Seeker of Teyvat

"Well, sit down first. That kid Mandrill gave me this year's newly sprouted tea leaves. You can try them too."

Zhongli picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Wang Daoyi. Wang Daoyi took it with both hands respectfully.

All this seems to be the same as before.

After Wang Daoyi took the tea and sat down, Zhongli continued, "Do you know why I asked you to meet?"

This was a rare occasion for Zhongli to address Wang Daoyi with a question. Normally, it was Wang Daoyi who asked Zhongli questions.

Holding the tea cup, he took a gentle sip.

"The tea sent by the Great Sage is indeed extraordinary. It is much better than the tea I tasted in the desert."

Then he looked into Zhongli's golden eyes and said, "The Emperor called me here this time, I'm afraid he wants to tell me something...about the things in heaven and on earth."

In Teyvat, many things are inaccessible to mortals, such as elements, monsters, and earth veins.

And on top of these, there are many things that extraordinary people cannot touch, that is, the sky island in the sky and the abyss underground.

Of course, the heaven and earth here are just a reference, not the true meaning of heaven and earth.

The sky and the ground in Teyvat have always been blurry.

Hearing Wang Daoyi's guess, Zhongli showed a rare smile, then put it away and nodded slowly: "Yes, I called you here this time to tell you something about the sky and abyss that I know."

As soon as Wang Dao raised his head and put down the tea cup, he knew that he might be about to come into contact with the biggest secret since he came to this world.

Under Wang Daoyi's gaze, a story that no one had ever known about belonged to Emperor Yan was told:

"I have spent more than six thousand years in this world. This is something you and all the immortals are well aware of."

"But this is just my days in this world. Before that, I was also ignorant. In the unknown era, I once saw the chaos before it started."

"When I was as young as you, I saw the three sisters in the night sky perished in disaster."

"I have seen the sun-brimmed chariot fall in the deep valley and return to the west."

"I have also seen stars falling and escaping."

Zhongli slowly and solemnly recounted his story to Wang Daoyi.

Then the conversation changed and he looked at Wang Daoyi: "Do you know why I never mention these things?"

Wang Dao was stunned for a moment, and then looked at the sky.

Zhong Li smiled, he was very satisfied with Wang Daoyi's reaction.

"That's right, because Tian Tian has never wanted more people to know about the past history, so I won't mention these things anymore."

"Can't even you defeat the power of the sky?" Wang Daoyi asked. He wanted to know how strong the combat power of Sky Island was.

Zhongli shook his head: "It doesn't matter whether we win or not. What I cherish is just Liyue and our old friends. If we become his enemy, no matter whether we win or lose, we will only lose more."

The implication is that you may be able to win, or you may not be able to win, but the price you pay is something Zhongli is not willing to accept.

"What's more, the existence in the sky is just a maintainer. The real law of heaven is the existence that runs the entire world now. It is not something I can do to resist Him."

Wang Daoyi nodded as if he understood. This information far exceeded what he knew in his previous life.

Heavenly principles, the maintainers of heavenly principles, and the beings that run the entire world. Wang Dao knew about these things, but he didn't understand them.

"So... Heaven's Law, the maintainers of Heaven's Law, what they want is to keep the world going?"

Wang Daoyi asked.

Zhongli pondered for a while, seeming to consider the words: "If you look at them with this understanding, it seems there is nothing wrong."

"But... aren't they... outsiders?" Wang Daoyi looked up at the sky and finally asked cautiously.

Zhong Li was obviously stunned for a moment, and then a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes. He was surprised: "I have to say, you surprise me endlessly. You even know this kind of information."

Then he nodded to Wang Dao with great certainty: "Yes, they are considered outsiders. Not only that, all humans are not natives of this world."

Wang Dao nodded, he knew this,

The first throne, Phanes, came, defeated the seven dragon kings, unified Teyvat, and created the first human beings - the original humans.

