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

Istaru and Alice remained silent, smiling as they watched him.

Shen Liang pondered what this was, then suddenly paused, realizing that the sensation was coming from somewhere!

hair.

For countless days and nights, Shen Liang would run his hand through Raiden's long, flowing purple hair, feeling its cool, smooth texture, before he could fall asleep. Just like the ever-present, intoxicating scent of cherry blossoms emanating from Raiden and the soft touch of her body, this beautiful long hair accompanied him throughout his life, the most cherished mark of Raiden in his memory.

This is a sword tassel made from a lock of Raiden Shin's long hair.

"Wakahiru no Kami seems to admire the Thunder God even more than I imagined," Ishtar said calmly.

Alice looked at Shen Liang in silence for a long time, bit her lip, and could only smile bitterly.

"I can't compete..."

Dusk enveloped the airspace, and the sea breeze was biting. Shen Liang closed his eyes in the increasingly cold night, and when he opened them again, he hung the sword tassel on his Dream Heart and fastened the knot.

Adding a tassel to a sword means that the weapon has become a ceremonial object and can no longer be wielded.

He chose to stop.

However, the moment Shen Liang grabbed it, the katana suddenly flashed!

In an instant, the tip of the blade sliced ​​open a spatial rift, revealing a completely empty world inside.

Shen Liang was taken aback, but immediately realized what was happening when he saw that world.

"A Pure Land in My Heart!"

Ishtar spoke up at the right moment: "This is the price I'm giving you. If you choose to stop, you can get the last thing Raiden Shin left you..."

Shen Liang suddenly turned his head!

“Yes, the last time. This is what your mother asked for, Liang’er,” Alice said in a low voice. “Before she went to Kanria, she gave us this possession. She said that if your revenge becomes an incurable killing spree, release this possession and let her last strength stop you. If you can restrain your killing instincts and your sword is no longer stained with blood, then she will give it to you so that you can see her one last time.”

She paused for a moment, then said, "Actually, I should have given it to you from the beginning, but... I don't think revenge for the destruction of a country is beyond redemption, so I simply waited until now."

Shen Liang didn't speak, but just stared quietly at the torn space, biting his lip as if suppressing some emotion—his mother was such a gentle person, and even in the end she hoped that he could turn the murder weapon into a ritual object, but he actually went on a killing spree in a fit of rage, causing widespread death and destruction, doing the thing that his mother couldn't bear to see most right in front of her spirit tablet!

Upon thinking of this, a strong sense of remorse pierced Shen Liang's heart.

"Lightning is truly inside, a Pure Land of One Heart, a Pure Land of One Heart that belongs only to her."

Shen Liang suddenly looked up.

"You should know that your mother poured her Pure Land of Hearts into this sword, and this tassel is the key to unlocking that Pure Land. She left her last thoughts inside, and you can go see her now."

Shen Liang was about to set off immediately, but the next second, he keenly sensed something... that wasn't quite right.

Something feels off...

Yes.

Shen Liang suddenly remembered the physical body that Silky had given him before!

Something's not right!

Yes, if the Empress Dowager truly wanted to leave him with a final memento, why retain her physical body? She was a demon god, and a demon god skilled in spiritual cultivation at that. Creating a Pure Land to preserve her thoughts there would be enough to leave a lasting memorial... Why leave behind a physical body?

Given the Queen Mother's personality, she would surely have done everything in her power to prevent the catastrophe of her physical body's destruction from affecting too many people after her death. Therefore, she would definitely have banished her physical body to another dimension... She had this ability, so why didn't she do it? Instead, she had the Kanria people do everything in their power to preserve her physical body and stop the disaster?

What is the significance of the body? Is it for commemoration?

Shen Liang couldn't fathom the value of this physical body to Lei Dianzhen. Keeping both the physical body and the Pure Land of One Heart felt like a repetitive task... Although this thought was illogical, given his mother's wisdom, he felt she wouldn't do anything unnecessary.

"What are you still thinking about?" Alice said softly. "Are you wondering if we're lying to you? So what if we are? This is truly a pure land of lightning. Are you really not going in?"

