"The Jade Chamber is beautiful."
"It's my first time being somewhere this high."
Lumine looked around at the surroundings and smiled as she spoke.
First time?
Could the Jade Chamber really be higher than Celestia?
Hearing her comment, Qiu Nian couldn't help but feel amused.
Ningguang also smiled faintly and began walking forward.
"This palace floats above all the mountains. From here, one can clearly see the entire view of Liyue Harbor."
"Ever since I was old enough to learn business, I began saving Mora to build it."
"After becoming the Tianquan, I invited the finest craftsmen and continued expanding it."
"At first, it was only the size of a single room."
"But now, it can even obscure the true silver moon above Liyue."
"One day, I believe its shadow will cover all seven nations."
Ningguang raised her head and gazed at the bright moon as she spoke.
"Cover the seven nations…"
Paimon's expression turned a little strange.
That ambition was enormous.
"Very few outsiders are qualified to set foot on the Jade Chamber."
"But the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius has corresponded with me by letter and speaks highly of you."
"So from the very first day you arrived in Liyue Harbor, I began placing watchers."
Ningguang crossed her arms as she looked at Lumine and Paimon.
"What?!"
Paimon recoiled in surprise.
"It wasn't until you traveled to Wangshu Inn that I fully grasped your movements."
"Including Mr. Qiu Nian here, who is now a consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor."
Ningguang glanced toward Qiu Nian.
"Wait… does that mean the boss of Wangshu Inn, Verr Goldet…"
"Is one of your people?!"
Paimon asked in disbelief.
"No."
Ningguang shook her head slightly.
"Everyone in Wangshu Inn works for us."
That single sentence left Paimon speechless.
"Haha… from that point onward, I more or less understood your movements."
"With enough eyes and ears, it was inevitable."
"I was interested in you, so keeping watch was only natural."
Ningguang chuckled lightly.
"For someone of Lady Ningguang's status, doing something like this isn't difficult."
Qiu Nian said with a faint smile.
"The Qixing wouldn't harm the Geo Archon… right?"
Lumine asked directly.
"Hmm… you have had frequent contact with the adepti."
"It's natural that you might not trust us."
"That's exactly why I invited you here—to clear up some misunderstandings."
Ningguang sighed softly.
Then she walked to the edge of the Jade Chamber.
"You've heard of the Archon War, haven't you?"
She spoke without turning around.
"I know a little."
"But only a little."
"I heard about it from the adepti and from Mr. Zhongli."
Lumine said, glancing at Qiu Nian beside her.
"What exactly did Mr. Zhongli tell you?"
Ningguang turned slightly, clearly intrigued.
"It went like this."
"We went to Jueyun Karst to meet the adepti."
"Every adeptus suspected that that person assassinated Rex Lapis."
"They said that in the mortal world, only that individual had the power to assassinate the Geo Archon."
"Later we asked Mr. Zhongli, and based on historical records, he guessed that the person might be the foreign god who fought Rex Lapis three thousand years ago."
Paimon explained.
"And…"
"The Archon War seems to have been extremely brutal."
Lumine added.
"Hm… that person."
"If it were him, then it would indeed be possible…"
When Ningguang heard about the foreign god who fought Rex Lapis three thousand years ago, her brows knit slightly.
"As far as I know, he is the only god recorded in Liyue's history whose power was nearly equal to the Geo Archon's."
"In Liyue, whether historians or storytellers, everyone believes that Rex Lapis' divine power was unmatched among the gods."
"Of course… I believe the same."
"Unfortunately, the outcome of that battle is unknown."
"Most scholars simply assume that Rex Lapis was victorious."
Ningguang folded her arms while gazing down at the brightly lit harbor below.
[Even the people of Liyue, who worship Rex Lapis, admit that the foreign god's power rivaled his]
[That shows just how terrifying that god must have been]
[Feels like this foreign god will be important to the story]
The viewers in the livestream chat began discussing it excitedly.
"Because if that foreign god had won…"
"Liyue wouldn't look like it does today, right?"
Paimon asked.
"Exactly."
"Before the titles of the Seven Archons and the Seven Nations existed, all gods were simply called archons—or gods."
"There were once many gods in the world."
"And a war that lasted for ages."
"It only ended two thousand years ago."
"During that time, countless lives were lost."
"Blood flowed endlessly."
"In the end, only seven victors remained on the continent of Teyvat."
"They built nations and cities upon the remains of the defeated."
"And thus began the Age of the Seven."
As she spoke, Ningguang turned her gaze toward the distance.
"Do you see Guyun Stone Forest?"
"That is not natural terrain."
"It was formed when Rex Lapis cast down massive stone spears during the war."
Qiu Nian and the others followed her gaze.
Far out at sea stood a colossal landmass.
Mist surrounded the towering pillars of stone, creating a strange landscape.
"Holy—!"
Even Xuehua watching the livestream couldn't stop herself from swearing.
[You're telling me those are stone spears thrown by the Geo Archon?!]
[I've been there in the game—it's HUGE]
[Dropping something that size from the sky is basically a meteor]
The chat exploded.
The map in this world's version of Genshin was enormous.
Many players who hadn't participated in early testing were stunned.
For the first time, they had a real sense of how terrifying Rex Lapis' power truly was.
"Th-this…"
Even Lumine stared at the distant Guyun Stone Forest with her mouth open in shock.
Before today, she had never truly understood what the power of a god meant.
Now she did.
A single casual stone spear was larger than a mountain.
And the foreign god Zhongli had mentioned—
Had once fought Rex Lapis, whose power could do this, on nearly equal footing.
Calling that battle world-shattering…
Suddenly didn't sound exaggerated at all.
Enjoyed these chapters? Access advanced chapters 60+ahead and exclusive content by visiting my patreon.com/WillOFD129?