Original God, I am the only designated Red King God Envoy of Xumi

Ying was very familiar with the energy used by Amber, which was why she was not nervous at all.

"Anyway, it's time to stretch our muscles." Amber narrowed her eyes slightly, reached out and pushed the door open. There was still a passage behind the door, and after a length of about ten meters there was a platform.

At this time, there were several machines of unknown purpose on the platform. The God of Machinery, whose head was as tall as two people, was located in the center of the platform. Only the upper half of his body was left, and he woke up as several people approached.

"This feeling of pressure... is indeed at the god-level." Paimon stared at the God of Righteousness in front of him with wide eyes. Although Nashida had said before that the skirmishers in front of them had indeed touched the realm of gods, hearing and seeing with one's own eyes were still different after all.

"This body, originally a 'mechanical puppet,' has been transformed into a form that has been perfected, and now it's fed with a constant flow of energy from the Heart of God..." Nashida observed the God of Righteousness before her. "I wonder how much effort the House of Commands and the Sages have contributed to this."

"From a technical point of view alone, it is indeed worthy of praise. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the crystallization of human wisdom." Nashida lowered her head slightly as she spoke, and there was no sign of panic on her face.

"Every god born into the world, every god's heart, should have the word 'strife' engraved on it." Ying's all-too-familiar voice rang out from the God of Righteousness. Turning towards Nashida, his words tinged with a hint of excitement. "The stirring of this power, the joy that springs from within—can't you feel it?"

"Nashida doesn't feel the same way as you do." Amber swung the sword a few times to regain some feel for it, and she slowly approached the God of Righteousness in front of her.

"You know... you're interrupting a conversation between gods, aren't you? Little thing, give me some—"

"Zheng——!" Amber had no intention of continuing to talk nonsense with the person in front of her. She swung her sword violently, and the surging imaginary energy turned into a blade that seemed to have the momentum to rush into the sky. The scattered soldiers hurriedly gathered energy to resist, and thus deflected the blade, causing it to hit the multi-reinforced wall on the side, cutting a huge gully on it.

"--In that case, let me interrupt you one more time." Amber stood calmly with the sword in her hand, as if the previous blow was nothing to her.

"Wow... so strong!" Paimon's words were full of surprise, and Ying had similar thoughts. She had now recovered the four elemental powers, and she felt that her strength should be comparable to that of the original scattered soldiers - she might not be able to defeat the false god in front of her, but at least she could fight him.

But Amber's previous attack, although deflected by the hasty skirmisher, showed that the skirmisher was struggling. How many times could Amber perform such an attack? Ying watched Amber's performance and felt that this might just be an ordinary slash for her.

"You...how dare you--!" Sanbing's words were full of anger, but he did not lose his judgment in this situation. He drove the four steel arms and slammed the platform where several people were standing. The platform was shattered by this blow.

Seeing this, Amber waved her hand to disperse the sword, grabbed the back of Ying's collar with one hand and the back of Nashida's collar with the other hand, and she fell straight down. In the end, she just leaned forward a little and stood firm again. The fall from a height of at least thirty meters did not seem to have any effect on her.

"Huh..." Amber took a deep breath to calm herself down, put the two of them back on the ground, waved her hand to summon a gust of wind to blow away the smoke and dust that filled the surroundings. What came into view was a place that was much larger than before, which was just right as a venue for the next fight.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the full appearance of the God of Righteousness was revealed before the eyes of several people. They saw that the device that originally only had a head, arms and torso was reassembled with the lower body. The disc that was originally integrated with the upper platform turned into a Dharma wheel-like object floating behind the God of Righteousness, and the huge purple ring hung above the head of the God of Righteousness.

Compared with this huge steel monster, the few people were like humans compared with mice. The oppressive feeling it brought was unimaginable, but those were dispersed as Amber walked in front of them, and she stood firm like an unshakable mountain.

"When the fight starts, it's hard to say whether we can pay attention to Nashida, so the task of protecting Nashida's safety is left to you, Ying." Amber gathered a long sword again and instructed Ying, who nodded when she heard it.

