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

Yae no Miko's expression froze for a moment, then she laughed, licking her lips seductively and staring at Shen Liang with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Is that all? Is that all?"

Shen Liang realized that the shrine priests of Teyvat were probably all the same kind of people.

He dared not reply and hurriedly slipped away to the back (crab) area.

Only when Yae no Miko sensed his presence before the Divine Cherry Tree and entered meditation did the teasing expression on her face finally soften.

A gust of wind blew by, and the bare back of Yae no Miko's shrine maiden outfit felt as if it had been scraped by a blade. She knew this was because her back was already soaked with cold sweat.

The conversation, which lasted several tens of minutes, felt like walking on thin ice.

“Mr. Ryoko’s dislike for Inazuma is so strong that he doesn’t even want to have a deep conversation with us,” Ayaka Kamisato said softly. “The chief priest is indeed the chief priest. No one in the shogunate can talk to Mr. Ryoko for so long.”

Yae no Miko sat down on the wooden floor under the eaves of the shrine, picked up a cup of sake from the tray beside her, took a sip with poise, and said in a low voice, "It's not that simple. A little wolf is still a wolf. The malice in him that killed 80,000 people is visible to the naked eye. I am a shrine maiden. Am I not afraid?"

"Even the High Priest is afraid?"

“How can I not be afraid? Foxes are inherently timid creatures.” Yae no Miko chuckled. “I’m afraid I’ll lose my balance, I’m afraid he’ll become dissatisfied, I’m afraid the general will lose his mind for him, and I’m even more afraid that he and the general will draw their swords against each other.”

Ayaka Kamisato was somewhat puzzled, "Mr. Ryoko can't be that mentally impaired, can she?"

“Dementia? He’s not dementia, he’s just very emotionally unstable.” Yae no Miko sighed. “I noticed it the first time I saw him. He’s got a mental problem. He was probably just an ordinary person before he caused the fire at Nashiina. He couldn’t possibly recover from the deaths of so many people. It might have just taken some time… but he’s clearly having a problem now, which is making him anxious and causing him to become increasingly violent and manic.”

"question?"

“Maybe he had some problems in that world, but that’s not good for us. I’m worried that our contact with him might touch a nerve and make him hate us.” Yae Shinko smiled bitterly. “Fortunately, I was right. He’s still a young boy. Boys always tolerate a lot of intimate behavior from pretty older women. It’s one of the worst aspects of human nature.”

Ayaka Kamisato took a deep breath. To her, Yae no Miko was a fox spirit who had lived for an unknown amount of time, a familiar of the Thunder God, and an existence beyond human. But even such a being had to be cautious in front of Shen Liang, and even had to rely on her beauty to try to win his favor.

Yae no Miko lazily leaned back, lying under the eaves and turning her head. Her gaze passed through the red pillars under the eaves and saw Shen Liang kneeling under the cherry blossom tree in the back garden.

But in reality, she still won this exchange.

Although she was apprehensive, she still managed to get Shen Liang into her rhythm. She successfully drew Shen Liang's attention to Raiden Shin, and Shen Liang even felt that this was the optimal solution he had found.

In this way, she could use him while simultaneously thanking him for his honesty, which might lessen his dislike for her Narukami Shrine. After all, she was a shrine maiden, and the sense of familiarity Shen Liang felt towards shrine maidens was inescapable.

If Shen Liang were to revive Hu Qiandai and Hu Zhaigong on her own, this good fortune would not fall to her.

The best of both worlds.

“If you want Shen Liang to participate in the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, then we’ll have to find a different way,” Yae no Miko suddenly said. “There are many ways to make a boy unable to refuse. After all, he’s still a boy who hasn’t grown up yet, understand?”

Ayaka Kamisato did not respond.

Chapter 130 Fox Abode Palace NO

A world of white, with magnificent giant trees in the distance.

Shen Liang then arrived at this "leaf" that symbolizes Teyvat.

The earth was covered with the veins of leaves. Shen Liang had come to understand that these veins were the ley lines of Teyvat. The ley lines of Teyvat faithfully recorded the vivid history of the past, so following the veins would always lead to encountering one glorious and legendary figure after another.

Shen Liang wasn't even sure if he could be considered resurrected, because in essence, these people had already died. What was being revived was merely their past pheromones, a collection of countless pieces of information that constituted this person.

