He changed Tiwat

Wanyan immediately rushed towards the scrolls half-hidden by the salt pile on the ground. To her, the ancient people's belief in the salt god was the most precious treasure she could collect. Although the parchment was tattered and rotten, even a few words were invaluable rare copies.

Seeing that the two had made their choices, Zhongli didn't say anything more and continued walking forward.

After passing through the main hall of the temple, there is a slightly smaller stone chamber inside. Most of the "statues" here are kneeling, making it seem like a place for believers to pray.

Clearly, these salt god devotees prayed to their god Heuria here before they became "statues".

Zhongli did not pay much attention to these "statues". He slowly walked a few steps and came to the stone table where the believers were worshipping.

On the table was a silver vessel, shaped like a teacup, but larger than a regular teacup.

Clement had clearly also noticed the vessel, and he hurried after Zhongli, looking as if he feared Zhongli would take the treasure away. However, when he looked at the object, he frowned and did not reach out to take it.

Han Fulai and Wan Yan followed and discovered that the silver vessel was actually a salt cup. As for how they could tell its purpose, it was because the salt cup contained salt.

Wan Yan approached the stone table, pushed up her glasses, and stared at the salt cup from top to bottom with a professional look. She came to a conclusion that anyone with eyes could see: "It seems that this cup is only half full of salt."

"Tsk, do you really need to tell me that?" Clement looked disdainful. "It's just a salt shaker. It seems the 'Salt Demon God' is a poor, stingy demon god."

He had expected a very precious treasure to be placed in the prayer room, but what he saw was a salt cup, which naturally disappointed him greatly—who would use such a precious vessel to hold salt?

Zhongli glanced at Clement, his eyes seemingly showing some displeasure, but he still dutifully performed his "advisor" duties: "From what I understand, it's not ordinary."

“Not ordinary?” Clement frowned. Because his eyebrows were very light, when he frowned, it looked as if two bumps had appeared on his face, making him look rather comical.

Han Fulai suppressed a laugh, nodded, and said, "Although I don't know much about archaeology, even I can see the abnormality of this salt cup. Did Mr. Clement notice that the surface of this salt cup is very smooth?"

"So what?" Clement retorted.

Han Fulai stroked his chin and said, "Judging from the material, this salt cup looks like it's made of silver. But it's been here for thousands of years and it's still as shiny as new. Isn't that enough to show how special it is?"

Silver is a substance that oxidizes and sulfides very easily. Silver jewelry or handicrafts will easily become dull and black if left in the air for a long time. This is because the air contains trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas, which combines with oxygen and reacts chemically with the silver to form black silver sulfide.

This silver salt cup has been in the ruins for over three thousand years, yet it shows no signs of blackening, clearly indicating that some kind of force is protecting it.

Clement paused for a moment, recalling the decaying scenes he had witnessed along the way; even the bronze cup he had been holding was covered in rust.

This salt cup, which will not be changed by time, must be a treasure!

Clement's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to ask Zhongli when Zhongli gave the answer: "This is a relic of the Salt God. You can see that this salt cup is half full of salt. Although it is only half full, it will always be half full—in other words, it is endless."

As he spoke, he reached out and picked up the salt cup, then tilted it slightly. The snow-white fine salt in the cup poured down like a white ribbon, continuously.

In just a short while, a small salt mountain, about a foot high, was piled up on the ground, far exceeding the capacity of the salt cup, but the salt in the cup showed no signs of running out.

Zhongli raised his hand and laid the salt cup flat. Everyone gathered around to look, and the salt in the cup was still the same as before, only half full, not a bit more or less.

"A one-foot stick, if half of it is taken away each day, will never be exhausted," Han Fulai sighed.

"Able to produce an endless supply of salt... Indeed, the power possessed by the 'Salt Demon God' is very strong!" Wanyan's face was full of pride and joy.

This salt cup proved just how powerful the "Salt Demon God" she worshipped was. The power attached to just one relic could produce an endless supply of salt. If the "Salt Demon God" Heureia herself were to wield her power, she might very well be able to submerge the entire Dihua Continent with salt. As a believer in the Salt God, Wanyan felt her faith grow even stronger.

Clement laughed so hard he almost drooled.

"Even if I keep pouring it out, the salt inside won't decrease! After all this trouble, I've finally found a treasure! This thing is mine!"

As he spoke, he grabbed the salt cup and hugged it tightly to his chest, as if afraid someone would snatch it from him; his eyes were full of greed.

"All I need to do is pour out a few thousand or tens of thousands of bags of salt, and I can get rich just by selling it!"

"Hey! How can the legacy of the 'Salt Demon' be used for such a superficial thing!"

Wan Yan stomped her feet in anger and protested loudly, but Clement ignored her completely and just kept stroking the silver salt cup.

Han Fulai stroked his chin, his eyes flickering as he fell into deep thought.

