Genshin Impact's Sweet and Hard Free People

"Oh?" Zhongli's eyes lit up when he heard this, as if he had become interested. He watched as Xinhui, dressed in light blue clothes, came to the Hall of Rebirth with an ice-blue longsword, but he felt that something was amiss.

“Mr. Zhongli, if you have something to discuss, then I’ll take my leave.” Yi Guan Xiaomei was also very sensible. She put the compiled accounts into a special file bag, put it in the cabinet and locked it, and then quietly left.

"Old friend, it seems you've run into some trouble again?" Zhongli's weathered voice finally came after Yi Guan left.

Zhongli brewed tea for Xinhui, clearly having prepared to welcome him.

Xin Hui didn't say much. He gave the departing maid a smile, sat down opposite Zhong Li, and got straight to the point: "I want to borrow some of your divine power."

Borrowing some divine power?

Zhongli was also somewhat surprised at first, thinking that Xinhui himself had suffered some kind of blow. However, after asking, he learned that it was because of his sword.

Xin Hui explained the current state of the [Divine Favor] to Zhong Li. Since the battle with Tian Li, the [Divine Favor] has lost its power, and its spiritual abilities have become weaker and weaker.

"Hmm... According to what you said, as long as we use divine power to protect and nurture this sword, it is still possible for it to recover, right?" Zhongli had already seen through the matter.

"What, is it not okay?" Xin Hui asked tentatively when he saw Zhong Li calm down.

"It's possible, but can you tell me why you only want to restore the sword's power now?"

In Zhong Li's view, although the longsword was a divine weapon, Duan Xinhui did not seem to need much power at this stage, and there must be some special reason why he chose to come and ask for his help at this time.

This...

This time, it was Xinhui's turn to remain silent. What should he do? Should he tell Zhongli the truth?

He could choose to remain silent, in which case Zhongli would likely understand. He could also find an excuse to brush it off, but no matter the reason, it wouldn't escape the sharp gaze of a deity who has witnessed thousands of years of history.

Helpless, Xin Hui hesitated for a moment, then took out the [Life Relic Bead] that had already been made into a necklace and slowly spoke.

"The reason I need to restore [Divine Favor] is because I witnessed [Yimeng's] final tragedy..."

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Past of Mondstadt

"So that's how it is. No wonder... Yi Meng's disappearance was so sudden. It turns out she had already made preparations and arranged her affairs before her death." After listening to Xin Hui's explanation, Zhong Li pondered for a moment. He now understood Xin Hui's urgency.

It's just that I want to regain my strength and be able to protect myself before exploring even the slightest possibility.

"I understand. I will imbue your sword with protective power." With that, Zhongli extended his seemingly gentle and slow, yet steady and powerful hand forward.

Zhongli gently stroked the blade of his ice-blue longsword, closing his crimson orange eyes. The next moment, a strange power seemed to surge around him. A ball of light with seven colors appeared in Zhongli's hand; upon closer inspection, it contained terrifying power.

This is the divine power of Morax, the God of Rock. Only at such close range did Xin Hui's perception become clearer. This ancient god, who has lived for thousands of years, truly deserves the title of "God of War."

If that surging divine power hadn't been controlled by Morax, the entire Hall of Rebirth would probably have been reduced to ashes in an instant.

As he thought this, Zhongli slowly merged the ball of light in his hand into the sword, while [Divine Favor] was not to be outdone, and was also rapidly absorbing the energy contained within the ball of light.

It wasn't until the ball of light disappeared that Xin Hui snapped out of his shock.

Zhongli handed the longsword to Xinhui, examined it, and said, "It is indeed a special sword, which can actually be nurtured by divine power."

Then he said something profound: "You... should see this era of change clearly and not do anything meaningless."

After saying this, Zhongli watched Xinhui leave the Hall of Rebirth.

Xinhui understood what he meant, of course. Meaningless actions referred to suicidal acts that were utterly hopeless. He wouldn't do it, because Xinhui felt that if it was resistance, then the resistance should be more thorough.

Therefore, after giving Zhongli a reassuring look, Xinhui stepped out the door.

Upon returning to the Pavilion of the Wanderers, they found Keqing and the others already waiting for them. At this point, it seemed that the journey to Mondstadt was becoming increasingly urgent.

"It's good that you're back. Let's set off." Ke Qing finally showed some of the decisiveness of a leader, her voice calm yet undeniable.

