Reading poems from Teyvat

In Shen Zhigui's opinion, the move "Fish and birds in the world all fly and sink" is actually close to the ultimate essence of "The Song of the Blue Sky and the Yellow Spring". Although he cannot see the full picture of this martial arts for the time being, he can be sure that the first move should be "The Blue Sky Above and the Yellow Spring Below", so the second move "Fish and birds in the world all fly and sink" can already give a glimpse of the style of the first move. Although the core concept of this move is actually "Dividing the mind into multiple uses", it is not accurate to say so. A more accurate way of saying it should be "Kunpeng Transformation", because when practicing this martial arts, part of the practitioner's mind It was as if the consciousness was divided into two, three, four or even many sides. The part that was like the "fish" or "Kun" was simple and naive, and would always remain in the boy's body to help control his shape and true energy. The parts that were like the "bird" or "Peng" were agile and elegant, and could attach themselves to external objects like Shen Zhigui controlled the chopsticks before, or they could continue to stay in the boy's body to rest like returning to their nests. But sometimes they would also cooperate with the "fish" to turn the boy's thoughts, speed up his thinking, and thus control his body more comprehensively.

That's why Shen Zhigui was able to control the aura transformed from the erased karma and use it for his own benefit.

Even if he was bolder, he could let those "birds" capture the free elemental forces in the air and bring them back to himself.

This martial art can be said to be a peerless skill that helps people break through the upper limit of their talents.

The only drawback is that the process of splitting one's self-consciousness is too dangerous. Even though Shen Zhigui had already mastered the art of "Cinnabar disappears without a trace when exposed to fire", he still came to the gates of hell several times during the process.

So he really didn't dare to teach this forbidden martial arts book to Keqing.

Chapter 34: Follow-up

After hearing Shen Zhigui's explanation, Keqing was silent for a moment. Just as Shen Zhigui was about to turn around and walk towards the small round table, the girl suddenly said softly, "Thank you."

"I am the one who caused you trouble, right?"

Shen Zhigui just said it casually.

After all, if he believed that Keqing could handle it and not catch up with him, there wouldn't be so many problems afterwards.

“No,” Keqing was unusually frank at this time. She even raised her head, as if she was not afraid of being discovered by the boy. She just looked straight at the boy and said, “I still want to thank you, because it was you who taught me this swordsmanship, allowing me to appreciate this scenery.”

"But really, wasn't it you who saved me first? This is just returning the favor."

Shen Zhigui still had that absent-minded look on his face and said.

"Maybe that's true, but..."

Keqing wanted to continue speaking in a low voice, but found that the boy had turned around and sat down next to the small round table. So her excited mood calmed down instantly, and she could only take a deep breath, and then continue to sit opposite the boy, looking at that distracted face. Silence suddenly fell on the small table. The boy did not seem to notice Keqing's gaze, or he was used to that kind of gaze. He just turned his head to look at the scenery in the distance, which seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gauze by the silver moonlight.

Then Ganyu broke the silence first:

"Speaking of which, Mr. Shen, how many days do you plan to stay here?"

"Five days, I'll get used to it. I should be able to quickly resolve the karma that the Great Sage has accumulated so far. As for the karma that he will accumulate later, it shouldn't affect him in a short period of time..."

Shen Zhigui just said that.

"So, after Mr. Shen solves the problem here, do you plan to go directly to Master Liuyun Jiefeng, or will you go to Ah Ping first to report?"

"What's the difference?"

Shen Zhigui asked.

Gan Yu just shook her head: "I can take you directly to find Master Liuyun Jiefeng. With what you did to the Great Sage Conquering the Demons, Master Liuyun Jiefeng should not refuse. But, I'm not sure if Ah Ping has anything else to say to you. Besides, the thing you mentioned before..."

"what's up?"

"It's unfair to the Demon-Subduing Great Sage," Gan Yu just said softly, "I think your statement is biased towards other immortals. It's not that they don't want to clean up the remains of those demon gods and the impact they caused, but they are powerless. Not all immortals or even Yakshas can bear as much karma as the Demon-Subduing Great Sage. So, rather than saying that other immortals are slacking off, it's better to say that the Demon-Subduing Great Sage is too strict with himself. Although I can understand his feelings, because once he stops, he will suspect that someone will be attacked by monsters because he didn't clean up in time, so he works so hard."

Shen Zhigui nodded and said, "Actually, my original intention was not to criticize other immortals."

“But if you want to persuade the Demon-Subduing Great Sage to stop, that’s unrealistic,” Ganyu said. “The only thing you can do is to help him resolve his karma so that he can more easily destroy those monsters.”

