I, the Rock King Emperor with 21 billion in power, have joined the chat group.

Chapter Eight: Walnuts (Part Two)

"Would you like some snacks?" Zhongli asked softly, looking at the little girl in front of him.

"Yes! Yes!"

The mischievous Walnut raised both hands in agreement.

Zhong Li smiled faintly and pointed at the table.

Two plates of desserts that looked both beautiful and delicious floated out from the table.

One plate was naturally the bursting slime crystal cake that the traveler girl had eaten yesterday, and the other plate was an ordinary lily glass pastry.

Zhongli gestured calmly to Hu Tao:

"This is the bursting slime crystal cake I just bought today. It's a new pastry made by Chef Xiangling of Wanmintang the day before yesterday. Yesterday, this pastry received high praise from the traveler girl. The other one is the lily glass pastry that Liuliting is famous for for a hundred years. Master Hu Tao, you can try it as you like."

Hu Tao smiled and, as expected, did not choose the bursting slime crystal cake. Compared to the novel pastries created by Xiang Ling, she preferred the old-fashioned ones.

"What I hate most is Xiangling's slime dishes. They remind me of bad memories." With a grim expression, she stuffed the Lily Glass Cakes into her stomach one bite at a time. "Xiangling never follows the rules of Liyue when cooking. There are many things she makes that I dare not eat."

"I still love boiled fish with shrimp dumplings the most, la la la la~~! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

Zhongli didn't reply. He took a piece of bursting slime crystal cake, put it in his mouth, chewed it slowly, then took a sip of tea and swallowed it before speaking: "It seems that Master Hu Tao has always been like this, preferring the old to the new, and the popular to the unique. Your eccentric and mischievous appearance always makes people think that you would look down on Liyue's many traditions, but clearly, those people are wrong."

"It's just that he has a deep understanding of Liyue's ancient traditions." Hu Tao stared intently at Zhong Li, her expression no longer relaxed, but solemn as she said, "As the Geo Archon who founded Liyue and ruled it for over three thousand years, he should know very well."

"Our ancestral hall is an organization that adheres to ancient rules."

“Of course, I was once a guest elder of the Hall of Rebirth, so I know all about it.” Zhongli nodded slightly. “I have been entrusted with this task, and I must be loyal to it. The Hall of Rebirth has a special nature, bearing double the responsibility, so we must ensure that people from both worlds are satisfied.”

Hu Tao nodded knowingly, then stared into Zhong Li's eyes and said very seriously, "Yin and Yang are in order, fate is unpredictable, and death is difficult to predict but also has its rules. No matter when or where, no matter what kind of person, no matter what the reason, no one should provoke the word death. Only by understanding it and respecting it can one understand the value of living."

After hearing what Hu Tao said, Zhong Li was slightly taken aback.

He paused for a few seconds, then couldn't help but shake his head: "Little Walnut, so you came to me to talk about this."

"So-called fate, in terms of general rationality, is nothing more than a manifestation of self-pity. Even I, or even the principles of Heaven, dare not claim to control it. But what I can guarantee is that the scene I see is clearly different from the scene you see."

Zhongli responded to Hu Tao's earnest reminder with the same seriousness.

He knew that the young girl in front of him had spoken so much out of concern for him, Zhongli, a guest elder of the Hall of Rebirth.

"You can't talk about ice with a summer insect, and you can't know what a slime sees. The knowledge of demons and humans is worlds apart, and even the knowledge of demons is very different from that of other demons."

“You and everything you see, I can see. Of all that I see, you can only glimpse a small part.” Zhongli put down his teacup and pointed slightly at him.

Then, the teacup underwent a visible change.

In less than a second, the teacup transformed into a tiny, dark brown figure, looking up at Zhongli and Hutao with a mixture of fear and excitement.

"Is this a living person?"

Hu Tao could clearly feel the rich life force emanating from the little person in front of her.

