Chapter 334: The Seal on Ke Lai's Body

Luo De's half-threat, half-warning notice indeed took effect.

Less than a day's time.

Various reports came flying in like snowflakes.

But just as Luo De said.

After those who followed Duo Tuo Lei in causing trouble were punished, the rest were actually just somewhat dissatisfied with him, wanting to vent their feelings by taking the opportunity.

But Luo De cannot retreat.

Moreover, it's not just him.

No matter who sits in this position, they should not yield.

Because yielding this kind of thing, if you do it once, you'll end up doing it countless times.

Once the precedent is set.

After that, whenever there's an opinion they kick up a fuss—who can stand it?

Besides.

A ready-made example lies before Luo De's eyes, and he's not unaware of it.

Nadixa initially yielded once, listened once to the so-called Academy's voice, and after that, these kinds of problems began to hound her endlessly.

Moreover, Nadixa's nature is very soft; she is not the kind of god with a hard attitude.

The result is that her energy is constantly drained by a pile of trivial matters.

"Hmph—"

"If it were me, I'd arrest them one by one, use mind-reading on each, and directly exile the dishonest to the desert—wouldn't that avoid so many troubles?"

Luo De tossed those boring reports aside, while piecing together the doll's body, and complained to Lei Dian Zhen.

This wasn't the first time he had advised Nadixa like this.

But Nadixa simply wasn't willing.

Even if Luo De was angry, there was nothing he could do; he could only watch her continue in Xu Mi Cheng's great mud pit, wits and courage clashing with scholars who all day waved the banner of Xu Mi's good.

"You really shouldn't say that."

"Sometimes I really think, if Xu Mi's god were a deity as lethal and menacing as a shadow, how great that would be."

"Not even asking for a god like Zhongli."

"As long as they're fierce enough to scare their subordinates, that's enough."

"That way, whatever I implement would be easy, and there wouldn't always be all kinds of obstacles like now."

Luo De complained and complained, and thus the topic turned to Lei Dian Ying.

Talk is talk.

His hand movements didn't slow down at all.

At this pace, the doll's body should be completely finished in about half a month.

As for Luo De's resentment.

Lei Dian Zhen laughed and said: "You're being too harsh on her; after all, she's formed from the purest branch of the World Tree—do you know what that purest branch of the World Tree represents?"

"Huh?"

"Does it still have any special meaning?"

Luo De shook his head: "I really don't know this—do you?"

"When I used to visit Xu Mi as a guest."

"I once heard the Great Merciful Tree King say it once."

Lei Dian Zhen reminisced about the past, then asked Luo De: "The World Tree contains all the information of Teyvat's living beings—you should know that, right?"

"Of course."

Luo De nodded.

"Then you should understand that after the information is mixed, the World Tree's branches are no longer pure, right?"

Lei Dian Zhen finished saying that.

Luo De immediately raised his brows and said: "You mean, Nadixa's branch has never been contaminated by Teyvat's information, making it a blank slate like a baby's?"

"That's one way to understand it."

After saying that, Lei Dian Zhen added: "Precisely because she is innately a blank sheet, during her five hundred years of imprisonment she could only look at what the Academy allowed her to see, and then she had to desperately resist her inner angry instinct, which led her to this extreme."

"Like that."

Although Luo De still had something to say, he couldn't find a rebuttal for the moment.

It's mainly because of what Lei Dian Zhen said.

Nine times out of ten, that's the truth behind Nadixa's current soft nature.

Luo De's lips twitched for a good while before he finally let out a heavy sigh: "What a pity—after being together for so long, she actually hasn't learned a thing from me."

"Pfft—"

Upon hearing that, Lei Dian Zhen immediately laughed out loud: "What would I learn from you? Learn to kill?"

"Or learn to be your tool here?"

Luo De retorted unhappily, then immediately pursed his lips and said: "Back when I took her to tour the desert, let her see its cruelty firsthand, then took her to the grand bazaar, had her wander all over Xu Mi Cheng, and let her see the mess the Great Sage stirred up—I thought she'd definitely develop some temper, but I never expected she'd remain completely unchanged."

"A temperament forged over five hundred years."

"You think you can change it in just a day or two?"

Luo De couldn't see Lei Dian Zhen's expression.

But he knew that this guy was surely mocking him for overestimating himself, daring even to think of changing a god's temperament.

"Ah, forget it."