The boy just nodded silently.

"You...are you pitying him?"

Keqing took a look at the boy's expression and said something a little strangely.

"That's not the case. It's just, how should I put it," Shen Zhigui thought for a moment, then turned to another topic. "In my hometown, there is a widely circulated myth. It says that there was a human named Sisyphus. He designed to kidnap the god of death, so that there was no death in the world for a time. So after the god of death was rescued, the gods felt that they had been fooled by humans, so they punished him by making him keep pushing a huge rock to the top of an empty hill. After being pushed to the top of the hill, the rock quickly rolled back to the foot of the hill. Sisyphus' mission was to repeat the process of pushing the rock to the top of the hill and then rolling it down day after day. Lord Yuhengxing, what do you think the human named Sisyphus felt like when he was pushing the rock?"

Keqing hesitated for a moment and said, "But the Great Sage who conquered the demons was trying to save people. He shouldn't be like Sisyphus..."

"No, the Demon-Subduing Great Sage rarely receives gratitude from humans," Ganyu suddenly said, "because they can only see the Demon-Subduing Great Sage appear in the most dangerous times, and the Demon-Subduing Great Sage has that kind of personality, so..."

"So, for that Yaksha, what he did was not much different from what Sisyphus did," Shen Zhigui said. "Of course, I also know that he did not do this for the gratitude of others, but what drove him to maintain the contract with the Emperor was his initial gratitude to the Emperor, or the inertia that had always been like a machine?"

Then the other two fell silent.

But soon, Shen Zhigui said again: "However, maybe I will soon find a way to quickly eliminate the remains of the demon god in Liyue. By then, even if he wants to push the stone again, he probably won't be able to find it. So whether he will go around looking for monsters from the Abyss Cult in Liyue to fight or make other choices, I am also looking forward to it."

Ganyu discovered that her future junior fellow apprentice was not really that insightful.

He has a bit of a bad taste in playing with people's hearts.

But it seems harmless, right?

She just wanted to.

Anyway, she was also very curious about what the Yaksha would choose when the time came.

Keqing, who was sitting on the side, seemed to be touched by something after hearing what he said, but she quickly regrouped her emotions, raised her head, and asked the boy with clear eyes: "And then?"

"what?"

Keqing took a deep breath. "I mean, if it is true as you said, you have found a way to completely clean up the remains of the demon god and the corresponding influence on this land, and the Great Sage who subdues demons has made a choice, and you have even learned the knowledge you wanted to learn from the True Lord Liuyunjiefeng, then after that, what are you going to do?"

"Continue to study martial arts?"

Shen Zhigui said this with a little hesitation.

"But didn't you say you were looking for like-minded companions?"

Shen Zhigui thought that I was just looking for reasons to find the holders of the Eye of God, to get close to them, to gain their recognition, or to learn from them. As for the like-minded people, in reality, no one should be willing to break away from their current lives and join him in searching for the so-called poetic world.

So he just said, "Master Yuhengxing, do you have any recommendations?"

The girl pointed at herself with her silk-gloved hand.

Chapter 35: Yuhengxing’s personal opinion (Part 1)

“Perhaps in your opinion, Liyue is not a suitable place. It is littered with the remains of defeated demon gods, and disasters may befall this land at any time because of the hatred of those demon gods,” Keqing said to Shen Zhigui with an unprecedented serious attitude. “But this is where I was born and raised. If you are willing to build Liyue with us after cleaning up the remains of those demon gods, then I believe that our ideal country is not mutually exclusive, and you can also find your own place in this country, and find what you call the ‘poetic world’!”

The girl's wine-red eyes shone with a different kind of brilliance under the cold moonlight:

"As long as you are willing to work with me to build Liyue into that ideal country."

Shen Zhigui was suddenly caught off guard.

He even wanted to change the subject, but when he saw the girl's bright and clear eyes, he could only sigh and said, "So, Master Yuhengxing, what exactly does your so-called ideal Liyue look like?"

The girl's eyes suddenly brightened: "My ideal Liyue is a country ruled by people instead of gods. It is a country where humans can decide their own destiny. They don't live under the protection and love of gods like children who have never stepped out of the cradle. Instead, after the gods leave, humans can still continue to thrive..."

Shen Zhigui immediately glanced at Gan Yu.

Ganyu guessed that the other party had probably already guessed something, so she just smiled indifferently:

Anyway, this Yuhengxing has always had this attitude.