But then again, what if a person's structure is the same as that of the dead person, their memories are the same as that of the dead person, their power is the same as that of the dead person, and even their personality is the same as that of the dead person?

So what exactly is the difference between that and "resurrection"?

Shen Liang recalled a science fiction concept he had once read, about a group of scientists who developed a quantum teleportation portal. The portal worked by completely breaking down matter that stepped into it into elementary particles, then copying the information, and finally assembling these particles at the other end to create an identical entity. The teleporter worked in the same way.

At that moment, Shen Liang wondered if the person on the other side of the teleportation portal was the same person as before. Even though he had been cut up and remade from materials, his personality, memories, and genes were exactly the same as the original.

But now he's unwilling to think about such things anymore.

Because if that person isn't the original one, the only outcome will be harm to everyone. Since it's no different from resurrection, then there's no difference.

Shen Liang raised his head. This time he did not move, because he saw something unique as soon as he arrived in this space.

It is a simple open courtyard with several wooden houses arranged in a staggered pattern. The courtyard is covered with clean white sand, has a pretty little pond, and a crooked cherry tree.

In this vast, white world, the small courtyard seemed out of place, but Shen Liang was used to it. Most things in the ley lines looked as incongruous as models on a white tablecloth.

Beneath the cherry tree stood a stone chessboard. A white-haired girl dressed in a red and white shrine maiden outfit with wide sleeves held a black flag, while sitting opposite her, she was playing a game against herself.

"My bed is spotless, I cherish flowers as I cherish the person I share this bed with, how can I give them to you?" The white-haired girl put down her chess piece, turned her back to Shen Liang, recited a poem, and then chuckled, "You little wolf, you're a bad boy, I won't go with you."

"Suspicion shows on one's face, and the inability to conceal it brings endless suffering. One asks passersby for answers." Shen Liang responded calmly. Having lived in Japan for a long time, he could easily exchange waka poems.

He learned from Yae no Miko that Kotsai-no-miya was a big fan of waka and haiku, and he was very familiar with haiku. He had taken adult self-study exams in Japan, and although he only casually flipped through most of the textbooks, he studied the book "Monogatari Literature" carefully, even though he studied it with the mocking attitude of using Chinese poetry culture to crush Japanese poetry.

"Oh ho? This is interesting." Fox Palace scratched the fox ears on his head, finally turned around, and looked at Shen Liang with a smile.

She appears to be a young woman, though both in life and now, Kitsuri-no-Miya is several hundred years old. Unlike Yae no Miko, whose ears droop in her hair, Kitsuri-no-Miya's fox ears stand upright. She plays with a pipe, and a small hole in the back of her shrine maiden robe reveals a large, fluffy fox tail sticking out.

"Why are you staring at my tail? Oh, that little mortal, she hasn't shown you her tail, has she?" Fox Palace smiled slightly, its large white tail swaying. "It seems she feels more comfortable living in the human world or hiding her alien identity? Heh, her level is still not high enough."

"Why don't you want to come with me?" Shen Liang asked directly without wasting words.

"Straight to the point, what a ruthless young man." Fox Palace took a deep drag of his hookah. "Ah, because... you're very interesting, so it's not time yet."

Shen Liang frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Play a game of chess with me." Fox Palace beckoned to him. "There isn't even anyone in the ley lines who can play chess with me. You'd better help me get rid of this addiction first, and then I'll tell you."

Shen Liang walked over and looked down at the strangely arranged black and white pieces on the chessboard. At first, he thought it was Go, but after looking at it for a while, he asked suspiciously, "Gomoku?"

"Given my intelligence and wit, there are very few people left who can play Go with me. Only in Gomoku can those stupid friends occasionally refuse to admit defeat and play a few games with me." With a flick of her pipe, the board was reset. She glanced at Shen Liang, "Black and white?"

"black."

The two sat facing each other to begin the game.

At this point, Fox Palace continued the previous topic, "Little wolf, I guess you don't know what this space is either, right?"

Shen Liang, holding the black piece, placed it in the center of the board. Upon hearing this, he was taken aback and said, "Earth veins?"

“Earth veins are a broad term. What I need is a precise definition of this space.” Fox Palace followed up, asking, “In what plane, where exactly does this place exist? What kind of place is it?”

"I'm from another world, how would I know? Shouldn't you be the ones asking this question?"