He knew that the salt cup, capable of pouring out an endless supply of salt, would appear in the storyline. However, in the story, players couldn't examine the salt cup closely, and many details were unclear. But today, he witnessed the power associated with the salt cup with his own eyes, and although he remained outwardly calm, he was truly astonished.

In his imagination, this salt cup was something like the "Dust Song Pot" celestial coin in the game. It should have a fixed amount of salt that could be stored. For example, the salt cup could store five catties of salt. After it was empty, it would need to be refilled over time. For example, it would take another twenty-four hours for the salt cup to be full of five catties of salt.

However, according to Zhongli's demonstration, the power of this salt cup is literally "infinite." No matter how much you pour, it keeps flowing!

Moreover, he could see very clearly that Zhongli did not use any immortal power or elemental power to activate the salt cup; it was entirely due to the inherent power of the salt cup itself.

Wouldn't this salt cup be the legendary "perpetual motion machine"?! A perpetual motion machine of the first kind that completely violates the law of conservation of energy and the first law of thermodynamics!

It only needs the initial energy left by the Salt God to operate indefinitely?

Moreover, Heureia is a demon god who is clearly dead. The powers of a demon god are still effective even more than three thousand years after the demon god himself died.

These questions lingered in Han Fulai's mind for a long time.

Chapter 81 Salt Flowers Emerging from the Ground: Possessing a Treasure is a Crime [4k]

Was this the secret Zhongli wanted to reveal to him by breaking the seal? Or was there another reason?

Of course, it is impossible to determine the true operating conditions and principles of this demon god's relic by visual observation alone. Perhaps this salt cup is not a true "perpetual motion machine," but rather something unknown to Han Fulai is at work.

Regardless, even Zhongli himself emphasized that this salt cup represents "endless," and its value clearly far exceeds the so-called "inexhaustible salt."

Imagine if we could somehow change the power attached to the salt cup? For example, could it be transformed into an inexhaustible supply of Mora... or an inexhaustible supply of energy?

He had already begun to consider whether there was a way to persuade Zhongli to give him the salt cup so that he could have the old crane on Mount Aozang study it. If it could be developed into a "perpetual motion machine" that could be popularized, the productivity of Liyue and even Teyvat would leap to a point of extreme material abundance, and they would enter a utopian society in a rocket!

While Han Fulai was still deep in thought, Zhongli had already calmly decided on the ownership of this "perpetual motion machine".

“If Mr. Clement wants this salt cup, then according to the contract, the next item belongs to Ms. Wanyan.”

Zhongli repeated the contract to Clement very seriously.

Clement was already grinning from ear to ear. "No problem, no problem. Heh heh, how could there be anything more... more valuable than this? Hahahaha."

Wan Yan lowered her head, her face full of resentment, but she seemed to have thought of something soon, and raised her head again, her expression becoming much more natural.

“Since there’s a contract, I don’t need to fight him for it,” Wanyan said.

"Then let's move on," Zhongli said with a faint smile.

That smile was directed at Clement.

The group continued on their way and came to a stone gate. Zhongli reached out and touched the stone gate, seemingly triggering some mechanism, and the stone gate opened with a bang.

However, Han Fulai saw it clearly this time: a fleeting glimmer of rock elemental light flashed in the cracks of the stone door, indicating that Zhongli had personally broken the seal he had set. Of course, Clement and Wanyan were unaware of this.

As the group entered the stone gate, they were greeted by several "statues".

Unlike those outside, these statues were dressed in significantly more ornate clothing, wearing tall crowns and adorned with ornaments. If Han Fulai's guess was correct, these people were likely priests or similar figures among the followers of the Salt God, equivalent to nuns or bishops in the Church of Mondstadt.

Moreover, the furnishings in this room are far more luxurious than those outside. The most obvious difference is that the lighting here is no longer the ordinary perpetual lamps found outside, but rather a source of light from luminescent minerals such as nephrite. Even after thousands of years, these rare minerals stubbornly continue to emit their light.

Even if these specially made eternal lamps were knocked down and auctioned off by the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce, they could probably fetch an astronomical price.

But it's clear that these ever-burning lamps aren't the most valuable thing in this room.

There is still a stone table with offerings on it, and on the table is a simple and elegant ruler, pure white, which should be carved from jade.

If it weren't for that salt cup from before, Clement would have pounced on this jade antique long ago, but now he looks completely indifferent.

"Hmph, it's just a ruler." Clement looked at the white jade ruler with a sidelong glance.

Wan Yan ran forward excitedly and examined the ruler closely, seemingly trying to confirm the patterns and designs on it.

"This is... if I remember correctly, this is the measuring tool that the 'Salt Demon God' used in legends!"

The reason she was willing to give up the salt cup was because, in her memory, the "Salt Demon" possessed something even more powerful in the legends.

And that even more powerful thing is this white jade measuring ruler.

