Chapter 383

Deal with those extremists who have gone to the extreme.

Luo De's preparations can now be used.

He's no stranger to pretending to be a godman; it's old hat for him.

He stood proudly above the world, looking down on the Xu Mi Cheng populace below, with Nadixa and the Great Merciful Tree King—who bore the Flower God's identity—standing to his left and right, like green leaves holding him up in the middle.

"Kantisi, over these years you have worked diligently in A Ru Cun, earning merit for guarding the desert; I grant you one Vision."

Luo De didn't utter any words to display divine majesty; he simply calmly spoke those words granting Kantisi, then raised a finger.

Immediately after.

A Vision shimmering with emerald green condensed out of thin air, falling vertically in the most ostentatious way, like a flashy special effect, and at great speed landed in Kantisi's hand.

No need to say anything else.

Just this simple action caused the Xu Mi Cheng witnesses to break out in exclamations of surprise.

In fact.

Anyone who isn't blind can see Luo De's move.

Because the Void Terminal's live broadcast has never been interrupted.

Whether it was the earlier battle of the three gods against Apep, or Luo De's appearance and Dottore's self-destruction causing chaos, the Void Terminal recorded everything in detail.

In Luo De's words.

This is called preserving evidence.

After the Flower God's birthday festival ends, those who just caused the chaos won't be able to escape; they'll all be arrested and punished.

With the Void Terminal's help, Kantisi, who was already wearing a Vision in an obvious place, obtained a new Vision, and this instantly let everyone see it.

The fake Vision truly made by lightning.

Compared to the evil eye made by Dottore, it's far more realistic; just by appearance, it's basically impossible to tell whether it's real or fake.

Thus the die-hard extremists, fingering the Vision Dottore gave them, raised doubts again.

The target is clear: whether the Vision Kantisi obtained is truly a Vision.

However, their doubts were raised only to be cut off abruptly.

Because Kantisi easily activated that Vision, using grass-elemental power that did not belong to her.

This scene not only caused continual exclamations within Xu Mi Cheng, but the gods who had just stopped discussing in the Purification Palace also regained interest.

Or it was the straightforward Mavuika who posed the question: "How did this guy do that?"

Visions cannot be directly granted by the gods.

This is a secret among mortals, but not among the gods.

Among the present Seven Archons of Teyvat, except Furina, everyone knows, even Navelait, who doesn't get along with the gods, knows.

Consequently, Mavuika, who hadn't noticed anything, couldn't help but become curious.

How Luo De bypassed the heavenly principle's throne rule to use a Vision beyond his rank.

On the other hand, Venti, the old hand at forgery, immediately saw the clue.

""Huh, little Luo De, what you made is a fake.""

Venti stared, examined closely, and became even more certain he wasn't mistaken.

""Fake?""

Furina also strained her eyes to look.

Of course.

She wasn't like other gods directly staring at Kantisi's Vision; instead she was staring at the live broadcast screen produced by the Void Terminal.

But no matter how hard she tried, she really couldn't insert herself into the gods' discussion topic.

On the other hand, Navelait rarely gave an opinion.

""The power of an ancient dragon.""

As the Hydro Dragon King of Teyvat, Navelait's expertise in discerning ancient dragon power goes without saying.

Although the Vision in Kantisi's hand looks indistinguishable from the real thing.

But the elemental power they drive still reveals a slight difference.

For a normal Vision holder, the elemental power driven by the Vision is pure human-world power, whose strength relates to their own and their resolve.

But the Vision Luo De gave Kantisi is not pure human-world power; upon close observation, its core is obviously filled with a wild aura—elemental power, i. e., the light-world power used by elemental beings.

Then the source of this Vision is actually obvious.

""I can't tell, this Apep is actually so willing?""

The Ice Queen's words carry a hint of yin-yang meaning.

The grass-elemental ancient dragon power can only be used by Apep in all of Teyvat.

So who made this Vision needs no further explanation.

What makes all the present gods unable to help but be interested is.

What method Luo De used to somehow get the notoriously stubborn Apep to lend such a hand.

However, their discussion voices fell silent in unison in the face of a strong gust.

Except Furina.

Everyone turned their gaze backward.

""Behind.""

Until Egeliya's reminder, Furina then belatedly looked over, which also caused Navelait to involuntarily glance at Egeliya.

Don't know why.

From this assistant who claims to be sent by Luo De, he always feels a vague sense of familiarity.

But he couldn't say where this feeling of familiarity came from.

This time, Egeliya again beat Furina to noticing an uninvited guest arriving behind them, which made Nawelait even more suspicious of her identity.

But now is not the time to figure this out.

Because the malicious guest who had been gossiping about them behind their backs has already arrived.

"Hmph—"

"After all these years, you still love talking behind people's backs, one by one."

Apepu's figure appeared before everyone, still dressed in green, but her makeup was now a little disheveled; the ornament on her head had clearly been knocked off by someone, a strand of hair that should have been neatly tucked fell down, yet it did not ruin her bearing—instead, it made her seem even more aggressive and imposing.

"Speak up—why aren't you saying anything?"

Apepu demonstrated her displeasure with concrete action.

Indeed, that is exactly the case.

She is indeed very displeased right now.

Because we had clearly agreed it was just an act, to stop at the point of contact.

But Luo De, for some unknown reason, knocked off a piece of her dragon scale.

Although her body had already been badly corroded by the Cold Heaven's Nail and the power of the Abyss.

But that is precisely why.

Apepu therefore cherishes her body all the more, doing everything possible in daily life to avoid further injury.

But she never expected.

After cherishing it for so long, Luo De knocked off a scale—how could her mood possibly improve?

Moreover, in Apepu's view, this guy most likely did it on purpose.

It's not that she doubts Luo De's character; it's that this guy simply has no character to speak of.

