Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

“I saw the fear in your eyes. You don’t want to give up everything to be an ordinary person, which means you have ambition. Only ambitious men are reassuring.” Torachiyo chuckled. “Ambitious men don’t easily give up the girls who belong to them. You are domineering and greedy, but isn’t that a good thing? The requirements of girls in Teyvat are both low and high compared to those on Earth. We don’t require men to love one person forever… but we do require you to love forever.”

Shen Liang chuckled, then shook his head. "Don't talk like I'm some kind of womanizer. I'm just training potential Saint Mark candidates; that doesn't mean I'll necessarily develop feelings for them. Save those words for when I become the King of the Sea."

“By Earth’s standards, you’re already a sea king,” Torachiyo laughed.

"Then let's use the Teyvat standard!"

To passersby, he appears as a handsome and adorable young boy talking to himself beside a massive alchemical vehicle, occasionally speaking in a particularly loud voice. As the spirit and host of the ley lines, Torachiyo and Shen Liang's thoughts are essentially transparent to each other, allowing their conversations to always go quite deep. Shen Liang cannot deny or escape himself in front of the spirit, but this doesn't mean they will become close friends; it only means that their conversations either jump around in different topics or end in a heated argument.

"Who else are you planning to target?" Torachiyo asked. "I've forgotten who else is a qualified Stigmata user."

It had indeed been a long time since Shen Liang had paid attention to the system. He had basically never opened the system interface since returning to Earth. Now, with his mental powers expanding, his vision became semi-transparent. This time, he opened all the character panels, including his own.

[Host: Shen Liang (Eve)]

[Currently Eligible Abilities: Arcane Art: Transformation into the Moon, Bloodline: Sea Goddess]

[Current Heroic Spirit Blessing: Martial Arts - All Martial Arts are Passed Down]

-

[Currently Eligible Stigmata Users]

[Name: Rosalyn Cruzsica Loehafat]

[Progress: 27%]

Rosalyn is currently too busy to attend to you.

Name: Naganohara Yominomiya

[Progress: 40%]

[Aren't you really going to help Sister Xiaogong lower the Jade Dragon Flag? Hey! Really?]

Name: Kayo Kamisato

[Progress: 9%]

[Throughout the divine realm, destiny is predetermined.]

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

[Current Stigmata Heroic Spirits]

[Mikoto Chiyo: Resurgence Time Limit 175 Years]

Skipping over the already perfected High Priestess and Junior Priestess, Shen Liang felt more confident after reviewing the panel.

—It's been a long time since I've seen the lady, but her progress has actually accelerated instead of slowing down, which means she still cares about me a lot. She still believes I have a chance of completing her plan.

—It's normal that Yoomiya and Lady Kamisato's relationship has slowed down; they're just friends, and she's been gone for so long. Rather, Yoomiya is truly a straightforward and honest girl. She gained a lot of goodwill from him simply because he saved someone, and she hasn't lost much of it since… She's a kind girl who only remembers the good in people; girls like her are almost extinct these days.

Well, this cheerful and lively personality reminded Shen Liang of Kiana. Enthusiastic girls always bring joy, like a little sun, especially someone like Shen Liang who's never been associated with "enthusiasm," she particularly liked this kind of personality.

The more gloomy and aloof a person is, the more they like the sun.

Of these people, it's obvious that only Xiaogong can be further trained, or perhaps he should find a few more suitable candidates.

However, he has gradually come to understand that to make someone a suitable candidate, one must have some behavior or trait that catches their attention. But this also requires catering to their preferences. For example, Coral Palace's interest in him stemmed from his seawater rice seeds, while Xiao Palace's favorability towards him skyrocketed after he saved someone.

To put it bluntly, you need to make people like you, or be interested in you, and have them take you to heart.

That's actually not that easy. Otherwise, the first thing Shen Liang would want to do right now is to make that high and mighty Thunder God a qualified user. Getting any ability from Thunder General would probably be enough for him to run rampant throughout Teyvat!

However, he keenly noticed the word "Eve" after her name.

Eve... That's what the snake-like loli from the previous civilization called him when she met Mebius next to the Judgment-class Honkai Beast Shesa.

A pre-existing civilization...

Just as Shen Liang was thinking this, the long-dormant system suddenly popped up, displaying several lines of large warning text in front of him!

[The Pure Land of the Past is extremely dangerous; those carrying out this mission must not seek it out until all preparations are complete.]

[Please prioritize exploring the world of Teyvat.]

