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

In fact, Vanan didn't know that not everyone's memory can retain a person's complete pheromones. This is because human memory can be biased; people tend to embellish or distort things in their recollections. Even memories fade with time, eventually becoming blurred. Relying on a person's memory to maintain another person's existence is unreliable.

Only those with absolute memory can do this, so whether it's the Paradise of the Past or the ley lines, the pheromones that maintain the existence of those people all rely on Shen Liang's memory.

Shen Liang, possessing absolute memory, had to wait for millions of years, repeatedly savoring the beautiful memories, and then continue to wait silently. In the Paradise of the Past, he waited like this, waiting for the birth of a new civilization, for fifty thousand years.

How can a person survive ten thousand years without forgetting anything? Even the Moths of Flame cannot answer this question, because no one has tried. In Mistelin's view, even Kevin, who has also lived for fifty thousand years, has long forgotten many things, and Fu Hua has to strip herself of her memories to maintain her existence... But no one has taught Shen Liang how to live.

He can only reminisce about everything that happened at the end of time. Even now, he is only filling the void of "waiting for the people of the past" by "meeting new people and experiencing new feelings".

Sometimes Mistelin felt that Shen Liang's innate possessiveness wasn't so unreasonable. He greedily wanted to hold onto everything because he couldn't forget what he had lost. Those vivid images of being with his former lovers and friends were etched in his heart forever, which is why he was almost obsessive... wanting to hold onto all the good things in his hands.

Only when he held it in his hand did he finally stop thinking about it.

Longing is a form of endless torture.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Mistelin knew that she could not persuade Shen Liang.

The moment his memories of this life returned, he knew what he had to do. Since he couldn't forget, he would possess them forever. On Earth, he guarded the paradise of his past lives, and here, he would build his own ley lines... until many years later, the dead were resurrected and returned to his embrace.

“This is the ‘Son of Man’,” Mistelin sighed deeply.

"What's wrong?" Shen Liang stretched, a hint of weariness showing on her delicate face. "Does Sister Yu Tu have any other thoughts?"

“When that day comes, the dead will rise again, and those who are still alive at the Second Coming of the Son of Man will be transformed and receive new glory.” Mistelin murmured. “My dear, why don’t you give your plan a name?”

“So this is the ‘Children of Man Project’,” Shen Liang laughed. “As for those who need to be saved, let’s call them ‘Heroic Spirits’. Let me think, I will lose my power sooner or later. After all, I always die and lose my memories from time to time… I always absorb genes from others to gain power without any official status… It’s more important for these people to belong to us.”

"Speaking so elegantly, even about absorbing genes to gain power..." Mistelin chuckled, "Isn't it just that you want to carve your holy marks on people? I'm telling you, if you give out too many holy marks, there will be people everywhere who know 'snake molting,' aren't you afraid that everyone will be immortals and run out of Earth's resources?"

"What do you mean by 'carving a holy mark'? It's clearly a mutually beneficial arrangement. This is an ability that Alicia left me. Anyone with a holy mark is someone I can trust. Besides... it's not like it can only be given to girls." Shen Liang ignored her, stroked his chin and thought for a moment, "'Harem candidate'? No, that's too gender-biased. Let's call it 'Holy Mark candidate' instead."

"Then give me a man!"

Chapter One: A Virtuous Woman Refuses to Serve Two Husbands~

The War of Kanria, known as the "Dark Calamity," is closely related to a boy in some of the lesser-known Inatsuma tales.

The god who chases fire, Wakahi-no-Ming-shin, was the crown prince who inherited the surname "Raiden". No official history records his position, but in the folk tales passed down orally, "Wakahi-no-Ming-shin" Raiden Ryo was the only change in the ten-thousand-years general position of Inazuma.

Historians have long debated the relationship between Wakahiruma-no-Kami and his mother, Mitakeruma-no-Kami, the Great Lord of the Thunder Gods. Many believe this deity was fabricated by the Inatsumi people out of national pride, as Inatsumi was one of the few nations that contributed little to the war against Kanreia. Being isolated overseas and without borders with other countries, Inatsumi was criticized for "standing by" in the conflict against Kanreia.

