Chapter 347

Lei Dianying's promise left Luo De feeling somewhat overwhelmed by favor.

You should know that, to her, the Grass‑cutter's Rice Light is not the same concept as the Rainbow‑piercing Halberd is to Zhongli.

Zhongli is versed in all weapons.

Artifacts in his hand keep appearing one after another.

Although the Rainbow‑piercing Halberd is said to have been with him since the Archon War.

but the Rainbow‑piercing Halberd is actually not a dedicated weapon, but a divine armament Zhongli used to seal the Archon.

For an old‑god like him.

What weapon he holds is not important.

Even whether he has a weapon in hand is not important.

Using a Geo‑Archon‑powered version of the Rainbow‑piercing Halberd, giving it to Luo De poses no problem.

Lei Dianying's Grass‑cutter's Rice Light, however, is a different matter.

This weapon's importance to the Electro Archon is roughly on par with that of One‑Hearted Aspiration.

The Grass‑cutter's Rice Light bears an all‑conquering might that can overwhelmingly suppress opponents.

To Lei Dianying,

it is the most fitting weapon.

From the Archon War to the Orobas rebellion, then to the Calamity of Darkness.

Lei Dianying used it to win battle after battle; he can be said to be one of the greatest contributors to the defense of Inazuma.

Now Lei Dianying says he will give it to himself.

Luo De, while feeling overwhelmed by the favor, still hesitates a bit.

Lei Dianying shook his head: "No problem, protecting Inazuma, with me here is enough, having it or not having it can be done, moreover, you also learned my blade technique, using it won't be obscure."

I don't mean that.

I'm saying.

Luo De rubbed his chin, then immediately laughed: "Then I must thank you."

Although Lei Dianying didn't say anything.

But Luo De knew, she regarded the Nekusa Grass Light as the reward for reforging Lei Dian Zhen's true consciousness.

Even if Luo De didn't want the Nekusa Grass Light, she would still give something else.

What does this count as?

The Teyvat artifact collector master?

Upon thinking of the other two artifacts in his hands, Luo De couldn't help but let out a puchi laugh.

Spear of Piercing Rainbow, Thousand‑Night Floating Dream, and the soon‑to‑be‑obtained Nekusa Grass Light.

These are the few deities Luo De currently knows.

Apart from Venti, who gave nothing, the other three deities each more or less gave a weapon as compensation or some other return gift.

The following matters are simple now.

Great Merciful Tree King, accompanied by Nadixa, entered the World Tree for recuperation.

Lei Dianying, meanwhile, couldn't wait to rush back to Hope City to meet with the Lei Dian Zhen who had regained his body and Yae Miko, who was still lingering in Hope City.

And Luo De just needed to make some final preparations.

To successfully establish the title of Red King upon himself, he must not let the desert and rainforest peoples raise doubts.

Especially, he must also prevent any possible disruption from Duotuo Lei at any time.

What Luo De must do first is.

That is to go and retrieve the faith power accumulated in A Ru Cun.

Especially the faith in the Red King on the false god's stature.

This thing must be obtained in advance; if it can be used, use it; if not, store it; at the very least, we must not let Duotuo Lei get hold of it.

Furthermore, there must first be a warm‑up segment.

At the very least, we must let the desert peoples know.

The Red King who had awakened earlier is actually still present; his prolonged absence does not mean he has left.

This point Luo De must not only implement among the desert peoples who have never seen the Red King, but also cannot let off those desert peoples who are already convinced they have seen the Red King; at the very least, he must make them doubt his identity.

And finally.

This is also the most important point.

That is the manifestation of divine traces.

Luo De had already figured this out.

First is the false god's Eye; this thing, in the eyes of the desert peoples, is the existence best able to manifest divine power. There, after sufficient materials have been gathered, the Lei Dian Zhen's production is proceeding in an orderly manner, and there will certainly be no shortage of such items.

Second is the false god's manipulation, which also needs to be proven.

Although Luo De possesses the false god's Eye in his hand, directly taking it can also prove he has the ability to grant Visions.

But those desert peoples who previously accepted Duotuo Lei's grant.

Their bodies have already begun to show a trend toward becoming soldier‑like.

Even with Cyno's seal.

In their daily contact with the Evil Eye, their bodies still show irreversible traces of elemental energy erosion.