Apepu remembers this very clearly.

Luo De once said that his moral bottom line and personal integrity are flexible—when necessary he can act like a saint, but when unnecessary he is the most shameless person in the world.

So Apepu suspects.

Luo De this time is just suffering from a bout of shamelessness, deliberately dealing a heavy blow to himself to test how strong his attack has become.

To be frank.

Though she is displeased, Apepu still has to admit that Luo De's attack power alone is now on par with that of some old‑god deities.

Otherwise.

Even if Apepu stood before him and let him attack as he pleased, he couldn't even dream of prying off a single scale of hers.

Thus Apepu found herself torn.

Luo De's growing strength makes her happy.

But when Luo De actually struck her, she became very displeased.

This mix of happiness and displeasure made Apepu's expression unusually grim; she looked at everyone with a look that seemed to say she wanted someone, and especially when she glanced at Furina—having already sensed that the Hydro Archon might be off—she showed no restraint in the malice in her eyes.

"."

This sudden hostility made Furina instinctively step back two steps with a click, and she bumped into the railing.

Before Nawelait could respond, Egeliya stepped in front of her and, voice indistinct between annoyance and anger, said, "Miss Apepu, Furina is our guest from Sumeru."

Nawelait gave Egeliya another strange glance, then stepped forward and shielded the visibly panicked yet still trying to hide it Furina behind him.

He said nothing.

He simply kept his expression unchanged and stared at Apepu, and the atmosphere between them grew tense and ready to explode.

"Pap—"

At that moment, the Ice Empress, who had been watching from the sidelines, suddenly started clapping.

Seeing the interested look on her face,

clearly she was enjoying the spectacle and wanted the two ancient dragons to start fighting as soon as possible.

This time.

Even Venti, who is usually such a good‑natured person, didn't come to help; he quietly slipped to the side to watch the fight, claiming, "I'm too weak to get involved."

Xiao need not even be mentioned.

Nowadays, unless it concerns his friends or Liyue, he basically won't even glance at it, still maintaining the aloof attitude he had when he was in Liyue.

Coincidentally,

Nawelait and Furina are not considered his friends, and Luo De never instructed anyone to give them special treatment.

So he simply sat down alongside Venti, fully adopting the pose of someone uninvolved, hands off.

Raiden Ei also couldn't be bothered to intervene.

He didn't even bother to glance over, just sitting there blankly, lost in thought.

And the most enthusiastic Mawika,

Her only action was to pull Furina behind her, then leave Apepu and Nawelait to glare angrily at each other.

As for why she did that,

the reason is actually quite simple.

Because their nation, Natlan, had long suffered bullying and ravaging by the ancient dragons, they prayed to the heavenly principle in desperation and thus obtained the power of the Pyro Archon's throne.

Although Mawika is not a deity who walked out of that ancient era, this does not prevent her from feeling nothing special toward Apepu and Nawelait, who are similarly ancient.

She even faintly harbors a desire to fan the flames.

But this is merely a passing thought.

Feeling nothing toward the ancient dragons does not mean she bears them any hostility.

What's more, this is in Xu Mi Cheng, and she still has something she needs Luo De's help with.

If, because of her own provocation, the two ancient dragons end up fighting and cause irreparable loss, that would be a huge loss.

With all the gods watching the show.

After Apep and Nawelait stared at each other for a long time, he finally let out a cold snort: "Hmph."

She no longer said anything malicious; she simply turned away on her own, casually found a place to sit, picked up a bottle, bit open the stopper with her mouth, and gulped down a big mouthful.

With that, she withdrew.

The tense atmosphere immediately dissipated.

Nawelait frowned slightly, really unable to figure out what this old senior dragon king was thinking.

Just that.

Although the gunpowder smell had dissipated, with the ill‑intentioned Apep present, everyone inevitably remained wary and didn't speak freely.

And this will be outside.

After Kantisi demonstrated the authenticity of her new Vision.

Luo De then did the same.

He left two fake Visions as backup, and gave all the other fake Visions respectively to the desert folk who had contributed greatly to the construction of Hope City.

Under the successive flashes of elemental energy.

Even the most radical of the radical faction couldn't say anything; no matter how unwilling they were, the miracles Luo De displayed were clearly a power only a true god could possess.

Adding his attire, plus the recognition of the Dendro Archon and the Flower God.

After a brief moment of thought, these radicals were the first to perform the desert's most solemn kowtow ritual, reacting far faster than the other two factions, and directly acknowledged Luo De's identity as the Red King.

Someone took the lead.

Luo De's identity as the Red King was thus firmly established.

After a long absence, the three gods appearing together, plus the previous miracles and the scene of the three gods fighting the evil dragon, caused all the Xu Mi Cheng citizens present to instinctively offer their utmost reverence to the three gods in the sky.

The immense power of faith instantly surged like a flood toward Luo De and Nadixa.

The Great Merciful Tree King smiled narrowly as he watched them there receiving the power of faith, firmly securing his divine position.

Next.

Luo De then spoke up, in the name of the Red King, fiercely refuting the legend that the Great Merciful Tree King had assassinated the Red King, and solemnly declared that Xu Mi Cheng had always upheld the covenant of the three gods.

Such words naturally caused another small commotion.

After all, it overturned the legend they had heard since childhood and deeply believed.

Even the scholars of the Academy were shaken.

But under the awe of the three gods, this small commotion quickly subsided on its own.

The new Red King has already appeared.

What he says goes.

What's more, the ancient Flower God has also reappeared; she herself did not refute it, which proves the authenticity of this so‑called covenant of the three gods.

This intense and twists‑filled Flower God birth festival.

Finally, with Luo De successfully assuming the title of Red King and re‑announcing the shocking news of the three‑god covenant, the curtain fell.

(End of chapter)