"Ask ourselves?" Fox Palace chuckled. "Why do you think we know?"

Shen Liang's heart sank.

He had never understood what kind of thing the creation ability the system had given him, "Infiltrating the Ley Lines," actually was. He had always thought that the Ley Lines were something like "Valhalla," where you could summon the spirits of heroes from past generations.

If you want to understand the underlying principles, what are they?

In the Type-Moon universe, Valhalla is placed outside the timeline and worldline; only in this way can the story avoid being retconned.

"In fact, from the time I was resurrected after death until now, it has been no more than one year and three months since I met you," said Fox Palace calmly. "When I woke up from the darkness and saw this strange world, the first thing I did was count my heartbeats. Until now, it has been no more than one year and two or three months since I met you."

Shen Liang was terrified!

One year and three months?

This is the day Shen Liang maxed out the progress of Coral Palace Ryuga! In other words, it's the day Shen Liang's system developed the ability to "contract heroic spirits from ley lines".

Then the problem arose instantly.

Is it that... the memories of the ley lines exist inherently, or that the heroic spirits themselves exist, or...?

The system's ability—the system created this white world by relying on the earth's veins so that he could "contract with heroic spirits"?

If it is the latter, what exactly does the system intend to do?

And, system... where does such great power come from?

Chapter 131 Can We Bear the Cost of Hiring Ghosts?

"Ever since I became conscious in this world, two questions have been lingering over me," said Fox Palace. "The first is this: I am a dead person, so what force is behind my resurrection? I long to see you, but after seeing you, I realized that this is not something you can do. Although you are from another world, you don't seem to understand my resurrection either... Moreover, after my resurrection, I learned one thing: as long as I follow you, I can achieve true resurrection."

"But... why do I know about this? Why do all the dead in this space know?" Fox Palace stared at him. "What kind of being created this world? What kind of being transplanted this idea into me? And what kind of being makes us work for you? All of this makes me suspicious."

"After much thought, there's only one possibility," Fox Palace said softly. "I don't exist. I'm just a vague spirit born from your needs."

Shen Liang hesitated for a long time before making a move, looking at Huzhai Palace with a sense of admiration.

This fox truly lives up to its reputation as having "the wisdom of a celestial fox." Most heroic spirits wouldn't even consider such things; they can't even grasp the concept of time in this vast, white world.

Shen Liang knew very well that normal people would completely lose their perception of time in a world without any reference points, even if only a day passed. So he always thought that the Heroic Spirits had existed for a long time, and the Heroic Spirits probably also thought that they had existed in this world for a long time... But Fox Palace kept confirming the time with his heartbeat.

Other Heroic Spirits might have dismissed it as the power of the ley lines and thus remained unmoved, but Kitsunemiya was not swayed by the world; she simply kept thinking. Knowing she was already dead, she did not revel in the joy of resurrection, but instead pondered.

“Not necessarily,” Shen Liang said seriously. “You should exist independently, because you can truly be resurrected and thus possess a physical body. Or rather, even if you are just a false spirit that exists by relying on me, as long as you can think, and that thinking is real, then you exist.”

“Perhaps,” Fox Palace smiled. “But if that’s the case, I’m more interested in this world than in the real world. Because that relates to my second question.”

"What problem?" Shen Liang suddenly realized that she had just mentioned two problems.

"If my memories of the real world are correct, Shin should be dead too." Fox Palace looked up at the giant golden tree at the edge of the world, his eyes filled with wonder. "This world can accommodate demon gods, so why isn't Shin here?"

"Lightning is really not here?" Shen Liang was genuinely surprised this time.

“Judging from your reaction, she really is dead,” Fox Palace nodded. “Then there’s a problem. Since people from five hundred years ago and people from five hundred years later both believe she’s dead, where did she go? Don’t misunderstand, I’m not hoping she’ll die. I’m just very curious about how she managed to escape this world’s capture.”

There is no lightning in the ley line world!

All of Shen Liang's plans were completely overturned!

Even worse, Fox Palace didn't want to go to the real world either, so the only powerful card left from the introduction of the Eightfold Divine Child was...

"Oh dear, I lost?" Fox Palace looked at the chessboard in surprise. "This... this is the fourth game, and I lost again within ten moves? How is that possible? My Five Stars Link is invincible against Inazuma, how could I not last ten moves in every game? Did you move the chessboard when I wasn't looking, you little wolf?"