Genshin Impact: The Beginning of the Wind

"Then I'll study this thing here first, and I'll leave the rest to you for now."

Since Su Feng had no objections, Wendy naturally prepared to get to work immediately. After all, no one knew how much time they had left, and Sannatan wouldn't wait for them to be ready before invading.

"Don't worry about what you're doing, leave the rest to me."

Su Feng decisively accepted his task. He didn't intend to continue the conversation. After deciding to prioritize dealing with the three border towers, he immediately left the Great Sun Imperial Carriage for the other two border towers.

After all, although Su Feng had already dealt with a border tower, it was more because he caught the other side off guard. Now the other side is prepared, and if they don't act quickly, Sanna Tan might find a way to deal with Su Feng's methods.

We were already at a disadvantage, and if we didn't hurry, we'd be doomed.

"..."

After Su Feng left, Wendy stood silently in place for a long while before disappearing again in the wind. When he reappeared, he was already standing next to the Great Sun Imperial Carriage, which was radiating boundless light and heat high in the sky.

Then he looked at the Great Sun Imperial Court in front of him with a rather complicated expression.

"Although I had been preparing for this since the day I was born, I don't know what to say now that the day has actually come."

"But you're not planning to come out and see me now? Or are you saying you haven't even left a trace of consciousness here? If that's what you're trying to say, I don't really believe it. After all, the Shadow of Sin that's spread throughout the entire Abyss Palace already says something."

"You think you can preserve those souls and memories for so long just by using ley lines? Don't try to fool people with such a perfunctory explanation!"

Wendy's voice gradually shifted from its initial complexity to an unimaginable coldness, making him seem like the complete opposite of his usual self.

And perhaps this is the true nature of him hidden beneath that smiling mask?

"I don't think you need me to explain anything. After all, do you, who inherited the most power and memories, really need any more explanation?"

"You should know that everything has been arranged."

Just after Wendy finished speaking, a transparent figure silently appeared beside her. Wendy glanced at the shadowy figure that had appeared out of nowhere and a grim smile crept across her face.

"Abe no Yoru... or should I address you as Tokoyo no Okami Ishtar?"

At this moment, Wendy's voice was more mechanical and indifferent than ever before. His icy voice seemed to freeze everything around him completely. It was at this moment that the power of the gods seemed to truly manifest itself in him.

Chapter Twenty-Six: This is Your Responsibility and Obligation

As the ruler of time, the master of a thousand winds, and the great god of the eternal world, Ishtar is now almost forgotten by Teyvat, but as one of the original four shadows, Ishtar has never been simple.

It's worth noting that even the fragments from his fall created some of the most powerful Daedric Creatures, such as Venti and Raiden Shin. This alone demonstrates just how immense his power was back then.

More importantly, there were too many hidden problems behind Ishtar's fall—could such a being who controlled time and wind really fall so easily?

Wendy is certain that Ishtar has indeed perished, and even certain that Ishtar can never return. Even if another being with the power of time appears in the future, it will definitely not be Ishtar.

This judgment was made by Venti, who had completely grasped the power of the wind and was one of the largest remaining fragments of Ishtar. It can be said that it put the lid on Ishtar's coffin.

However, this does not mean that Ishtar is truly and completely dead. You should know that even in the sweetest dreams, Wendy never imagined such a thing.

Ishtar must have left some contingency plans, but these plans couldn't bring her back to life. However, this doesn't mean that Ishtar really had no backup plan for the series of arrangements she had made.

Simply put, Ishtar's coffin lid is indeed closed, but that doesn't stop her from occasionally turning over and changing her position inside the coffin to continue lying there.

This situation is likely unavoidable until a new Time God is born. The only thing Venti can do is nail the coffin lid shut when Ishtar rolls over, so that the guy doesn't actually roll out of the coffin.

Just like the Abe Yoshihisa who is now standing in front of Wendy, he is one of the backup plans left behind by Ishtar. Wendy watched as a wisp of Ishtar's consciousness emerged from the deepest part of the other's soul and took control of everything about this poor, sinful shadow.

This wisp of consciousness was extremely weak, yet it easily took over everything of the human named 'Abe Yoshihisa'. The action was so smooth, as if it were the natural course of things.

