Genshin Impact: The Beginning of the Wind

After all, the power of the abyss is not very safe.

Then, in the next instant, Su Feng's consciousness instantly traversed countless times and spaces to appear in a mysterious space.

"This is... the World Tree?"

Su Feng's consciousness quickly returned to normal, and when he opened his eyes and looked around, what appeared before him was a giant tree that was unimaginably huge, somewhat abstract, and even looked a bit dilapidated.

This is the World Tree of Teyvat, and the sum of all information, knowledge, and ley lines in Teyvat.

It is almost without hesitation to say that the World Tree can be considered the foundation of Teyvat's existence!

Controlling the World Tree even means controlling the entire Teyvat to a certain extent!

But now this giant tree, which is most important to Teyvat... is sick!

When the taboos of the abyss are mixed in, even the World Tree, which can almost be said to symbolize the entirety of Teyvat, has difficulty blocking and clearing away these taboos.

Su Feng could feel the pain and torment emanating from the World Tree, and he could also sense the ever-expanding power and knowledge of the abyss hidden within this mysterious space.

However, although the power of the Abyss continues to expand within the World Tree, it has not been able to penetrate the entire Teyvat more deeply. More importantly, an extremely powerful power of knowledge and dream energy is limiting and resisting this forbidden pollution.

That comes from the dreams and knowledge of the Sumeru people—it is precisely because their dreams are extracted without the knowledge of all the Sumeru people and their knowledge is constantly provided to resist the pollution of taboos that people in reality often accidentally become tainted by taboos.

Thus, the disease "Demon Scales" was born.

If the forbidden contamination in the World Tree is not resolved, the Sumeru people will have to pay a continuous price.

As the contamination from forbidden knowledge becomes more severe, the spread of Demon Scale Disease and even the Dead Zone will naturally become more serious.

The situation in Sumeru... is terrible.

"The world... has forgotten me..."

Just as Su Feng was carefully observing the giant tree that appeared dilapidated after being polluted, a faint voice suddenly entered Su Feng's ears.

"Ok?"

Upon hearing the voice, Su Feng frowned sharply. He seemed to instinctively sense that the voice was important, but he couldn't quite make out what it was.

"..."

Noticing this, Su Feng looked up silently at the enormous yet decaying World Tree. His body slowly floated up and flew towards the location of the World Tree.

Before long, Su Feng was already standing in front of the World Tree, which was so tall it was unimaginable.

"Let me see what's going on."

Upon arriving at the World Tree, Su Feng slowly extended his palm and gently placed it on the trunk of the World Tree.

"Buzz!"

The next moment, a flood of information and knowledge rushed in, as if the whole world was laid bare before Su Feng's eyes.

Chapter Nine: Communication in the World Tree

The World Tree contains an immense amount of information and knowledge, and can be considered the very foundation of Teyvat. It encompasses almost everything in Teyvat, and if someone could control the World Tree, they could be considered to have controlled the entire Teyvat.

Unfortunately, achieving this is not so simple. Even the Great Tree King, as the incarnation of the World Tree, can only borrow the power of the World Tree to a certain extent. Even Sky Island would never dare to say that it has completely mastered this mysterious giant tree that symbolizes the world itself.

As for ordinary people who don't possess the strength and status of gods, rashly contacting the World Tree would likely not end well. Being overwhelmed and assimilated by the immense flow of information within the World Tree would be a good thing.

Even the scholars of Sumeru followed the prescribed procedures to approach the World Tree and try to find some knowledge from it. In fact, this was a back door and access granted to them by the Great Tree King. Otherwise, for mortals to directly approach the World Tree would almost be considered a suicidal act with no chance of survival.

Of course, even so, scholars in Sumeru often go mad after coming into contact with the World Tree, since the World Tree is in a very bad state right now.

Having a divine status would make contact with the World Tree much easier—a divine status would allow them to maintain their individuality amidst the terrifying flood of information from the World Tree, and their power might even be strong enough to allow them to modify the information within the World Tree to some extent.

Even so, if they are not careful, the gods could be overwhelmed by the terrifying flow of information within the World Tree and their minds would crash.

The same applies to Su Feng. Although he is not susceptible to being contaminated or assimilated by massive amounts of information, it is not impossible for him to be stunned or even crash due to the overwhelming amount of information.

After all, he had never experienced anything like this before, so it wasn't surprising that he couldn't withstand the sudden influx of information.