“Yes, the living can live for about 13 to 23 years,” Zhongli answered the question. “I was just transformed from the clay in the cup.”

"This is what I saw."

Hu Tao stared blankly at the little figure greeting her, then looked at Zhong Li, whose expression remained unchanged and was exactly the same as before.

He couldn't help but reach out and poke the little man's head with his finger.

The little figure even pushed her fingers away unhappily, then bared its teeth at her.

Walnut Leaf wasn't angry; she also rested her head on the table and bared her teeth at the little man.

Her mouth, which was small compared to a human's, was enormous compared to the tiny person in front of her. After comparing her height with Hu Tao's big mouth, the little person quickly ran to the side.

"Hahaha~~~!" Seeing the little man scared, Hu Tao happily put her hands on her hips and laughed twice.

After laughing twice, she suddenly jumped off the chair and bowed solemnly to Zhongli: "Mr. Zhongli, no, Emperor Yan Wang, it is I, Hu Tao, who am too narrow-minded. I have already bid farewell to immortals, but I still cannot understand the difference between immortals and mortals."

She then suddenly raised her head, staring intently at Zhongli, and said excitedly, "Since Mr. Zhongli has the ability to resurrect people, could you resurrect them after I have held their funeral? That way, when that person dies again, our Hall of Rebirth will have earned two Mora."

"and...."

Zhongli was taken aback by Hu Tao's sudden statement and couldn't help but ask, "And what?"

"And, we can finally give out our 'buy one get one half price' coupons at Wangsheng Hall!!" Hu Tao said excitedly, her eyes sparkling.

"Um........"

Zhongli was at a loss for words.

......

Walnuts come quickly and go quickly.

Having made a promise with Zhongli to come back for pastries again next time, she skipped and hopped out of the room, disappearing without a trace.

Not long after she left, Zhongli's quiet little courtyard began to welcome another owner.

The radiance of changing time and space was even more dazzling to Zhongli at this moment than the sunlight on a clear day.

The world-traveling technique belonging to the chat group, which had already been analyzed by Zhongli, quickly appeared and then disappeared.

Then, a graceful figure appeared before Zhongli's eyes.

"You've worked hard, Gui Zhong, you're back."

Chapter Nine: The End and Fu Hua (Part 1)

The young demon goddess, dressed in white, turned around gracefully and smiled sweetly at Zhongli's voice: "I'm back, Zhongli."

Before she could finish speaking, she took a step forward and darted in front of Zhongli, getting extremely close to him.

Then she naturally took Zhongli's hand, her face beaming with a bright and sunny smile: "Zhongli, Zhongli, the other world is so much fun."

"The world that Bear Grylls lives in is very different from ours."

"There are many races over there: orcs with ears on their heads and tails on their butts; dwarves who are short but exceptionally strong; elves with pointed ears and a forest aura; dwarves; fairies; Amazons who are all women; and even gods who descended from the heavens."

"[God]?" The girl's words, "Demon God Returns to the End," finally caught Zhongli's attention.

Instead of pulling his hand away forcefully, he asked, "I asked Brother Bell before, but I didn't get any useful conclusions. So, since you've been there, what did you see? What do you think those gods are?"

"Is it an omniscient and omnipotent god from some world legend, or an embodiment of some kind of rule, or simply a powerful individual like the demons of Teyvat?"

Gui Zhong, however, seemed to know when to stop. After his excitement subsided, he naturally released Zhong Li's hand and said softly, "It seems to be an individual as powerful as us, not the [Rules God] or [Omnipotent God] you once described to me."

"Hmm, I see." Zhongli wasn't too disappointed.

He had previously discerned the characteristics of the gods in his world from Bell's descriptions, and this time, Gui Zhong's objective description only deepened his impression of those gods.

A transcendent being who descended from the heavens a thousand years ago, bestowing divine grace upon the inhabitants of the lower realm.

----An existence possessing intelligence and military strength surpassing that of humans.

