Reading poems from Teyvat

So in the end Shen Zhigui just looked at the spear in his hand with regret, thinking that he really didn't grasp the timing well.

At this time, Keqing was really shocked:

How long has it been? Not even half a month, and he has already caused me this much trouble with his gun. If I am not careful, I will capsize, and...

She carefully recalled the trajectory of the boy's spear and found that the spear was not affected by any lightning element and did not slow down at all. Doesn't this mean that when he used the spear, she couldn't even use the lightning element to restrain him as before?

Could it be that this guy really has so much talent that it’s about to overflow as he said?

Keqing, who has been regarded as a genius among geniuses since she was a child, even began to doubt herself.

Chapter 2: Immortal Disciple ()

But soon Keqing realized that Shen Zhigui's spear skills had become like this in just one day, and he was still the same in the previous few days. He must have had some strange encounter, and it was not something he could have practiced alone. So she asked, "Where did you go during the day?"

"I went to Yujingtai."

"Why are you going to Yujingtai?"

Keqing looked suspicious.

"I fought Xiangling once before, and then she said her master wanted to meet me, so I went to visit Xiangling's master and fought with him..."

"So you've been causing trouble in Liyue Harbor these past few days?"

Keqing's eyes suddenly turned cold, like a newly sharpened sword, fiercely sweeping over the young man in front of her.

"It was just a friendly exchange of martial arts. Grandma Ping even told me that I could go back to her for advice if I had any questions."

Shen Zhigui just said.

When Keqing heard him say that, she immediately raised her slender eyebrows and said, "Even if they don't want you to be their inner disciple, at least they want to take you in as a nominal disciple. Although I don't know much about that Granny Ping, Xiangling's spear skills are not bad. The one who can teach Xiangling must be a great figure. You might as well take your tuition and go to become her apprentice tomorrow."

Shen Zhigui hesitated for a moment, but said, "I have no intention of becoming your disciple."

"why?"

"I just don't want to be tied down."

Keqing was stunned when she heard him say that. She quickly thought of what he said at the beginning about finding that poetic world, his identity as a bard, and that he might have to leave Liyue in the end. The relationship between the two of them was probably just strangers who stayed under the same roof because of a midsummer rainstorm. So her tone inexplicably dropped and she said, "Do whatever you want..."

"Master Yuhengxing?"

"As for the swordsmanship you taught me, you have already taught me everything you need to know, right? The rest I can only figure out on my own, so if you want to leave at that time, just tell me..."

"Did you misunderstand something?"

When Shen Zhigui saw her like this, he immediately spoke in surprise.

"Are you going to stay in Liyue Harbor in the future?"

"Well, I can't say for sure at the moment."

"So what's wrong with me saying that?"

Shen Zhigui immediately shook his head: "Probably not...right?"

"Humph!"

When Keqing heard him say that, she immediately turned her head away and wanted to leave, but she heard the young man suddenly speak, "Although I don't want to be her disciple, I want to cooperate with Grandma Ping in a different way. As Miss Keqing of Lord Yuhengxing, this way of cooperation may be of some interest to you."

"Don't call me that nonsense!"

Keqing immediately turned around, glared at him, and whispered:

"And he could call out Xiangling's name so naturally..."

"Master Yuhengxing?"

Shen Zhigui couldn't hear clearly, so he asked.

"What are you going to work with her on?"

Keqing cleared her throat and brought the topic back to the topic.

"Speaking of which, Master Yuhengxing, what do you think of my move?"

"Which move?"

"That last move..."

Shen Zhigui swung the spear in his hand into a perfect arc and said.

"If your timing could be a little more perfect, you might actually be able to defeat me."

"Although that is indeed the case, what I'm talking about is not the outcome, but the essence of that move." Shen Zhigui held the middle of the spear in his hand, so that the spear tip could be presented in front of him at close range. He stretched out his left hand and flicked the spear tip that was so close at hand, saying, "You should have noticed at that time that your lightning element could not affect the spear at that time. Or, it can even be said that wherever the spear tip passed, all elemental forces were almost annihilated, leaving no trace."

Keqing thought about the situation carefully, then said noncommittally: "So what?"

"So, if the lightning element can be cleared, then what about the evil spirits, demons, and vengeful spirits derived from the remains of the defeated demon gods after the Demon God War on the land of Liyue, as well as the remains themselves and the resentment left behind?"

Shen Zhigui just said it calmly.

"No! It's too dangerous for you!"

Keqing said subconsciously.

"I didn't say that we have to clean it up now," Shen Zhigui shook his head and said, "Or you could say that I just proposed a possibility. It's like I'm preparing a business plan and I need you and Granny Ping to invest in it and help me complete this plan. As long as I can really clean up or purify the remains of the demon god and completely eliminate those evil spirits and demons, it will be a great benefit to Liyue and to you, the Seven Stars, right?"