Let her do it her way; at least she has the title of a god, so even if the Academy's people act recklessly, they couldn't possibly imprison her again.

Luo De sighed again, not wanting to discuss this somewhat annoying topic any further.

Leidian Zhenye saw that it was enough and continued to quietly watch him tinkering with the doll there.

After the child slicing turned traitor and the slice researching pseudo-godhood committed suicide.

Hope City ushered in an unprecedented peace and harmony.

Whether the desert folk in the city or the scholars from the Academy, everyone honestly went about their own work.

Cyno was still busy all day.

Even when he came by occasionally, he complained that Luo De had given him a huge amount of work.

Dixiya was quite relaxed.

On several occasions she could even leave work early.

Ke Lai and Tadela's academic performance was also reassuring.

This was when they were training martial arts with Luo De.

Tadela always showed no mercy, making Ke Lai cry several times.

Of course.

Given Ke Lai's temperament, even if she was beaten to tears, she would endure the pain and silently shed tears, never uttering a sound.

Originally Luo De wanted to tell Tadela to watch her hands.

But Tadela's remark, "In the desert, there's no such thing as showing mercy," left him speechless.

Tadela ultimately came from a hawk-hunting background.

From childhood she had been trained as an assassin, and all she saw were killing, arson, and various sordid affairs.

Even after following Luo De back to A Ru Cun and beginning formal education.

Yet her childhood experiences still made it hard for her to get along peacefully like a normal peer.

This also let Luo De once again deeply feel the truth in Leidian Zhen's words that Nadixa's character cannot be changed.

Indeed, that is the truth.

The environment from childhood onward is laid out there.

Not even Tadela could be changed by Luo De, let alone Nadixa, who has lived five hundred years.

"Ke Lai, keep your hand steady, shoulders level, body upright, legs strong."

In the courtyard, Luo De gave Ke Lai some extra tutoring. There was no way around it.

One couldn't just watch his first disciple get beaten all day.

Tadela had no objection.

He even said outright that if he couldn't beat Ke Lai, he would let her hit him however she liked.

Regarding the open and covert rivalry between the two disciples.

Luo De could only smile helplessly.

And Ke Lai remained worried about Tadela's words, even while practicing martial arts, saying: "Teacher, isn't what you're doing a bit too unfair?"

"If it were fair, you'd be getting beaten every day."

Luo De was assembling the last few parts, replying without raising his head.

"But."

Ke Lai still felt it wasn't quite fair.

Why should he give extra lessons just because I'm not as skilled, while Tadela excels in martial arts? Luo De shouldn't be so biased.

"There's nothing to 'but' about."

"Tadela's path is different from yours; I don't just teach you a few self-defense moves, because if she spars with you and loses control, driving you into a desperate situation would be troublesome."

After saying that, Luo De put down the doll parts, walked up to Ke Lai, tapped her head, then lifted her arm, straightened and leveled it, and continued his previous words: "You know Tadela's background well; although she's become much more restrained now, that killer instinct in her bones is still there—I can't even guarantee she can keep herself in check if she loses her temper. Are you prepared to be badly injured by her, or to be forced by her to use this again?"

Luo De pointed to the mark on the back of Ke Lai's neck.

It had been a long time since this was mentioned.

Unexpectedly seeing Luo De point, Ke Lai froze for a moment.

She immediately realized, covering her neck with a panicked expression: "I, I won't use this, definitely not."

"All right."

"No more talk."

"Keep practicing; I'll call you to eat in an hour. Today we have guests at home, and there will be something delicious tonight."

Luo De patted Ke Lai's head, said nothing more, grabbed the nearby parts, and got up to leave.

The Archon residue on Ke Lai's body.

It has always been a hidden danger.

Luo De has never forgotten this.

For this he had asked Nadixa, the Great Merciful Tree King, Venti, and Zhongli.

Unfortunately.

They were helpless about it.

The corrosion of Archon residue on the human body is extremely terrifying, especially residue infused with Archon resentment; those like Ke Lai who can be sealed away are already fortunate.

As for wanting to completely purge it.

Even the oldest Zhongli said he had no way.

Until Leidian Zhen volunteered and recommended someone to him.

"By the way, are you sure Yae Miko can purge the Archon residue?"

Luo De walked and asked.

He really didn't quite believe it.

After all, it's something even the gods couldn't handle; how could Yae Miko manage it?

