In Teyvat, it all begins with rescuing the grass god.

"The things here don't affect me. Let them all come at me; you'll be more comfortable here."

Rhodes gave a soft rebuke.

Hear the words.

Nasita's body stiffened, and she stopped struggling.

Rod is right.

Sitting on his shoulders, the mental pressure was indeed much less than before.

The pollution in the consciousness space of the Great Tree King was too severe, especially the madness, chaos, pain and other negative emotions that filled this space. Even the spirits of gods were affected, which forced Nasita to concentrate her mind to fight against it.

This is not a good sign.

This at least indicates that the consciousness of the Great Tree King is in grave danger at this moment, and it is questionable whether he is even still conscious.

With such worries.

Nasita pursed her lips and remained silent throughout as she and Rhodes passed through the dark and narrow cave.

After leaving.

What came into view was a sky shrouded in blood mist, but upon closer inspection, the blood color in the mist came from the blood-red sun in the sky. Beneath the blood color was a silent and gloomy atmosphere that inevitably made people restless. The negative emotions and abyssal aura that were not too violent in the cave earlier now seemed to have found an outlet, surging towards Rhodes and Narcida like a tide.

Rhode withstood the vast majority of the abyssal aura head-on.

The remaining scraps of abyssal energy that had dissipated were much easier for Nasita to deal with.

"Go to the Ark of Consciousness."

Narcida showed Rhodes a way.

It was a giant ship floating in the sky under the blood-red sun, a ship of reason and consciousness, and its course was the direction that Rhodes and Narcida's consciousnesses were heading.

However, the journey to the Ship of Consciousness was not as peaceful as before.

Monsters kept appearing along the way, blocking their progress.

There are Hilichurls, slimes, and the dark monsters that ravaged the abyss five hundred years ago.

Without exception.

These monsters were all shrouded in a repulsive aura of the abyss.

Naxida did not make a move.

Rhodes didn't make a move; he simply lifted his foot and stomped lightly, causing a surge of powerful ice elemental energy to rush in all directions, turning all the monsters into ice sculptures. As the two walked by, the sculptures shattered into ice shards scattered on the ground.

These monsters are not strong.

It's just that the smell emanating from him is disgusting.

Rhodes didn't need to exert much effort; he easily pushed his way to the Ship of Consciousness.

There are also many monsters on the ship.

Moreover, compared to the monsters below, the monsters above are much stronger, and they carry a much stronger abyssal aura.

As Rhodes cleared out the monsters, Narcida's face showed worry again.

The appearance of these monsters.

This is the manifestation of the contamination of the consciousness of the Great Tree King, and this contamination, composed of forbidden knowledge, is trying its best to prevent Rhodes and Narcida from going to the consciousness of the Great Tree King, which also shows that the state of the Great Tree King is not optimistic at this time.

After Rhodes cleared out the monsters, Narcida immediately jumped down and found the ship's rudder on the deck of the Ark of Consciousness.

Similarly, it was also enveloped in a visible purplish-black aura.

"The ship of consciousness has also been polluted."

Naxi Da frowned deeply.

Rhodes stepped forward and grabbed the ship's rudder. The purplish-black abyssal aura instantly surged into his body, and in a short while, the rudder returned to normal.

"You take a rest. I'll take the helm from now on."

As if afraid that Rhodes wouldn't understand, Narcida added, "The voyage of the Ark of Consciousness must remain stable; otherwise, once it deviates from its course, our consciousness will descend into madness."

Naxi Da's meaning is quite clear.

As a deity.

Her mental strength is far greater than Rod's.

Moreover, she still has a faint connection with the consciousness of the Great Tree King, and with her at the helm, the course can be controlled more reliably.

Rod didn't say anything.

He obediently stood behind Nasita as she had instructed.

However, when he saw that her small body required her to stand on tiptoe to control the Ark of Consciousness, Rhodes picked Narcida up again and let her sit on his shoulders to operate the rudder.

This time.

Nasida paused only briefly before continuing to steer the ship.

The voyage went smoothly.

Not long after they set off, Rhodes noticed something amiss.

It was neither a demon nor the aura of forbidden knowledge.

Instead, strange thoughts will unconsciously pop into your head.

For example, thoughts like wanting to jump off the boat while holding Nasita, or grabbing Nasita and squeezing her hard.

Fortunately, these strange thoughts only popped into my head for a moment.

Nasita made a slight adjustment to her course and disappeared without a trace.

I don't know how long we sailed.

Anyway, Rhodes felt that the scenery around him was becoming more and more monotonous, especially when his consciousness rushed into the blood-red mist. Looking around, all he could see was the color of blood and the filthy atmosphere. This monotonous and oppressive scene was really annoying and difficult to bear. Nasita, who was in charge of steering the ship, was even more on edge and dared not relax for a moment. She gripped the rudder tightly with both hands and continued to move forward along the faint connection with the consciousness of the Great Tree King, afraid that she would tremble due to the influence of the surrounding environment and deviate from the course.

that's it.

We experienced a voyage that was thrilling but ultimately safe.

After the Ark of Consciousness emerged from that most dangerous blood mist.

The scenery before Rhodes and Narcida suddenly changed.

A magnificent giant tree suddenly appeared. Unlike the filth of the outside world, the tree exuded only gentleness. As Rhodes and Narcida stepped onto the trunk, the leaves, shimmering with multicolored light, rustled as if welcoming their arrival.

world Tree.

This is the World Tree of Teyvat.

Although this is merely a virtual scene in the consciousness space, and not the real World Tree.

But for Nasita...

Coming here felt like coming into her mother's arms; this warm feeling was both familiar and strange to her.

It is clearly the purest branch on the world's trees.

This was the first time Nasita had ever seen this giant tree, which was identical to her mother, since she was born.

soon.

With mixed feelings, Nasita met someone who looked exactly like her on the World Tree.

Same height, same appearance, same build.

If there's one difference, it's probably that the two have completely different temperaments.

At a glance.

This shows that the divinity of the Great Tree King is far greater than that of Naxida.

You seem quite surprised.

The Great Tree King smiled and explained, "This is the space of consciousness. Since our essences are the same, we will naturally appear in exactly the same form."

"Essentially the same?"

Naxi Da didn't quite understand.

"Because you are me, and I am you."

The Great Tree King patiently answered Nasita's questions as she encountered the truth for the first time.

Rhodes was not involved.

He simply stood behind Nasita, waiting for their conversation to end so that Nasita could personally erase the Great Tree King and bring true peace to Mount Sumeru.

what a pity.

Rhodes looked at the Great Tree King, whose expression was calm.

Precisely.

She should be called the last wisp of consciousness of the Great Compassion Tree King.

The true King of the Great Compassion Tree had long ago willingly died in that dark calamity for the sake of Mount Sumeru.

The one in front of me.

That's the last trace left by the Great Tree King in Teyvat.

'What a pity.'

Rhodes sighed inwardly.

The death of the Great Tree King was inevitable, and Nasita's inheritance of the Great Tree King's past was also inevitable.

The death of such a benevolent and kind deity still inevitably evokes sadness in people's hearts.

In fact, Rhodes had also wondered if he could save the Great Tree King.

After all, his physique is special, possessing the ability to transform and devour forbidden knowledge. He could try to remove the forbidden knowledge from the Great Tree King's consciousness.

But when she truly saw the consciousness of the Great Compassion Tree King and realized her current state...

He knew that no matter what method he used, it would be impossible.

The Great Tree King has completely merged with forbidden knowledge, just like those mushrooms that have been corrupted by forbidden knowledge; the two are in a state of mutual dependence and shared destiny.