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

Yae no Miko winked at him, "Don't play dumb, you should know what it is just from the name."

[No! Absolutely not!] Tiger Chiyo, who had somehow appeared, glared angrily at Yae no Miko. [As expected, all foxes are vicious women! Without this thing, I'd be half-dead; with it, do you want me to die inside the Stigmata?]

Before Shen Liang could speak, he saw Yae no Miko observing his expression, then put the ancient book away and said with a wicked smile, "Oh~ I didn't expect my little wolf dog to be such a fierce child."

"I'm not kidding! Can you read minds?! How do you know everything she says?!" Shen Liang couldn't help but suspect that Yae no Miko could see Torachiyo!

“It’s about reading expressions,” Yae no Miko said, pinching his chin and scrutinizing him with amusement in her eyes. “Before asking you any questions, I knew exactly what Chiyo-senpai’s response would be, and I also considered what kind of expression you would make based on her response. As long as you make the corresponding expression, I can naturally understand what Chiyo-senpai was saying… After all, Chiyo-senpai is easy to understand, right? Demons are all simple-minded and idiots. Hmm… judging from your expression, she’s probably cursing me right now, ‘Who’s a simple-minded idiot! None of you foxes are any good!’ Right?”

Shen Liang had to admit that he was no match for the 16-year-old fox with his over 1,000-year-old mind.

"Having made a contract with Torachiyo, how can I revive her?" Yae no Miko asked.

This question was within Shen Liang's expectations, "One hundred and seventy-five years."

"One hundred and seventy-five years?" Yae no Miko frowned slightly. "Does it mean that I will be enslaved by you for one hundred and seventy-five years before I can be free, or does it mean that I must wait one hundred and seventy-five years before I can be revived?"

"the latter."

"But as a human, little wolfhound, can you live for 175 years?"

“I don’t know, so there’s no solution,” Shen Liang said calmly. “But Chiyo probably doesn’t care. She’s satisfied with the current situation. Whether or not she can recover is not part of her plan.”

“It doesn’t matter…” Yae no Miko was taken aback, then she gave Shen Liang a deep look and inexplicably curled the corners of her mouth, “How could it not matter… Okay, I understand, yes, it really doesn’t matter.”

"Then let's move directly to the second question," Yae no Miko said, "Little wolf, do you intend to build your own power base?"

Shen Liang was immediately taken aback by the question, and he began to doubt Yae no Miko's motives. "What do you want to ask?"

“It means exactly what it says.” Yae no Miko released her arms from his shoulders and leaned back on the motorcycle. “During the month you were gone, I realized that there is a civilizational gap between Inazuma and your world… or rather, all the countries in Teyvat may have a civilizational gap with your homeland. For the sake of friendship between the two worlds, I think you should have an independent power.”

Shen Liang did not reply immediately; he seemed to be deep in thought.

He had always had a vague idea about this, especially on Earth, on the day he faced the Valkyrie of the Five Constants.

On that day, the five Valkyries of the Five Constants could disregard his miracle as a male superhuman, and could also disregard the guarantees of the two S-class Valkyries behind him, openly demanding the Key of God from him, and even revealing their desire to abduct him.

If Cheng Ling Shuang hadn't arrived in time, he wouldn't have had any room to bargain. Rita and Durandal, two S-rank Valkyries, weren't enough.

So ultimately, that day was about background and influence, not individual strength. In terms of individual strength, no one outside of Shenzhou was a match for Durandal at that time, but did they even care about Durandal?

It’s great to enjoy the shade with your back against a big tree.

Chapter 204 Arrogantly Displaying Its Advanced Technology

This fox always had a keen sense of what he was thinking.

However, Shen Liang did not immediately reveal his attitude. He wanted to test the true thoughts behind the Eightfold Divine Child's words, "I have my own independent force. What benefit does that bring you?"

"For me? Hmm, it probably won't do me any good, but it will for Inazuma." Yae no Miko said with a smile, "It's a little selfish of mine, little wolf. If you keep being a lone wolf like this, then in other people's eyes you'll always be a part of Umi no Shima, and you'll always be that Umi no Miko-sama from the Coral Palace. That's not good for you or for us, is it?"

"You mean my identity has been bound to someone else?"

“Yes, bound together. Actually, you’ve been treating Umijima and the Shogunate equally, haven’t you? But in many people’s hearts, you’re still biased towards Umijima. Everyone thinks you’re a follower of that girl, Kokoro-no-Miya.” Yae no Miko shrugged. “Actually, we all know you’re not. It’s more like the other way around, but even the Kage seem to think you belong to Umijima.”

Shen Liang felt this deeply; most people probably couldn't separate him from his identity as the young general of the Coral Palace. But he didn't actually love Haiqi Island. To be precise, after the battle of burning Mingzhui Beach, he was able to view everyone fairly.

