Genshin Impact: The Beginning of the Wind

It is something to be proud of that Huacheng Guo's environment has received such praise from such a powerful figure.

"Please come to my place and rest for a while. Then I can explain to you what happened to Cole."

Tina's pride didn't last long, and he couldn't possibly neglect a powerful figure who could easily deal with the Dead Zone. So after a brief chat, he invited Su Feng to his home for a detailed discussion.

......

"Phew~ Recently, there have been more and more dead zones and monsters appearing in the rainforest. I've been so busy that I haven't been able to replenish my stock for a long time, so I only have some old coffee beans left. I hope you don't mind too much."

Tinari placed a freshly ground cup of coffee in front of Su Feng and offered an apologetic explanation. However, Su Feng didn't care about such a small matter. Besides, even though Tinari said that, the cup of coffee in front of him, just by smelling its rich aroma, was certain that it was made from ordinary coffee beans and was at least of good quality.

"I don't really care about the quality of these things. Actually, if possible, it would be even better if you could treat me to a cup of Xumi's specialty wine next time. Compared to these stimulants, I prefer drinking alcohol."

Su Feng picked up his coffee, took a small sip, and then decisively offered his suggestion.

"Next time I visit Sumeru City, I'll treat you to a drink. Sumeru's mead is very famous."

Su Feng's words relieved Tinali slightly. He promptly invited Su Feng to have a drink together in Sumeru City next time—regardless of anything else, the fact that Su Feng had saved Cole's life was enough for him to do so.

"Now let's talk about that little girl named Kolei. I sensed a lot of chaotic power from her, especially since, apart from some traces of the lingering resentment of the demon god, her body seems to be constantly accumulating elemental power... This is not a common occurrence."

"Can you talk to me?"

Su Feng put down his cup and shifted the topic back to what interested him most.

The existence of the Demon God's Grievance is not surprising—it symbolizes one of the most powerful forces in Teyvat. The Demon God's Grievance is always coveted by people trapped in mortal bodies, and countless mortals throughout Teyvat have researched how to use the Demon God's Grievance to gain extraordinary power.

To put it simply, the evil eye that the Fools are using everywhere is essentially an exploitation of the lingering resentment of the demon gods.

What truly concerned Su Feng was the abnormal accumulation of elemental power within Kele's body, and even worse, the faint traces of forbidden elements that clearly did not belong to Teyvat that appeared within her body—in fact, the elemental accumulation within Kele's body was an instinctive reaction of Teyvat induced by these forbidden elements.

In order to resist the taboos from outside the world and to ensure the safety of Teyvat, when these taboos have the potential to appear, elemental forces will instinctively gather and try to resist or even expel the forces from outside the world.

However, it is clear that this kind of instinct originating from the world is extremely bad for any mortal. An excessively concentrated power will seriously erode the bodies of mortals. In Su Feng's perception, this is the case with Ke Lai's body now.

"You can actually sense what's happening inside Ke Lai's body?"

However, to Su Feng's surprise, Tinali became even more excited than him after hearing the question. If it weren't for his instincts as a scholar and his long-cultivated manners that kept him in check, he probably would have pounced on Su Feng right now.

"Yes, that's why I'm curious about that child's situation—there are some secrets and taboos behind it that are not suitable for you to know, so I'm sorry I can't tell you more specific details."

Su Feng was somewhat surprised by Tina's appearance, so he chose to reveal a little information, but then stopped abruptly.

However, Tinari was no ordinary person. After overcoming his initial excitement and panic, he easily understood the hidden meaning in Su Feng's words. As a result, Tinari's eyes widened slightly, and he even accidentally crushed the cup in his hand.

However, he managed to control his emotions after that.

"I'm so sorry, I've tried everything I can think of to help Cole control the Demon Scales disease, but it hasn't been very effective. Even now, I can only watch the Demon Scales disease slowly devour her life every day."

"This feeling is terrible for me."

Tina Li paid no attention to the broken cup in his hand and the spilled scalding coffee, nor did he care about the cuts he had from the shards. He only managed to control his emotions after taking several deep breaths.

Although Su Feng spoke in a very cryptic way, Tina Li had already guessed a lot from just this one sentence, and he was also certain that the person who was now in front of him was someone he would never have been able to come into contact with under normal circumstances.

"So, may I ask, what can I possibly know now?"

At that moment, Tina asked her question with a serious expression.

The Demon Scale Disease has already brought Sumeru too much suffering. Now that there is finally an opportunity to find a solution to the Demon Scale Disease, Tinali will never give up, no matter how many dangers she has to face.

"Hmm...you should tell me about the 'Demon Scale Disease' you mentioned first."

