Chapter 296: Thunderbolt True

Luo De didn't know how long he had stayed in Thunderbolt True's consciousness space.

He only knew.

A long time ago, he and Huasanli already had nothing to talk about.

No way.

Although he had long anticipated that corrupting Huasanli's consciousness to be like his own would take a lot of time.

But Luo De never imagined it would be this slow.

At first he would still calculate the time.

Later he got too lazy to bother calculating.

Anyway, from his personal feeling, from the moment Huasanli's consciousness began to be eroded until now, when almost her whole person emanates an aura beyond the world, this process has taken at least over twenty years, possibly even longer.

Luo De speaks quite a lot.

However, even after a full twenty years, he could still speak, but he really couldn't find any topics.

On the other hand, Huasanli's mental state is better than his.

Unlike Luo De, who idly watches the battle between Thunder Movie and Thunderbolt General that has lasted hundreds of years, Huasanli, who has accepted that her consciousness now survives in Luo De's consciousness space, when she has nothing to do, is actually planting trees—Luo De doesn't even know how she manages it.

Logically speaking.

This is his consciousness space; he should have absolute control over it.

But Huasanli went ahead and planted a forest here, just like the one Luo De saw in Nadixa's dream world back then.

This also sparked Luo De's interest again while he was watching the martial arts of Thunder Movie.

"How did you manage that?"

When he noticed his consciousness space had expanded a little, Luo De couldn't help but ask.

Huasanli, who was diligently planting trees, heard this, pretended to think for a moment, then smiled and said, "I don't know either."

"."

What kind of answer is that.

Luo De muttered to himself, then promptly poked the trees Huasanli had planted with his finger.

To be honest.

I'm still a bit disappointed.

He originally thought the trees Huasanli planted might have some connection to the leaves of the World Tree.

But it's a pity.

Judging by the touch and feedback, these trees are just ordinary trees.

Or.

To put it more accurately.

These trees are all projections of Huasanli's memory, and also a method of using consciousness.

So back then Luo De didn't bother with Huasanli, just letting her kill time there.

Until today.

Only then did he suddenly realize.

The trees Huasanli planted can actually expand his consciousness space, meaning they can strengthen his mental power.

That's really strange.

Luo De racked his brain but still couldn't figure out the principle.

"Could it be that your mental power is being transferred into your consciousness space?"

Luo De made a reasonable guess.

"No."

Regarding that guess, Huasanli outright denied it in three ways, then said: "My consciousness has almost been repaired; planting trees here causes no loss at all, and actually keeps getting stronger."

Saying that.

Huasanli lifted her eyes to the forest she had planted, nodded satisfactorily, and said: "Otherwise, why would I waste time planting trees for you? I wouldn't do something with no benefit."

"Uh."

Luo De scratched his head.

He had a retort he wasn't sure whether to voice.

The Huasanli before him and the Great Merciful Tree King far away in Sumeru are really too alike.

Both are states of a fragmented consciousness that has been repaired.

Their personalities have also deviated greatly after that.

The Great Merciful Tree King in the consciousness space is an extremely mature and steady deity.

After being reborn.

She then became a talkative, flighty person.

Although she always explained this as the influence of the Flower God, in Luo De's view, her current talkativeness is more like she's finally letting out all the words she'd held back for five hundred years, having nothing to do with the Flower God.

And Huasanli now.

Actually turns out to be remarkably consistent with the state of the Great Merciful Tree King.

At the time of the Resonant God Grand Shrine, Huasanli always had a gloomy demeanor, spoke little, and her tone was very formal; even if she initially feared Luo De's aura, she didn't blurt out things in panic.

In contrast, now.

After her consciousness dissipated and reorganized, she is practically a Little Fox Shrine.

Especially right after she just woke up.

Huasanli's excessive liveliness makes Luo De unconsciously imagine her as the Fox Palace Minister from five hundred years ago.

Thinking of this.

Luo De sighed and said: "Are you ready? Once your consciousness is completely filled with my aura, I will seal you into the leaves of the World Tree. Since Yae Miko and Raiden Ei have not found a suitable vessel for you, you can only remain sealed in the leaves."

He had already told Huasanli about this earlier.

Don't think Huasanli's consciousness can be lively and jumping.