That was the pity that modern people felt for the Teyvats, and pity has no bias.

One could even say that his slight attachment to Haiqi Island stemmed solely from the presence of the High Priestess and the Junior Priestess. One treated him like her own son, and the other was his obedient and sensible fiancée; it was purely a matter of personal affection and had nothing to do with politics.

“Only when you have completely independent power can everyone in the Seven Kingdoms view everything about you fairly.” Yae no Miko casually tossed a bullet casing aside. “You have many secrets, and they are of great value, but if you want everyone to be drawn to you instead of being wary of you, you must first not belong to any party.”

“That makes a lot of sense.” Shen Liang nodded. “But why are you analyzing all this for me?”

"See this little piece of metal?" Yae no Miko picked up the spent cartridge and squinted at the sky with one eye. "When you were fighting on the other side of the light screen, this thing fell on my Shadow Mountain. I asked the blacksmith in Inazuma Castle, and they said they can't make anything like this."

Shen Liang was taken aback.

"So I went to the scholars of Fontaine and Sumeru, and they said that this was not a handcrafted artifact, but something systematically made on a lathe. But no country in the Seven Kingdoms could produce such precision and such exquisite curves." Yae no Miko said calmly, "The scholars of Sumeru used an optical measuring device to magnify this small object a hundred times, but even after magnification, the magnified civilian was still neat and the curves were still perfect... smoother and more perfect than the surface of any sword."

Shen Liang understood what the Eightfold Divine Child was saying.

"In your world, such things are just piles of industrial waste generated when ordinary people squander their power on each other. But even such waste is something we can't manufacture." Yae no Miko shrugged. "Your civilization arrogantly displays its advancement in such a nonchalant way. Shadow's mind may not be able to think about these things, but I'm different. Foxes are naturally inclined to think more... The world behind your light screen is terrifying, and also very interesting."

"As expected of Lord Yae no Kami, you were able to analyze so much from such a small detail?"

"Stop teasing me. There's a saying in Liyue: 'If you see a few spots on a bamboo shoot, you can guess it's a leopard.'" Yae no Miko tossed the spent cartridge aside and reached out to pinch his cheek. "I don't want to be your enemy. First, I have no chance of winning; second, it's unnecessary; and third, you're a very interesting little wolf. I don't want to hand you over to someone else."

"It's not me that's funny, it's the stuff on me." Shen Liang took her hand away. "Stop pinching my face."

“They’re all very interesting.” Yae no Miko chuckled. “So, how do you build your power? One person isn’t enough to build a power. You need members, subordinates, an organization… and you also need cute girls to keep you looking good.”

Shen Liang also had his own considerations on this topic. After pondering for a while, he said, "At present, it seems that I do not have the prerequisites to build a team. I have not even recruited any friends... or rather, my fame is not high enough and my influence is not large enough to meet the standards for building a force."

"So you mean you don't have enough manpower?" Yae no Miko raised an eyebrow, her expression somewhat strange. "Are you serious?"

“I really don’t have enough manpower. I can’t exactly hire a bunch of people to wander around with me right now.”

"Wandering is definitely out of the question, but you come from a very wealthy family." Yae no Miko's smile was somewhat subtle. "Do you think that when you're really ready to form your own team, no one will come looking for you?"

"Who's looking for me?" Shen Liang asked, puzzled. "I don't know many people in this world."

“The priestess of Umijima Island, the spy of the Fools, the female general of the Tenryo magistrate, the young lady of the Sha magistrate… Little wolf, do you really think that if you were to forge your own path, no one would be willing to join you?” Yae Miko tilted her head and looked at the boy in front of her. “What you should be worried about is that various forces might fight tooth and nail to get people into your territory. You might as well try to expand your own territory.”

"Territory?" Shen Liang heard a strange word.

“To build up a force, you need a place to house people. You’re going to be an otherworldly being who travels through the seven kingdoms in the future.” Yae no Miko counted on her fingers meticulously. “Just like the Adventurers’ Guild has branches all over the world, um… so you need to keep one mansion in Inazuma, another on Umibozu Island, another in Liyue, and one in each of the seven kingdoms… Do you have enough money? Land in Inazuma Castle and Liyue Harbor is very expensive.”

As Shen Liang listened to her plan, he vaguely formed a solution in his mind.

However, his thoughts were somewhat different from those of Yae no Miko.

"Oh? You're daydreaming again. I'm planning your future, and you really don't respect me at all?" Yae no Miko noticed Shen Liang's absent-mindedness and immediately put on an angry tone. "So, in your heart, the priest of Narukami Shrine is not as cute as the priest of Coral Palace, is that it?"

"Indeed, my Xinhai is cuter than you."