When she asked the Emperor that famous question at the Immortal Invitation Ceremony, the Emperor did not get angry, so she did not say much.

But Shen Zhigui's next words made her realize that his eyes actually had a lot of meaning:

"In fact, I have heard of your 'glorious deeds', Lord Yuhengxing."

The boy interrupted Keqing's description and just said.

"So, what do you think?"

Keqing was also a little hesitant, but still asked.

"What do you think is the irreplaceable role that Morax plays for Liyue?"

"The unshakable spiritual faith of every Liyue citizen and his guidance of Liyue society every year?"

Shen Zhigui immediately shook his head: "In my opinion, it is a peerless force that suppresses and seals the demon gods other than him. Lord Yuhengxing, you said that humans should not live under the protection of the wings of demon gods, but that the fate of humans should be decided by humans themselves. I agree with you, but there is one thing I want to ask you, Lord Yuhengxing, are people with God's Eyes considered human?"

"Of course it counts!"

Keqing certainly had no intention of expelling herself from the human race.

"So, in your opinion, are immortals considered human beings?"

Keqing hesitated for a moment, but avoided the question: "This has nothing to do with the original topic, right?"

Shen Zhigui said, "This is just an assumption. Lord Yuhengxing, you think you are still human. Possessing the Eye of God only gives you a convenient and quick power, or a tool, but this power is incomprehensibly powerful in the eyes of ordinary people like us. Similarly, in the eyes of ordinary people, those immortals who can live for tens of thousands of years are naturally incomprehensibly powerful. Lord Yuhengxing, you think you are human and those immortals are not human because you know that they may be transformed from other races with long lifespans. But if you ask me, apart from the length of lifespan, you holders of the Eye of God are actually no different from immortals. Of course, since you think immortals are not human, I can temporarily classify them out of the category of humans. You said that the fate of humans should be decided by humans themselves. Then, when Morax leaves and no longer protects humans in many thousands of years as you said, can you, who possess the Eye of God and the Thousand Rock Army under your leadership, fight against those demons who have broken the seal?"

There seemed to be a fleeting stern look on the boy's face:

"You can't just say you want to be independent and then excitedly tell your parents to leave you alone, but when you run into problems you still run back to your hometown to seek help from your parents, right?"

Keqing obviously hadn't expected Shen Zhigui to reply like this. She was stunned for a moment and said, "You also think that my idea is unrealistic?"

"I still have the same question. Do you really think that you can directly deal with the Demon God with only the people who possess the Eye of God and the Thousand Rock Army?"

Keqing was silent for a moment, then said unwillingly: "But living under the protection of the Emperor, humans will never see the hope of fighting against them..."

"Then I have another question. You asked Morax, the Emperor has protected Liyue for a thousand years, but will it be the same for the next thousand years, ten thousand years, or a hundred thousand years?" The young man's voice suddenly changed from the clearness of a mountain stream flowing between rocks to the depth of muddy mud. "I also want to ask you, Master Yuhengxing, the holder of the Eye of God has been trampling on ordinary people and bullying them... No, he has protected ordinary people for a thousand years, will it be the same for the next thousand years, ten thousand years, or a hundred thousand years?"

Keqing wanted to refute that people with the Eye of God would not trample on the people and bully them, but for someone like her who had suddenly risen to a high position at such a young age, it was really hard to say such words. In fact, she had heard many people criticize her, thinking that she was only able to become one of the Seven Stars of Liyue at such a young age because of her family background and the Eye of God.

Because generally speaking, people are always willing to choose mature and steady leaders rather than young and impatient ones, because mature people have too much experience in handling things and can properly take care of the emotions of most people, while young people are always unwilling to follow the rules and follow the experience left by their predecessors. So she has heard similar complaints more than once when she concealed her identity and visited in person, but those people have never said this to her face. You can say that they are afraid of her power, but you can also say that they are afraid of her God's eyes.

Although she didn't think she had done anything to oppress ordinary people.

But isn’t this unconscious tolerance of ordinary people towards themselves also a form of oppression?

Keqing is sometimes not so sure.

So in response to the boy's question, she didn't have an answer that would convince herself and the boy and that would suit her imagination.

So she chose to remain silent.