However, this massive flow of information, which could almost turn an ordinary person into a fool in an instant, only stunned Su Feng for a short while before he quickly regained his senses.

"Phew! What a miracle! But the World Tree's condition is much worse than I imagined!"

After regaining his senses, Su Feng couldn't help but sigh. The power of the World Tree was indeed beyond imagination, but the forbidden knowledge belonging to the Abyss that was also attached to the World Tree became even more troublesome because of the World Tree's power.

Just like now, these polluted parts are still trying to break through the barrier set up by the Great Compassion Tree King relying on the dreams and knowledge of all the mortals in Sumeru, while also trying to pollute Su Feng.

Yes, the reason why forbidden knowledge has not spread everywhere is entirely due to the sacrifice and arrangements of the Great Tree King, and the Sumeru people have also paid a huge price for this.

The Great Tree King intercepted the entire vast dream of Sumeru, seizing immense knowledge and power to contend with forbidden knowledge, which is why Teyvat still appears safe.

Both He and Sumeru suffered greatly because of this, but they could only barely restrict the flow of forbidden knowledge.

When Su Feng entered the World Tree, the filthy forbidden desires tried to corrupt his body and consciousness. Unfortunately, Su Feng was prepared and didn't care about the abyss's attack. The abyss was indeed unable to do anything to him.

However, the fact that the forbidden knowledge of the Abyss cannot do anything to Su Feng does not mean that these terrible poisons are not troublesome. After all, how many people in the entire Teyvat can be compared with Su Feng?

If forbidden knowledge can't deal with Su Feng, does that mean it can't deal with anyone else?

“The World Tree really can’t hold on for much longer now. Forbidden knowledge is still spreading rapidly, but the knowledge and dreams I can access are still limited. If this continues, forbidden knowledge will soon spread throughout Teyvat, and then everything will be over.”

A gentle yet worried voice sounded from behind Su Feng, but Su Feng's expression remained largely unchanged upon hearing the worry; he seemed to have grown accustomed to such things.

"So how can I help you now? I did gain some new power after entering the World Tree, but if it's only to this extent, it might be difficult to completely eliminate the influence of the Abyss for you."

Su Feng turned around and looked at the small, pale green figure that had appeared behind him at some point, and said this while raising his hand, which was also surrounded by a little bit of dark red light.

This is the power of those who understand the laws of knowledge.

Since entering the World Tree, this power has gradually awakened within Su Feng's body. However, this time Su Feng was unable to obtain another Herrscher Core in one go. Nevertheless, it was not a problem to barely utilize a portion of the power and authority of the Herrscher of Consciousness.

"It's a truly chilling power—compared to the dream power derived from the grass element, the power you wield touches upon a deeper level of the self. If you possess such power... perhaps you could truly and completely alter a life's consciousness and self?"

"This power is truly terrifying. If a life cannot even maintain its own self, can it still be considered a living life?"

The small figure felt a chill run down her spine upon seeing the dark red power in Su Feng's hand. Although it was the first time she had witnessed the power of the Herrscher of Knowledge, as the most intelligent and knowledgeable deity, she instantly recognized the danger and terror of this power.

"But this is also my first time controlling this power. Although it is powerful, it is also weak. At least, it is absolutely impossible for me to do everything you have arranged here right now."

"So what is there that I can do to help, Your Majesty and the Wise King of the Great Compassion Tree?"

Su Feng wasn't worried about being hostile to the World Tree avatar in front of him. After all, the most important issue right now was to resolve the World Tree's anomaly first, and only after that could they discuss whether it was 'too dangerous'.

Of course, Su Feng also didn't think that the Great Tree King, who was known as the embodiment of wisdom, would be so short-sighted and foolish.

"Of course there is anything I can do to help you, esteemed guest."

"The cycle of life and death is an unbreakable destiny in this world. For me, it would be very tempting to gain some extra benefits in this cycle of destiny. I am already an old branch of the past, and it would be best if I could become nourishment for new buds."

"However, before that, I need to heal the big tree I depend on."

When discussing her own life and death, the seemingly small Great Tree King was surprisingly quite carefree. The only concern one could detect in her words was the spread of forbidden knowledge and the safety of the World Tree and Mount Sumeru.

"You want me to help you save the World Tree, so do you have a suitable method?"