That's because she is staying in Raiden Ei's consciousness space.

And the biggest difference between this consciousness space and others' is that the flow of time here is problematic.

It seems as if time is flowing, and the feeling is the same.

But actually.

Theoretically, the time in this consciousness space is stagnant, completely out of sync with the outside world's time.

Therefore, Huasanli's consciousness can survive intact in Luo De's consciousness space.

But once she leaves Raiden Ei's consciousness space and goes into the real world outside,

then she will instantly revert to the state previously erased by the Divine Sakura Grand Purification.

There's nothing that can be done about it.

Luo De's consciousness space still cannot compare to Raiden Ei's consciousness space.

This starts from the carrier of the consciousness space.

As a descended soul, Luo De's will is extraordinarily strong; according to the gods he knows, speaking solely of will, Luo De might be stronger than the gods.

But in contrast,

Luo De's mental power is very weak; not to mention matching the gods, even ordinary people with strong wills perform much better than him.

And the foundation supporting the consciousness space

is mental power.

Originally, with Luo De's mental power, he fundamentally lacked the ability to open up such a consciousness space.

If it weren't for the World Tree leaves Nadixa gave him and her teaching him how to use them, he would still be a novice who cannot use mental power.

Based on these reasons,

If we do not preserve Huasanli's consciousness in the World Tree leaves, then once she leaves she cannot escape the fate of dissipation.

Ah~

So fast~

I thought I'd still have to wait decades at least, so let me fill this place up at least.

Huasanli stopped her hand movements and also sighed along with Luo De.

Looking at her expression, she actually seemed quite disappointed.

Luo De glanced at the flower pattern on her cheek.

That is proof of her being tainted by the aura from outside the world; after these years, it's about to reach its end.

No.

Luo De slightly frowned: "When did you...?"

Last month.

Huasanli answered bluntly, then complained: "Who let you just stare at shadows all day, not even knowing I'm already fully ready."

Luo De was at a loss for words again. He indeed had not noticed.

Huasanli's aura has been converted; as long as we follow the previous plan, we just need to engrave her current self onto the World Tree's leaves.

I just don't know.

For Huasanli like this, Yae Miko and Raiden Ei need to figure out how to let her consciousness find a suitable vessel.

Luo De turned his head and glanced again at the still fiercely fighting Raiden Ei and Raiden Shogun, his mouth twitching.

The time point of his arrival.

Seems a bit too early.

Their battle looks like it will take quite a while longer to end.

"Ah—"

"For now we don't need to rush; we can wait until they finish fighting."

Thinking of engraving Huasanli onto the leaves, realizing there would be no one left to talk to him, Luo De temporarily set aside the idea of immediately sending Huasanli to the leaves.

"Great~~"

Compared to Luo De, Huasanli was obviously much happier, laughing heartily a few times, and then once again threw herself into her tree‑planting endeavor.

"Tsk."

Luo De curled his lip, withdrew his consciousness, and once again focused his attention on Raiden Ei.

At the same time.

A long sword also appeared in his hand, and from time to time he would imitate Raiden Ei's moves, taking this rare opportunity to learn.

However, Luo De's sword was taken from the Blazing Sun lineage; compared to Inazuma's swords, its construction differs markedly, making it somewhat awkward to use.

But he had no other sword to use.

Since obtaining the Penetrating Rainbow Spear from Zhongli in Liyue, he has mainly studied spear techniques, rarely practicing other martial arts.

After all, the Penetrating Rainbow Spear is a divine weapon.

Speaking solely of spear technique.

The spear technique personally taught by Zhongli is definitely stronger than Mondstadt's West Wind swordsmanship and the Blazing Sun lineage's inheritance.

Since he practices less, he naturally uses the weapon less often.

Therefore, when Luo De first started imitating Thunder Film, his hand skills were still a bit rusty, and several times he almost cut himself.

As for the other two immersed in battle.

I don't know whether they didn't notice Luo De, or noticed but were too lazy to care.

In short.

Regarding Luo De's obvious act of stealing techniques, not a single one of them reacted, just letting him continue there imitating and practicing the Electro Archon's martial arts.

Moreover, Luo De wasn't just learning a single sword technique.

He was also learning the naginata.

Over these twenty-plus years.