According to the experimental report Luo De unearthed earlier at the House of Vitality.

Such people have already reached the standard for conscription into soldiers.

In other words.

As long as Dottore thinks, those people who still have independent will now will instantly become puppets that only obey his orders, their words and actions completely uncontrollable; whether it's a safety hazard or when Luo De stands in for the Red King, they will become an uncontrollable influencing factor.

So Luo De must make preparations.

Turn the verbal sparring between him and Dottore into a conflict between his followers and Dottore's followers.

As long as the act of Dottore bestowing the Evil Eye is deemed the operation of a false god.

Then he can more comfortably impersonate the Red King.

And the third point of divine manifestation.

That is, where, in what place, to produce what kind of divine manifestation.

After much consideration.

Luo De decided.

In Xu Mi Cheng, during this year's Flower God's Birthday Festival.

Not only himself, but the Great Merciful Tree King also must appear in the guise of the Flower God, simultaneously launching celebrations for Nadixa's birthday, and also widely invite the Seven Archons, under the witness of Xu Mi Cheng's people and other worldly rulers, in the most solemn manner, to re-establish the Three Gods Covenant.

After planning everything.

Luo De's first step was to go to A Ru Cun and collect the faith power stored in his own statue.

It must be said.

It's just a little less.

It's also really comfortable.

For an Archon, faith power is a completely new energy source that greatly amplifies elemental energy.

As long as faith is not extinguished.

An Archon who possesses faith power will theoretically never run out of strength.

After collecting the faith power.

Luo De went to see Kantisi again.

Since the last time Luo De took away those most fervent followers, A Ru Cun had a small commotion for a while.

Their commotion was not about the Red King's divine envoy taking away the Red King's followers.

Their commotion was about.

It was that the Red King's divine manifestation suddenly disappeared.

At the beginning.

The Red King's divine manifestations were not frequent, yet every few days one could hear someone say they had seen the Red King.

Later, when someone received the Red King's grace.

Those fervent Red King followers lost appetite for food and drink, spending all day praying, hoping to see their deity. And some indeed succeeded, leading to a great wave of prayer.

Although under Kantisi's compulsory order.

Those fervent followers who dared to see the god had no choice but to resume their work.

But at this time, the Red King's divine manifestation did not disappear just because prayers decreased.

On the contrary.

On the contrary, rumors of having seen the Red King grew more intense, with almost every few days someone claiming to have seen the Red King and receiving some of his grace, more or less.

However, just after Luo De returned once and took away those most fervent followers who could obtain a Vision.

The Red King's divine manifestation never appeared again.

In the eyes of those extreme fanatics.

It seemed as if the Red King had abandoned them, like bereaved of their lute, they complained all day, blaming heaven and earth, even cursing Luo De and Kantisi.

Left with no choice.

Kantisi once again used thunderous means on her own people, severely punishing all those Red King followers whose words and deeds were intolerable.

Only then did the village's turmoil finally cease.

Listening to her recount.

Luo De knew that Kantisi had a slight opinion of him.

But he still pretended not to know and proposed an invitation: "This year's Flower God's Birthday Festival, you bring some people."

"Flower God's Birthday Festival?"

Kantisi directly shook her head and refused: "No, I just told you the situation in the village; you should be able to see that the village is now in chaos; if I'm not there, trouble will surely arise."

"What if the Red King appears at the Flower God's Birthday Festival that day?"

Luo De said with a smiling squint.

This sentence made Kantisi's face suddenly change, and she exclaimed in surprise: "What are you saying? The Red King??"

As the nominal descendant of the Red King.

A Ru Cun has known since its founding that the Red King is dead.

And every person in A Ru Cun firmly believes this.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many moderates caught in the middle today, despite the frequent manifestations of the Red King's divine signs.

But if there were definite news proving that the Red King is indeed alive.

Then Kantisi could imagine how crazy the villagers of A Ru Cun would become.

No exaggeration.

As long as the Red King can reappear in Xu Mi Cheng.

All the desert peoples will thus fall into fervor again, and the true A Ru will also return.

As the offspring of the Red King.

Kantisi should not have had any improper thoughts about this news.

