Genshin Impact: The Beginning of the Wind

Are even high-ranking officials having to work overtime these days just to meet their KPIs? And who on earth dares to set KPIs for high-ranking officials?

How many KPIs does someone like him, who secretly does some archaeology, deserve? The tasks of the high-ranking officials are so heavy that they don't even spare small fry like him anymore.

The person who sets these KPIs is trying to kill the people below them!

Just as Tirzad was trembling with fear at the sudden appearance of Seno and began to have wild thoughts, Jeberlele, the bodyguard who had been hired, quietly shielded his daughter behind him.

He didn't know much about Seno, the Grand Disciplinary Officer, but he knew very well how much vigilance he needed to be when encountering someone who suddenly appeared in the desert, especially a powerful person with the Eye of God—as a veteran, he certainly knew how dangerous such a person could be.

Now he's starting to consider whether to just sell out his employer, since his main purpose this time was to bring his daughter out for some experience, not to have her risk her life with him!

"Are you heading to the Crimson King's Mausoleum?"

While the archaeological team members, who had been stopped, were each lost in their own thoughts, Seno finally asked them a question.

Chapter Seventeen: The Strongest in the Sand Always Have Some Skill

"Yes! Yes, I haven't met my thesis requirements yet, but I really can't find a topic. If this continues, I'll be finished, so I have no choice but to..."

When faced with Seno's questions, Tirzad had no intention of lying, but he instinctively chose to defend himself. However, before he could finish speaking, Seno abruptly interrupted him.

"Illegal archaeology has nothing to do with me. All I want to know now is whether you have a 'key' from the desert!"

Sino rudely interrupted Tirzad—Sino wouldn't have cared about such a small matter even in the past, let alone now, which was not the time to concern himself with such trivial details.

"?"

Tirzad was somewhat bewildered that Seno hadn't come for him at all, but under the pressure of the Grand Disciplinarian, he instinctively took out the Red Sandstone Tablet.

Although he regarded the red sandstone slab as almost the only thing that could save his studies, it was clear that Tirzad did not have much courage to argue for himself when facing the Grand Disciplinarian.

"That's right... How interesting, the Crimson King didn't even try to hide his power?"

"Using the power of the light realm so openly and recklessly... well, it's really not a taboo."

While the other demons who were veiled by the power of light by the Red King during the Demon God War would most likely want to protest and complain, Sky Island, which threw the Red King down, would probably not care about such a trivial matter.

Su Feng, who had appeared beside Seno at some unknown time, looked at the stone slab in front of him with great interest and said such words. With a gentle wave of his hand, the red sandstone slab flew from Tirzad's hand to him.

Upon witnessing this scene, Tirzad instinctively reached out to stop it, but after glancing at Seno, he reverted to his quail-like state.

It's unreliable to expect an unknown scholar like him to have much courage when facing a high-ranking official.

"So this is the key we've been looking for?"

Elhesen, who also appeared, looked at the stone tablet that Su Feng had taken and asked the question that he cared about most.

"Yes, or rather, this is part of the key. As for the other part..."

Su Feng answered Elhesen's question, but then he turned his attention to Jeberlele, who was still watching them warily.

"!"

Upon sensing Su Feng's gaze, Zheberlele's body tensed even more.

If his instincts told him that Seno was an enemy he needed to flee from when he faced him, then now, facing Su Feng's gaze, he felt that Su Feng was someone he had to submit to.

"Lost sand, fate has ultimately brought you back to the warm sand that nurtured you; this is an ending you cannot defy."

When Su Feng looked at Zeberlele and Geed, he couldn't help but say those words. He could feel the panic and struggle in Zeberlele's heart.

Perhaps he already sensed something when he accepted this commission.

But he still returned without hesitation.

Perhaps this is fate?

Zerberle was prepared to face his end. The reason he brought Geed with him this time was to teach his daughter some fighting and life skills so that she could survive well in her final moments.