He spent the vast majority of his time practicing martial arts.

And after confirming that Flower Scattered Village had been completely corrupted, he didn't know how many years he had spent studying.

Until Luo De had mastered all of Thunder Film's techniques to the point of second nature, even figuring out on his own how to circulate elemental energy, the battle between Thunder Film and the Electro Archon finally ended.

"Finally."

Luo De, who had been immersively watching the final showdown for a long time, looked at the sky-filling lightning serpents and the Electro Archon retracting his divine armor and bowing his head in surrender, and his heart could not help but become excited.

How many years?

He couldn't remember.

He also couldn't figure it out.

Not counting the initial twenty years, at the speed of tree planting in Flower Scattered Village, his consciousness space had expanded nearly double.

How many years must he have stayed in this consciousness space?

This question.

Someone soon gave an answer.

"You have been watching here for fifty-seven years; by rights, for stealing my martial arts, you should have your limbs crippled and be expelled from Inazuma."

The victorious Thunder Film, watching the departing Electro Archon, spoke these words with a calm expression.

"It's you who didn't stop me."

Luo De spread his hands and said with a grin, "I was also forced to steal the techniques."

"Hah—"

"He's quite the one who twists logic."

Thunder Film lightly shook his head, not bothering to argue with Luo De about the stolen techniques.

Actually, she hadn't intended to hold it against him either.

Letting Luo De study on the side was originally her intention; even the Electro Archon, who had disagreed with her at the time, raised no objection.

That so-called punishment just now was merely a hard-headed remark.

Luo De also understood her meaning; a little cheekiness would settle it, but if he went too far he might get beaten.

After all, according to Thunder Film, he had been staying here for nearly sixty years.

Thunder Film, such a powerful deity, could not possibly fail to notice him stealing martial arts.

Since she didn't intervene, it amounted to tacit approval.

Saying it verbally was just to satisfy a verbal urge.

"How is she?"

"Is she alright?"

The decision to preserve Flower Scattered Village was not made solely by Yae Miko; Thunder Film also knew about and supported it.

Furthermore, when Luo De entered the Electro Archon's true consciousness space, she sensed the faint, almost dissipating consciousness of Flower Scattered Village.

Now the battle has ended.

Naturally, we should come check on Flower Scattered Village's condition.

"She's fine."

Luo De nodded: "The consciousness can be retained, just—"

He hesitated briefly.

Luo De then laid out the state of Flower Scattered Village in full detail.

"All of this was entirely accidental."

"I never expected this situation to arise at the time."

"So in a panic, I rushed in here, hoping to use the temporal turbulence of this place to stabilize Flower Scattered Village's condition."

Luo De said helplessly: "I'm sorry, I made the decision for Flower Scattered Village on my own initiative."

"No."

"This isn't your fault."

The Electro Archon listened seriously to Luo De's words, her expression unchanged from start to finish, except when she heard Luo De say that Flower Scattered Village's consciousness could be retained, at which point the corner of her mouth twitched into a faint smile.

"Yae Miko probably didn't tell you what kind of reward to give, right?"

The Electro Archon asked with a smile.

"No."

Luo De shook his head: "She also didn't give me the reward for bringing the will of Inazuma's people to your consciousness space to defeat you."

"."

This was still the first time, since the Electro Archon became the Electro Archon, that anyone dared to demand a reward from her like this.

However, the Electro Archon merely smiled: "Yae Miko probably doesn't know what reward to give you; I promise you, when I return, I will personally prepare these two rewards for you."

"Thank you, Lord Electro Archon."

Luo De contentedly bowed to Lei Dianying.

Just then.

A clear, crisp female voice suddenly rang out.

"Shadow, you also don't need to be so formal; just treat her as your friend~~~"

Then came.

It was the Dream One Heart in Lei Dianying's hand continuously emitting light.

"Zhen!"

Lei Dianying, who was extremely familiar with that voice, immediately realized who was speaking again.

Afterward.

Seeing the light on the Dream One Heart suddenly rise, condensing into a purple light ball, that clear voice rang out again: "Shadow, being able to come to you again, I am very happy; also that new friend, hello; I am Lei Dianzhen, the previous Electro Archon who failed to fulfill my duty and left countless troubles for Inazuma."

(End of chapter)