Chapter 354

The flower spirit's appearance.

At first glance, it looks a bit like Lannaluo.

Just without that small propeller on its head, it looks even more like a true flying beast.

However, Luo De didn't rush to help; instead, he smiled while watching the blonde-haired girl who was helping that flower spirit.

"Oh, what a coincidence."

Great Merciful Tree King also saw Ying and immediately laughed.

"Yeah."

"Always seeing her in such unexpected places."

Luo De laughed and shook his head, then waved at Paimon over there.

It must be said.

Ying truly is a nightmare for adventurers.

Under her influence,

The number of completed Adventurers' Guild missions in Sumeru surged.

At the same time, due to her astonishing mission-completion efficiency, to other adventurers it's practically a catastrophe.

If it weren't for the Adventurers' Guild's obstruction,

She could even finish all the Adventurers' Guild's commissioned tasks by herself.

You know she's taking on the tasks from Hope City over here.

Hope City, still in the reconstruction phase, receives a terrifying number of commissioned tasks each day.

From small tasks like finding cats and dogs to big ones like blasting mountains and clearing monsters.

There's no task that can't be posted.

Yet despite so many and such complex tasks, Ying hasn't stopped her task-grinding pace.

Now she possesses four elemental energy.

Purely from a strength perspective,

Even the most difficult of Sumeru's tasks are, for Ying, just a dimensional strike.

It's like running to Floating Abode to look for a flower spirit.

A normal adventurer could never run that far.

The vast majority of adventurers can only handle commissioned tasks near big cities, at most dealing with monsters like slimes causing trouble.

"It's only natural that she earns so much."

Luo De pursed his lips and immediately greeted the flying Paimon: "Hey, Paimon, long time no see~"

"(#`O′)Hey!"

Paimon looked unimpressed; as soon as she flew over, she put her hands on her hips and said angrily: "You see Ying fighting monsters—why don't you go help?"

"Do you think she needs me?"

Luo De pointed toward Ying's direction.

Just as he said.

Even when facing several Beast Realm Hounds' attacks, Ying could handle them with ease, showing no sign of weakening.

As for the person in scholar's robes behind Ying,

Luo De directly ignored him.

"Hmph—"

"Nabu, you came along too~~~"

Paimon also knew Luo De made sense, but she was still a bit angry, so she simply turned her head toward Great Merciful Tree King and cheerfully greeted her.

"Hey there, little Paimon."

Compared to Luo De, who always makes Paimon furious, Great Merciful Tree King obviously knows how to coax her better.

While speaking,

Great Merciful Tree King conjured a date-coconut candy out of thin air.

She made it herself.

Looking across all of Sumeru, it's definitely top-notch quality.

Paimon has eaten it before.

Thus her eyes instantly turned star-shaped; she stopped pointing at Luo De, lunged over, stuffed the date-coconut candy into her mouth, and mumbled: "Thank you, Nabu, you're really a good person."

The good-guy card flew out.

Luo De, long accustomed to her antics, helplessly shook his head and turned his gaze back to Ying.

Actually,

What Luo De mainly observed was still that scholar trembling with fear.

Nagajuna.

The most mysterious seventh school in the Academy.

This school's academic stance is extremely radical, believing that scholars should sacrifice body and life to safeguard the transmission of knowledge, and firmly believing that "war is the order of Teyvat".

Because its overly radical stance differed greatly from other schools, long ago the Nagajuna School split from the Academy.

The scholars of that school also went out independently to carry on its tradition.

Later they gradually faded from sight, with few rumors appearing.

Thus, in most people's eyes, the Nagajuna School has long become a fantastical legend, and some say its scholars still operate somewhere deep in the great desert.

But Luo De knew.

Nagajuna never disappeared; instead, after the black disaster, he reorganized into a new group called the Correct Theory Group, living together with the flower spirits, active as the Flower Spirit's Venerable Master in the Floating Jade Court.

Actually, what is unknown is.

The one-armed sage Nagajuna of that time was a true hero.

He was the hero personally selected by the Great Merciful Tree King, dressed in the sage's attire, wielding the sword granted by the Dendro Archon, and together with other like-minded heroes, he engaged in a death-defying battle against the darkness ravaging the source of the desert.

He and the entire Nagajuna group all claimed to be people who fought side by side with the warriors of Khaenri'ah.