Shen Liang, of course, didn't. He simply looked at her, his brows furrowing slightly. "So, Alice, you only did this to save Rhinedot?"

“She’s my best friend,” Alice laughed. “It wouldn’t matter much if she died, but how would you get back to Earth if she did?”

Shen Liang stared at her.

"Alright, alright, why worry so much about the future? The most important thing right now is to hurry up and see your beautiful mother, the Queen Mother," Alice chuckled.

There were still many questions, but he put them aside for now and immediately stepped into the Pure Land of One Heart.

The moment you enter, all you see is a deep purple, and the whole world is flashing with lightning. This is a pure land that has lost its master, utterly empty, and in the boundless emptiness, it can only barely maintain a small platform less than a hundred meters long and wide.

A small, medium-height cherry tree stood on the platform. A purple-haired beauty in a light white, elegant kimono leaned against the cherry tree, sitting quietly and lost in thought with her eyes closed.

Shen Liang looked at the familiar human figure, which was exactly like the real Lei Dian, and felt his heart stop for a moment. He could not hold back any longer, and without thinking, he immediately stepped through the void and rushed over, forcefully grabbing the woman's slender and soft hand.

He felt a surge of joy as he grasped her hand; the familiar warmth was so comforting, it was as if he had never truly died. But the next moment, he realized with a start that this was a Pure Land of the Heart, a place where only the true will of lightning resided.

"Mother! Mother!" Shen Liang shook her hand with a mixture of despair and expectation, hoping she would wake up, but also knowing that something would eventually be gone forever.

Don't abandon me! Don't leave me all alone!

Amidst her desperate cries and sorrow, Raiden Shin opened her eyes and looked at the little child. Finally, a smile that was hard to describe as either relief or worry appeared on her face as she gently stroked his back.

Shen Liang was startled and immediately tilted his head back, hugging Lei Dianzhen's waist tightly, not daring to let go for even a moment.

"Mother, you're awake! You're still alive! Right! You didn't die so easily! Let's go home, Liang'er will make noodles for you! Dumplings on horseback, noodles on foot, let's go home and eat noodles, Mother, what kind of soup base do you like? Do you want it with char siu pork?"

He spoke faster and faster, interrupting Raiden Shin every time he tried to say something.

His eyes were filled with fear, immense fear. He knew what Thunder Truth wanted to say, so he dared not listen. He could only keep talking, as if that would prolong Thunder Truth's existence.

But he finally froze. Raiden looked at him gently for a long time, and then he fell silent. Neither of them spoke.

"Liang'er." Raiden Zhen stroked the boy's long hair in his arms again and again, sighing softly.

Shen Liang bit his lip so hard it bled. He remained silent, but large tears seeped out, wetting Lei Dianzhen's pure white sleeves.

"There's no need to be so sad, I will be resurrected."

These words struck Shen Liang like a bolt of lightning, and his eyes shone brightly with ecstasy.

—Resurrection? The Thunder God... can he really be resurrected? Does the Daedric Prince of Teyvat have this power?

Shen Liang originally didn't believe in these things; if he didn't believe, there was naturally a way to be resurrected. But now he believed everything; if Lei Dian truly said it, what was there to disbelieve?

“Liang’er, this continent is vast and boundless, and all living beings are equal. I may be a tree, a flower, a fox, or perhaps a Liyue person, a Fontaine person… maybe even a Kanri’er person.” Raiden Zhen chuckled softly. “After I reincarnate, I may be any person in Teyvat, do you understand?”

The light in Shen Liang's eyes dimmed again.

“So, Liang’er, you must have compassion in your heart. Any living being on this land could be your mother. Before you draw your sword, you can also think about what crime the people have committed.” She whispered, “Life and death are countless, but we should have compassion in our hearts.”

Shen Liang's hand tightened its grip on Lei Dianzhen's waist.

After a long, long time, he finally smiled. In the vast and desolate Pure Land, his smile appeared quite sorrowful.

"In the end, it's just to comfort you," the boy said slowly. "I won't agree to anything my mother says."

Lei Dianzhen's body trembled slightly, and she fell silent for a moment.

