I, from the Celestial Empire, have parachuted into Teyvat.

Ivan sighed and said, "You didn't borrow Qin's phone to call me just to chat for a bit, did you?"

Lisa said, "Of course, is that not allowed?"

"this......"

"Of course, there's a secondary objective too. I've made a new discovery regarding the aura of destruction; would you like to know?"

Upon hearing Lisa mention the aura of destruction, Ivan's eyes sharpened, and he asked, "What discovery?"

After that, Lisa's tone became serious.

"To study the aura of destruction, I conducted an experiment. I divided the Stone of Destruction I obtained from Tucker into two parts and fused them into the bodies of two slimes, wanting to see if the aura of destruction could also give rise to a consciousness of destruction in such creatures with extremely low intelligence. Soon after, I discovered that a consciousness of destruction was born in both slimes one after the other. But that's not the point. Here comes the crucial part—I discovered that the consciousness of destruction that was born first was gradually devouring the consciousness of destruction that was born later. Moreover, in less than a day, the consciousness that was born later was completely devoured by the one that was born first. After the devouring, the destructive energy fluctuations of the remaining consciousness of destruction increased significantly."

After Lisa finished her description, Ivan asked in surprise, "Is everything you said true?"

"How could it be fake? I conducted all the experiments myself. However, the last remaining slime has been turned into alchemical material by me, and its destructive consciousness has dissipated. If you want to verify it, it will probably be a bit troublesome."

Ivan did not doubt what Lisa said.

If all of this is true, then it means that these destructive consciousnesses can evolve their power by devouring their own kind.

Could it be...?

Ivan's expression darkened as he considered the possibility that the demons were behind a series of disappearances.

Chapter 121 Taking the Initiative

The turmoil that occurred in Liyue was caused by the demon gods being affected by the aura of destruction and forcibly breaking through the seal.

But no one knows exactly how it has an impact.

Now, Ivan can provide a reasonable explanation.

The Stone of Destruction attached itself to the sealed demon god, giving birth to a consciousness of destruction. The demon god and the consciousness of destruction colluded, and the demon god was empowered by the aura of destruction, greatly increasing its strength and thus breaking through the seal.

However, their power was still insufficient to contend with the Emperor and the immortals.

After the Emperor led his troops to attack them again, the power of the demons was severely damaged and they were sealed again. Obviously, if they want to break the seal again, they need to quickly recover their power and even become stronger than before.

Previously, Ivan didn't understand what the hidden Daedric Lord was after, whether it was collaborating with the Lady, collecting large amounts of Destruction Stones, or kidnapping the people of Liyue. But after learning that the Destruction Consciousnesses would devour each other to become stronger, everything made sense.

They used the Stone of Destruction to possess the people they had kidnapped, waiting for the destructive consciousness to be born within them. This newly born destructive consciousness would then become the best food for the demons to increase their power.

These kidnapped people can be considered a breeding ground for demons!

Realizing this, Ivan knew things were getting serious.

It takes at most three days for a person to be possessed by the Stone of Destruction and for a destructive consciousness to be born. However, almost half a month has passed since the first disappearance. That much time is enough for those hidden demons to cultivate a large number of destructive consciousnesses.

The situation is urgent.

Ivan called Xiang Feng into the room and instructed him, "Immediately send someone to notify the Seven Stars of Liyue. Remember, everyone must be notified. This concerns the life and death of Liyue and Teyvat. Make sure they all come here."

Xiang Feng accepted the order, and soon after, the members of the Orca Squad left the Wanghaige Inn and headed to various Seven Star Mansions.

At Yujingtai, in front of the Heavenly Ladder of Qunyu Pavilion, a guard from the Thousand Rocks Army blocked the path of a member of the Orca Squad.

"This is Qunyu Pavilion, the residence of Lady Ningguang. Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from approaching."

The team member immediately pulled out the Orca Squad's badge and said seriously, "I am a member of the Orca Squad under the command of the Chinese Envoy. Please inform Lord Tianquan Star immediately that Envoy Ivan has a matter concerning the life and death of Liyue and Teyvat to discuss. Please ask her to go to Wanghai Pavilion as soon as possible."

