While I was in Mondstadt, I never imagined becoming a god.

"You can confide in us if you have anything on your mind."

Xu Chuan's gentle voice came from the front, and when their eyes met, the girl smiled faintly and nodded.

Although I didn't really have anything on my mind, it felt really nice to be cared for.

"Oh, right, Xu Chuan." Paimon suddenly remembered something and flew to Xu Chuan's side.

Are we going straight back to Liyue Harbor?

"What, Paimon? Are you already tired of my cooking and can't wait to go back to Liyue Harbor?"

"That's not true at all!"

Paimon flew up to him angrily, hands on his hips.

"You said last night that our next stop is Inazuma, so we definitely need to find a merchant ship to go there. We can't just fly there on a dragon, can we?"

"I heard that there are terrifying thunderstorms in the sky over the Inazuma Sea."

Ying looked at Paimon in surprise and said, "When did little Paimon know so much?"

Xu Chuan couldn't help but look sideways.

This little foodie has quietly grown a lot.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one secretly involved.

Seeing Paimon's proud expression, as if she wanted to praise him, Xu Chuan reached out and ruffled her little head.

"Then the matter of going to Inazuma will be left to Paimon."

"Leave it to me!" Paimon puffed out his little chest and patted it hard.

While the scenery from high above is beautiful, it can become boring after a while.

The clouds churned beneath my feet, like a white ocean.

Sunlight poured down from the higher sky, gilding the sea of ​​clouds with a golden glow, while the distant horizon curved slightly, separating the sky from the earth.

After informing Du Lin of the general direction, Xu Chuan immersed himself in the knowledge of the pile of alchemy books.

Aberdo said he embarked on a completely different path in alchemy.

It likely refers to the various abilities one possesses, which, combined with the alchemy techniques taught by the old man, have formed a unique set of methods.

This method differs from traditional alchemy and is not a direct copy of alchemical techniques.

Xu Chuan's own understanding was that it was more like the weapon crafting he knew from his previous life.

Perhaps it has something to do with what one desires.

He did not have the scholarly curiosity about alchemy, nor did he care about the highest level of alchemy.

Xu Chuan merely used it as a means to expand the boundaries of his abilities and enhance his combat power.

A moment later, Xu Chuan took out the core of the cannon from his sleeve and examined it carefully in his palm.

On the light blue core, the golden mark has been completely integrated, leaving no trace visible on the surface.

Only when he probes his power deep into the core will some strange sights appear.

As originally envisioned, this core, which he had spent a great deal of effort refining, had achieved its intended purpose.

Skvornugg's soul and core merged completely, becoming one and inseparable.

But from his current perspective, it seems that something is still missing to achieve true perfection.

The missing element is not power or technique, but something more essential and ineffable.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Xu Chuan.

That's right, it's the spirituality that Master Zhongli mentioned, and the creation recorded in Abedo's Alchemy Notebook.

But how do we imbue it with spirituality?

Even with Skvornug's soul integrated, the core couldn't undergo a transformation, so what should he add...?

Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, Xu Chuan seemed to remember something and suddenly slapped his forehead.

And blood, my blood is an excellent material for alchemy.

How could I have forgotten about this?

The fake Abedo had been extremely covetous of his special blood.

The transmigrator's body is adapted to all the powers of Teyvat.

Blood containing power not belonging to this world, representing the characteristics of the unknown.

In alchemy, this would be the most advanced catalyst.

With this in mind, Xu Chuan immediately took action.

He bit his fingertip, and blood seeped out. The golden light caught the blood and then enveloped it.

Ying and Paimon, standing to the side, seemed to see a tiny sun compressed to its extreme, hovering above Xu Chuan's fingertips, radiating a warm light.

For some reason, Paimon suddenly found the food in front of her tempting, but reason kept her from acting on it.

If Xu Chuan knew what Paimon was thinking, he would be very surprised.

This can no longer be explained by ordinary gluttony.

However, Xu Chuan was focused on verifying his own ideas and did not notice Paimon's unusual behavior.

He manipulated the drop of blood, slowly guiding it into the core.

The bright red blood seeped into the pale blue core, like a drop of ink falling into clear water, slowly blooming within it.

The core trembled slightly, and the light on its surface changed from light blue to pale gold. The bright red color vanished in the blink of an eye, as if it had never existed.

But that sense of death in the "object" has disappeared.

What was originally just the core of an "object" now has a lifelike quality.

It was pulsating in Xu Chuan's palm; the feeling was hard to describe.

It was as if something was truly awakening deep within.

If Abedo were here, he might say that this is a very crude "method of creation".

It is a forbidden technique in alchemy. The Golden Rhinedoth used this forbidden technique to create the dragons Durin and Abedo.