"Amber—" Nashida reminded, "If possible, please try to keep the body of this pseudo-god intact."

"Okay, I'll pay attention." Amber nodded. This was her plan even if Nashida didn't say it. The technology condensed on the God of Righteousness is very valuable. If it is recovered and studied, it will be very helpful for Xumi to develop new weapons in the future.

"Now... let me recreate a corner of the Demon War and justify my birth!" The God of Righteousness possessed Amber slightly. Although his body was extremely huge, his movements were unimaginably fast. In just a moment, he came in front of Amber, gathered surging lightning on his feet, and stepped down suddenly.

Facing this attack, Amber did not dodge or evade. She raised the long sword that seemed not even as strong as a toothpick compared to the God of Righteousness. However, it was this long sword that deflected the attack of the God of Righteousness after a flash of golden light.

"It's not over yet!" The God of Righteousness possessed her and threw two consecutive punches, but these two punches were still blocked and deflected by Amber. The God of Righteousness was as big as a mountain, but Amber at this moment was more like that mountain. She didn't even move half a step.

"Don't be happy too soon!" There was a hint of anger in the words of the God of Righteousness. Seeing that a direct confrontation was ineffective against Amber, he waved his hand to summon a raging tornado, and raised his other hand to gather a huge fireball and smash it towards Amber. At the same time, a vortex of ice and falling lightning also attacked Amber together.

Facing this attack, Amber finally moved. She leaned forward slightly and crossed a distance of dozens of meters in an instant, avoiding the attacks of falling lightning and vortexes. Then she swung the long sword at her waist fiercely. The huge blade split the fireball into two and also cut the tornado apart.

Seeing this, the four giant steel hands of the God of Righteousness gathered together, and an unimaginably huge amount of thunder elements gathered together, bursting out with dazzling purple light, shooting towards Amber. Facing this attack, Amber naturally did not intend to take it head-on. This was a tremendous thunder directly powered by the Heart of the God of Thunder. If she really took it, she would be hard to guarantee that she would not be injured.

Amber leaned forward slightly and suddenly jumped up to avoid it, and the God of Righteousness seemed to have aimed at this opportunity and punched Amber with all his might. Amber swung her sword to meet it, and after a loud bang, Amber was knocked away. She released the force from her body like a cat and seemed to have suffered no damage. The God of Righteousness also took several steps back before he could steady himself.

This powerful battle fell into the eyes of Ying, who had brought Nashida to the edge for protection. The two of them were at a loss for words to describe the horror in their hearts. From Amber to Nephi to the Red King's messenger, the person before them was covered with veils one after another, and now the fighting power she displayed...

"No wonder Buyer chose to hide behind a mere mortal - you are very powerful, but don't think that this is my limit now!" Along with the words came even more violent thunder and lightning, which struck the area indiscriminately like raindrops, and the God of Righteousness was suspended in the air, and the vast sea of ​​thunder elements gathered in his hands, like a growing purple sun.

Seeing this, Amber didn't plan to hide her weakness anymore. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Dark golden energy streams and surging electric arcs wrapped around her body, blocking the falling lightning that swept towards Amber. The almost pitch-black dark golden armor was put on Amber's body as the energy flow condensed.

In just a moment, her height suddenly increased to five meters, and the dark golden longsword in her hand turned into a huge two-handed sword. Amber gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, squatted slightly to accumulate strength, and the tip of the sword pointed directly at the core of the God of Righteousness's chest.

"This kind of power--!" Ying is very familiar with this kind of power. It is a skill similar to Tartaglia's, the skill called Demon King Armor!

The skirmisher, who was the executor, naturally sensed the nature of this power. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to throw the purple sun towards Amber. The surging energy seemed to want to tear everything apart and annihilate it, but this was ended by Amber's thrust.

Amber transformed into a pitch-black arrow and met the skirmishers' attack with an unstoppable momentum. It pierced through the purple sun like a star shooting from the ground to the sky, detonating it in mid-air prematurely. The intense light made it difficult for Ying to open her eyes. When the light faded, what appeared before Ying's eyes was the God of Righteousness with a big hole pierced in the core of his chest.

