Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

"Teacher Ai, how did Jigong recruit you..."

“Huh? I said I have strong expertise in many theoretical areas, such as alchemy and pharmaceutical engineering and technology, weapons alchemy and explosion technology, automatic weapons and ammunition engineering, safety alchemy engineering, and so on.” Alice said matter-of-factly, “I’m not lying, the researchers at the inspection department found that my claim of being able to flatten Jueyunjian was not an exaggeration, so they let me in.”

Liu Yun was speechless, but since the number of people had just been gathered, she simply ignored it and waved her hand to signal that the combat training would begin in batches.

The so-called "killing duel" is pure hand-to-hand combat. When everyone's strength level is restricted to a certain extent, no other abilities are allowed, such as the Eye of God, magic, immortal techniques, Yin-Yang techniques, or Shen Liang's Holy Blood Power. The test is purely physical combat skills.

The physical body is a person's capital. Even if you possess the power to move mountains and fill seas, poor physical condition will impose many limitations. There are precedents of demons with weak bodies being hunted down by mortals, because you cannot rely on your power to protect yourself forever. And if your physical body weakens, you cannot fully unleash much of your power, because any kind of battle requires the expenditure of energy.

To paraphrase Mistelin, even if you play a game online and battle against someone for several hours, you'll still be exhausted. Purely mental combat consumes energy. Do you think a real battle against a person doesn't require stamina? A mage casting spells doesn't require stamina, do you think this is a game?

Physical health is the foundation of everything. Just like how the reason why Yakshas are generally more powerful than other immortals is inseparable from their strong physical bodies.

Upon seeing Alice, Shen Liang excitedly ran towards him!

"Wow! This is a great deal! I get to team up with you for a competition, which is perfect for us to get to know each other better!" Alice ran over and extended her hand to him in a friendly manner, her smile bright. "You don't need to call me teacher. Every teacher at Jigong is also a student. You see, today I'm a student in the Department of Combat. So you can call me... Let me think... Hmm, just call me manager!"

【baby……】

I know, I know.

It's another new term.

“The agent is too inexperienced,” Shen Liang said.

"Just call me Alice, no need to call me 'sister' or 'auntie' or anything like that. I don't want such a cute kid like you to make me feel old. It makes us seem like we're the same age, hmph, it makes me feel so much younger." Alice put her hands on her hips, then realized, "Oh right, what about the little princess? What's your name, little princess?"

"Cool, the lightning is cool."

"Oh, General Lei Dian's child, hmm hmm, a single character named Liang, it's a very common but still very beautiful name. Alright then, Liang'er, from now on I'll be your manager! Please take good care of me! After all, although I have a teaching position, I'm essentially an international student here."

“You’re very outgoing. I haven’t acknowledged you as my manager, nor have I said I want to be your idol.” Shen Liang felt a little uncomfortable because “Liang’er” is a term usually used by affectionate people. He originally thought that no one except Daoqi would call him that, but it turns out that it’s everywhere.

“It takes time to train him, you’ll soon find out how amazing it is to be an idol! You’ll be admired by thousands, everyone will love you!” Alice pinched his cheek, unable to put it down. “I’ll build you a harem, all the other idols will be yours!”

Shen Liang was startled.

Chapter Seventy: Sister Yu Tu is Really

Although there was no intention to deliberately hide the gender.

But Shen Liang also knew that he hadn't really bothered to explain it.

So after arriving in Liyue, apart from Gan Yu, who had held him since he was a child and knew his exact size, almost everyone else subconsciously assumed he was a girl, calling him "Princess" or "that little loli" all the time.

But judging from Alice's tone, she actually figured it out?

Alice deliberately lowered her voice and said with a smile, "After all, I just hugged you, and your weight and body shape seem a bit off compared to a girl's. How about I give you a little coaching?"

Why do I feel like you're blackmailing me?

"Yeah, I'll keep this secret for at least three years. No matter why you were thought to be a girl before, now that so many days have passed, if you admit your identity, everyone will probably think you did it on purpose." Alice snorted. "Although I think Liang'er was probably the one who was taken advantage of because of the gender misunderstanding, I can't rule out that other girls felt they were taken advantage of and that's why they cried."

Shen Liang wanted to say what did that have to do with him. He didn't think he had been taken advantage of, nor did he think he had taken advantage of others. His education didn't include the concept of forcing others, so since it wasn't forced... then wasn't it all mutual affection?

Does that mean I can fall in love with someone just because I'm a girl, but not if I become a boy? Hey, hey, hey, even my appearance hasn't changed! So, are you in love with the person or the gender?

Shen Liang was unaware that he had long since become a staunch advocate for equality.

However, Shen Liang didn't care about this so-called threat. He and Alice were now in a group, so the training could begin.