Note that the original humans here are not the current humans. The original humans had powerful power. Today's humans were created by Fanes and a shadow.

Not only that, Phanes and the shadow also created birds, animals and water fish, flowers, plants and trees,

In other words, most of what people can see in Teyvat today was created by Pharnas and one of his shadows, and is not a species native to Teyvat.

Only the dragon lizards, this ancient race, are the true aborigines of Teyvat.

"Since you're in advance of this, I'm going to tell you about another existence - the abyss."

Chapter 2 Heavenly Law and the Abyss

"Do you know what an abyss is?"

Zhong Li took a sip of tea, then looked at Wang Daoyi and asked this question.

What is the abyss?

In the eyes of most people in Teyvat who know the existence of the abyss, the abyss is a lair of monsters, a source of evil, and the source of many disasters.

But these answers were obviously not what Zhongli wanted to hear.

Wang Daoyi was silent for a while, then asked uncertainly: "The abyss... is the opposite of heaven's law?"

Everything has two sides. Where there is light, darkness will naturally arise. Where there is evil, justice will be born.

This is not a trick, but the most normal truth.

"Heh, that's an interesting statement, but it's either true or not."

Zhongli chuckled lightly, did not nod, but did not refute, he just continued:

"The world of Teyvat has ceased to be a normal world since a long time ago."

"All kinds of people come here, leave something behind, and then quietly disappear, making the world more and more broken."

"The abyss records the existence of these broken people. It is Teyvat's deepest secret and hides Teyvat's most ancient history."

Then he showed a smile: "The Abyss Order that people usually worry about is just an existence in the shallowest part of the abyss. It is just a sect that was only founded 500 years ago."

Wang Dao was silent. Although Zhongli's words were very obscure, he still understood.

A long, long time ago, someone (god) came to Teyvat, and then did something, using a certain kind of power to modify the normally functioning planet of Teyvat.

Since then, Teyvat has started to become abnormal. Of course, Teyvat's initial abnormality may have been developing in a good direction, but as more and more "people" came here and conflicts occurred, Teyvat's prosperous trajectory shifted, and even... took a sharp turn for the worse.

When Teyvat was constantly influenced by outsiders, many things were destroyed and fragmented.

All these fragmented things sank into the abyss.

Among them, the 'fragments' on the surface of the abyss are the Abyss Order!

That anti-natural force composed of the elites of the ancient country that collapsed five hundred years ago.

After listening to Zhongli's description of the Abyss and the Abyss Cult, Wang Daoyi fell silent.

The current Wang Daoyi, for most people, he is indeed very strong. Powerful monsters such as King Qiuqiu and Rock Dragon Lizard are just a group of lambs to be slaughtered in front of him. He can kill them as he wants.

But raising the level to the level of gods and demons is just a little guy on the road to becoming a god. Not to mention the laws of heaven and the abyss, even in the dark sea, there are a group of losers who can easily crush him to death.

So he thought for a long time and still thought that he couldn't touch these things now, so he could only ask Zhongli:

"Then Emperor...what is your attitude towards Heavenly Law or the Abyss? And what should I do?"

Zhongli put down the teacup, pondered for a while, and then said: "In the beginning, I planned to train you to be the next me, so your position was naturally the same, but now you have your own path, and even... you have your own people, so my position is no longer suitable for you."

"However, I am still willing to inform you of my attitude and position." Zhongli looked at Wang Daoyi with an unexpectedly serious expression. This was an expression that Wang Daoyi had never seen on Zhongli.

"The law of nature is not my enemy, nor is the abyss. My enemies...are only those who harm Liyue and those who break the contract."

Wang Dao was silent, then raised his head: "Then even... the wear and tear imposed on you by the law of nature does not matter to you?"

Faced with this question, Zhongli couldn't help but remain silent, and the small courtyard fell into silence for a moment.

After a long time, Zhongli raised his head and looked at Wang Daoyi with his golden eyes:

"Wear and tear... This is inevitable. Even the Heavenly Law Maintainer itself is being worn away by this great power."