But when someone sees through your deepest thoughts and points out 'destiny', that's a different story.

Jeberle's eyes were cold, with a hint of panic in them, but the seasoned veteran quickly regained his composure.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Zheberle looked at Su Feng with complicated eyes and said, "Honorable being, what do you need this useless 'sand of betrayal' for?"

“I am just a poor man who has left the hot sands, but if you need me, I can give you everything I have.”

"But... please spare my daughter."

Jeberlele's voice was low, but he was giving his all to ensure his daughter's safety.

Fortunately, this was something he had prepared for in advance.

However, upon hearing this, Geed, who had been firmly blocked behind Zeberlele, suddenly exploded. She struggled to say something, but Zeberlele held her back, not giving her a chance to show herself.

"Ha! What kind of person do you think I am?"

"And why are you acting like you're ready to die? Do you think your life is of any use to me?"

However, after seeing the father and daughter's behavior, Su Feng showed a puzzled expression.

"?"

Su Feng's words stunned Jeberle, who had experienced almost every possible operation in the desert in his lifetime, but after a while, only embarrassment remained on his face.

Because Zeberlele realized he had indeed been deluding himself—although he didn't know Su Feng's true identity, his instincts kept telling him that the person before him was of immeasurable nobility, and that he, a mere grain of sand drifting in the wind, was insignificant compared to such a being…

Well, to the desert people, letting such a being take their lives would probably be a blessing?

How could someone like him receive such a 'gift'?

Finally realizing this, Zeberlele breathed a sigh of relief almost instantly. Since the other party didn't intend to do anything to him, they must just be after the 'key' in his hand. If that's the case, then it doesn't matter.

After a long period of time, Zeberlele had come to terms with what had happened. As for the so-called Golden Dreamland... ha, once it's gone, it's gone.

Anyway, he never intended to get his hands on that thing.

Having figured these things out, Jeberle's mind immediately became active. He first restrained the still-making trouble behind him, and then an unexpectedly fawning expression appeared on his weathered face.

Although the flattery looked rather stiff—Zeberlele had clearly not shown such an expression in a long time—as a mercenary who made his living in the desert, he used to be very good at disguising himself in various ways.

Even though he's not very skilled now, it doesn't stop him from picking up those skills again.

"Esteemed and powerful, may I ask how I can help you?"

At this moment, Zerberle was nothing like the powerful figure who had once roamed the desert. His fawning demeanor even stunned Geed, who had never seen his father act like this before.

In that instant, she seemed to understand why Jeberlele had brought her to the desert under the guise of teaching.

Clearly, besides strength and martial arts, there were some more important skills that Zeberlele hadn't yet taught her.

"..."

“You bastard… fine, I know you hold the key to the Golden Dreamland. I need to open the Golden Dreamland and take Aru away. In return, I can give your daughter a choice.”

Su Feng was also not quite used to Zerberle's current appearance, after all, he didn't have much contact with mortals—especially mortals like Zerberle who had no bottom line at all.

Fortunately, he never cared about these things, because in the end all he needed was the key to unlocking the Golden Dreamland that Zeberlele held in his hands.

Of course, he has also discovered some unexpected and interesting things, which he can use as a reward.

Thinking of this, Su Feng couldn't help but turn his gaze to Jie De—this girl was very interesting, so interesting that Su Feng couldn't help but cast a glance at her.

Chapter Eighteen: Suppressing Spirits? Partial Suppressing Spirits?

"My daughter? Your Excellency, is there something wrong with my daughter?"

When Jeberlele was surprised that Su Feng would shift the topic to Geed, his heart skipped a beat.

Having experienced far too much, he held an indifferent attitude towards most things, but this absolutely did not include his daughter, whom he cherished as a continuation of his former lover's love.

So he naturally became nervous after hearing Su Feng mention Jiede.

"What do you mean by what happened to her... well... actually, it's nothing much. I just sensed a part and power within her that shouldn't belong to mortals—your daughter's bloodline is far more noble than yours. Judging from your appearance, you must have inherited it from her mother."