But as Luo De finished saying that the Red King would return at this year's Flower God Birth Festival, Kantisi's face showed an extremely obvious hesitation.

She even said.

She was actually worried: if the Red King really returned, what should be done about the peace that had been painstakingly established? 'Do you know about the Three Gods Covenant?'

Luo De saw her doubt, and while putting on a smile, he asked Kantisi a question he had never asked her before.

Unexpected.

The guardian closest to the Red King actually showed hesitation upon hearing news of the Red King.

This made Luo De, while feeling relieved, also conjure a mischievous idea.

If Kantisi were to find out.

What expression would she have if the 'resurrected' Red King turned out to be himself?

However, the suspense must be kept until the end.

Luo De did not reveal his true plan; instead, after asking about the Three Gods Covenant, he waited for Kantisi's answer with a smile.

I don't know why.

It seems the Three Gods Covenant was never torn apart back then.

But among the Red King's followers.

Aside from the priestly lineage of that time, no one else remembers this.

Even the Red King's death was twisted into a version where the Dendro Archon secretly harmed him.

That's quite strange.

So Luo De also really wanted to know whether Kantisi actually knew about this.

As expected.

Kantisi not knowing the Three Gods Covenant is as if someone had erased it.

Even the Red King's descendants who escaped from the Red King's royal city back then, Kantisi pondered for a moment, then shook her head and said: 'I seem to have seen this term in some ancient text, but I'm not very clear about this matter; that ancient book was severely damaged in the disaster back then, and I don't know what this covenant specifically refers to—our elders don't know either.'

Like that.

It was an expected yet beyond-reason answer; Luo De then explained the Three Gods Covenant to Kantisi: 'This is the covenant forged by the three gods of Sumeru—the Red King, the Flower God, and the Great Merciful Tree King—who jointly established it to build a vast nation encompassing all of Sumeru, so that Sumeru's people could live happier lives. Their goals were clear and aligned, and they ultimately reached an agreement of mutual assistance, on which they founded an enormously vast kingdom.'

Such a legend had never been heard before.

It left Kantisi dazed for a long time.

After she came to her senses, she said in disbelief: 'Are you telling the truth?'

'What would I gain by lying to you about this?'

Luo De chuckled and then dropped an even more explosive piece of news: 'Not only the Red King, but this time the Flower God will also appear at the Flower God Birth Festival.'

'What?'

'Flower God?!'

Kantisi was startled again, saying in disbelief: 'She's already dead, isn't she? How could that be possible?'

'Not completely dead.'

'She still has a breath left.'

'She woke up together with the Red King not long ago.'

Luo De spouted nonsense there without changing his expression.

The successive explosive hits left Kantisi feeling a bit dizzy.

After a while in a daze.

She finally came to her senses and confirmed again: 'You just said they both aren't dead and woke up together not long ago, right?'

'Yes, that's correct.'

Luo De affirmed.

——

Kantisi blinked slightly, then sighed: 'The Three Gods Covenant, the three gods are still alive—why have we, the people, been fighting each other to the death all these years?'

No wonder her mind is wandering.

The desert was originally the territory of the Red King and the Flower God.

After these two deities fell in succession.

The desert fell into severe internal strife: first the Flower God fell, her followers wrought havoc, destroying the Red King–believing desert kingdom of Gaol City; then the Red King fell, the desert split into multiple city-states that slaughtered and pillaged each other, even launching heavy assaults on the Dendro Archon's rainforest, everyone filled with malice.

Until now.

The once prosperous city-states have become ancient ruins; the once highly advanced civilization surpassing the rainforest region has, due to these internal wars, devolved into desert nomads who cannot even fill their stomachs.

And many years have passed.

The desert's internal strife has persisted and even grown more backward and savage to the point of eating raw meat and drinking blood; even the best-off village among the desert tribes, A Ru Cun, had hardly any literate people before opening up to trade, let alone being able to eat a proper meal.

'Sigh——'

Recalling the desert's years of internal conflict and its still-divided state, Kantisi sighed, and a spark of hope rose on her face.

'The three gods return, and we renew the Three Gods Covenant.'

'That vast Three Gods Empire of old shall return once more.'

Thinking and thinking, Kantisi let out a soft laugh: 'The desert's people will finally no longer have to fight each other over food and faith——!'

(End of chapter)