I'm in the Teyvat running group

"If my brother and we all succeed this time, will he still do that thing next?" Lying on the bed, Ying patted Yunxiu's face and asked with a worried expression, "Can his body be restored to the level of a Descendant? Like Tyrell, who could be reborn, right?"

“The key to the Descendant is not the physical body, but the status… That’s the biggest problem. In fact, even without a physical body, even with only status and soul, he is still a Descendant.” Yunxiu put his arm around Ying’s shoulder. “Actually, for the Descendant, the body is the least important thing, but the empty status has been devoured, so he is now actually seeking transcendence.”

"The Transcendent One, is it the kind of 'severing the three corpses' or Rene's 'self-sacrifice'?" Ying's eyes darted around, and she quickly understood: "Whether it's severing or cutting, it's essentially about cleaning a part of the impurity in the soul. But my brother is different. After being corrupted by the Abyss, his entire soul is corrupted. Now, just to return to his original state, he needs a purer Abyss... Yes, that's why he wants to restore his kingdom."

"Yes, only by restoring his kingdom can he find his place. At the very least, the first step is to cleanse his soul of impurities. Even if it means using the purest power of the void to reshape it, he must regain his place."

"And now, he has succeeded halfway, so now is the time for those people to try and reap the rewards, just like five hundred years ago, isn't it?"

“Five hundred years ago, I’ve been wondering about one thing: the spaceship wasn’t open, so why was my brother searching for me from the outside?” Ying thought of the past. Her memories were somewhat fragmented due to her long hibernation. After thinking carefully, she said uncertainly, “If I remember correctly, my brother may have come to Teyvat a long time ago. But what was he doing that time…”

“But your brother must have still possessed considerable strength when he ran away with you, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to fly across the Teyvat continent with you, right?” Yunxiu carefully considered the storyline from the start of the game. The twins did indeed transform into shooting stars and fly across the Teyvat continent before reaching Sky Island: “This shows that he still possessed strength at that time, but his rank was no longer sufficient to support it.”

“You’re right, but my strength now is probably weaker than it was back then… I don’t know why.”

Even though Ying has gathered all seven elements, her strength has not yet returned to its peak level!

Chapter 397 Star Sea Traveler Frost Blade Emerges

This is actually a plot hole left in the original work, but it is indeed very troublesome to fully explore it. After all, does Luminous's power really become complete once all seven elements are gathered?

That's not necessarily true. Just like the original Traveler Seven Elementals, they could at least hold their own against Asmodian. Although Asmodian's strength is indeed incredibly high, he is still a ruler-level being who can crush the Seven Gods. The Twins' strength is no less than that of the Seven Gods, but it's certain that Yingyunxiu hasn't reached the level of the stronger among the Seven Rulers.

She is indeed a level above the peak of the legendary realm, but she still cannot effectively deal with Yunxiu. Although she is not completely outmaneuvered by Yunxiu, Yunxiu's cultivation is currently only at the mid-level of the legendary realm, although her strength is at the peak of the legendary realm.

Although Yunxiu is difficult to kill, it also shows that Ying is not easy to kill those legendary peaks, such as Falga. Ying and Falga have fought before, and Ying only won by a small margin.

She's strong, but not as strong as the conceptual strength of Mavica before she severed her three corpses. This is actually quite unreasonable. Ying herself also feels that a part of her is still sealed, but she doesn't know what the final step of unsealing is about.

"Don't think too much about it. There will always be a way. Besides, maybe this last kind of power can be found in the heart, right?" Yunxiu pulled Ying, who had gotten up, back down and lay there lazily. "Sleep a little longer. Mornings like this in Mondstadt are perfect for sleeping."

"Get up! Sike is coming today! And it's already 2 PM." Ying didn't give Yunxiu any face at all and instantly dragged him out of bed.

"Well, it's just in time for afternoon tea..."

They did indeed have afternoon tea, but it's quite difficult to find afternoon tea in Mondstadt. In the end, Yunxiu and Ying went to the Cat's Tail Tavern again. At least Diona here was willing to make some non-alcoholic drinks. Although she wasn't popular in Mondstadt, she was still very popular with this little cat. When she heard that Yunxiu and the others wanted to drink non-alcoholic juice, her tail spun like an electric fan.