Alice didn't waste any words. She threw off her cloak, gathered her platinum blonde hair to avoid getting in the way of the battle, and then gave Shen Liang a rather ambiguous cheek kiss.

Shen Liang didn't understand why she suddenly started acting this way, but she was now the focus of many people's attention. This charming and adorable witch, despite being a teacher, was indeed much more approachable than a proper fairy teacher like Liu Yun. Seeing Alice and Shen Liang's tender and intimate private chat, many people showed envious expressions.

However, since Shen Liang herself was a beautiful young woman, most of the people there were envious, and no jealousy was seen. People are strange like that. Even though "outsiders" who are flirting with the people you care about, whether male or female, are flirting, many people are very concerned and even sad about "opposite-sex" relationships, but they don't feel anything is wrong with "same-sex" relationships, even if it's just "same-sex in appearance".

Even among people of the same sex, there are romantic relationships. Most importantly, the rate of romantic love between girls is far higher than that between boys. Why don't many people understand this?

At that moment, with their cheeks touching, Alice whispered in his ear with a laugh, "These classmates are deliberately messing with you, Your Highness."

"How did you know?" She had just arrived.

“You don’t need to read the air. Everyone else has company, but you’re all alone waiting for me. Considering your status as someone who should be adored, isn’t it obvious?” Alice said with a smug look on her face.

"so?"

“As expected of a spoiled prince,” Alice laughed.

"You don't care about other people's opinions because you think you're strong enough. A lion doesn't need to care about the petty squabbles of mice. But as a 'god,' you're out of place among humans. Aren't you lonely? So, Ryo, join me and become the world's number one princess. I'll mold you into a super idol that everyone will admire and adore! Even if you still have your current personality, everyone will fall madly in love with you! I've already thought of a name for the group. What do you think of 'Lightning Squirrel'? Lightning can represent your identity as the main center, Princess Inazuma, and squirrel adds cuteness. Your fans can also call themselves pine cones or something. The first fan meeting performance will be held at the castle tower. Anyway, you're a princess, and your mom will definitely approve, right..."

"Draw your sword." She was too excited to listen anymore. Seeing that Alice had also put on her Iron Shirt, he prepared to start the fight.

The training only required that no supernatural abilities could be used, not that weapons could not be used. In fact, unarmed combat is not common in normal battles, so Jigong prepared a variety of weapons to choose from.

However, in the more than ten years that Shen Liang has trained under Ying, his most outstanding and proficient weapon is actually the naginata, which Liyue does not have. The naginata is light and convenient, and its combat style is completely different from Liyue's long-handled weapons.

The people of Liyue are actually skilled with polearms; spears, clubs, halberds, and longswords each have their strengths. To be precise, Inazuma is actually more proficient in katana techniques. However, it is well known that one-handed swords are ultimately far less practical in combat than polearms, especially in the Eastern countries that value practicality. Just look at the armies of both Liyue and Inazuma to see this.

It's impossible for any country's army to actually use one-handed swords as standard weapons. They might talk about sword immortals or sword saints, but in reality, they're all better at handling guns than the last.

The "naginata" that Shen Liang plays with is also a type of long-handled weapon. However, this special weapon cannot be found in Liyue because it is essentially inherited from the martial arts of the Rai movies. It is a weapon with a long history. Although it was once the mainstream weapon on the battlefield, it is now basically only used by female warriors. In the eyes of the world, the way of the naginata is almost tied to women's martial arts.

This is understandable, as the most powerful user of the naginata was the Thunder God, and the naginata doesn't offer much advantage over the spear in terms of design. Over time, Inazuma warriors, if they used a long-handled weapon, were more accustomed to using the heavier and more powerful spear. The slender and light long-handled weapon, the naginata, gradually became synonymous with women's exclusive weapon.

Inazuma is gradually declining, let alone Liyue? Liyue is martial, and has all kinds of weapons, even the long-handled sword is said to have "eight colors".

These included hand blades, pen blades, falling blades, curved blades, crescent blades, halberd blades, eyebrow blades, and phoenix beak blades—a dazzling array, encompassing everything imaginable. However, even the eyebrow blade, with its slenderest blade, was thicker than the Inazuma naginata, making it unsuitable for Shen Liang's fighting style.

There's a popular belief that the naginata was originally a modified version of the katana, but because Raiden Shogun, being a woman, wasn't used to it, it was made more slender and delicate. However, this claim was refuted by the Inatsuma Shogunate, who argued that it was impossible, as Raiden Shogun would never have cared about the weight of a sword; the naginata was definitely a local invention of Inatsuma.

In short, since Shen Liang didn't have a naginata, he chose the closest one, the eyebrow-mounted blade.