They were to go together to the outskirts of Liyue Harbor to meet up with the Thousand Rock Army who were waiting there, and then head to Mondstadt together.

"By the way, do you know anything about Mondstadt's history?" Xin Hui thought that since they were going to Mondstadt, they should first learn about the history of the Mondstadt region.

Keqing and Ganyu were naturally familiar with the process of establishing Mondstadt and knew it by heart, but Hu Tao was clearly lacking in knowledge in this area.

However, the story Xinhui is about to tell is certainly not an ordinary one; it contains some secrets that outsiders cannot know...

Around 3000 years ago, Mondstadt was still a wild, icy land. The first two Daedric Lords of Mondstadt were vying for the position of the God of Wind in the north of the continent. One was Andrius, the wolf king of the north, and the other was Deckalapian, the Daedric Lord of the Tower of Gale.

The Lone King of the Tower was a demon god with severe personality flaws, all supported by his immense divine power. Dekalapian built the tower as a symbol of power, atop which he received the kneeling worship of all his followers, their brows swirling in the fierce winds that prevented them from rising. He interpreted this as "humans voluntarily kneeling at his feet to show their loyalty." Similarly, he provided humans with shelter from the storms, yet took their submission for granted.

His only adversary, Andrius, was an exclusive ruler. The biggest difference between him and the Lonely King of the Tower was that the Lonely King's subjects were humans, while the Wolf King's subjects were wolves. He wasn't exactly friendly towards humans, believing they only brought disappointment, but innocent infants were untouchable. On one hand, he tried to portray himself as humanity's adversary; on the other hand, he guided his wolf pack to adopt abandoned infants left in the wilderness.

3000 years ago, Mondstadt was a frozen wasteland, with snow and ice covering the landscape. Humans could only hope for the protection of the Lone King in his tower to survive.

One day, a wind spirit, still in its formative stages and possessing weak divine power, appeared. The wind spirit encountered a young boy in the royal city.

At that time, the capital was filled with howling winds and dark clouds, and the people suffered greatly under the brutal rule of Dekalapian.

He played his harp in the royal city, and a wind spirit came to his side from outside the window, drawn by the beautiful melodies that yearned for freedom. Gradually, the two became friends.

"I want to see birds soaring in the sky."

Imprisoned day and night in a cage called "Royal City," the boy confided his wishes to the elf, who remembered them all.

But how could there be birds flying freely in the royal city?

He secretly left the royal city to collect bird feathers outside the city, but Mondstadt was too desolate, and this journey was more difficult than he had imagined.

When the elf returned to the royal city, he found that humans had already started a war against Dekalabian. He had no choice but to hide the feather in his bosom, intending to give it to his friend after everything was over.

The power of the Lone King in the Tower was simply too great. Even Andrius, the North Wind Wolf King, who was also a demon god, could not shake the royal city in the slightest. In order to maximize their chances of winning, the human resistance army formed a four-person squad centered around the teenager.

A red-haired knight wielding a holy sword, a hunter girl using a bow and arrow, a human boy dressed as a bard, and a wind spirit.

The hunter girl and the piano-playing boy fell together in the war, and at the end of the story, the song of freedom finally destroyed the royal city of Dekalapian.

Andrius actually assisted in this, and in the end, Andrius gave up his divine position, merging his power into the land of Mondstadt to forever protect its people.

Although the Wolf King dislikes human nature, he still holds the ideal of loving people deep in his heart. This ideal is shared by all demon gods, but each demon god expresses love in a different way.

Thus, all other competitors were eliminated, leaving only the wind spirit. From then on, Barbatos lived on as a bard.

The newly appointed wind god dons a laurel wreath, announcing the birth of the wind god to the world.

He blew away the ice and snow, cleaved through the mountains, sowed crops and fruit trees, and diligently imparted all the knowledge he possessed. Once everything was on track, he stroked his beloved harp and disappeared into the distant wilderness, his figure utterly forlorn.

Even after winning, Barbatos was unable to pass the feather to the boy.

From then on, Mondstadt will belong to humanity, to freedom. Barbatos, in the guise of a youth, will spend the next two thousand years seeing the world's landscapes and the birds in the sky in the youth's place…

Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Knights' Welcome

"Is this the story of Barbatos, the god of wind? I never imagined that the wind god who flattens mountains with fierce winds in other people's stories was originally just a little elf." Hu Tao sighed after hearing it.