The parts that were floating around the God of Righteousness fell to the ground one after another, and the God of Righteousness was separated into two parts again, and fell to the ground. Amber, who had disarmed the Demon King, was a little out of breath, but her condition was still stable.

This battle was undoubtedly a complete defeat for the scattered soldiers.

Seeing that everything was settled, Nashida slowly walked to Amber's side. If it weren't for the fact that her power was not inclined towards combat and her current mastery was not deep enough, she would have wanted to help Amber - fortunately, the result was good now and no one was injured.

"Narcida, this is for you." Amber spread out her hands and placed the Heart of Thor, which she had taken away when she penetrated the core, in Narcida's palm.

The sound of shattering came from the head of the God of Righteousness, and a skirmisher emerged from it. This was the first time that the few people had seen such a skirmisher since the fight began. They saw many pipes connected to his back, like puppet strings controlling a puppet.

"Heart of God—give it back to me!" Fear and unwillingness mixed in Sanbing's eyes and words. This was the first time Ying had seen Sanbing look like this. He stretched out his hand with all his might towards Nashida, "That's mine! I can't... I can't go back!"

But the reality will not change because of the unwillingness of the Sanbing. Nashida held the Heart of Thunder God tightly in her hand. The pipe connecting Sanbing and the God of Righteousness was torn apart with the movement of Sanbing. It did not last long. As it broke, Sanbing fell to the ground.

Thick smoke and dust scattered as the scattered soldiers fell. Nashida glanced in that direction, sighed, and then retracted her gaze. She raised the Heart of Thunder in her hand, and an emerald green light emanated from her chest.

"Now... with the power of two divine hearts, I should be able to decipher the final memories left by the Great Compassion Tree King."

Chapter 117: Is it over?

The golden can of knowledge was held in Nashida's palm, and the Heart of the Grass God in her body resonated slightly with the Heart of the Thunder God beside her. When Nashida unfolded the last memory of the Great Compassionate Tree King, a dazzling white light surrounded several people.

"--It's so dazzling!" Paimon took a while to open her eyes. The others recovered faster than her, but no one spoke at this time. Whether it was Amber, Ying or Nashida, a solemn look appeared on their faces.

This should be the memory space of the Great Compassionate Tree King, the last message left by that god before his death. The environment within the memory space is often a manifestation of the nature of the memory - but the surrounding environment at the moment is so bad that the word "bad" is completely inadequate to describe it.

"...If I had to describe it, it's like the dead zone. A faint aura of the dead hangs everywhere." Amber sighed deeply. "—So, has the pollution of forbidden knowledge reached this level?"

Even though they knew in their hearts that the World Tree was polluted, the feeling was still different after seeing it with their own eyes. After careful perception, they found that the aura here was eroding their bodies all the time. If they stayed there for too long, they might have mental problems.

Nashida obviously noticed this, and a tender green light emanated from her palms. This light shone on several people, and for a moment they felt a lot more relaxed.

"Forbidden knowledge? What is that?" Ying's words were filled with confusion. "It sounds terrible."

"Hmm... indeed, Ying, you still don't know what this is." Amber thought for a moment and quickly made a plan. "But we can't stay here for long. We need to find the root of this problem as soon as possible. Let's get moving. I'll explain it to you as we go."

"I will give you some additional information based on what I know." Nashida looked into the distance and took the initiative to take on the task of providing additional explanations.

This did not take too long. Amber told Ying what she knew - the history of Xumi from the time of the Three Gods Alliance to five hundred years ago, and explained the nature and dangers of the forbidden knowledge, almost flooding Ying with information.

This gave Ying a very novel feeling. You know, in the other three kingdoms, when asked similar questions, the gods and people in the know were all evasive. Many times, the local history also required her to accumulate and organize it bit by bit during the adventure.

Like Xumi right now, the feeling of someone telling him everything before he has even walked far... can it be described as "exhilarating"?

