors designs on her—running into her would be unlucky."

"Huh?"

"."

"Who is Zhongli?"

The mighty Sovereign of Rock, the God of War of Liyue, Teyvat's most ancient deity, a top-tier Archon who emerged from the carnage of the most brutal battlefields during the Archon War.

About the same as him.

Ying couldn't really imagine how strong Apep actually was.

Paimon seemed frightened as well.

Even the snack in her mouth went uneaten.

And Luo De, who had been smiling, also froze his smile the moment he unintentionally caught sight of a green figure.

As an old saying goes.

Some things, if you don't mention them, just let them be; but once you mention them, a 'surprise' is sure to appear.

Luo De had just finished mentioning Apep.

Over there, Apep appeared.

And she came straight toward Luo De, her purpose clear at a glance—she wasn't just randomly looking for someone.

Upon meeting.

Apep didn't say a word of nonsense, ignoring Ying and Paimon standing nearby, after tossing out the line 'I'll borrow this brat for a bit,' she grabbed Luo De by the collar and hauled him away.

She came and went like the wind.

Not to mention Ying and Paimon, Luo De, utterly unprepared, was also dazed, not even knowing where Apep had taken him.

After he came to his senses.

Luo De looked left and right, scratched his head in confusion, and asked, 'Where have you brought me?'

He looked at the surrounding scenery.

This should be a ruin.

Luo De wasn't familiar with Liyue's ruins; if it were a Sumeru ruin, he could still make some response based on the records in the books.

But for now.

He could only look puzzled and ask Apep.

"An Archon's old lair."

Apep seemed in a good mood; at least she had a smile when she spoke.

"An Archon's old lair?"

Luo De stared for a moment.

He shook his head and looked around.

He was standing in a land-based ruin, which didn't look like the underwater Archon seal at Guyun Stone Forest.

"Which Archon's ruin is this?"

Luo De then asked again.

"I don't know."

Apep answered bluntly: "I have no interest in remembering the names of those remnants."

That was indeed an honest answer.

Luo De pursed his lips, stopped asking, and honestly followed her behind, walking through the ruin until they reached a hall full of salt stains, which Luo De recognized.

The place Apep brought him to.

Clearly, it was the domain of the ancient Liyue Salt Archon, the Salt of the Earth.

So the Archon she called a remnant was now obvious.

The Salt Goddess, Hewulia.

An Archon extremely rare in the Archon War for being killed by humans, and also the only Archon slain by her own worshippers.

Continuing to follow Apep.

When a ruler and a cup appeared before them, Apep finally stopped, glanced at Luo De, and asked, 'You brought the Rock Dragon Crown, right?'

"You only just thought to ask?"

He muttered a complaint in his heart, Luo De nodded: "Brought it."

"Hold it."

As the words fell, Apep directly threw the Salt God's divine artifacts, the salt ruler and salt cup, to Luo De; after giving a demonstration, she then revealed the true purpose of bringing Luo De to seek the Salt God's relics.

"That remnant divinity has completely dissipated."

"However, some fragments of the power from the rock element still remain."

"Crush them."

"Send the remaining power within into the Rock Dragon Crown."

(End of chapter)