Tina's determination was not beyond Su Feng's expectations. After thinking for a while, Su Feng took the lead in raising his question.

Chapter Seven: A Desperate Struggle

The existence of Demon Scale Disease has tormented Sumeru for far too long. Especially now, once someone is diagnosed with Demon Scale Disease, it is almost certain that that person will die.

Especially this kind of agonizing way of dying while watching one's body slowly weaken without any hope of recovery is the most terrifying curse for the Sumeru people.

Over the long years, countless people have tried to research and cure the Demon Scale Disease, but unfortunately, no one has succeeded to this day—even though a ruthless individual once used the Demon God's resentment to temporarily suppress the Demon Scale Disease on Cole, it was still the same.

Because the Demon God's Resentment only causes more severe damage to mortal bodies, it is less about curing Demon Scale Disease and more about the Demon God's Resentment causing such terrifying damage that Demon Scale Disease cannot manifest itself for a while.

Using this method will only hasten the patient's death!

This could probably be considered another type of death case where, as long as you don't die from scaly disease, it can't be considered a death from scaly disease.

But without a doubt, this treatment method is not worth referencing. If they had been able to catch that guy by the tail back then, Tina would have used all her strength to hunt down that inhuman guy.

In short, Sumi, who was plagued by the Demon Scale Disease, had paid too high a price and lost too many lives, but in the end, they could not even determine how the Demon Scale Disease was generated and transmitted. This terrifying and mysterious disease seemed to be a cruel joke that the world had played on them, which was both terrible and despairing.

But now, Tina Li suddenly received a glimpse of the truth from Su Feng, how could he not be excited?

So Tinaly readily told Su Feng everything she knew about the Demon Scale Disease. After listening to Tinaly's explanation of how the mortals of Sumeru understood the Demon Scale Disease, Su Feng wasn't surprised at all.

Mortals' understanding of the world is quite limited—not to mention taboos originating from outside the world, even elemental forces are, for the vast majority of mortals, black boxes that can only be used by a portion of people but cannot be understood.

It's a bit much to expect mortals to be able to analyze symptoms unique to mortals that arise from the world's instinctive defense mechanisms when they don't even fully understand the basics. However, Su Feng also heard from Tinari that mortals have begun to suspect that the large-scale appearance of the Demon Scale Disease and the Dead Zone may be related to the World Tree.

After all, the World Tree in Sumeru was getting worse and worse, and the scholars who often came into contact with the World Tree would naturally notice this. Unfortunately, it was impossible for mortals to have much influence on the World Tree by relying solely on their power.

Let alone saving the World Tree, even setting it on fire when it's already in dire straits is beyond the capabilities of ordinary people.

After briefly organizing the information and various speculations that Tinari had given him, Su Feng pondered for a while before gently revealing his current findings to the other party, who was looking on with great anticipation.

“I can’t go into too much detail, but I can tell you for sure that the reason why you have the ‘Demon Scale Disease’ is not because there is a problem with the patients’ bodies, but because of ‘external reasons’ that caused the elemental enrichment. The reason why their bodies are weakening uncontrollably is mainly because they cannot withstand the cost of being a ‘battlefield’.”

"Your guess is that the World Tree has a problem that caused the spread of the Dead Zone and the Demon Scale Disease—this guess is not entirely wrong, but it is not comprehensive either. It is not that the World Tree has a problem that caused the Dead Zone and the Demon Scale Disease, but rather that these two are more specific manifestations of the world being sick."

"The World Tree cannot be restored without addressing the root cause, and similarly, the Demon Scale Disease and the Dead Zone are incurable as long as the root problem persists. But to resolve this root cause..."

At this point, Su Feng couldn't help but shake his head, a gesture that immediately made Tina's heart sink.

As expected, what Su Feng said next plunged Tinali into utter despair.

"To deal with the root cause, even a powerful god would likely have to pay a heavy price. Moreover, although it's vague, I've already made some guesses about the 'root cause' entrenched in Sumeru. If it's really as I think, then this is probably not a problem that a mere god can solve, let alone the newly born grass god in Sumeru..."

"If it's just her, there's almost no chance of solving this problem in the short term."

Su Feng's mere words were enough to seal the fate of the entire Sumeru world. He could sense a trace of taboo originating from beyond the world from Korai, a power and knowledge that flowed with terrifying curses and venom for Teyvat.

Considering that the Sumeru event five hundred years ago could also be considered the main battlefield, this forbidden knowledge originating from outside the world can almost be said to originate from the Abyss, and given the special and powerful nature of the Abyss's power.

There's no way a newly born Grass God could possibly solve this problem.