Therefore, many historians believe that Wakamura is a young god created by the Shogunate. His achievements, such as summoning Tenri to fight the Battle of the Rocky Abyss, single-handedly uniting the high-ranking officials of Inazuma, Liyue, and Sumeru, and laying the foundation for the victory in the Battle of Kanria, are all self-aggrandizement by the Shogunate to prove that they also contributed to the war.

Moreover, even the shogunate does not acknowledge the existence of Wakatsuki Narukami. They claim that the position of shogun has never changed hands since ancient times, and it is even more impossible for it to be passed on to the so-called son of the thunder god.

Do the gods have descendants?

However, other things have puzzled many historians, because there are very few historical records about how the War of the Laminaria ended, as if Liyue deliberately erased it. Meanwhile, the long-lived youkai of Inazuma remain silent about the details of the war in Kanria, never recalling the events of that time.

In some unofficial histories, General Thunder is portrayed as having deep affection for his child. While known for his cold, solemn, and impartial nature, he seems to have been greatly favored by the goddess Ruo Ri Ming, to the point that she compromised her principles. When he traveled to various nations to negotiate and assist them against Kanriya, General Thunder even diverted some of his power, transforming into a puppet to serve him. For General Thunder, who was struggling in the war, this self-sacrificing act could be seen as irresponsible towards his country.

However, this is historically verifiable, as doll-like clones are recorded in both Liyue and Sumeru. And it is clear that General Raiden himself could not possibly have personally traveled to various countries to persuade and negotiate with them, even if he had sent a clone.

So why did this clone arrive in Liyue and Sumeru?

In the midst of an extremely tense war, is it possible that some forces were diverted to go on a foreign vacation? Are you kidding me? And if it were a meeting between gods, it could be done by telegram or by sending officials. What exactly is the purpose of these clone puppets?

The most plausible explanation among these speculations is that "using dolls to protect one's beloved son who has gone abroad."

Numerous folk tales suggest that Wakahime was no more than twenty years old, possessing striking beauty and a flirtatious nature. So much so that the book sings, "The palace maids, unaware of the emperor's fate, are jealous of whose beauty has come?" This beauty is repeatedly mentioned even in the exaggerated descriptions of wandering poets. Compared to Wakahime's heroic feats of allying with three kingdoms, his private life is what scholars find more interesting.

It is said that the high-ranking demons of Inazuma have a deep personal relationship with Wakahimeru-no-Kami. If his mother, the Thunder God, is the "Human Lord" of Inazuma, then this young prince can almost be called the "Demon Lord" of Inazuma. He seems to be a Shuten-dōji who never grows up, yet he is also wicked and evil. For example, the three great demons, Kitsune-sai-gū, Mikoto-chiyo, and Kagemō-zan Reisenbō, as well as the female demons of Kagemō-zan, were all defiled by him with the tacit approval of the Raiden General.

These events could not possibly be recorded in historical books, but folk tales love to recount them, revealing that Wakhinumaru-no-Kami was not some innocent and adorable young deity. Even some harshly written unofficial histories record an incident where, according to legend, Mikoto Chiyo, a close friend of Raijin, the most beautiful woman in Inazuma, and the supreme commander of the shogunate, was forced by Wakhinumaru-no-Kami's threats to leave her husband and children and go to the castle tower to protect her family's safety and status, submitting herself to this young wolf with a heart full of grief and indignation.

Little did she know that once she entered the palace, she would never be able to leave again.

In the words of the story, "The young emperor won the heart of the beauty and loved her dearly. Every time he went to court, he would hold her hand, call her 'sister,' and treat her as intimately as a concubine. Their intimacy was so unrestrained that they disregarded the court and the people. The emperor was angered and punished him, so he and Chiyo took a break and summoned fox spirits and celestial dogs to drink and frolic day and night, only waking up at midday. After more than a year, the emperor's son-in-law begged his wife to return. Chiyo held the young emperor's hand and wept, saying, 'The young emperor is like a star, and I am like the moon. We are inseparable, how can I bear to part with him?' She then abandoned her clan and followed the young emperor, never to return."

It's quite an exciting story.

These anecdotes about historical heroes are far more interesting than historical records. The more scholars who delve into these stories learn, the more they believe that Wakaminari-no-Kami was a real young demon god; otherwise, how could there be so many detailed and captivating tales? Yet, despite the sheer number of these widely circulated stories, no historical records from any country mention this young deity. In fact, his existence is limited to a mere five hundred years.