During the conversation, several people also came to the Boat of Consciousness floating in the Sea of ​​Consciousness. They didn't know much about these ambers, so it was Nashida who explained it. After observation, she confirmed that there were some problems with the direction of the Boat of Consciousness. After several people spent some effort to repair it, the Boat of Consciousness started to move.

"If nothing goes wrong, this will lead us to the right direction." Nashida looked in the direction of travel. That was the direction of the sun in the dream. It hung on the top of the mountain with a reddish-brown light, illuminating everything around it like maple leaves in autumn.

"Huh..." Amber took a deep breath, and several people slowly walked from the helm to the deck. It has been nearly 20 minutes from the beginning to now, but Amber already felt a little dizzy in her head, even with Nashida's protection.

It is true that the contamination of forbidden knowledge is unimaginable. If it were not for Nashida's protection, Amber could not guarantee that she would not have felt dizzy by now.

"We're almost at our destination. Are you all okay?" Nashida looked at Amber, then at Ying and Paimon. Paimon seemed more relaxed, while Ying felt a little more dizzy.

"I feel a little dizzy, but it's okay." Ying shook her head, patted her face, and took a deep breath to recover. Nashida nodded when she heard this. Judging from the current situation, it would be better to find the core of the problem as soon as possible and end it all.

As the boat of consciousness passed through the fog, an extremely huge tree with a crown that almost touched the sky appeared before their eyes. With the appearance of this tree, Ying's eyes widened.

"I've been here before!" Ying took a deep breath. "Just when I entered Xumi, I fainted because I broke into the scholar's practice area. I saw this tree in my dream!"

"If that's the case... has Ying's consciousness actually connected to that of the Great Compassion Tree King?" Nashida pursed her lips, looking at the giant tree that was getting closer and closer. "This tree is the World Tree, and the Great Compassion Tree King, besides being the God of Wisdom of Xumi, is also the consciousness of the World Tree."

Amber added, "The World Tree is the foundation that supports Teyvat. Its branches that break through the ground are those 'silver ancient trees', and the ley lines are essentially extensions of the World Tree."

"Hmm..." Ying pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement. At this time, the boat of consciousness also reached its destination. Several people walked down from the deck and stepped onto the roots of the World Tree.

“Ah…” Nashida closed her eyes the moment she stepped on the tree roots. She seemed to sense something. “I have a feeling… of being called. There is a consciousness calling me.”

"Could that consciousness be the Great Compassion Tree King?" Paimon asked the question while looking at the World Tree, but no one could give an answer to this question. After looking at each other, they tacitly chose to be alert and slowly approached the World Tree.

The lower core of the World Tree's trunk radiates a magnificent light. The closer you get to the light, the stronger it becomes. However, this light is not dazzling, but rather extremely soft. When it shines on your body, you feel warm, and all the previous pollution is dispelled.

The further they advanced, the stronger the call Nashida felt. When they crossed an obstacle and reached a slightly higher point closest to the core of the World Tree, the scene that unfolded before them stunned them for a moment.

"We...we are here to find the Great Compassion Tree King...right?" Paimeng was the first to speak. Her tone was a little hesitant and full of doubts, but it was not her fault. The person standing in front of everyone at this moment was no different from Nashida.

As if she had noticed the arrival of several people, the figure turned around. When she saw Nashida, her eyes widened for a moment, and then she smiled gently.

"That's... me?" Nashida was stunned and incredulous. "Exactly like me?"

Seeing a being exactly like herself, Nashida felt extremely complicated emotions in her heart. Her intuition told her that the one in front of her was undoubtedly the Great Compassion Tree King.

She quickly walked up to the Great Mercy Tree King and told him her doubts. The Great Mercy Tree King responded on Nashida's behalf: "Yes, I am the Great Mercy Tree King. Does this look... surprise you?"

The Great Compassionate Tree King slowly stepped forward, his gentle voice drifting through the space: "This place has reproduced the appearance of the World Tree and the earth in the past, but it is ultimately a space of consciousness. Since you and I have the same essence, we also appear to be exactly the same."