"Here, these are your five juices. I specially added them to your drinks today according to your elemental attributes." Diona smiled and brought over five glasses of colorful juice. Then, as if remembering something, she said to Yunxiu, "I don't know what your elemental attribute is, but Ying said you might want to drink something with the grass attribute, so this one is yours."

Yunxiu stared in disbelief at the strangely colored drink that was handed to her, a mixture of pale yellow, off-white, and burgundy: "I don't like anything herbal, but what is this? I definitely don't like drinking this!"

"I want to drink it, but I only want to have a sip to taste, so I ordered it for you." Ying chuckled, gently brought over the strange juice, took a small sip, and her expression quickly fell: "Ugh, it really tastes awful. You should finish it."

"Give me a raspberry mint drink, two shrimp and fries cups, three cold cuts platter, and two apple rolls." After returning the peculiar juice to Diona, Yunxiu reluctantly ordered some more food before sitting back down at the table.

"You two humans are really interesting. You still have a lot of each other's scent on you, yet you've started hurting each other." Skok watched them quite calmly; these things probably weren't even in her mind. However, it wouldn't be easy for this girl to completely regain her composure...

Navelette, on the other hand, was more interested in Mondstadt's drinking culture. As the one who controlled the power of water, he naturally had a peculiar feeling about all the waters in the world, including wine, though he didn't drink much of it.

The Grand Judge had taken his annual leave to commit the murder. After determining that it would take about two weeks, he used up all the annual leave he had accumulated recently and took twenty days off. After killing the clown, he needed to return to the Opiclie Opera House, where he was required to oversee the case. According to Navigette, his absence only delayed the review of some very important cases; most ordinary cases were reviewed normally.

However, after a "restart," Fontaine resumed the execution of death sentences, and now approves the execution of several thousand people every year, which has freed up a lot of space in Melo Petersburg.

The death row inmates in Fontaine must be very grateful to the clown, because the Grand Inquisitor allowed at least a few hundred people to live for another twenty days in order to kill him... even though it was somewhat hellish.

"Ahem, let's get down to business. The prophet has set the time for a week from now, at night, north of Mount Munsos. This is the border between Winter Solstice and Fontaine. The settlement for immigrants is not far away. Here, we can avoid surveillance and use the crowd as cover to complete the transaction, or rather, lure out the clown." Yunxiu wasn't embarrassed about these things at all, and Ying was equally indifferent. Seeing that Ying even had a somewhat eager expression, Yunxiu knew what she was thinking.

"So, our timeline is here... The Queen of Winter will arrive at the Windflower Festival in three days, and the Windflower Festival will end a week after it begins. Therefore, our timeline is three days from now. At this point, it is very important to surround and kill the clown and find a way to make a deal with the prophet."

"If that's the case, what are the Seer's bargaining chips? Are we really going to give him the remaining empty slots?" Skok took a sip of holiday fruit wine, a rare smile appearing on her face.

“It’s useless to Kong now. Dain’s obsession is more about it, so it’s possible, but only a small part.” Yunxiu took out the tightly sealed storage bag that Dain had sealed and placed it on the table. This was the fragment of which dimension, but Dain didn’t say where he hid it.

Ying gently picked up the storage bag, sensed the aura briefly, and nodded seriously: "It's about one percent of the total amount... that should be enough for them to stay conscious for a while."

"So empty... will he still appear?"

"This is the key step in Falga's plan." Yunxiu took out a stack of papers, which was a plan that Falga and Qin had discussed and written down. He gave a copy to everyone and then said seriously, "This time we are going to kill in a big way, so the initial provocation was actually done by Ying. She has the most reason, and her aura is very similar to Kong's."

"The clown will definitely be prepared, and may even prepare a god to kill him. But as long as Ying is in danger, Kong will appear. So he will take the risk and try to attack Ying. No matter if he succeeds or fails, he will not lose out."

This is the second step that Falgar and Qin mentioned: you must think from the enemy's perspective. Only when you devise a winning strategy for the opponent can you reliably lead them into the battlefield you've set up.

"At this time, our close deities and the Ice Queen are all at the Wind Flower Festival. For the clown, exchanging the Ice Queen for three deities is a sure win for him."