Sitting opposite Su Feng, Tina naturally had no idea what Su Feng was thinking, nor did he care about it. He was truly desperate now, never expecting that such a deep secret was hidden behind the Dead Zone and the Demon Scale Disease. He suddenly felt a sense of defeat that everything he was doing was in vain.

It involves deities.

Ha, isn't this just a roundabout way of telling Tina to give up the resistance?

Especially now that it seems even the gods of Sumeru themselves cannot handle this matter well, what can a mere forest ranger possibly do in this situation?

"..."

"Then, could you please help alleviate Colette's condition a little? Her health is already very bad, and if this continues, I'm afraid she..."

It took Tinali a very long time to accept the facts Su Feng had told him. When he learned that the root of the Demon Scale Disease was something that mortals could not solve, he was truly disheartened.

If Tina's mind hadn't been strong enough, she probably wouldn't be sitting here now.

“This is not a troublesome matter. I also want to use this girl’s body to study in depth what is going on. After all, this is not just a matter of Sumeru.”

"If it's possible, I wouldn't mind helping out."

Su Feng did not refuse Tina's request. After all, if the taboo outside the realm that caused the Demon Scale Disease could be completely resolved, it would not be difficult for Su Feng to cure a mortal on his own. So he agreed.

"Thank you very much. No matter what the final outcome is, please don't hesitate to ask me for help in the future."

Tinali barely managed to say those words before leaving the place looking rather dejected. It seemed that it would take him some time to accept what he had just learned.

However, this is beyond the scope of Su Feng's help.

Chapter Eight: The State of the World Tree

Tina learned a little secret from Su Feng and went into seclusion. But before he went into seclusion, he still arranged for Cole to come and receive Su Feng's examination and treatment.

Cole always obeyed Tinaly's words, but she was still very worried about her master because she could keenly sense the despair and gloom in Tinaly's heart.

After all, since learning from Tinari, Cole had never seen Tinari look so desperate, as if her entire life was about to be negated.

She didn't know what Tina and Su Feng talked about, but she knew it must have been something very important and desperate, otherwise, her usually serious and earnest Master Tina would never have shown such a wretched state.

You should know that she had never seen Tinari like this even during the most dangerous times.

But precisely because of this, Ke Lai was even less willing to ask Su Feng what exactly was going on.

Since Tinaari didn't tell her, then this is not something she should know right now.

Now she could only lie obediently in bed and watch as the tiny white orbs emanating from Su Feng's palm gradually merged into her body.

Although she didn't know what Su Feng was doing, Ke Lai, lying on the bed, could feel that after those white orbs of light merged into her body, she did feel as if she had relaxed completely.

She even had a feeling that her body was gradually getting better, and the feeling of constantly letting go of heavy burdens was truly intoxicating.

I'm still very worried about Master Tinari!

Although her health seemed to be improving, Cole was still very worried about Tinari, who had disappeared somewhere.

Meanwhile, Su Feng, who was meticulously and thoroughly examining Cole's body with his powers, was unaware of and did not care about Cole's thoughts. He was now completely absorbed in probing the forbidden power that did not belong to Teyvat that was faintly emanating from Cole's body.

As for Cole—if all else fails, we can use the power of the Herrscher of Death to reshape his body. It might not be completely healed, but it will definitely allow Cole to continue living well for a while.

However, that's all for later. Su Feng is more concerned about the problem at hand right now.

The power and information of the abyss!

After gaining deep contact with that forbidden power that seemed poised to burst forth from Ke Lai's body at any moment, Su Feng finally determined the origin of the power that had tormented Sumeru for so many years.

It seems to be a remnant of the abyss, but it's unclear why this remnant appeared. According to Tina's account, the Demon Scale Disease didn't suddenly appear five hundred years ago. Like the Dead Zone, this disease seems to have appeared on the land of Sumeru a long time ago, but it only started to increase in number five hundred years ago and became a huge problem that Sumeru had to deal with as soon as possible.

It seems that Sumeru and the Abyss have been entangled for quite some time, but how exactly did this Abyssal power infiltrate these mortals?

If the abyss is corrupting and infecting the World Tree, then the scope of the Demon Scale Disease should not be limited to Sumeru. Could there be other reasons behind this?

Su Feng became even more curious about the secrets hidden within, and he increased the power in his hands again, trying to spread the forbidden power within Ke Lai's body to a deeper level of origin.

As a herald, Su Feng didn't care much about whether he would be tainted by this taboo originating from the abyss.

In reality, even if Su Feng were to face the abyss directly, the possibility of him being corrupted would be low. The pure light energy and the protection of the 'cocoon' were enough to give Su Feng great confidence in his own safety.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have so carelessly extended his power and consciousness along the connection between the forbidden forces.