"Why... are they essentially the same?" Nashida placed her right palm against her chest. She could feel her heart beating very fast and it was difficult to calm down.

"...How about I explain this problem to you? I also have some questions for you." Amber took a deep breath, walked to Nashida's side, and looked at the Great Tree King in front of her.

Upon hearing this, the Great Compassion Tree King also looked at Amber. She did not show any dissatisfaction with Amber's interruption, but just showed a gentle smile, which was regarded as her agreement with Amber's proposal.

"...Five hundred years ago." After a moment's silence, Amber spoke, "The Seven Gods of the Earthly Realm were summoned by Heaven to deal with the godless nation of Kanria, which had rebelled against the sky."

"......!" Ying showed a little horror when she heard this. What was going on in front of her - Amber also knew something about Kanriya?

"The Great Compassion Tree King's mission at that time was different from that of the other seven gods. As the consciousness of the World Tree, she remained here, responsible for protecting the World Tree from the dark disaster caused by Kanria."

"You're right." The Great Tree King still had that gentle smile on his face, but Ying didn't know if it was an illusion, but she always felt that there was a hint of appreciation in that smile.

"The Dark Disaster came from beyond the world, sweeping across the seven kingdoms of the mortal world. Along with the disaster came countless 'forbidden knowledge.'" Amber closed her eyes and opened them again, arranging her words slightly. "I have witnessed the horror of forbidden knowledge. I have witnessed the previous pollution, the deadly domains that now permeate Xumi, the demonic scale disease, and those mad scholars."

"At that time, thanks to your experience managing the forbidden knowledge left by the Red King thousands of years ago, and the combined strength of many parties, you were able to respond promptly. However, there was always a slip-up. When you cleared the forbidden knowledge from Teyvat, you suddenly discovered that the World Tree had been 'contaminated.'"

"The World Tree... is contaminated?" Nashida spoke. Her eyes trembled, and for a moment she was reluctant to accept this chilling fact. "Forbidden knowledge... what exactly is it?"

"That is something that cannot be tolerated by this world. It comes from outside the world, and the world is constantly 'rejecting' it, resulting in unpleasant 'symptoms' like Demon Scale Disease and the Dead Zone. If forbidden knowledge is left unchecked, I'm afraid the entire Teyvat will fall apart."

"Yes, it comes from the bottom of the abyss. It is knowledge that even I cannot understand." The Great Tree King placed his right hand on his chest. After Amber gave a brief explanation, she supplemented for Nashida.

"At that time, I knew I couldn't solve the problem on my own, so I created the Void, gathered the wisdom of all the people of Xumi, and commandeered their dreams—perhaps this was a bit selfish." The Great Compassion Tree King closed his eyes and was silent for a moment. "And thanks to the wisdom of the people of Xumi, the contamination of forbidden knowledge has been almost completely eliminated."

"But a headache came upon me, and with it came a bad premonition. Only then did I remember that I was connected to the World Tree. The World Tree brought me existence and wisdom, but forbidden knowledge also came to me."

"From the very beginning, my existence has been tainted by forbidden knowledge."

Chapter 118: The End

"...So," Amber said, feeling a little reluctant, "the way to eradicate the World Tree pollution is to make the 'Great Compassion Tree King' disappear completely, as if she never existed in the first place."

"Completely...completely disappear?!" Paimon exclaimed, "How...how can this be possible!"

"..." Nashida widened her eyes when she heard this. She had read about the pain of being contaminated by forbidden knowledge in the consciousness of the Great Merciful Tree King. Even under such unimaginable pain, the Great Merciful Tree King still did all this and tried his best to clear the pollution of the World Tree for the entire Teyvat.

The Great Compassion Tree King that appeared before her now was not the real Great Compassion Tree King. At best, he was a consciousness. The real Great Compassion Tree King had passed away five hundred years ago.

But...but wasn't simply passing away enough? Did this god have to vanish completely? No one would remember her existence, and the world would leave no trace of her, as if she had never appeared in the first place—wasn't this, forgotten by everything, too cruel?