"Although not many, there are indeed a small number of fragments present and active within her body."

Su Feng gave a brief answer to Zheberlele's question, and both he and Geed looked bewildered upon hearing it.

"Huh? Dad, is Mom's bloodline very noble?"

After a while, Jiede finally understood what Su Feng was saying. She tilted her head and looked at her father curiously. She rarely heard her father mention her mother. Now that she learned from Su Feng that her bloodline had something special, she naturally brought up this issue.

"I don't know that either!"

However, to Geed's surprise, when faced with this question, Jeberlele could only shrug and say that he knew nothing about it—after all, Geed's mother had been taken directly to the desert, and he really didn't know much about Geed's mother Yufi's bloodline.

At that time, those illiterate people whose minds were filled with nothing but the ruins of the Red King and dreams of gold wouldn't have cared about so much.

Unexpectedly, her father was so useless that Jiede could only helplessly turn her attention to Su Feng. After all, it was this mysterious expert who had just pointed out that her bloodline was not ordinary, so she could only try to get the answer from Su Feng now.

“Although I don’t know why, there is indeed a certain degree of light realm power in your bloodline. As far as I know, the only thing in the entire Sumeru that best fits your situation is probably the so-called ‘Spirit Suppression’.”

"So as your reward for helping me obtain Aru, I can help your daughter strengthen her bloodline and power. At that time, she will become a 'half-Spirit Town' and gain power and lifespan far beyond that of ordinary people."

"Of course, if you don't want this reward, I can offer something else—as long as you make your request."

Su Feng casually revealed his guess and the reward he was prepared to offer.

To be honest, he was very interested in Geed's situation, after all, the combination of a mortal and a superhuman was indeed quite strange.

Of course, he also couldn't quite understand why a spirit that should be pure energy could leave its bloodline among mortals.

This is much more exciting than the demigods of Liyue—at least the demigods of Liyue have physical flesh and blood, but the spirits of Zhenling are pure fragments of the Light Realm!

In reality, the residual spirit power within Geed didn't bring her much benefit—this spirit bloodline at most gave Geed some of the characteristics of the Light Realm and made her more gifted in writing and language than ordinary people.

Besides, her personality probably had the biggest impact on her.

This was also the reward Su Feng had prepared for Zheberlele—it would be easy for Su Feng, who controlled the power of the Light Realm, to make the fragments of the Light Realm power within Geed grow stronger. If the current mortal world were not unsuitable for the existence of pure Light Realm power life forms like Zhenling, then turning Geed into a pure Zhenling would be a piece of cake.

Even Su Feng didn't think that turning Geed into a spirit that could only live in a silver bottle was a reward for her, which is why he said he could transform Geed into a half-spirit.

Su Feng was certain that he could make Geed a special being who combined all the advantages of a spirit and a mortal—after all, controlling the power of the light realm was not difficult for him at the moment.

However, Su Feng didn't notice the influence of Zhenling's 'famous reputation' in Sumi on others. Especially after hearing that there was a part of Zhenling's bloodline in Geed's body, almost everyone except Zeberle took a step back subconsciously.

There's no way around it; every Sumeru person has heard those stories and fairy tales about the spirits that were suppressed. And the spirits that were suppressed in those stories, who did all sorts of things that were incomprehensible to mortals and who sought revenge in a chilling way, really didn't have a good reputation.

Stories like "because you hate someone, you take revenge on their entire family for three generations," "drag down an entire city in the process of revenge," or "kill three hundred blood relatives in one night" are truly frightening.

After noticing the changes in the others, Zeberle once again silently shielded Geed behind him, but this time he was wary of the others around him—he was also a Sumerian, a desert person, and had even once searched for the Eternal Oasis.

Compared to others, he naturally understood the meaning of the title "Spirit Town" better. He never expected that Jiede would have such trouble. In an instant, he became seriously wary of almost everyone.