[Please expedite the completion of the 'Son of Man' project.]

[Subsequent features of the Stigmata system will be announced before the next milestone is achieved.]

"Are you crazy? You scared me!" Shen Liang frowned. He and Hu Qiandai had both seen this scene. He almost immediately asked, "Why don't you tell me what the plan is first, bro! I'm the executor, but you have to tell me what I'm supposed to do! What kind of system acts like this? If you really can't do it, just issue a task and I'll do it."

But as usual, after the warning popped up abruptly, the system went silent again. No matter whether Shen Liang asked directly or in his mind, the system remained silent.

Shen Liang questioned it for a few minutes before finally giving up. However, just like how the system revealed information with every statement... even the warning it gave him exposed a lot of inside information. For example—

Chapter 192 Apologizing to Mother

Paradise after death?

The word was first uttered by Mebius, when the loli snake, who looked about the same age as his sisters, used this place to lure him. Clearly, this place was inextricably linked to the system within him, and perhaps even related to his... background.

He always believed that he was an orphan of China, abandoned on the Siberian battlefield, but... even orphans should have parents and relatives, or at least have experiences, but his memories of China were very vague.

He couldn't remember anything before he was ten. Cocolia had once said that it was actually a good thing; being abandoned in the past wasn't a good thing, and remembering being thrown out of the orphanage by his parents in the freezing cold would only be a lifelong shadow. However, the secrets surrounding him only gradually surfaced after he grew up: a system, childhood, time travel—any one of these themes could fill a novel.

Was he really abandoned at the gate of a so-called welfare home?

The "Son of Man" project revealed even more; it was clear that what the system needed him to do was the "Son of Man" project. The only problem was that the system offered neither guidance nor instructions, only warning him against exploring the Paradise of the Past when he showed interest in it.

If the system is a plan, then what exactly is its role within that plan? If the "executor" is someone who executes the "son of man," then why is he slacking off all day and not in a hurry to pick up girls or get into the right person? The system hasn't warned him about that either.

Normally, when I was discussing with Torachiyo about "going back to Earth to live an ordinary life and never coming to Teyvat again," you should have threatened me, saying that if the host dared not act, I would eliminate you, right?

too weird.

The system within him clearly had specific needs, yet it preferred to trigger keywords and warn Shen Liang rather than reveal those needs. Was the system designed to be this rigid? That couldn't be possible; a powerful system capable of connecting two worlds, infiltrating ley lines, and bringing the dead back to life—couldn't it lack even this basic AI?

It's like it doesn't care what Shen Liang does with the system, even if Shen Liang just gives up... or rather, even if Shen Liang does nothing and just gives up, it's still part of the "Son of Man" plan.

This sense of incongruity left Shen Liang completely baffled.

However, at least he now knows that the system's plans don't conflict with his travels. After all, exploration is just about traveling, picking up girls, selling goods, rebelling, setting fires, and killing people in Teyvat. He would do it even without the system telling him to.

"Alright, we've arrived at Inazuma Castle." Shen Liang wanted to put the car back into the teleportation screen, but when he thought about how the other side of the teleportation screen was a business jet full of Shaniat people, and it seemed a bit strange for a large motorcycle to suddenly appear in the cabin corridor, he could only park the car on the side of the road, walk along the castle gate steps and around several shopping streets, and arrive at the town street closest to the Tenryo Magistrate's Office.

Shen Liang planned to find a comfortable hotel, or rather, an inn or restaurant, to store his belongings. After all, the teleportation screen only placed something in the world on the other side of the screen. For example, when he was raiding around Earth, he stored his large weapons, changes of clothes, and luggage on the back mountain of Narukami Shrine.

Now he needs to figure out a way to move the things to a private location, as for bringing them back to Earth to return to the Shaniat family...

Are you kidding me? I bought it with gold!

He didn't buy so many heavy weapons just to wreak havoc in Tallinn; killing so many people wouldn't have required that much. As an ordinary person, he wasn't entitled to buy such weapons. He used the Schariac family's connections to buy them and accumulate them for future use. He'd fought in Teyvat for a whole year with just two Desert Eagles, and now he was upgrading to a much more powerful arsenal. These heavy weapons were his capital for dominating Teyvat!

Shen Liang wandered around for a while, then suddenly his eyes lit up. "Okay, this place has a nice environment. I'll leave the spatial location here and take a nap first... Chiyo, remember to wake me up this afternoon. The plane over there should be arriving in Germany by then."