“But we also have a key factor here, and that is Xiaoyue. He cannot be within the clown’s calculations because he has approached the level of ‘transcendence’ and wields the ‘carving knife’, so he is unpredictable.” Yunxiu looked at Xiaoyue, and the old deer nodded calmly. His strength had indeed reached this level recently.

"Although the prophet could calculate this, he had no obligation to tell the clown, and he might even be hoping for the clown's death, because the clown was actually a pawn of the 'wise man,' and the five sinners were all scheming against each other."

“So from the very beginning, we need Ying to take this material and fight her way in and out of the Fools. Of course, we’ll be talking about the Joker’s exclusive forces. I’ll be going with Ying.” Yunxiu cracked her wrist for once and looked at Ying with a smile. “Otherwise, Ying’s direct approach will likely arouse suspicion. None of our plans this time are conspiracies. Everything is laid bare.”

"If the clown is confident enough, then he can seize the empty position, this material is even the position of the firefly, at the best time."

"If not, then he can spend his whole life struggling below this rank, and it's only a matter of time before he's abandoned by the Ice Queen."

“I think he had no other choice.” It was Villette who spoke up: “Those whose fate cannot transcend this world will be swallowed by the abyss; it is only a matter of time. If he really saw things that way, he would not have survived to this day.”

The people present all nodded. This information was all out in the open, and even the clown would analyze it most of the time, but he would definitely come because this was the last chance.

The terrifying thing about open schemes is that they are impossible to crack. After all, with the return of March and the advancement of the flood discharge plan, the weaving of fate has taken shape, and the path to godhood is actually being blocked more and more. Of course, there is another way to find another path from Yunxiu, but will Yunxiu give this enemy that opportunity?

Since none of those options are possible, there's only one outcome left: a showdown where everyone has to rely on their own abilities.

With the prophet also urgently needing a portion of the position to enter the scene, the outcome of this matter can almost be considered a foregone conclusion. The only question has become whether the clown can be killed this time. Although killing the clown and protecting Kong are somewhat contradictory, for these two siblings, their enemies naturally need to be settled one by one.

Even travelers from the stars will wreak havoc!

Chapter 398 Slaying the Fool with a Sword

With a series of preparations being quickly arranged, the speed at which this matter progressed exceeded everyone's expectations.

The Heart of God, Yunxiu, was entrusted to Ruotuo Dragon King for safekeeping. It's best not to hand this thing over to any god, even Zhongli considers it a hot potato.

Preparations for the Windflower Festival went quite smoothly. This time of year is also the most beautiful season in Mondstadt. From Jingfu Harbor to the foot of the Dragonspine Mountains, beautiful flowers and dandelions bloom all over the mountains and fields. It is also the time of year when the winds in Mondstadt are the gentlest, making it a very pleasant time to live. This was certainly true for Yunxiu as well. In fact, he was initially looking forward to this relatively long break this year. His original plan was to stay in Mondstadt from March to July until May, and then go to the more comfortable Fontainebleau until July...

I never imagined that after only a few days of enjoyment, I would have to get back into big events.

“Speaking of which, after this matter is over, we should be able to rest for a long time. Ying, how about we go fishing in Fontainebleau for a few days?” Yunxiu smiled as she looked at Ying, who was gently grooming the fur of a small animal on her pack animal. “Fontainebleau enters a very suitable season for vacation every May. We can have Navia arrange a large boat then.”

“Good, the matter of Nordkale is basically settled. Rene told me some time ago that Petrico Town seems to have reappeared. As the last Petrico person, he wants to go there to see it…” Ying smiled as she finished grooming the Navelite and put it back into the demiplane before continuing, “But Petrico Town should have been abandoned for a long time. There shouldn’t be any humans there anymore, right?”

“The greatest danger lies beneath Petrique Town, where the ancient Remus Dynasty's past is intertwined, and Aegolia was once imprisoned there,” said Navelette, who was unusually dressed in casual clothes. The Grand Inquisitor's everyday attire was quite loose, a stark contrast to his serious demeanor at work. However, his spiritual terminal seemed to be constantly processing matters: “The situation between the Remus Dynasty and Fontaine at that time was indeed a rather muddled affair, though Rene was not entirely without fault in it.”