Because life in the heavens is so boring, they started interfering in the mortal realm as if it were a game.

The gods forbid the use of divine power in the mortal realm; people must live like humans.

At the same time, gods are also forbidden from entering the dungeon, or they will be punished.

Prioritizing their own entertainment, they experience everything in the lower realm: food, hobbies, friendships, art, and even illness, enjoying every moment as if playing a game.

Such a deity would certainly be to the liking of Barbatos, the god of wind.

They don't do anything serious, but they're experts at eating, drinking, and having fun.

“However, many of those gods are quite powerful.” Gui Zhong added, “I have a feeling that I am completely unable to fight against most of them.”

"On one occasion, I heard that one of the gods even shattered a star in the sky with a single blow."

“A Shattered Star? That’s indeed very powerful.” Zhongli nodded knowingly. “If such a being came to the Teyvat continent, it could definitely destroy the entire world in one blow if no one stopped it.”

"Hmm, I feel that even the 'natural law' you once told me about might not be able to stop it." Gui Zhong nodded slightly, looking serious.

Then, the next second, his expression became urgent: "By the way, you told me in private that you found clues about Qingli? Qingli isn't dead?"

Where is she?

Zhongli was no longer so anxious. He pondered for a moment before replying, "These are just some inferences I have made based on what I have seen and heard, and they may not necessarily be the truth."

"As you know, my attempt to revive Qingli ended in failure. After that, I thought about it over and over again and could only find some minor mistakes in my actions. In general terms, these minor mistakes can be completely ignored," Zhongli explained slowly.

"Moreover, recently, due to my learning and progress in different worlds, my grasp of time and space has become increasingly proficient, but I still cannot touch Qing Li from just 2000 years ago. From a purely rational point of view, this is impossible."

"So, I wondered if there were other reasons why Qingli couldn't be resurrected. For example, perhaps Qingli never actually died."

Zhong Li briefly recalled what she had witnessed in the historical timeline of the Honkai world: "Last time in the Honkai world, I encountered something like this..."

He quickly and honestly told Gui Zhong everything he had experienced in the Honkai world.

Gui Zhong was stunned after hearing this; she really hadn't expected it to be like this.

"Zhongli, are you saying that you sensed that person named Fu Hua, a part of her divine artifact, entered our world with her consciousness, and then fell asleep on Mount Tianheng?"

Gui Zhong, after all, was once a wise demon goddess, and she quickly raised some questions that Zhong Li had not considered.

“Zhongli, you traveled back in time. In the history that that world experienced, it should be like this.”

"First, in the previous era, you met Hua and Carol. Then, you followed them into the Firemoth to fight against the Honkai. At the same time, you often told them about the world of Teyvat, letting them know that Teyvat was a world that had not been invaded by the Honkai."

"Then, before the final battle, Hua told you that he wanted to go to your world, Teyvat, to take a look."

"Then, they defeated the Honkai, but because their population was too small, they could only survive into the next era by sleeping."

"During this slumber, the feather of the Divine Key Feather of Hua, carrying her wishes and her consciousness, drifted into the void and entered Mount Tianheng in the world of Teyvat."

"One day, after absorbing the rock elemental power of Tianheng Mountain, this feather took physical form and became the Rock Dragon Morax."

"Then, you came from another world with the [Multiverse Chat Group] and met this Morax, who later became Qingli."

"Then you met me again, established Liyue, and after thousands of years, your [Chat Group of All Realms] is now open."

"Finally, you will meet Fu Hua again and save the once-broken Honkai world."

"This establishes a perfect closed loop in spacetime."

After finishing speaking, Gui Zhong frowned, revealing his handsome, delicate brows.

“That’s true.” Zhongli nodded silently; he had already considered this possibility.

"Never mind." After a moment of silence, Gui Zhong suddenly broke the silence: "Let's not talk about this anymore, Zhong Li. I only have one question for you."