Five hundred years is not a long time in the eyes of historians. Many of the immortal beings who survived the War of Kanria still live in the world. But this boy who influenced the world five hundred years ago has disappeared without a trace...

Was it a story woven by bards from the wind, or was someone intentionally erasing the most dazzling spark of light from the long period when the seven gods ruled the world?

----------------

Of course, Shen Liang had no idea how later generations of wandering poets had distorted his image from those vague historical accounts.

He would be upset if he knew, at least he would protest that Torachiyo's so-called husband had never cared about Torachiyo's private life at all. Torachiyo was not some daughter of a military family. She was the head of the Mikoto family, and the entire Mikoto family depended on her for survival. Her husband was just a son-in-law who only cared about the continuation of the family and had no affection for her as a husband.

In some ways, their marriage was not even a familial one. Torachiyo's children were conceived through the fusion of sperm and blood from both partners because she refused to marry strangers; later, they were even adopted. To put it bluntly, she didn't even really want children. If it weren't for the need for the Mikoto family to continue, she wouldn't have needed to marry a man who lived with her family. After marriage, she naturally couldn't accompany her husband in anything, so she turned a blind eye to her husband keeping mistresses at home.

The two were outwardly friendly but inwardly estranged, and lived in relative peace.

Of course, if she were to announce it to the outside world, she would definitely be a married woman. She didn't really want people to know that she was still a virgin... Wouldn't it make Fox Palace laugh at her for saying that? She had been pretending to be an "experienced person" in front of Fox Palace for a long time.

As for Shen Liang, he certainly didn't consider himself some kind of "indecent, unrestrained, and disregard-the-court" spoiled brat! You're kidding, right? His mother would kill him! She would kill him without batting an eye! He wouldn't even dare to be unrestrained in front of Lei Dianzhen, let alone "unrestrained in the court"?

Forget the court, just accuse me of committing an unforgivable crime of defiling the harem! That would make me seem even more arrogant and dare to defy the Empress Dowager's authority!

Shen Liang raised his eyes and saw a deep green landscape. Huge mushrooms stood tall and proud in the forest, some as tall as five or six stories. Sunlight could only penetrate from the edges of the mushrooms, casting large patches of shadow on the ground.

Mount Sumeru is a place without dense forests.

Shen Liang raced along this trade route, riding a white Qilin, as swift as the wind.

Behind him was a large kite, flying very close to the ground. To be precise, it was the kite tied to the coffin behind Shen Liang, only five or six meters away from him.

The kite fluttered loudly as the Kirin sped along, while a blonde, busty Mondstadt woman shouted and laughed like a silver bell as she faced the wind.

This is a kite made by Alice. The frame is sturdy and the kite string is strong. It can easily carry an adult woman and some luggage that is inconvenient to put in the Eye of God.

"The wind is so strong!" Alice shouted, even though she couldn't open her eyes because of the wind. "That wretched Liang'er! Why can you ride a Qilin!"

Shen Liang was too lazy to speak.

Alice herself enthusiastically requested to travel by kite, and she even made the kite in half an hour. As a visiting professor at Jigong and a master craftswoman, her efficiency in completing her whimsical ideas was outrageously high.

Only then did the Qilin, resembling a white sheep, cautiously speak, somewhat shyly: "It's not Liang-jun's fault, it's... it's that I don't want to... bear the burden of anyone other than Liang-jun."

"Huh? You've forgotten your best friend now that you have a man! Classic case of prioritizing romance over friendship!" Alice exclaimed in anguish. "I thought Gan Yu, as a benevolent beast, would never be like that!"

“No, this is… the custom of the Qilin.” Gan Yu whispered, “This is how it is in our Qilin clan. The auspiciousness of the Holy King can only be controlled by a wise and kind monarch, and can only have one master in a lifetime.”

"So the loyal and pure little Qilin cannot be ridden by a second person?"

"A loyal minister does not serve two masters." Gan Yu spoke without much conviction.

"I think it's a case of a virtuous woman not serving two husbands~" Alice laughed, and the little Qilin ran almost 30% faster. If she weren't in her beast form, she probably would have blushed to the tips of her ears. Alice hugged the kite bone and laughed, "I don't know if the Qilin clan has this rule, but Miss Gan, you certainly don't. Back when Guili Plain was flooded, you saved so many people. Why didn't you insist on the principle of not serving two masters back then? Humph~ I think it was on purpose! On purpose... wanting to only have Liang'er ride with you, and be all lovey-dovey the whole way, right!"