Torachiyo stepped into the store first, then turned back to look at him seductively: "Huh? Boss, are you sure I can still wake you up this afternoon?"

“…Then I’ll set an alarm.” Shen Liang sighed.

--------------

Inazuma Castle Town, wooden-framed teahouse.

In Inazuma City, land is incredibly valuable, and almost every shop has some kind of backing. The Mokulou Tea House, located in the city's prime location, is worth over 100 million moras. Primarily catering to VIPs, the Mokulou Tea House boasts a tranquil environment and therefore commands high prices. Consequently, it's usually quite quiet and not very crowded.

In layman's terms, it's a high-end shop; it might not open for three days, but when it does, it'll feed you for three. It's like a coffee shop in Lujiazui, selling an atmosphere for 50 yuan a cup!

However, the reason why Mulou Tea House has been able to operate here for so many years is not only because of the patronage of the wealthy and powerful, but also because it has been secretly well taken care of by prestigious families.

It is one of the properties secretly managed by the family in accordance with the gods.

As the least powerful and least influential of the three major branches, the Kamisato family is extremely cautious in everything they do. Therefore, many of their businesses are used for discussing important matters, issuing tasks to the final boss, and even serving as "safe houses" for some "criminals".

After all, the Kamisato family needs to do many things to maintain the stability of the clan and Inazuma... things that are not easily made public. With so many eyes watching, only in these "safe houses" can many plans be discussed freely.

However, nothing much happened at the Wooden Leak Tea House today. Several scholars sat chatting in the tea rooms separated by wooden boards. A poet, who had drunk himself into oblivion, was pulled by a maid to sleep in a side room. In a tatami room deep inside the tea house, several girls dressed in kimonos sat facing each other drinking tea.

The young girl in the simple blue and white kimono is Ayaka Kamisato. In Inazuma, only unmarried virgins are entitled to wear the colorful furisode kimono. Sitting opposite her is the mature woman in the pure white furisode kimono, who is her mother, Hanayo Kamisato. The plain-colored kimono represents her status as a widow who has been married but is now widowed.

The mother and daughter had identical silver hair; the daughter wore a neat high ponytail, while the mother's hair was softly draped over her shoulders. The two dignified beauties perfectly embodied the image of a "reclusive young lady" in Inazuma's mind, after all, one was the current "White Heron Princess," and the other was the former "Snow Camellia Princess."

But amidst such an elegant and beautiful scene, Yoomiya, sitting next to Ayaka Kamisato, felt completely uncomfortable. She sat cross-legged next to Ayaka Kamisato, looking at the married woman in front of her and then at the young lady next to her, trying her best to act like a lady like them, but she couldn't, so she scratched her head in frustration.

The mother and daughter had been sitting in silence for half an hour. Did Yoomiya not know why Ayaka Kamisato had dragged her here to share her awkwardness?

"I apologize to my mother," Ayaka Kamisato said softly, then knelt down and kowtowed to the tatami mat.

Chapter 193 The Divine Family Pleads for the People

The candlelight flickered, and Yoomiya stared in shock at the solemn mother and daughter, feeling a chill run down her spine as she looked around. Ayaka Kamisato knelt, her forehead pressed against the table, unable to rise.

Kazuyo Kamisato indifferently refilled Yonomiya's teacup. The girl, dressed in an orange half-wrapped yukata, nervously accepted the important person's tea, not daring to say a word.

The dignified wife, seemingly oblivious to her daughter's actions, completed each step of the tea ceremony, wiping all the unused teacups clean, before lowering her gaze and slowly asking, "What crime have you committed?"

"As the daughter of a magistrate, participating in the Hyakunin Ikkyu, showing her face in public, and indulging in the fame and fortune brought by martial arts, has ruined the elegant image of the Kamisato family for centuries." Kamisato Ayaka said in a low voice, "I know that my mother hopes to raise me into a Yamato Nadeshiko whose every word and deed conforms to the Kamisato family's traditions. This time, without the approval of my mother and elder brother, I have acted willfully. This is truly Ayaka's recklessness."

She apologized for participating in the uprising.

The uprising of a hundred men was, in essence, a grand event for martial artists. On the field, they not only had to show their faces, but also wield knives and guns, and even engage in close-quarters combat, shedding blood and sweat.

While many people enjoy watching such grand events, they are inherently too vulgar. Generally speaking, such activities only circulate among commoners and military officers; nobles who value their personal image and family reputation would never participate in them.