“But you’re not in Coral Palace right now, you’re by my side!” Yae no Miko snorted. “In what way am I inferior to Coral Palace’s Heart Sea? Does she have my looks and figure? Does she have my wealth and followers? Does she have what I have…”

"She's my fiancée."

"...We lost."

Chapter 205 Are there really so many beautiful girls among humans?

(This chapter had a formatting error, but it has been fixed. Please refresh the page if you find any paragraph errors.)

Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany.

Angelia stood at the entrance of the family's private chapel, tiptoeing and gazing down the mountain.

Neuschwanstein Castle sits atop a cliff overlooking the sea, and the chapel occupies a commanding position with excellent views. In her line of sight, a pure white Koenigsegg Gemera winds its way up the mountain, along the Romantic Avenue, into the castle gates, and stops beside a low-rise building not far away.

That was the head of the family's car. Koenigsegg is a sports car manufacturer, which wouldn't normally fit the image of the Schariac family, the St. Sisters' family. However, since it's a German brand, and as the representative of the Schariac family, it's theoretically better for them to drive a car from their own country.

It's definitely not that the Holy Maiden prefers the thrill of driving a supercar to the comfort of a luxurious sedan.

The family maid hurried over, opened the car door, and simultaneously held up a parasol. A pristine high heel stepped out of the car and onto the ground, revealing a slender, long leg encased in delicate, pure white stockings. The stockings were trimmed with fine gold thread from the sole to the side of the thigh, a beauty and purity so striking that one almost dared not look directly at it.

"Miss Cecilia is back," a maid whispered behind Angelia.

Indeed, the Saintess has returned. She is the object of admiration for the entire Shaniat family, possessing power that almost dominates the world and a gentle and kind personality. Despite having two daughters, she still possesses the stunning beauty of someone in their twenties. Angelia has always doted on her older sister since childhood, even feeling jealous of her sister's daughters... because although she and Cecilia are of the same generation, there is a nearly twenty-year age gap between them. Strictly speaking, she, Sirin, and Kiana are actually of the same generation.

“I remember my cousin was going to bring back some shocking news this time,” Angelia said.

"Breaking news?" the maid asked, puzzled.

"They say it's a boy." Angelia rubbed her eyes, puzzled. "But where is he?"

The maid also looked over. Even the maids in the Shaniat family were considered superhumans, and her eyesight was excellent. But when she saw Cecilia get out of the car, she counted carefully and found that only two young ladies and a flat-chested Asian girl with long black hair got out of the back seat.

"Perhaps in the end, Lady Maria's consent was not obtained?" the maid guessed. "After all, no man has ever entered the Shaniat family for hundreds of years. Even when Miss Cecilia married Lord Siegfried, Lord Siegfried was not allowed to step into the inner fortress of this castle... Perhaps Miss Cecilia has calmed down and given up on this plan?"

“Maybe, but… I don’t think Cousin Cecilia would care about Cousin Maria’s attitude. She’s actually become a bit lively and willful over the years.” Angelia sighed softly. “Besides, Cousin Cecilia doesn’t have much time left. None of us would refuse her little whims.”

"Please accept my condolences," the maid said softly.

"Look, this is our Schariac family's main residence! Isn't it beautiful? It's huge and amazing!" Cecilia enthusiastically introduced Neuschwanstein Castle to Shen Liang. "These days, there aren't many families who can still live in castles. This is a famous tourist attraction. If it weren't for the Schariac family being so powerful, it would never have been approved! We have many vacant rooms. You can stay in any of them, changing rooms every day, and you could stay for a year or two!"

"Only someone so stupid as to not know how wonderful modern society is would live in this godforsaken place," Kiana muttered. "The centuries-old house is near the beach, it's humid and hot in the summer, freezing cold in the winter with no heating, and cleaning is all done by maids. Most importantly, even food delivery doesn't come here."

“You can have the kitchen make whatever you want to eat. Why order takeout?” Sirin said coldly. “You’ve been wandering around for too long. You’re still not used to being a member of the Shaniat family.”

"I want to eat my junior brother's braised chicken rice. Tell the kitchen to make it for me!"

Xilin's lips twitched.

Cecilia, unconcerned about her two daughters' bickering, took Shen Liang's arm and entered the castle through the black iron gate.

“She was holding the arm of that dark-haired boy…” Angelia pondered, “This gesture seems a bit boyish.”

----------

"I will now taste the glory of heaven."

They are the heirs of God the Father and have been redeemed.

Born of the Holy Spirit and cleansed by the precious blood

This is my message, this is my poetry.

"Praise our Savior, sing in harmony day and night"

The choir sang hymns repeatedly in the chapel, the girls' voices melodious like larks. The small family chapel was unlit, but instead lit countless candles, their flickering flames resembling ocean waves.