Keqing immediately looked at the boy seriously, pondered for a long time, and finally said: "Do you really have such ability?"

"There shouldn't be anything wrong."

"Take me to see Grandma Ping tomorrow. I will personally verify everything you said. If you can really do this, then it's not impossible for me to invest in you." But Keqing still looked at the boy with suspicion, "But what you need most now is not the guidance of Grandma Ping?"

"Actually, it's because I need a lot of amber to practice another martial art..."

Shen Zhigui said immediately.

Keqing was silent for a moment:

No matter how you look at it, the boy's words sound like the kind of talk that a swindler would say, trying to lure people into investing with a ridiculous business plan and then taking all the investment money away.

But for some reason, when the boy made this statement, she wanted to believe him without reservation.

Perhaps this young man really is as he said, his talent is full to the point of overflowing, so even if he can't do it at this stage, he may be able to do it in the future?

Or, even if he couldn't do it, it didn't matter, because as long as he was given investment, he would continue to stay in Liyue Port and repay the debt because of the investment...

Keqing shook her head and didn't think about it any further. She just looked at him deeply again and said, "In short, take me to see Grandma Ping tomorrow. I will personally verify whether you have that ability. But if you dare to lie or find someone unknown to deceive me, then you will understand what the real Liyue Seven Stars are."

"how could be?"

Shen Zhigui just said.

"I hope so!"

Although she felt that the boy's timing in making such a statement at this time was a bit too deliberate.

It was as if he was deliberately giving her a little hope when she was about to give up.

Chapter 3: Immortal Disciple ()

When Granny Ping saw Shen Zhigui and Keqing coming together, slaying a remnant of the demon god in front of her, and proposing that kind of cooperation, even though she had thousands of years of experience, she couldn't help but feel a little surprised. She looked at the young man with her eyes, which were no longer cloudy like an old man's, but instead became sharp and clear. She was silent for a moment before saying, "In fact, you have already heard what I meant, but why didn't you choose to become my disciple, but wanted to make an exchange in this strange way so that you can learn spear skills from me?"

Shen Zhigui thought about it and did not shy away from the question, saying, "Liyue is a country that places great emphasis on contracts, but the scope of the 'master-disciple' contract is too broad in my opinion, so I just want to make this contract simpler, so that I have less obligations to fulfill, so that I can have more freedom to do what I want to do in the future."

The old man just shook his head: "But in Liyue, no master would let his disciples overestimate their abilities and do things like cleaning up the remains of the demon god..."

"But if you accept this form of cooperation, I cannot be said to be your disciple, but only your investment target."

The old man took another deep look at the young man who was too erratic in his behavior.

She actually knew that the boy's killer move yesterday did have such potential. As long as he could grow up, he might be able to completely clean up everything left on this earth by the defeated demons. But she wanted to take him in as her disciple, and her intention was not to let him do such a dangerous thing. Of course, if he really became her disciple, achieved something and was willing to do so, she would have nothing to say, but she would not force him. She just wanted him to make the free choice under the premise of protecting himself and other innocent and kind people.

But before she could start testing the boy's character, he did this.

Although this incident also reveals the character of this young man.

Maybe a bit too sharp?

Grandma Ping said in her heart.

He is probably the kind of person who will never obey other people's arrangements obediently, and always wants to find room for his own choices. So when faced with this situation, although he might be able to infer Xiangling's own temperament and teaching style from her current situation, he still chooses to reveal his cards directly and find a place where he can take the initiative in a situation where he is completely passive, even though the freedom he gets after choosing to obey is actually much greater than what he gets from taking the initiative to make choices now.

So, even though Granny Ping didn't like the boy's sharp edge, she couldn't say she hadn't thought about his initiative to clean up the remains of the demon god after he achieved something. So after careful consideration, she said, "I can promise to teach you my spear skills."

Before Shen Zhigui could express his opinion, her voice soon rang out again:

"But," she looked at the boy seriously and continued, "I also understand that you have a great talent, but there are too many uncertainties in realizing your talent to the extent that it is sufficient to completely clean up the remains of the Demon God. If you choose to become my disciple, I am willing to wait and help you in the process of realizing your talent, but you made this choice. So, let's put aside the condition of cleaning up the remains of the Demon God and clean up the 'karma' of the Demon-Subduing Great Sage first. How about this condition?"

Shen Zhigui thought for a moment and said, "If you are willing and think I can do it, I have nothing to say. Anyway, I have more than one investor."

He looked at the girl standing next to him.

When Keqing heard Granny Ping mention the name "Great Saint Conquering Demons", she frowned and began to doubt the identity of this old man. After all, those immortals seemed a little too mysterious to the Seven Stars of Liyue. How did Granny Ping know about the Yaksha and the information about the Yaksha being entangled by karma? If Granny Ping hadn't said it, Keqing herself would not have known.