"Is there anything you need me to do?"

Istar, emerging from the depths of Abe Ryū's soul, completely ignored Wendy's almost murderous, icy gaze and leisurely uttered these words.

Despite Sannatan's constant attempts to erode and control the entire Abyss Palace, he seemed completely oblivious, revealing a strange smile as if he wasn't worried about what was to come.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"Or rather, what exactly do you want to do with that child?"

Although he desperately wanted to extract this wisp of Ishtar's consciousness and analyze it to uncover Ishtar's plans, Wendy suppressed his surging emotions and coldly asked the girl what she wanted to do.

Because he knew that if he did that, he would definitely not be able to achieve his goal. Ishtar had definitely taken all his possible actions into account, and if he chose to do so, he would probably fall into Ishtar's trap.

But he also needs to clarify his own questions.

Gao Tian is using Su Feng, and there is no doubt about it or any attempt to hide it. Not to mention those who know anything about Gao Tian, ​​even Su Feng himself knows this.

However, Su Feng also got what he wanted from it, so he didn't care much.

But Wendy needed to clarify that although he had initially intended to use Su Feng, Su Feng was nominally his subordinate, so he had to ensure that Su Feng would not be constantly used by these inhuman beings and ultimately be completely abandoned.

Gao Tian has done this more than once.

“You harbor deep resentment towards us… I can understand why, after all, you are indeed deeply bound by fate because of me. It is a great irony that the being called the god of freedom is trapped in freedom.”

Ishtar showed no sign of backing down in the face of Wendy's cold gaze; she even gave a smile.

"But this is a price that must be paid—we have already paid a far greater price for the world and for the survival of humanity, and as our continuation, you naturally need to shoulder this responsibility and pay the price as well."

"This is the price you must pay."

"Perhaps you will gain the freedom you have always longed for after everything is over, but now... my child, no one can escape their responsibilities before breaking free of the last shackles."

Ishtar said this as if talking to herself, but after hearing this, Wendy's anger only burned brighter. If he didn't need Ishtar's help now, he probably would have already attacked.

"So you're expecting Su Feng to fight Sannatan alone? Do you know what that means?"

Wendy said this while trying his best to suppress his resentment. He knew, of course, that Sky Island, represented by Ishtar, had indeed paid a huge price for the world and for humanity, but that did not mean he could accept what these people had done.

What saddened Wendy even more was that even though he didn't want to accept the guys from Sky Isles, he couldn't help but admit that without them, Teyvat would probably have been finished long ago.

"You don't need to keep arguing with me about this—the final bells are gradually ringing, and everything will inevitably come to a final conclusion."

"Whether it's success or failure, there will be an answer."

"If we fail, then it will be completely over and there will be no more disasters and suffering. If we succeed, then there will be no more disasters and suffering either."

"The only pity is that I probably won't be able to see all of that."

"So if you can, please use your eyes to witness the final outcome for me."

"Whether it's a success or a failure, at least I've done what I was supposed to do."

Even when faced with Wendy's repeated accusations, Ishtar remained expressionless. Having witnessed far too much over the years, Ishtar would not change her mind over such a small argument.

Despite Ishtar's angry expression, Wendy glared at her, but quickly realized he was wasting his breath and gave up trying to argue with her further.

He didn't have that much time either. Su Feng was still waiting for his help. The most important thing now was to solve the problem at hand. Sanna Tan had already arrived at their doorstep. They didn't have that much time to waste talking about what had already happened.

"..."

"Forget it, since you're already dead, I'm not going to argue with you about this anymore."

"So what should we do now? I think you already have a plan!"

Wendy absolutely refused to believe that Ishtar hadn't made any arrangements. The Great Sun Chariot, which stored an excessive amount of Light Boundary Power, was definitely one of the contingency plans left by the other party. Moreover, Takaten's desire for Su Feng to come to the Abyss Palace must have meant that he had already decided on the matter here.

They would never actually send Su Feng to his death.

"Of course, of course, Sannatan is not to be underestimated."

"That child is powerful, but he is still too young. His power is not yet complete. How can I let my only hope be lost here because of my mistake?"

"You should have seen it by now, right? The Great Sun Imperial Court is my backup plan left here. I will teach you how to control this power. Once you understand the Great Sun Imperial Court, you will naturally know what I want to do."