"Cough!" Shen Liang coughed. "I won't be all lovey-dovey with Sister Gan Yu in her beast form."

The little Qilin immediately turned to look at him, and for some reason, he saw a strange sense of grievance in Gan Yu's eyes.

He quickly turned back, "Ah, not really..."

Then he suddenly became alert, gritted his teeth, and shut up.

"Doesn't Liang Jun like me now?" Gan Yu's voice sounded somewhat disappointed. "It's clearly... Liang Jun who wanted Gan Yu to become like this."

"If you like someone, you have to like everything about them!" Alice immediately added, striking while the iron was hot... taking advantage of the situation.

Shen Liang was speechless and could only grab Gan Yu's horns and threaten helplessly, "I like it, I like it. You'll sleep with me like this tonight. It'll be perfect for me to burrow into your fur and warm up."

Gan Yu was taken aback. Just then, Alice suddenly had a brilliant idea and excitedly interjected, "So, Gan Yu isn't participating tonight? Great! Then, Liang'er, shall we use Gan Yu's furry body as a bed and then..."

"No, Ms. Alice, I will not transform into a beast." Gan Yu gently interrupted Alice's wild delusions.

"Hey! I'm so tired from this journey, can't you let me have Liang'er to recover first! You've been hanging around me all day! You're a benevolent beast, why are you competing with me for affection? Don't you have that outrageous sense of shame that's so high in the Qilin realm?!"

"No, I am not Liang Jun's fiancée. I am Liang Jun's temporary mount. There is no competition for his favor."

"What you're saying is as absurd as Yae no Miko saying she's just Ryo'er's sister and there's no competition between us!"

Shen Liang rode the little Qilin at breakneck speed. With his instantaneous power accelerating Gan Yu's journey, it took about two days to travel from the Ji Palace to the Sacred Manifestation Hall where they would meet the God of Sumeru.

He wasn't idle along the way; as soon as he entered Sumeru, he could sense that the war there was not yet over.

In fact, his location was only a hundred miles away from the battlefield of the Layered Rock Abyss. The army there had even asked Liyue for help and requested reinforcements, but it was clear that Sumeru was no longer in a state that could be saved by borrowing troops.

Unlike Liyue, which suppressed the Kanriyans in one battlefield in the Lava Abyss, Sumeru spread its influence far and wide. Its own weak defense meant that Sumeru relied mainly on the intervention of the gods.

Sumeru doesn't have its own army; the human army relies on civilian mercenaries and adventurers—how can that be reliable? Even if the "Void," a kind of "one-way communication radio," were given to the army, it would still be a drop in the ocean. Mercenaries aren't even part of the established organization. If Liyue is a group of infiltrated Kanria agents trying to cause trouble for the Thousand Rock Army, using trickery and occupying the Laminar Abyss to economically cripple Liyue...

That Sumeru was simply the arrival of the Kanria F2A. There was no need for any tricks; the beast horde and robots could simply fight head-on, resulting in one-sided, crushing battles everywhere. Without the intervention of the gods, the Kanria were virtually invincible.

Therefore, there are a lot of Kanriyan soldiers here, so there is no need for secret agents. A direct confrontation is enough to keep the entire Sumeru region busy.

Shen Liang took in these mercenaries who only knew how to run away, and at most how to lead ordinary people from villages and settlements to safety—their ability to escape mainly depended on the fact that the Kanriyans rarely pursued them. He roughly understood the problem with Sumeru, and in this kind of all-encompassing battlefield, Shen Liang knew very well that summoning the Keepers of Heavenly Principles would be of little use.

He didn't come here to fight for Sumeru; the Red King would have done that much better.

In a way, he even came to put pressure on Sumeru.

What he wanted was control of the World Tree, which Sumeru had protected during this war.

“Red King Ahmar, Flower Goddess Nabu, Tree King Buyer…” A hint of hesitation flashed in Shen Liang’s eyes, then he became resolute, “Three demon gods in total! If you don’t give them to me, don’t blame me for taking them… I haven’t even tried to see if my current strength is enough to rival a ruler…”

Chapter Two: The Flower Goddess Has Come to Deliver the Coffin!

Inside the city of Sumeru, there is a bustling commercial street.