And those Khaenri'ah warriors who fought alongside them were precisely the White Gull Knights who battled in Sumeru against the Abyss, and also a group of true warriors who, even knowing they bore infamy, still acted according to their original aspirations.

Bearing the wishes of the White Gull Knights who sacrificed in Sumeru.

In order to completely eliminate the calamity of the Black Abyss, Nagajuna led his warriors, following the path once taken by the Khaenri'ah warriors, tracing back all the way to the Sweet Dew Flower Sea, where he saw the Myriad Species Mother Tree and the flower spirits dancing across the sky.

Later.

Flower spirits and the Nagajuna group entered the ruins of the Khaenri'ah people, and rested alongside the remaining Khaenri'ah mechanisms and Abyss monster bases there.

Until they together subdued the monster that emerged from the depths of the Abyss.

The wills that sacrificed everything for Sumeru and even the entire continent ultimately returned to the Myriad Species Mother Tree with the spiritual light, turning into sweet rain that fell from the heavens; the sweet dew formed from their final radiance purified the filth of heaven and earth.

Afterward, flower spirits continually blossomed in the flower sea, while the monsters on the ground gradually disappeared.

The remaining Nagajuna group then formed a partnership with the newly born flower spirits, calling themselves the Correct Theory Group, and together with the flower spirits they honored the one-armed sage Nagajuna as their original master.

"Nagajuna."

Upon mentioning that name, the Great Merciful Tree King's smile suddenly faded, a hint of sorrow flashing in the corner of his eyes: "He was a true hero."

"Yes, he was a true hero."

Luo De neither confirms nor denies the Great Merciful Tree King's evaluation of Nagajuna.

However, his view of Nagajuna's descendants is different: "These bastards have turned out bad; my hands are itching—you wouldn't stop me, would you?"

Although the scholar behind Ying has not yet revealed his malice.

But Luo De is very clear.

Five hundred years have passed, and Nagajuna's descendants are no longer the Nagajuna group of old.

They only remember that saying: "War is the order of Teyvat."

While all the flower spirits were making efforts to continue suppressing and sealing the darkness.

Their new master.

They, however, thought of seizing the flower spirits' spiritual light's ultimate song, so that through this artifact of spiritual light they could perform a reverse ritual to suppress the darkness, thereby lifting the seal on the Black Abyss and letting that five-hundred-year war resurface in Teyvat.

The Great Merciful Tree King has heard Luo De speak of this matter.

Although no one knows how Luo De came to know this secret that the Correct Theory Group members themselves are unaware of, she still chose to unconditionally believe Luo De. After all, such strange things happening to Luo De are not the first time.

She has also become accustomed to it.

As for speaking of the new master of the Correct Theory Group,

The Great Merciful Tree King will not oppose Luo De's suggestion to punish him.

Wanting to plunge Teyvat once again into the flames of the black war.

This matter has touched her bottom line.

Not to mention Luo De.

She even wants to personally punish that confounding thing that inverts black and white, knows nothing.

The achievements of the seniors always belong to the seniors, not these later generations.

This kind of forgetting the ancestors' glory, attempting to bring calamity upon humanity, such a scoundrel is best entrusted to Luo De, this executioner who never shows mercy, as the most suitable choice.

"Hey, what are you talking about?"

"Nagajuna?"

"Are you also taking this commission?"

Paimon does not know what Luo De and the Great Merciful Tree King are saying; she still thought they were also a commission from the Academy, coming to look for the Nagajuna group.

"Hehe—"

"No."

Luo De chuckled, then immediately asked: "What's that guy's name, do you know?"

"Naxianzhu."

Paimon still remembers this quite clearly: "He's called Naxianzhu, the master of this generation's Correct Theory Group; uh, I recall that Slursha said that."

"Naxianzhu, right?"

Luo De gave a hehe laugh: "We're looking for him."

The master called Naxianzhu,

is the one who betrayed the Correct Theory Group.

Not only did he deceive the flower spirits, he also colluded with the Abyss people, attempting to draw the war back onto the continent.

Regarding this.

Luo De has nothing much to say.

And his attitude of avoiding the topic like the plague also made Paimon so angry she stomped her feet, went up and grabbed his hair, insisting he speak clearly.