But soon, when Shen Zhigui said that and looked at her, she couldn't help but feel a little angry:

Grandma Ping, who has only known you for less than two days, doesn't want you to do such a dangerous thing before you fully realize your talents. Do I want to be willing to do that?

But she didn't say anything in the end. She just nodded, agreeing with what the two people said, and then said, "In this case, I will ask the people in the mansion to help collect amber."

"Amber?"

When Grandma Ping heard the two people say this, she couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

Shen Zhigui explained: "Because the other martial arts I want to learn requires a lot of amber."

The old man was silent for a moment before he said, "I don't know what the other martial arts you mentioned is, but right now, if you want to clear the karma of the Great Saint, your most urgent task, in addition to being able to use that move skillfully, is to increase the amount of your so-called true qi, which is similar in nature to elemental force."

Of course, Shen Zhigui also knew the necessity of increasing his true energy.

But isn't this the reason why the Forbidden Martial Arts Book Index never gave him the secret of internal strength?

And the true Qi gained from practicing "Come like thunder and end with rage" is just a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, the simplest way for him to become stronger at present is to practice the "Nanshan Xiaoxue Yulinxun" move.

In other words, his real purpose in doing all these things was just to get Keqing's investment.

So he could only tell the truth: "There is no better way at the moment, I can only practice and improve slowly."

"Then your other martial art is..."

"It increases the strength of my body."

Although Granny Ping was very interested in his martial arts, since Shen Zhigui didn't want to talk more, she didn't ask any more questions. She just took out the spear again and said, "In that case, all I can do is to help you use that move more skillfully. Come on."

Shen Zhigui immediately reached behind him with his right hand, but suddenly realized that he only brought a long sword with him today. He couldn't help feeling a little awkward using a sword to compete with Grandma Ping. He wanted to ask Grandma Ping if she had a spare one, but at this moment Keqing next to him snorted coldly, then took out a long spear from her Divine Eye space and threw it at him. Shen Zhigui reached out to take it, then took a deep breath, and then rushed towards the old man standing there with the long spear in his hand.

Keqing, who was standing nearby, only watched for a moment and confirmed one thing. Even if this old woman named Grandma Ping was not an immortal, she was probably not much inferior to him. After all, her knowledge of martial arts and her calculation ideas were too profound and unfathomable. Without the accumulation of enough years, she would never be able to resolve the boy's attack so easily. She just stood there motionless, and her thinking was always five or six steps ahead of the boy!

Keqing, who had already witnessed the boy's marksmanship last night, knew very well that if she went up instead, the outcome would be even more embarrassing.

So who is this person?

Chapter 4: Immortal Disciple ()

But even if we temporarily ignore Granny Ping's identity, Keqing, who was standing aside and watching, became more and more frightened:

On the one hand, she was shocked by Grandma Ping's unfathomable martial arts skills; on the other hand, it was because Shen Zhigui was also improving at an incredible speed. His every move became more and more perfect in the process of fighting with the old man. He was constantly removing unnecessary waste in his moves, striving to make his moves as simple and clear as that of the old man.

What’s even more surprising is that his calculation ideas are gradually catching up with that of the old man.

The evidence is that at the beginning, Grandma Ping was only using the speed of an ordinary person to move the gun to suppress him, but now, it is almost becoming the speed of an ordinary Qianyan Army.

So Keqing could see that the ideas of the two people when they exchanged moves were so wild and imaginative that it almost made people vomit blood. It was like a blazing fireball streaked across the sky just a moment ago, and a huge meteorite was about to hit the earth. Everyone could foresee what a shocking scene would be next, but afterwards it was just like an autumn wind rippling a pool of clear water, causing slight ripples, and then there was no sound.

If Keqing had previously claimed to be a genius, and thought that her progress was temporarily slower than Shen Zhigui's because she spent a lot of time handling Liyue's official business during the day, at this moment, she finally admitted that the boy's talent was indeed as he said, and it was full to the point of overflowing -

Why would such a person be chased so miserably by two ordinary hillbillies on that moonlit night?

Thinking of how embarrassed she was when she first met him, the corners of the girl's mouth couldn't help but curl up a little, but soon, she pursed her lips unwillingly, clenched her hands, and dug her nails deeply into her palms:

Although she wasn't quite sure where her reluctance came from.

Logically speaking, they are not from the same world.

Whether it was his embarrassment and my own condescending attitude when they first met, or the poetic world described by the boy when they met again, or the extraordinary talent revealed by the boy now, all of them revealed this fact.

But sometimes, only very occasionally, Keqing would wonder, what if the poetic world described by the boy was not completely contrary to her ideal of building Liyue into that country herself, but could be mutually inclusive? And did the boy have the same idea, which is why he said that he could destroy the remains of the demon god on this land, and after returning peace to this land, stay and build that ideal country with her?