“Of course… however, that requires the child’s effort, but right now she… also needs help, which is why I hope you can help me, esteemed guest.”

"The future of this country, and even the future of the world, may already be in your hands."

Chapter Ten is about to take us to... Sumeru City.

When Su Feng opened his eyes again, he couldn't help but sigh—he knew that coming to Sumeru would probably mean facing problems that would pop up out of nowhere, while also dealing with some historical issues from the past.

But Su Feng never expected that this time the matter would be much more troublesome than before.

After all, whether in Mondstadt, Liyue, or Inazuma, you could directly attack the target that needed to be physically dealt with; back then, you just needed to humanely destroy the opponent.

However, things are probably not so simple here in Sumeru.

Since the problem now lies with the World Tree, Su Feng couldn't possibly burn the entire World Tree down to solve the pollution of the Abyss, could he?

If that were to happen, the Abyss would probably start making a big fuss right then and there.

However, if the problem cannot be solved in such a brutal way, then removing the forbidden knowledge from the World Tree will be a very difficult task. Although the Great Tree King has made arrangements, even he cannot be sure whether his plan will be successful in the end.

This is absolutely terrible! Su Feng never expected that this god, who is considered the most intelligent in all of Teyvat, would be so gambler. The margin for error in the plans he set was not high at all.

Even worse news is that the probability of unforeseen events occurring during the plan is terrifyingly high, especially given the current situation with Sumeru, which makes it even more likely that something unexpected will happen. It is precisely for this reason that the Great Compassion Tree King asked Su Feng to help maintain the continued execution of the entire plan.

"Snapped!"

Thinking of this, Su Feng sighed again. This was no easy task. Although Sumi seemed normal at the moment, Su Feng was certain that undercurrents were already surging beneath the calm surface.

Especially after the Fools got involved, it would be a miracle if Sumeru could stay quiet.

Maintaining the original plan under these circumstances is extremely difficult.

Especially since this Grass God isn't exactly qualified, being imprisoned by mortals... even if it was voluntary, it's still somewhat outrageous.

Therefore, Su Feng didn't think the current Little Lucky Grass King could be of much help to him in the future—it would be good enough if he didn't hold him back.

As Su Feng pondered these matters, he casually snapped his fingers. A gentle white light then entered the body of Ke Lai, who had fallen into a deep sleep. With the entry of this pure white light, Ke Lai's body, which had been almost at its limit, began to recover rapidly.

At the same time, the forbidden knowledge that was faintly visible was firmly sealed in the depths of Cole's consciousness by a mysterious dark red power. In the end, Su Feng casually extracted the elements accumulated in Cole's body, and after he did all this, Cole's breathing seemed to become much easier in that instant.

"This means... the Demon Scale Disease has subsided?"

Just as Su Feng had almost finished healing Ke Lai, Tina Li, who had finally calmed down, returned and witnessed firsthand how the scaly symptoms on Ke Lai's arm had miraculously disappeared.

Even though he already knew from Su Feng that the root of the Demon Scale Disease was something that ordinary people could not solve, he still looked at Su Feng with great hope after seeing this scene. He now desperately hoped that Su Feng would say that he had found a solution, or simply tell him that his previous judgment was wrong.

After all, such a reality is truly despairing.

Unfortunately, Su Feng disappointed him once again.

"I have temporarily sealed the lesions in Cole's body and balanced the elemental forces within her. Her Demon Scale Disease should not recur until my seal expires."

Su Feng stated his treatment plan and results very frankly, but after only hearing the general outline, Tinari knew that this method had no possibility of being scaled up on a large scale at all—the level of knowledge and power involved was simply too high, and there were many things that Tinari couldn't even understand.

Especially after Tina noticed that Su Feng had only vaguely mentioned many things, he knew that most of the things involved were beyond the reach of ordinary people.

But what's worse is that this method doesn't completely solve the disease, nor does it have the potential to be replicated.

After all, it's similar to Cole suddenly receiving a blessing from a god; Tina can't expect Su Feng to do this for every patient with Demon Scale Disease.

Su Feng would never do that.

"Thank you so much for your help to Cole. If it weren't for you, I probably would have lost Cole today. And you even helped stabilize Cole's condition... I really don't know how to thank you enough."

Tina's emotions were mixed at this moment, but he still expressed his gratitude. After all, Su Feng had helped him analyze the Demon Scale Disease and even helped solve the problem on Cole.