Chapter 36: Yuhengxing’s personal opinion (Part 2)

"Most of the people in this world are ordinary people without the Eye of God, but Lord Yuhengxing, you said that the fate of mankind should be controlled by mankind themselves, so they nominated people like you who have the Eye of God to stand above them... No, they want you to protect them," Shen Zhigui just said, "In my opinion, this is also the choice of mankind. Consciously or unconsciously nominating individuals with qualities far superior to normal people to stand up and lead themselves, and to take shelter under their wings, is a common practice. In their view, whether it is you, the immortals, or Morax, there is actually no difference in essence, and they have no possibility of resisting you, so you are worried about the departure of Morax, and think that mankind will sooner or later face the day without his protection. Why haven't you worried about the day when the holder of the Eye of God leaves human society? If you are worried about the departure of Morax and want mankind to be independent, why don't you worry about the departure of the holder of the Eye of God and let ordinary people decide their own destiny?"

Although Keqing had actually long realized that the boy's usual way of speaking to her might be just because she had saved his life, so she had always been very easy-going, but once it came to such a fundamentally controversial issue, his sarcasm was revealed without hesitation.

He didn't even show any intention of stopping:

"But even if we don't mention those things, Lord Yuhengxing, I still have the same question. You think that immortals are not human beings. Then, with just you, the Seven Stars, and those who possess the Eye of God, plus the Thousand Rock Army, are you enough to deal with the enemies sealed by Morax?"

Keqing found it difficult to avoid the boy's clear-eyed question for a moment, but in the end she could only shake her head.

Can't do it.

Under the current circumstances, they really can't do that.

Unless the boy in front of him can grow to that level as he said.

But people like him are rare individuals among human beings.

Not to mention that he might not be willing to do so.

So Keqing could only shake her head.

“So you see, what you said is actually a false proposition. Even if Morax left Liyue and there was no Geo King Emperor anymore, you would most likely still ask those secluded immortals to protect you once again. Of course, Lord Yuhengxing, you may not want to do that, but most people would definitely choose to do so. To them, it doesn’t matter whether it’s you or the immortals standing on their heads, so…”

The boy looked at Ganyu again.

Ganyu was originally immersed in the boy's complaints about Keqing, thinking that this is how ordinary people see her. She had never thought about things from these perspectives, not to mention that she didn't like Keqing's point of view. So when she heard the boy complaining about the girl so fiercely, she couldn't help but listen attentively for a while. So when the boy looked at her, she couldn't help but ask in confusion: "What's wrong?"

"Master Yuhengxing, you are worried that Morax's protection will make humans lazy and prevent them from becoming independent in time, so they will inevitably encounter problems when he suddenly leaves in the future. But if you ask me, there is actually a natural successor to the Rock King in Liyue Harbor. Even if Morax leaves now, as long as you nominate that person to become the next Rock King, you can probably maintain the status quo."

"Who?" Keqing was immediately surprised when she heard the boy's words, wondering when there was such a person in Liyue Harbor. But she suddenly thought of someone's "dream lover", and that person also possessed the God's Eye of the Rock Element and was one of the Seven Stars with tremendous power, so she said unhappily, "Are you talking about Ningguang?"

Shen Zhigui shook his head.

"What on earth is that..."

Seeing the young man staring at the half-immortal who looked like a young girl next to him, Keqing couldn't help but widen her eyes for a moment, then subconsciously shook her head and said, "But in this case..."

"Mr. Shen, the person you are talking about is..."

Gan Yu was still confused until now, so she asked aloud. In her heart, she was actually very curious about who the next Rock King Emperor was that the boy mentioned. Although she didn't think that anyone could replace the Emperor, after hearing what the boy said before, she thought that even if the person he mentioned didn't have 50% of the Emperor's ability, he should have 30% of the Emperor's ability, right? So she also wanted to meet that person. If possible, let that person join Yuehai Pavilion or the General Affairs Department for training and inspection. If qualified, maybe that person can become one of the Seven Stars. Anyway, Tianshu Star is about to step down now. Since the boy said there is such a person, let that person also join the list of successors.

When Keqing saw that she was still dazed, she immediately said, "The person he was talking about is you."

Ganyu suddenly raised her head and saw that Keqing and the young man were looking at her at the same time. She panicked and waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "How can I be compared with the Emperor? Stop making fun of me."

"Look, she said so herself..."

Keqing actually had time to complain to Shen Zhigui.

"To be honest, I don't think you can be compared with Morax," Shen Zhigui complained mercilessly at this time, but soon returned to his original serious demeanor and said, "But since we are assuming that Morax suddenly leaves, among so many people in Liyue Harbor, aren't you the only one who is most suitable to succeed the Geo King?"

"But if the Emperor leaves, there is no need to find someone to take over, because the Emperor is the Emperor, and people will not recognize a second Emperor."

Gan Yu immediately spoke seriously.