“If he hadn’t already died once and you hadn’t vouched for him, I wouldn’t mind putting him back in Mero Petersburg.”

“Your Excellency, sometimes we need to be flexible. René himself doesn’t mind being imprisoned, but we do need to consider that this level of punishment is meaningless for a criminal of his caliber, isn’t it?” Yunxiu smiled as she looked at the Grand Inquisitor, who was indeed always too “hardcore.” “Just like you didn’t completely eliminate Fontaine’s underground forces, we always need to leave some space for each other.”

“Hmm…you’re right, that’s something I didn’t consider.” Navelette looked at Yunxiu and smiled, a rare occurrence for her. “While I don’t quite agree with some of your ideas, what you’ve done proves that you’re right many times.”

This pack animal was naturally the same one that Sugar had modified. A few days ago, Sugar made some minor modifications to it, and now it's number seventy-nine. In reality, it only added four fishing spots, allowing four fishing rods to be hung. Apart from that, there wasn't much difference. However, its spacious back was more than enough for the group of them to sit on. Xiaoyue and Sikeke were playing chess on the side. This old deer seemed to be able to turn anyone into a chess partner.

Surprisingly, Skok also showed considerable interest, perhaps because for her, this was once an important part of human society.

The prophet predicted tomorrow night, and the opening of the Windflower Festival is this afternoon, which is now. Several gods arrived in Mondstadt yesterday, according to the information sent back. Yunxiu and the others set off four days ago, unusually not flying, but riding pack animals all the way from Liyue Harbor. They even stopped in Nordkalai to drop off Falgar.

The Grand Master also needs to escort a group of Mondstadt merchants back from Nordkare; how they get back will depend on Dvalin.

Since the advent of storage bags and demi-planes, a single large storage bag can carry thousands of people, making these tasks much more convenient.

"The Wind Flower Festival should have already started by now. The spies from Zhidong reported that the Clown also led a group of Fools to the border between Zhidong and Fontaine, and then disappeared." Yunxiu looked at the series of messages sent by Nefer. The mistress of the Secret Chamber had recently been completely mobilized by Yunxiu. After all, with the complete destruction of Nordkare, the Secret Chamber had to evacuate as well.

Yunxiu found a new base for the Secrets House, Baisong Town in Fontaine. This was a genuine and legitimate investment in the Secrets House, so naturally, a representative could be sent. Yunxiu racked her brains but couldn't find anyone she could handle these matters, so she could only entrust them to Navia and Ayaka Kamisato for discussion. She didn't know how their discussion was going...

"Furthermore, there are reports that someone has spotted a young traveler who looks remarkably like Hotaru near 'New Naxia Town'... It seems that Sora has already appeared."

“Brother…” Ying naturally rushed over upon hearing Kong’s news. Looking at the various pieces of information sent from the Spirit Realm terminal in Yunxiu’s hand, she carefully examined the photos before saying, “This shouldn’t be my brother, or it’s a clone he created using some kind of magic. There are many things that are not right, but only I can tell.”

Yunxiu nodded. It was not surprising that he had a backup plan. He certainly couldn't bring the Abyss Order with him this time, since they were practically cannon fodder in a battle at the god level.

Legions like Nata's cannot be easily mobilized. Even Vilet would find it difficult to agree to a legion fighting on Fontaine's soil, and the power of the Abyss is naturally out of the question.

The pack animals quickly climbed onto a small island, their pre-booked resting place. Tonight, the people of Xinnaxia Town would be evacuated, and Fontaine would also arrange some manpower to clear the space for the inevitable clash. Since everyone was already openly exchanging blows, it was impossible to let these innocent people get involved.

They casually set up two pots, and Yunxiu and Ying each took charge, quickly preparing several dishes using the fish they caught that afternoon and the vegetables grown in the demi-plane. Both of them had honed their culinary skills to perfection, and the meal was naturally enjoyed by everyone.

"Yunxiu...actually, I have a question that I've been thinking about." While Skek and Xiaoyue were busy cleaning up and preparing for the aftermath, Yunxiu and Ying were free. The two of them lay relaxed on the back of their pack animals, enjoying the peace and tranquility after the battle. "Brother, if it really was unavoidable, then what will my journey be like?"

