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

"Let's go! Next stop, the dock area!"

“There’s a boat captain over there who lost his elderly mother last month. I’ve arranged to meet with him today to discuss the aftermath, and I’ll take you there for a practice run.”

Xu Chuan was pulled forward by her, while Da Pao followed silently behind.

The sea breeze was strong in the direction of the pier.

Walnut's twin ponytails fluttered in the wind, like two small flags that would never fall.

Chapter Ninety-Two: A Stunning Life

As dusk fell, the bustling activity in Liyue Harbor did not subside.

One lantern after another lit up, guiding people on their way home.

Xu Chuan came out of the Hall of Rebirth, with Da Pao following behind him as always.

He walked more than ten steps before stopping and glancing back at the Hall of Rebirth.

Hu Tao's voice could still be heard through the wall as she instructed the ceremonial attendant on what to prepare for tomorrow, speaking at a speed as fast as firecrackers.

Xu Chuan overheard this and immediately quickened his pace to turn the corner.

Wangshengtang offers accommodation.

But he dared not stay there.

Zhongli dared to live there because Zhongli is Zhongli.

If Xu Chuan were to settle down, Hu Tao would appear at the door every morning without fail, knock three times, and call out, "Guest Master Xu, time to get to work!"

Then, I dragged him from sunrise to sunset.

Today she's the boat captain in the dock area, tomorrow she'll be the proprietress of Feiyun Slope, and the day after tomorrow even the immortals of Jueyun Mountain will probably come to visit.

Being a guest elder in the Hall of Rebirth is indeed not an easy job.

The last rays of the setting sun slid down from the eaves.

Xu Chuan stopped on the bridge at the junction of Feiyunpo and Chihuyan and stretched.

The spine cracked from top to bottom, like bamboo joints being pressed and released one by one.

At the same time, a very faint golden light emanated from his body.

The light shone through the skin, almost invisible in the twilight.

Only when he stretched did the light brighten slightly, then dimmed again, returning to the faint glow that shrouded the skin.

Golden Light Mantra.

Since receiving this reward, he has kept it running non-stop.

It's running while walking, it's running while eating, and it's running even when Hu Tao is dragging it all over town.

The golden light traveled through his meridians again and again, from initial awkwardness and stumbling to now being able to control it with ease. Each cycle refined his flesh and bones to a deeper level.

Imagine your body as a piece of iron, and the Golden Light Mantra as the furnace fire.

It burns constantly, never going out.

He wanted to make this fire as natural as breathing, requiring no deliberate lighting or effort to maintain; as long as a person was alive, the fire would burn.

He is still far from reaching that pinnacle level.

Xu Chuan withdrew the golden light, allowing it to circulate within his body to a minimum.

Maintaining this state is not physically tiring, but it is mentally taxing.

It's like doing two things at the same time, one is active and the other is also active, and neither can stop.

At the end of the day, my body wasn't tired, but my mind was.

"call."

He let out a breath.

"Finally, I can relax a bit."

"If this continues, the smell of my classmate that I finally managed to get rid of will come back."

That's what they say.

Having been dragged around by Hu Tao for these past few days, Xu Chuan felt he had gained a lot.

Especially in the area of ​​summoning spirits and commanding generals.

It can control spirits, devour spirits, and invite spirits to possess it.

It's simple and brutal, but not all knives are the same.

Some people were chopping wood with knives, while others were carving flowers.

Hu Tao was the one who taught him carving.

She dragged him through the streets and alleys.

The old widow of Feiyunpo has been gone for three days, and her family is in tears.

Hu Tao handed out invitations, discussed procedures, and set up ceremonies—the whole process went smoothly.

Xu Chuan stood by and watched, waiting to see when she would let him make a move.

She never gave in.

On the night of the encoffining, the old widow's daughter fainted twice from crying. When she woke up the third time, she suddenly stopped crying, pointed to the corner of the mourning hall, and said that her mother was standing there.

Everyone thought she was talking nonsense.

Hu Tao winked at Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan raised his hand and restrained the spirit.

An invisible wave emanated from the fingertips, entangling the bewildered spirit in the corner.

The old widow's soul had mostly dissipated, her outline blurred like a dying candle flame, with only her lingering attachment to her daughter holding her together as a last vestige of her being.

Xu Chuan transferred his spiritual energy to it. The blurry figure stabilized for a moment.