"Pfft—"

The Great Merciful Tree King watching on the side was amused.

In order to prevent Paimon from continuing to affect Luo De, she reached out and held Paimon in her arms, softly saying: "Little Paimon, calm down for a moment; wait a bit, Luo De still has things to do, so don't disturb him now, okay?"

At the same time.

A jujube coconut candy appeared out of thin air from her hand.

Paimon's eyes lit up; she didn't care about anything else, stuffing the candy into her mouth while raising her chin and saying: "Hmph, for Nabuu's sake, I'll forgive you this time."

Luo De looked at the Great Merciful Tree King, shrugged his shoulders, then clenched his fists and rushed straight toward Na Xianzhu Na below.

Ying, who was in battle, had already seen Luo De's figure.

Upon seeing him come over, Ying thought he had come to help her.

Unexpectedly.

Before she could even voice her thanks, Luo De seized Na Xianzhu Na's neck in one grab, like an eagle snatching a chick, holding him firmly in his hand.

Ying: ".?"

Paimon: ".?"

Si Lusha: ".?"

Na Xianzhu Na: ".?"

Luo De's sudden move.

It left everyone present dazed.

Ying, not paying attention, almost got bitten on the arm by the beast realm hound in front of her.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

Na Xianzhu Na, who had been seized, was naturally unhappy, twisting his body and shouting: "Who are you? Let me down! Si Lusha, Si Lusha, save me!"

However, no matter how he shouted.

Si Lusha never gave any response.

Her reaction was even less intense than Ying's and Paimon's.

This made Na Xianzhu Na involuntarily develop a bad premonition.

But he did not give up, continuously shouting for Si Lusha to save him, and even calling for Ying to rescue him.

"Shut up."

Luo De didn't make much movement; he just whispered two words near Na Xianzhu Na's ear.

He slightly loosened his grip.

Otherwise, with Na Xianzhu Na's frail physique, Luo De only needed to be a bit more serious to shake him to death.

An intangible pressure suddenly surged into Na Xianzhu Na's heart.

Looking again at Luo De.

His eyes filled with horror, his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably, not daring to move an inch.

Until this moment.

Only then did Si Lusha react, eyes widening in disbelief as she said: "You, you, flower, you are the flower mother, you are mother, you, you actually still alive!"

Luo De, who possessed the Flower God's divinity.

In Si Lusha's eyes at this moment, he completely resembled the Flower God.

As a strand of spiritual light transformed from Ximoge.

The relationship between Si Lusha and the Flower God is also that of mother and daughter.

At this moment, upon suddenly seeing the newly appointed Flower God appear before her, even though her appearance did not match her memory, she still became so excited that she was at a loss what to do.

"I am not your mother."

Regarding Si Lusha's excitement, Luo De showed little reaction, merely turning his head slightly and saying: "Things that betrayed the ancestors, deceiving my followers—you tell me, what punishment do you want?"

"Deception?"

"Followers?"

Upon Luo De saying that, Si Lusha, besides being astonished, filled her eyes with joy.

Their Flower God has finally returned!

Although no one knows why she turned into a man's appearance.

But the Flower God is still the Flower God.

As long as the Flower God is present.

That annoying Burning Heaven's True Image can also be dealt with! Na Xianzhu Na naturally would not admit what he intended to do, merely gritting his teeth and saying: "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Still pretending."

Luo De, without wasting words, directly used mind reading, then recited Na Xianzhu Na's thoughts word for word: "Hmph, that foolish creature's flower spirit—I don't even know if she can lead me to find that spiritual light's creation; if I can't, all my years of effort would be wasted."

"My pitiful predecessors, you were the brave warriors who first fought against the filth here, yet your fame was not passed down by later generations; instead, you were framed as criminals, regarded as the culprits who brought disaster, and even your deeds were erased by the Academy's lackeys, finally becoming a myth circulated only within our Correction Discussion Group."

"How unjust this is."

"Since the Celestial Phenomenon of Craving Truth reflects the true object from beyond the heavens!"

"It is time to bring truth to this unjust world, letting the ancient war reappear on this continent!"

Luo De finished speaking.

The surroundings fell silent.

Including Na Xianzhu Na himself.

He looked at Luo De with a face full of fear, unaware of how his plot could be so clearly and completely spoken aloud in public.

(End of Chapter)