And those life forms that violate the natural order and should not exist in the world.

However, Xu Chuan's current method of creation is not perfect.

This core is indeed beyond the realm of inanimate objects, but it is not life in the true sense.

It's like a state somewhere between inanimate and living.

It has the breath of life, but no consciousness of life.

Xu Chuan wrote down his observations of this alchemy experiment in detail in his notebook.

The notebook Aberdo gave me was already more than half full, every page was densely filled with neat handwriting, with a few corrections here and there, but overall it was clean and tidy.

He put the core into his sleeve and looked up as if he had noticed something unusual.

Xu Chuan sensed a powerful life force rising rapidly towards them.

The aura was sharp as a knife, and carried a hint of killing intent.

The next second, the cyan figure rushed in like an arrow, and violent wind elements exploded in front of the dragon, forming a rotating wind wall that blocked Dulin's path.

The wind wall soared into the clouds, with blue air currents swirling wildly on its surface, tearing the clouds to shreds and slicing the sunlight into countless beams.

"Stop here!"

A cold, stern voice came from ahead, each word carrying an undeniable authority: "Liyue will not tolerate such filth as you setting foot here."

Dulin hovered in the air, wings outstretched, maintaining a posture ready to attack or dodge at any moment.

Black flames surged in its throat, and dark red light peeked through the gaps in its scales, like a volcano about to erupt.

If Xu Chuan hadn't ordered it not to attack, it would have charged forward without hesitation and fought the tiny creature before it.

The airflow on the dragon's back was disrupted by the wind wall, and Paimon quickly grabbed Ying's clothes.

"Long time no see, Xiao." Xu Chuan stood up and waved to the blue figure.

"Relax, it's us."

As soon as he finished speaking, the wind wall suddenly vanished.

The blue airflow softened from its violent state, swirling in the air and deflated like a punctured balloon.

Xiao hovered in front of the giant dragon, while Pu Yuan stood in front of him, the tip of his spear pointing directly at Du Lin.

His expression changed from cold and stern to astonished, and then to helpless.

Xu Chuan noticed the change in Xiao's expression and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, as if he had seen something interesting.

Even with his thousands of years of experience, the Great Sage Who Subdues Demons was starting to lose his composure.

This guy came to Liyue on the wind dragon Dvalin for the first time and misjudged the situation.

How come I ran into you even though I was trying to stop a filthy dragon?

Xiao couldn't help but wonder if this guy was doing it on purpose.

In fact, Xu Chuan did do this on purpose.

Although calling Xiao's name would summon him, it didn't confirm his guess.

Xiao flashed onto the dragon's back, landing beside Xu Chuan, arms crossed, his tone helpless.

"Just call me whatever you want," he said. "I almost didn't have time to stop just now."

"Next time, definitely." Xu Chuan said nonchalantly.

Xiao looked at him and remained silent for a moment.

That cold, stern face was filled with the message: "You did this on purpose, but I have no proof."

Knowing he couldn't do anything to Xu Chuan, Xiao sighed.

Xu Chuan frowned as he looked at the seemingly normal Xiao in front of him.

Xiao's complexion wasn't bad, and his aura wasn't weak, but in his perception, there were black threads entwined deep within Xiao's soul.

The boundless karmic obstacles formed from the remnants of those demons were a layer deeper than when he last saw them.

Like vines climbing a wall and embedding themselves in cracks in the stone, they do so silently and irreversibly.

"If you hadn't intervened, I truly wouldn't have known that your karmic burdens had deepened further."

Xu Chuan stared at him; it seemed the situation was more serious than he had imagined.

Xiao's expression stiffened slightly, but he did not deny it.

"With the Lantern Festival approaching, those things have indeed become much more active."

"But it's alright, I'm used to this kind of thing."

His tone was indifferent, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

Xu Chuan shook his head.

The remnants of the demon god cannot be overcome by simply brute force.

If Xiao's soul hadn't been so resilient and his will so strong, he probably would have long since transformed into a bloodthirsty monster.

"When I returned to Mondstadt this time, I found a way with Abedo to cleanse the remnants of the demons deep within our souls."

"Perhaps, this can solve your problem."

Xiao was stunned, his golden pupils widening slightly as he stared at Xu Chuan in disbelief.

To resolve the karmic obstacles formed from the remnants of the demon god within him.

The impact of these words on him was no less than the moment the Emperor told him that Fushe's remnant soul still existed.

For thousands of years, he has watched his comrades-in-arms being devoured one by one by their karma.

Fushe, Minu, Yingda, Fanan... their names were etched in his memory, constantly reminding Xiao.

This is his inevitable fate.