How Nashida hoped that the Great Mercy Tree King would shake his head and deny Amber's words, but in the face of this, the Great Mercy Tree King just smiled and nodded.

"Nashida, you've found a very powerful sage. Now... I can finally rest assured." After saying this, the Great Compassion Tree King turned his gaze to Amber and asked his first question since the beginning, "So, Nashida's sage, if you want to eliminate my existence, how will you do it?"

"...a new tree will replace the old tree, and a new god of wisdom will replace the old god of wisdom, completing a perfect 'replacement.'" Amber took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Nashida is the purest branch you broke off from the World Tree. Therefore, Nashida is essentially the same as you. She is like your 'reincarnation,' and can completely 'replace' you."

"...Huh." After a brief silence, the Great Tree King showed the most relaxed smile from the beginning to now. This smile came from the heart and was so brilliant, but in Nashida's eyes, it was so cruel.

The god in front of him - a god with the same roots as himself, who sacrificed everything for Xumi and died five hundred years ago.

Even after her death, she was still concerned about Xumi, and her remaining consciousness still left a clue for future generations to solve the problem, which is the sentence "World, forget me."

But to eliminate it with one's own hands and wipe out all traces of her existence, is that really too cruel, isn't it?

"...Wait, that's not right... No... This isn't right!" Nashida's long, slender ears drooped, and her eyes were filled with unspeakable loss. "People love you so much, and everyone has always missed you. I... I have always wanted to be like you!"

"How...how can I forget you like this!" Nashida shook her head vigorously. "Is there no other way? Is there nothing else I can do?"

"You are the God of Wisdom, Buyel." Despite facing utter annihilation, the Great Compassion Tree King remained unusually calm, her eyes filled with gentleness. "You should know there's no other solution."

"But...but...this is too cruel, I don't want to forget you..." There was a hint of crying in Nashida's words. Amber took a deep breath and closed her eyes with reluctance. For the sake of Sumeru and the stability of the entire Teyvat, the sacrifice that the Mahabodhi King was about to make was inevitable. If she was not completely wiped out, the forbidden knowledge that had become one with her could not be completely eliminated.

"Don't be so sad, Buyer. As a wise man, you should be enjoying the joy of finding the answer." The Great Compassion Tree King smiled, without even a trace of resentment in his eyes. "This is the answer you've been looking for, the one you want to know the whole picture..."

"—Let the world completely forget me."

"We all lived under the Tree of Wisdom, trying to read the world; reading from the soil, reading from the rain, and then transformed into white birds, climbed up the branches, and finally caught the crucial leaf." Some white light rose from the body of the Great Kindness Tree King, announcing the end of the meeting. She walked slowly forward, gently held Nashida's cheek, wiped away the tears from the corners of Nashida's eyes, and held her in her arms.

"Once, I was the only person in the world who could dream. In my dream, everyone would fall asleep at night. Strange thoughts would float out of people's minds, some tumbling to the ground, some floating to the sky, connecting everything into a dazzling web."

Unable to hold back the tears, Nashida clenched her hands and gritted her teeth. In a trance, she felt that she had experienced everything that the Great Compassion Tree King had experienced. Five hundred years ago, she broke off a white branch and held it in her arms. Five hundred years later, she also hugged Nashida as she had hugged the white branch five hundred years ago.

But this time, what Nashida needed to do was to say goodbye to her, to completely erase her - her mother, her half, her other self - from the world.

"In the three thousand worlds, there are small worlds, and all destinies are boiling here." The last words of the Great Kindness Tree King before leaving echoed in Nashida's heart. Nashida took a deep breath and forced herself to suppress the unbearable sadness. She loosened her clenched fists, and a light like new grass emanated from the palms of her hands. She embraced the Great Kindness Tree King in her arms.

"I gradually understood that these indescribable and ever-changing things are the most profound things in the world. Only they can completely drive away the madness; only dreams can awaken consciousness from the deepest darkness." The body of the Great Compassionate Tree King slowly dissipated in Nashida's arms, and the color became lighter and lighter. She gently closed her eyes, with the corners of her mouth raised, as if she was about to fall asleep.