"Now, take on this responsibility. This is the small amount of help I can offer you here."

Ishtar did not disappoint Wendy. She quickly retrieved a tiny point of light from the deepest part of her consciousness and handed it to Wendy. After seeing the tiny point of light, Wendy glanced at the guy again and then pressed the point of light into her forehead without any hesitation.

The next moment, a deluge of information flooded into Wendy's memory.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: An Unexpected Turn of Events, The Empty Cup, and the Restraint

Su Feng, who had already left, was of course unaware of what had happened at the Great Sun Imperial Carriage. Because he still retained his dragon body, he was now above the second border tower. As expected, after the first border tower was dealt with, dealing with the second border tower was far more difficult than the first time.

Compared to the first border tower, when Su Feng arrived at the second border tower, he found that the situation there was far worse than he had imagined.

Perhaps having learned from her first failure, Sannatan unleashed an unimaginable amount of abyssal power here to prevent Su Feng from taking down the entire tower in one fell swoop.

Su Feng could no longer see what the island and the tower on it looked like—the abyssal power had completely submerged everything. Now, all that appeared in Su Feng's eyes was the constantly surging dark purple abyssal power, symbolizing the deepest calamity.

"This is trouble."

Upon seeing the menacing abyssal force below, Su Feng couldn't help but mutter to himself.

With just a few cursory glances, he was already certain that the abyssal power gathering below meant he absolutely could not use a large number of celestial stars to petrify all the abyssal power in a short time, thus buying enough time for other aspects, as he had done at the beginning.

Although Sannatan hasn't shown any unusual authority so far, Su Feng doesn't think she'll just recklessly unleash her abyssal power.

No matter what, Sanatan was once Yuanyue. She is not that simple. The reason she did not show her authority before was simply because she thought it was unnecessary. Moreover, Su Feng did not think that Sanatan was an existence that could be discarded at will like Irming.

As one of the former goddesses of March, even the Nibelungs had to take Sanatan seriously; such a being could not possibly be merely a puppet.

But now is not the time to talk about how difficult things are. Yuan Yue will not stop just because of the gap between the two sides, and Su Feng will not surrender just because he may not be a match for this goddess Yuan Yue.

"Then let's try it first."

"Whoo~"

Facing the abyssal power churning like ocean waves below, Su Feng took a deep breath. The next moment, along with his thick exhale, he released golden and jade power that illuminated the entire Abyss Palace.

Without hesitation, Su Feng opened the energy circuits in his body to their maximum, and the surging golden jade power, accompanied by a deep breath, slammed heavily onto the abyssal power below.

"Buzz!"

The golden and jade power, carrying immense impact, directly tore open a huge opening in the ocean formed by abyssal power. The spreading golden and jade power continuously turned all the abyssal power it came into contact with into rocks. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the small area covered by abyssal power was covered by thick rocks.

However, even so, they still couldn't completely break through the barrier formed by the thick abyssal power.

The abyssal power released by Sannatan was far too concentrated. Even though Su Feng had used all the golden jade power he could release in this state, he was unable to break through this layer of protection, which was entirely made up of energy, in a short time.

Fortunately, Su Feng had anticipated this. After realizing that it was impossible to directly use the power of the Golden Jade to break through the Abyss Force's protection and replicate the first process, he decisively chose to change his combat method.

The next moment, the golden and jade power sprayed directly onto the abyss suddenly began to change, and the black mist that brought death to all things began to spread almost instantly and enveloped everything with lightning speed.

The powerful decomposition force immediately began to extract the essence from the thick abyssal power as soon as it appeared.

Under the powerful influence of the Death Law, even the most troublesome abyssal force continued to crumble—Su Feng was like peeling an onion, suppressing and stripping away the abyssal force accumulated here layer by layer.

Since there's no way to deal with all the Abyssal Force at once, we'll compress its activity space little by little. If Sannatan doesn't come up with some new tricks, it's only a matter of time before its activity space is gradually compressed and it loses this beacon.

However, Su Feng didn't expect that these methods could solve all the problems. He never thought that Sanna Tan was so easy to deal with. The reason he was doing this now was more to see if he could lure out more of Sanna Tan's trump cards.