Upon hearing the team member's words, the guard's expression changed instantly.

"Please wait here for a moment, and I will go and inform Lady Ningguang immediately."

In the Qunyu Pavilion, the secretary relayed the guard's words to Ningguang, who was reviewing official documents. Upon hearing this, Ningguang's expression changed instantly.

"Let's go, to Wanghai Pavilion immediately."

The same scene is happening all over Liyue Harbor.

In less than half an hour, all seven stars appeared in front of Ivan's inn.

Such an astonishing scene naturally frightened all the onlookers.

You should know that the Seven Stars are all important figures who govern Liyue. For ordinary people, let alone all seven of them, it would be extremely difficult to even meet one of them.

The fact that the seven stars had all appeared at the Wanghaige Inn at the same time naturally caused a huge sensation.

"What did I just see? Was that Lord Ningguang of Tianquan Star?"

"Not only Lady Ningguang, but also Lady Keqing from Yuheng Star has come. I had the honor of seeing Keqing once before, and seeing her again now is still breathtaking."

"Tian Shu Star is here, Tian Xuan Star is here, Tian Ji Star, Kai Yang Star, Yao Guang Star... My God, what are all the seven stars of Li Yue doing here at Wang Hai Pavilion?"

"I heard that the ambassador of China lives in Wanghai Pavilion, and Qixing probably came here for that reason."

"Chinese Ambassador? Is China that powerful?"

"It must be powerful, otherwise why would it attract the gathering of the seven stars?"

Ignoring the murmurs of the crowd, Ningguang stood in front of the Wanghai Pavilion and looked at the other six stars with surprise. Keqing and the other stars had the same expression.

Clearly, no one expected that Ivan had invited other people besides himself.

Although she was very curious about what was going on, when she thought of what Ivan had said when he sent the message that it concerned the life and death of Liyue and Teyvat, Qixing did not delay any longer and quickly walked into the Wanghaige Inn.

At this moment, Ivan had already asked the innkeeper to vacate a hall on the first floor for him to use. Under Xiang Feng's guidance, all seven stars came to the hall to meet with Ivan.

Upon entering the hall, Keqing couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Ivan, what exactly happened?"

The others had the same question on their faces.

Ivan said with a serious expression, "Everyone, I'm afraid the Demon God is about to make a comeback."

Afterwards, Ivan told Seven Stars about his discoveries during this period, as well as his speculation about the Demon God's preparation to cultivate a destructive consciousness for devouring.

As Ivan recounted his story, the Seven Stars' expressions grew increasingly shocked, because everyone, including Ningguang and Keqing, was astonished to discover that Ivan alone possessed more information than all seven of them combined, and by a significant margin.

What does this show? It shows that China's intelligence gathering agencies are extremely capable.

Everyone was amazed by the amount of intelligence Ivan had gathered, but what shocked them even more was yet to come.

"What? You told everyone about the hidden demon god?"

After Ivan revealed his plan to find the traitor, everyone in the Seven Stars was stunned.

It turns out they weren't "treated differently" by Ivan from the beginning; it was all part of Ivan's plan to trick the traitor.

Although everyone realized they had been tricked by Ivan, none of the Seven Stars were angry, because everyone knew that if they were in Ivan's position, there would be no better way.

Ningguang frowned and said, "Since Mr. Ivan has summoned all of us from the Seven Stars here, it means that the traitor is not among us, right?"

Ivan nodded and said, "Yes, I have found out the identity of the traitor. He is the True Lord of the Water and Mountain."

"What? Lord of Water and Mountain Management? Isn't he the Emperor's most loyal follower? How could this be?"

Ivan shook his head and said, "The True Lord of Lishui Dieshan should have had his body taken over by the Destruction Consciousness. I just returned from Hulao Mountain, and I should have already alerted them. They kidnapped so many people, probably to use these Liyue residents as breeding grounds for the Destruction Consciousness. Now, almost half a month has passed, which is enough time for them to cultivate a large number of Destruction Consciousness prototypes. I think they will take action soon."