Alice confidently pulled a wooden staff from her Eye of God. Seeing Shen Liang's questioning gaze, she smiled slyly: "Although this witch no longer needs a staff to cast spells, this was my birthday present when I was a child. It's made of the hardest birch wood in Mondstadt, it's heavy, and stronger than iron. I don't know how many thugs I broke their heads with it when I was traveling!"

As she spoke, her long, pointed ears twitched triumphantly.

"How old are you?" Shen Liang suddenly asked. "Judging from your ears, you're clearly not an ordinary human, are you an elf?"

Alice was taken aback. "Age is a girl's secret, I can't possibly tell you that, umm, but do you know... 'elves'?"

"Isn't that what you call it?"

“No, no, no, that’s not how it works.” Alice’s expression turned enigmatic as she smiled and said, “Liang’er, races with different ears are everywhere in Teyvat. Some have cat ears, some have dog ears, and some have fox ears. Some have them because of their bloodline, some are demons in human form or immortals cultivating, and some may even be from some lost race, resulting in all sorts of ‘abnormalities’ on their bodies. But for most people in Teyvat, this is commonplace; everyone is just a part of ‘humanity’.”

"But you, little princess, how could you so readily utter the word 'elf'?"

Shen Liang asked curiously, "Could it be that I've seen other elves before?"

Alice's smile became even more meaningful.

"Hmm, how interesting, little princess. Where did you acquire... knowledge from beyond this world?"

"???"

【! ! ! 】

Shen Liang and Mistelin were both so shocked by those words that they broke out in a cold sweat!

“This land doesn’t have the concept of ‘elves.’ Most people don’t refer to others by race, let alone create a special term to distinguish them. If I remember correctly, the word ‘elves’ is just an artistic concept of ‘another place,’ right?” Alice’s eyes gradually brightened. “No wonder you didn’t have any trouble understanding my terms like ‘idol,’ ‘basketball,’ and ‘agent.’ You understand, don’t you? You really do understand! You just thought these were things you hadn’t experienced, common knowledge from other countries, not Inazuma Ritsu, so you didn’t express any doubt about me… Little princess, you may have doubted my identity, but you weren’t sure, right?”

Shen Liang subconsciously took a step back.

【baby?】

Shen Liang did not respond to Mistelin; his mind was racing.

—Wait, does that mean Aerith knows these concepts aren't from Teyvat? She's guiding me, deceiving me through our conversation, just as I'm doubting her, she's doubting me too.

—Her unusual knowledge came from "other worlds"!

—How could she acquire knowledge from beyond this world? Was it the power of the Witch's Guild's extraordinary magicians? Or was it Alice's own ability? She refuses to reveal her age; perhaps she is a hidden immortal? The mastermind behind all these secrets?

--No.

—More importantly.

—Sister Yu Tu wasn't lying; her knowledge truly came from another world! She wasn't a symptom of my hysteria, but a real person who had come from another world and attached herself to me, hoping that one day I would revive her body!

Shen Liang was overjoyed in an instant.

It is alive.

It wasn't a hysteria conjured up from the body in the coffin, nor was it schizophrenia; Misterine was indeed the spirit guarding him, the little ghost. His interactions with Misterine over the past decade weren't a self-directed performance by a mentally ill person.

"Let's start the war!" Shen Liang revealed a bright smile.

Although she didn't know why Shen Liang was still so happy even though his identity had been exposed, Alice was very unhappy that her conversation had been interrupted. She muttered, "I'm going to keep this secret for ten years. If you don't become my idol, just wait and see," and then stared at Shen Liang.

"For the sake of our teacher-student relationship, I'll let you go first. After all, even though I'm a witch, I've definitely spent more time practicing martial arts than a ten-year-old like you." Alice held her staff in front of her. "If you lose, you'll have to come with me to become an idol trainee!"

"Okay." Shen Liang was in a good mood, her smile bright.

"If you don't agree, I'll... Hey? It's a deal! It's a deal, even if you're the child of the Thunder God, you can't go back on your word! I'm super powerful, I'm the Great Witch Alice! You probably don't know how much weight that statement carries! You can't afford to take the responsibility for going back on your word!"

"Can't I take on that responsibility? But there's no need. I will keep my promise, consider it a reward for making me happy."

Shen Liang's demeanor and tone infuriated Alice; it was as if he completely disregarded her. After all, she was a seasoned witch, and she held a degree of pride in a ten-year-old child. She knew that, among children of the same age, even demons didn't learn as quickly as ordinary people.

Immortal beings learn over centuries or millennia, and Alice knows this all too well. Hmph, you'd better come with me and put on your cute, sparkly stage outfit! World's Number One Princess!

1.5 seconds.

With the tip of his brow-shaped blade, Shen Liang easily deflected Alice's staff. He then clamped his knees around her neck and forcefully pushed her backward, causing her to fall to the ground. His naginata was stuck in the ground just two centimeters from her neck!

"The fight is over," Shen Liang said.