“Yes, and later Barbatos successfully established a free kingdom, letting the winds of freedom and the voice of freedom echo in Mondstadt.” Xin Hui was naturally very happy that Hu Tao was interested in this story, and he explained it to her.

In fact, this is a true reflection of Barbatos. In the end, it was not the most powerful gods at the beginning who won the right to rule the seven gods of the mortal world. There were also those who came from behind. But it is undeniable that the seven gods of the mortal world all had the love that the people of that country and region had.

That's why they won that war against the demons...

As they spoke, the group arrived outside Liyue Harbor and entered an upward slope. On the slope, a dozen or so Thousand Rock soldiers dressed in white light armor had been waiting for a long time.

"Lord Yuheng," said the middle-aged man leading the group, who clasped his hands respectfully.

"Lord Yuheng, the Thousand Rock Army has been waiting for a long time and is ready to set off at any time!"

Keqing's gaze also turned serious. As one of the Seven Stars of Liyue, she now had to take full responsibility for their operation and could not afford to be careless in the slightest.

Two heavy and powerful words fell from her lips.

"set off!"

……

……

Before the pale blue stone bridge in Mondstadt, there was no sign of the boy named Timmy feeding the pigeons today; instead, there was a welcoming ceremony performed by almost the entire Knights of Favonius.

With such a grand event, it's natural to close some roads to pedestrians.

At the forefront of the Knights of Favonius stood a tall woman with a delicate face and azure eyes. Her long, light golden hair was tied in a single ponytail, and her lithe figure was accentuated by her white jumpsuit. A sword hung at her waist, and a blue-green cloak draped over her shoulders, giving her a dashing and heroic appearance.

This woman is none other than Jean, the acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius.

At this moment, she was intently waiting for the Liyue team to arrive for this joint operation. To her right stood a mature-looking man, Diluc.

He was once the cavalry captain of the Knights of Favonius. After hearing that Jean had planned this mission to the Sea of ​​Ashes, he insisted on coming to see it, even though no one had invited him.

Diluc has fair skin, striking long, slightly wavy red hair tied in a ponytail, and red eyes that gleam with golden light. He often wears a black and gold suit with a white shirt underneath, and the Eye of God hangs from his belt. He usually wears leather gloves that are black on the outside and red on the inside. He wears black trousers, a white gaiter around his right leg, and black boots with many buckles.

He gives off an impression of maturity and composure.

Behind them were a lively girl in red, a sinister-looking man wearing a black eye patch, an elegant girl with short, ice-blue hair, and an adorable little girl in child form.

Among this group were also people Xin Hui recognized. There was Ying, a girl with short blonde hair; Paimon, the floating object beside her; and Abedo, a seemingly taciturn man with pale yellow hair tied up.

"Oh dear, the sun is really strong in front of Mondstadt, isn't it, Lord Diluc?" Kaeya said jokingly, putting her arm around Diluc's neck from behind.

"On such an important day, is this the flippancy and humor of the current cavalry captain? How boring." Diluc crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and looked like he didn't want to talk to him.

"Don't be so petty, I was serious too, okay?" Kaeya's face was contorted, and it was clear that he was suppressing his dissatisfaction with Diluc.

However, Kaiya was just telling the truth. If the scorching sun hadn't had no effect on his dark and healthy skin, Kaiya would have already gone to the side to drink.

And everyone seemed to have long been used to their bickering.

"Honor Knight sister, are there any important guests today? Amber sister, Yura sister, Kaeya brother, Diluc brother, and Abel brother are all here," the innocent and childlike Spark Knight Klee asked in a soft voice.

Klee was a little girl in a red dress, wearing a red round hat and brown mid-calf boots. Her long, pointed ears indicated her elven blood, and her orange-red eyes looked watery, which also highlighted her cuteness.

"I heard we'll be welcoming some important figures from Liyue, but it seems Captain Jean isn't willing to reveal too much." Luminous could only reply helplessly to Klee's question.

"Is that so..." Klee murmured softly, her interest piqued even more.

In her mind, the things that the troupe leader was most reluctant to talk about were either very important or very interesting.

"Klee, are you tired? You've been standing for so long," Abedo asked Klee.

"I'm not tired, Brother Abedo."

Abedo stroked her head, looking at Claire with kindness, "That's good."

Abedo didn't want to come either, since he was engrossed in studying alchemy. However, Captain Jean had specifically instructed him this morning to come and greet the guests from Liyue, which is why he is here.