“I will not be a benevolent and wise ruler. If I were to rise to power, I would be as ruthless as a wolf, and once I attained enlightenment, I would leave a thousand miles of scorched earth. No one can stop me, not even the laws of heaven. Your Majesty’s intentions are good, but I will not accept them.” Shen Liang knelt down, resting his head on her shoulder, almost gritting his teeth. “If you want to stop me, only if Your Majesty lives, only if Your Majesty is in power and forever cuts off my path to rule, can we prevent the people from suffering.”

Lei Dianzhen held him tightly, his brows furrowed slightly. He didn't know what to say, and after a long while, he could only say, "Liang'er, why are you doing this to yourself?"

"I don't accept any reincarnation, I don't believe in it. Since Teyvat doesn't have such a concept, I do." Shen Liang ran his right hand through Raiden's long hair, breathing in her fragrance. His eyes were slightly cold as he spoke slowly and deliberately, "Since I have the method to immortality, I can only use it in times like this... Mother, you will be resurrected, but only according to my will. I won't listen to your words. You want to discipline me? Fine, a dead person can't discipline me."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Nothing More to Say Tonight

In the Pure Land of One Heart, the physical body sealed by alchemy was brought in by Shen Liang.

Under Shen Liang's earnest gaze, Raiden Shin finally understood what he was going to do. Although he felt a pang of confusion and shame at the boy's persistence, after a long silence, Raiden Shin still sighed softly.

She looked at the boy, who had finally released her hand and was now kneeling respectfully before her, with a mixture of emotions in her heart: "Liang'er, do you understand the price of doing this?"

Shen Liang's pale golden eyes flashed, and she raised her head. Her expression seemed calm, but her eyes held an undeniable fervor.

“I know, but only in this way can I deceive history. In the destiny I know, my mother died, but in the destiny I experienced, I don’t know… As long as I don’t know, as long as I believe you didn’t die, this destiny cannot be said to be absolutely irreversible. As long as I haven’t observed the fact of my mother’s death, then I can deceive this timeline!” Shen Liang’s voice suddenly turned fierce, “From beginning to end, in the timeline I know, there is no statement that ‘Leidian really died’!”

Deceiving history!

Yes, Shen Liang's last excuse!

Five hundred years later, he only learned of Raiden Shin's death from other people, but he had not seen the evidence with his own eyes! There was no Raiden Shin's heroic spirit in the ley line space, which theoretically meant that Shen Liang had no ability to keep an existence of Raiden Shin's rank, and even the method of reviving heroic spirits could not bring Raiden Shin back to life.

However, this is just a theory. There is another possibility: she didn't die! Therefore, her pheromones cannot be extracted from the ley lines because she is not in the ley lines at all!

Your physical body is not destroyed, and your consciousness still has a thought. How can you say that lightning is really dead?

As long as... you can drive the World Tree and alter history!

As a demon god who shares the power of the World Tree with the Great Compassion Tree King, Shen Liang naturally knows that the World Tree cannot change its predetermined fate, but he refuses to believe that he cannot find a single chance to prove that Lei Dian is not truly dead!

He never actually witnessed the lightning being destroyed by Rhinedoth, and the World Tree's so-called "predestined fate" was merely an anchor point connecting a series of events.

The World Tree's so-called "destiny" refers to the unalterable course of history. For example, if Lei Dian truly died, Shen Liang would be enraged and seek revenge, leading to the destruction of Kanria—this series of events cannot be changed... But for major historical events, even if some unexpected event occurred, causing Shen Liang not to be enraged or seek revenge, Kanria would still be destroyed.

The World Tree will fulfill its destiny.

What Shen Liang wants to grasp is the room for maneuver that may have been left over from the historical events on the World Tree Circle.

----------

The World Tree leaps forward.

Shen Liang can only appear in every moment of his past existence, because in real history, if he did not exist in this place, the World Tree would not be able to provide him with the corresponding perspective.

He stepped out from the branch of the World Tree.

"Lightning Cold! You went back on your word! You promised not to harm the innocent!" Skykirk roared in despair.