The daughter knelt down with a thud.

"mother--"

She couldn't hear the reply.

But she saw it; she saw her mother nod at her.

Walnut calls this "the last time".

There's something even more amazing.

There was an old fisherman at Chihu Rock who lost his boat at sea. He died, but his soul remained trapped in that rocky area.

Even after the family held a funeral, set up a memorial tablet, and burned paper money, the old fisherman's spirit still stood on that reef every day, gazing in the direction of the harbor.

Hu Tao accepted the order and took Xu Chuan out to sea in a small boat.

The old fisherman's soul stands on the crest of the wave, its light flickering in the sea breeze.

Xu Chuan raised his hand, and a pale golden light swept across the waves, enveloping that wisp of soul.

Controlling the old fisherman who was trapped in the same place and unable to escape, he dispersed his soul.

The old fisherman glanced back at him, his lips moved, but what he said was swallowed by the sea breeze.

Hu Tao calls this "extradition".

The most outrageous one was something Hu Tao figured out himself.

The funeral parlor accepted a case for a deceased person, an old accountant at the dock warehouse. He had passed away peacefully in his sleep, without any illness or disaster, so it was considered a happy funeral.

After completing the formalities, Hu Tao suddenly blurted out, "How about letting him attend his own funeral?"

Xu Chuan thought she was joking.

She earnestly asked Xu Chuan for help.

So on the day the old accountant was buried, the coffin was lowered into the ground, paper money flew everywhere, and the family members lined up to bow.

The old accountant's own spirit stood three steps away from Xu Chuan, watching his own funeral.

He was a man of few words in life, and he remains so as a ghost.

He didn't say a word from beginning to end, he just watched.

He watched his wife wipe away tears, watched his son carry the memorial tablet for him, and watched his little granddaughter tiptoe and drop a piece of candy into the coffin.

He finished reading it.

Then he turned and nodded to Xu Chuan, and they dispersed.

Hu Tao calls this "sharing a seat in life and death".

Xu Chuan called this... well, he couldn't think of a better word.

That's how his title of "Envoy of the Underworld" at the Hall of Rebirth spread.

It was the people in the dock area who started calling it that.

It is said that a new guest elder has arrived at the Hall of Rebirth, who can connect the realms of the living and the dead, and allow those separated by death to meet again.

As the story spread, it took on a different meaning. Some said he could bring the dead back to life, some said he could summon souls and ask questions, and others said he had crawled back from the bottom of an abyss and was a dead man himself.

Xu Chuan almost choked on his soy milk when he heard the last version of the story while eating breakfast at Huyan.

The intense spirit control these past few days has made him finally understand.

There are limitations to the ability to summon spirits and generals.

He had captured the soul of an old widow, the soul of an old fisherman, and the soul of an old accountant.

Each time, whenever the spirit itself weakens to a certain extent, he must transfer his own power to help it stabilize its form.

It's fine if you don't save him; if you don't, his soul will dissipate on the spot, and nothing will be left when the wind blows it away.

Nourishing the spirit.

He came up with these two words on his own.

The Spirit Binding Technique can control spirits and make them obey commands, but it cannot "freeze" a wisp of a dissipating soul.

The soul must eventually return to the ley lines; this is the law of Teyvat.

His abilities can slow down the process, and he can utilize the process, but he cannot reverse it.

Unless the spirit itself is powerful enough.

So powerful that it doesn't need him to transfer spiritual energy to nurture it; so powerful that it can still retain its intelligence and self-awareness after being imprisoned.

That level of spirit is not a remnant soul.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Reunion with Zhongli

Xu Chuan pulled his wandering thoughts back.

Then, he focused his gaze on the cannon.

Speaking of which, do dolls have souls?

The cannon followed half a step behind, its pace perfectly synchronized with his.

His face was calm, his eyes were empty, like a mirror that does not reflect any image.

The Heart of the Wind God was lodged in the puppet's chest, driving all the movements of this body.

Without its original core, the scattered soldiers disappeared to some extent. Could this be considered as their souls being scattered?

If I were to use the Spirit Capture Technique on the cannon, could I extract something from this puppet?

Xu Chuan gripped his chin, thinking about things from this perspective for the first time.

If so, what would be extracted is the consciousness of the remnants of the scattered soldiers, or something else?

Xu Chuan had also tried to use the Spirit Binding and Commanding Technique on living beings.