“I was sealed away by Asmodian, and after I woke up I was abandoned in Mondstadt, then I found Paimon, and then I’ve been traveling ever since. Although Wendy told me that the journey itself is the meaning, I think he was right.”

"But if travel itself is meaningful, and I'm doing these things along the way, gradually becoming more and more involved in this world, does this mean that I'm starting to lose sight of the original 'meaning of travel'? Like now, we're starting to do things proactively, and the initial purpose was mainly revenge..."

“The meaning of travel is not in the journey itself, nor in the scenery along the way, but in the kind of person you intend to become.” Yunxiu patted Ying’s head and let her rest her head on his arm. “Whatever you are, that’s how the world should be in your eyes. You can live a life of vengeance and retribution, or you can charge headlong into the world. As a descendant, if you have the ability to change everything but don’t, then you are truly missing out on the meaning.”

"This isn't about 'with great power comes great responsibility,' because why should someone with great power necessarily have to take on responsibility? Of course, they can, but only those who are willing to take responsibility and live authentically can become 'heroes' and 'hope.' This is the true meaning of your ancient name, 'Dumani.' The ancient name Nata chose is the best interpretation of your journey."

Ying nodded. She wasn't actually confused; she just wanted to use Yunxiu's words to reflect on the meaning of her travels all along.

Yunxiu naturally understood this, so he didn't want to use anything to restrain Ying. As a being who roamed the starry sea, she was special by nature.

The two boys and girls fell asleep on the back of the pack animal, the moonlight shining on them as if they were covered with a light veil.

This was certainly not the last night in Teyvat, but it was the eve of a world-changing event.

However, perhaps every day should be like this.

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

Mondstadt during the Windflower Festival, while indeed much more bustling, remains as filled with wind and pastoral charm as ever.

Just like the powerful figures and gods who appeared at the Wind and Flower Festival, even the usually rigid and serious Li Shui Die Shan couldn't help but laugh at this moment, toasting and exchanging drinks with the powerful figures next to him.

In the central seat sat several invited gods, as well as Barbatos, who had appeared in a different form—after all, he still needed to use Venti's identity to be a bard, otherwise all the things Venti had done before would have been attributed to Barbatos.

Of course, it was him who did it.

“It’s rare for old friends to get together and relax, so we should all have a few drinks, shouldn’t we?” Barbatos smiled and poured everyone a glass of Mondstadt’s specialty dandelion wine. “Besides, at this time, we should all work together so that the plan can proceed smoothly.”

“That’s rare indeed. Speaking of Morax, I heard your pension went up again recently? Looks like I should probably retire sometime too. But who will take over?” Raiden Shin looked at Ray the Movie, who was sipping his drink and eating Mondstadt cookies next to him, and said with a smile, “How about letting Shadow be Thor for a while? If I didn’t say anything, Inatsume probably wouldn’t have noticed, right?”

"Ah... I'm going to be Thor?" Even the usually icy-cold Shadow had a strange expression on his face.

“Recently, Liyue has revised the rules for distributing retirement pensions, making slight adjustments. The old age allowance has been reduced, but the old age allowance for those with more than 1,000 years of service has been increased…” Zhongli smiled and drank a cup of dandelion wine before saying with a hint of pride, “Their original maximum working years were only 120 years, but it is said that this allowance was originally prepared for Ganyu, and I just happened to be here.”

"Liyue... has humans who have worked for 120 years?"

"There were... during the war, some joined the Thousand Rock Army at the age of twelve or thirteen, and later, after achieving great success in their cultivation, some even lived to be nearly two hundred years old." The Ice Queen rarely spoke, but she only offered half an explanation: "You lot are really having an easy time. I wonder whose son recently lured away almost half of my Fools, or even more..."

“But I think you should be able to get what you want, right?” The Great Tree King glanced at the Ice Queen. Their transaction a while ago went quite smoothly, mainly because the Heart of the Grass God was no longer of any use to her.

"Heh, Morax's son is indeed capable." The Ice Queen narrowed her eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, it's time to make a move, isn't it?"

"I don't understand you."

"Humph……"