"We must strike first and find them before they carry out their final plan to liberate the demon gods, otherwise all the demon gods will break their seals, especially the Vortex Demon God... the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Everyone, let's prepare to take the initiative!"

Chapter 122 Operation Storm in Liyue Harbor

Later that evening, all seven members of the Seven Stars emerged from the Wanghaige Inn with somber expressions.

They talked with Ivan for a long time in the inn, and Ivan's words served as a wake-up call for everyone in the Seven Stars.

Although things appear calm on the surface, the underlying threats are enormous, and now is definitely not the time to sit idly by and wait for our doom.

The seven stars exchanged a glance, then turned and left.

Faced with the demon god lurking in the shadows, ready to launch a fierce attack at any moment, they all had things to do, and they had to take the initiative.

After seeing Seven Stars off, Ivan was also thinking about his next course of action.

Xiang Feng asked, "Will the Seven Stars Council deal with that immortal traitor?"

Ivan shook his head: "I've spoken with Qixing. Currently, because of the tension between Qixing and the immortals, it's better to let the immortals handle this internally. Besides, True Monarch Lishui Dieshan isn't truly a traitor; he's just possessed by a destructive consciousness. As for Qixing, everyone has reached a consensus, and Qixing will take action soon."

Just then, a familiar female voice came from the window of Ivan's room.

"What operation?"

Ivan looked out the window and saw the True Lord of Cloud Retention and Wind Borrowing.

When Xiang Feng saw Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun, he touched his nose, said, "You guys chat, I have something to do," and then quickly slipped away.

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun continued, "What Seven Stars operation did you just mention?"

Ivan said, "Regarding the campaign to subdue the demon god."

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun's expression changed: "You've discovered the Demon God's whereabouts?"

"You've got a lead now... You've been investigating outside these past few days, you didn't find anything, did you?"

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun paused, then said somewhat awkwardly, "I've been patrolling the various demon gods' seals every day, but I haven't found any useful clues..."

Ivan didn't complain about Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun. Intelligence networks rely on extensive connections rather than the power of a single person. Even the Seven Stars, with their vast network, hadn't found any useful clues. It was indeed unlikely that Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun could find anything on his own. Moreover, according to Ivan's previous calculations, during this period, those hidden demon gods should have been fully engaged in cultivating the "vessels" of destructive consciousness and would basically not be active outside, leaving any clues.

"Let's not talk about that now. I have something I need to discuss with you."

"what's up?"

Ivan told Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun about his previous plan to investigate the traitor and his discovery that Lishui Dieshan Zhenjun was the traitor.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun's expression changed. She didn't dwell on the fact that Ivan's investigation of the traitor's plan was somewhat deceiving, because the second piece of news clearly had a greater impact on her.

"The True Lord of Water and Mountain is a traitor? How could that be? He is the one among us immortals who respects the Emperor the most."

Seeing the disbelief on Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun's face, Ivan sighed, "Li Shui Die Shan Zhenjun probably didn't betray his true self. He was very likely affected by the aura of destruction during the previous demon god's attack. Now, a destructive consciousness has been born in his body and has suppressed his original consciousness. It can be said that the current Li Shui Die Shan Zhenjun is not the original him, but a body controlled by the destructive consciousness."

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun's expression shifted between light and dark: "Then can we still rescue Li Shui Die Shan Zhenjun?"

Ivan nodded and said, "It should be possible. This is what I hope you will do next. The relationship between the Seven Stars and the Immortals is delicate right now, and it is inconvenient for the Seven Stars to take action against the Immortals. I hope you can join forces with the other Immortals to capture the True Lord of the Water and Mountain and bring him here. I think I should have a way to eliminate the destructive consciousness in his body."

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun nodded solemnly, then turned and transformed into a streak of light, disappearing through the window.

Looking in the direction where True Monarch Liuyun had left, Ivan sighed.

"I hope everything goes well for all parties."

The very next day, an invisible storm began to sweep across the entire Liyue region.