But he still held the idea of giving it a try.

He still sent a letter to Inazuma, inviting that fox who had tricked him many times.

"If you say it out, you might not believe it."

"But the Miko indeed has a way."

Leidian Zhen seriously explained to Luo De: "Precisely speaking, it's the Fox Shrine that has the way; the Miko merely inherited the Fox Shrine's abilities and can also do this."

"What method?"

To be safe, Luo De still asked a follow-up question.

"Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts."

Leidian Zhen just finished speaking.

Luo De stopped walking, puzzled: "Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts? That isn't the grand scene of those monster gatherings you Inazuma people used to have; could this be the name of some technique?"

"Hmm."

"Though called Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, the proper name is actually the Soul-Pacifying Ritual."

"This is a technique created by the Fox Shrine; later the Miko learned it."

Feeling that his explanation wasn't clear enough, Leidian Zhen continued: "The so-called Soul-Pacifying Ritual is a ceremony that guides the lingering thoughts of the dead to move on, somewhat like Liyue's Passing-on Technique, except the Soul-Pacifying Ritual cannot send people to the afterlife; it can only liberate the souls."

Luo De knows Liyue's Passing-on Technique.

The secret art passed down through the generations of the Hall of Passing-on can send souls to the boundary between life and death located on the Hill of No Deceit.

As for Yae Miko's Soul-Pacifying Ritual.

Luo De stroked his chin, pondering: "Shouldn't it be called the Soul-Gathering Ritual?"

"The Soul-Gathering Ritual is just a preliminary step of the Soul-Pacifying Ritual."

Leidian Zhen was somewhat surprised that Luo De actually knew the Soul-Pacifying Ritual, then said: "First use the Soul-Gathering Ritual to extract the Archon's lingering thoughts from little Ke Lai's body, then use the Soul-Pacifying Ritual to send those thoughts to the afterlife; that way little Ke Lai won't have to worry about the Archon's residual fragments on her body anymore."

"Extract the Archon's resentful thoughts?"

This is another word that made Luo De's face involuntarily change.

The Archon's residual fragments injected into Ke Lai's body actually have a negligible effect on her physique.

Although it's quite unbelievable.

But this is the fact.

Ke Lai is an extremely rare compatible host for the Archon's residual fragments, able to perfectly bear the power of the Archon's residual fragments within her body.

What has always affected her are those mind-bewitching Archon's resentful thoughts.

Sai Nuo sealed, besides the power of the Archon's residual fragments, mainly those Archon's resentful thoughts that would cause power to lose control, in order to ensure Ke Lai's consciousness would not be bewitched.

And he also stated it clearly at that time.

If Ke Lai were to use the power of the Archon's residual fragments again, she would be completely controlled by those fragments and would never be able to regain human consciousness.

But if following Leidian Zhen's steps.

Then we must first undo Ke Lai's seal, release those restrained Archon's resentful thoughts, so we can proceed with Yae Miko's Soul-Gathering Ritual and Soul-Pacifying Ritual.

If any leak occurs in the middle.

Once the Archon's resentful thoughts fail to be successfully drawn by the Soul-Gathering Ritual, Ke Lai might truly fall into a state of loss of control.

This is something Luo De does not want to see.

"I knew that if I told you directly, you wouldn't agree."

Leidian Zhen's voice came again.

Hearing her continue: "If you want to dispel the Archon's resentful thoughts, this is already the best method; there is definitely risk, but you have so many gods here, and also the Dendro Archon who holds dream authority; wanting to protect her consciousness during the ritual from disturbance is still quite easy."

As she spoke.

Her voice suddenly turned strange: "Have you forgotten? When little Ke Lai's Archon's residual fragments were sealed, you were just a farmer planting crops in the desert; that Mr. Sai Nuo was already the strongest person you could find; and now Sumeru, not counting the Great Merciful Tree King, has three whole gods who can help you; do you really think we are not as reliable as Mr. Sai Nuo?"

Those later words of Leidian Zhen are the key.

Luo De was left speechless.

He really had forgotten.

With Sumeru having so many gods, protecting a human from an Archon's resentful thoughts is still quite easy.

"Tsk."

"Maybe this is what they mean by 'care leads to chaos'."

Luo De gave a self-deprecating laugh, said no more, went straight to the dock, preparing to welcome the soon-to-arrive Yae Miko.

(End of chapter)