"I said that the laws of nature support the movement of Teyvat, and wear and tear is something that is caused by the movement and is bound to appear. It is the price of Teyvat's existence!"

"Although it made me lose a lot, but... I don't hate it."

Zhongli's calm tone made Wang Daoyi a little silent.

Originally, in Wang Daoyi's view, Zhongli did not oppose the Ice Queen's actions, and even supported her actions. He was using his own way to resist the laws of nature.

But now it seems that what Zhongli wants is definitely not to simply resist the laws of nature, but to have a deeper desire.

After a moment of silence, Wang Daoyi raised his head and smiled: "I understand, Emperor. Anyway, I am still young and the road is still long. These things will be a headache for me in the future."

“…That’s fine.” Zhongli sighed, nodded, and then became serious again, “Well, there’s one more thing. Do you remember what I said when you first became a follower of the Rock God?”

Um? What did Zhongli say at that time?

Wang Daoyi frowned and fell into memories

At that time, he had just become a member of the Rock God, and fell into ecstasy because he hugged a thigh.

Then Zhongli said...

"You said at that time that after I reach the level of the Demon God, I can try to get rid of my identity as a follower of the Rock God!"

Wang Daoyi's memory was very good, and he quickly found the scene of Zhong Li talking to him from his memories.

Nodding, Zhongli showed a smile: "How, you have reached this point now! I remember that you were dismissive at first and thought it was impossible to get rid of it."

With a hint of embarrassment, Wang Daoyi scratched his head: "Ha, I really didn't expect that so many things would happen this year."

At that time, he was ecstatic about hugging a thigh. How could he have thought that his strength would reach this level a year later.

"Haha, then, have you made a decision? Do you want to get rid of my status as a dependent?"

Zhong Li continued to pour a cup of tea and asked as if joking, but his eyes were full of seriousness.

Wang Daoyi:...

Seeing the child's silent expression, Zhongli did not urge him, but instead gave Wang Daoyi another cup of tea.

For Zhongli, time is never lacking, and he has enough patience to wait for the answer.

Opposite Zhongli, Wang Daoyi frowned and thought,

For him, the identity of the Rock Familiar is actually of little benefit.

As someone who is also walking on the path of God, when other gods see him, most of them will treat him as a person who has ascended to the gods.

Just like in the battle with General Thunder, the opponent was very sensitive to the fact that Wang Daoyi had given up the posture of Morax and started to walk on his own path.

But... the lack of benefits does not mean that Wang Daoyi can easily give up this identity.

His status as a follower of the rock gave Wang Daoyi too many benefits and left him with too many memories.

Think about those immortals who regard him as their descendants. If they give up this identity easily, how will Wang Daoyi face them? Will they think this is a betrayal?

Then think about Zhongli sitting opposite, who invested a lot in Wang Daoyi, lit up his life star, taught knowledge, granted gnosis, and provided blessings. These were all given by Zhongli to Wang Daoyi.

If Wang Daoyi gives up his identity as a follower of the rock, will all these investments be in vain?

"Emperor...I..."

"Is it difficult to make a decision? Don't worry too much. I don't care about what you think. Moreover, even if you give up this identity, you are still a Liyue person and a descendant of the rock. It is just a rarer identity. That's all." Zhong Li smiled, he understood Wang Daoyi's worries very well.

"If it's really hard to make a choice, you can think about it for a while. I'm not in a hurry. I just need to make a choice before you ascend to the throne of God."

From what Zhongli said, it seemed that he was certain that Wang Daoyi could ascend to the throne of God.

"Thank you, Emperor. I still want to be your retinue for a few more days. You should continue to take care of me before I ascend the throne of God!"

Wang Daoyi bowed to Zhongli and said the most serious words in a joking tone.

Chapter 270 Goodbye Albedo

Wang Daoyi left the Hall of Rebirth with a silent expression and returned to the Pier Teahouse.