“This is indeed a measuring ruler. But the ‘Salt Demon God’ also has the authority here.” Zhongli nodded, stepped forward, and picked up the white jade measuring ruler.

Then, he stuck the measuring tape into the ground!

The white jade measuring ruler was inserted into the ground to a depth of about an inch, standing quietly on the solid earth, like a road sign, motionless.

“I told you it was just a useless ruler…” Clement muttered under his breath.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ground suddenly rippled.

It's the kind of "fluctuation" that's visible to the naked eye.

Centered on a white jade ruler, ripples radiate outwards, making the land appear to undulate like waves—but this is clearly soil, not water.

The change occurred at that moment. Suddenly, grayish-white crystals gushed from the ground, like well water rising from the earth, instantly covering the entire floor of the room, and everyone's shoes were also covered by this white salt tide.

When the salt tide stopped, Zhongli bent down and gestured for the others to look at the white jade measuring ruler.

—The salt tide covered exactly one inch of the scale.

Zhongli pulled out the white jade measuring ruler, gently wiped its surface, and slowly said, "Once this salt ruler is inserted into the ground, the soil will be covered with salt as if it were flooded. The deeper it goes, the more salt grains there will be; in other words, it's a 'harvest' of salt."

"This...this isn't even more amazing than the salt cup?"

Clement looked at the salt cup in his arms, then at the salt ruler in Zhongli's hand. He suddenly felt that the salt cup in his hand no longer smelled good.

Han Fulai squatted down, picked up a handful of salt grains, and examined them closely. These salt grains were not pure salt; they contained some impurities such as mud and sand, which was what was known as "coarse salt." However, with some purification processes that even a middle school student could master, such as dissolving, filtering, and evaporating, commonly used table salt could be extracted.

According to Zhongli's metaphor of a "harvest," this coarse salt is equivalent to unhulled rice grains growing from the ground.

When the ancients talked about the Buddha preaching, they often used the phrase "flowers falling from the sky and golden lotuses springing from the ground." But if we apply this measuring ruler to it, it would probably be the so-called "salt flowers springing from the ground."

No wonder the people of the "Salt Demon" were once very wealthy; the Salt God's powers were practically like manna from heaven!

Han Fulai couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Even Morax, who is the embodiment of money, first needs to make people accept "mora" as a currency, while the salt made by Heureia could be used for barter in an era without currency.

A person can live without money, but not without salt. Salt is a real necessity of life; the saying "firewood, rice, oil, and salt" applies to all of them.

It can be said that before Zhongli ruled Liyue and created Mora, Heureia was the "Goddess of Wealth"!

This salt ruler is about two feet long. According to the method of use demonstrated by Zhongli, the people of the Salt God can create a two-foot-thick layer of salt each time using just this salt ruler. If we calculate based on the size of this room, it can probably produce tens of tons of coarse salt.

According to Han Fulai's knowledge from his geography classes, China has always practiced sea salt production by drying salt on beaches and using seawater as raw material.

However, beach salt production has historically suffered from drawbacks such as requiring large areas of land, having long production cycles, and low yields, resulting in a persistent shortage of salt. It was not until modern times that underground brine was utilized for "well-beach salt production," which truly achieved high and stable yields.

How does this salt ruler work? Does it extract brine from underground directly to the surface in its crystallized state? Or does it convert soil into coarse salt? Or is it like that salt cup, a "perpetual motion machine" that can create salt out of thin air?

Although Han Fulai did not know the energy conversion process of this salt ruler or the principle of creating coarse salt, he had already intuitively experienced the power of this salt ruler—in that era before Mora, this salt ruler was equivalent to a mobile vault, and the kind that could never be spent!

No wonder this salt ruler was treasured and enshrined here by the priests of the salt god.

And this is also the reason why the kingdom of the salt god perished.

A young child carrying gold walks through a bustling marketplace; a common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.

—Just like Liyue right now.

If Liyue lacks the power to protect itself, perhaps the present state of "Salt in the Earth" will be Liyue's future.

Liyue has already implemented the national policy of "enriching the country and strengthening the military" under his impetus, but given the turbulent situation on the Teyvat continent, is Liyue still getting enough time?

Furthermore, both the salt cup and the salt ruler are invaluable "artifacts." For the Geo Archon, who was rebuilding Liyue from scratch, they must have been incredibly useful. Just the fact that they could produce salt indefinitely was enough to replace the entire Silver Plains!

Why did Zhongli seal these two things away himself instead of using them?

With the strength of the Liyue War God, why would they be afraid of other Demon Gods trying to steal it?

Han Fulai stared blankly at the salt crystals covering the ground, lost in thought.

"Then, according to the contract, this salt ruler belongs to Ms. Wanyan."

Zhongli handed the salt ruler to Wanyan with a blank expression.

Just then, Clement roared, "No!"

Wan Yan was startled by him and didn't dare to take the salt ruler.

"I disagree! I paid for it, and I organized this expedition. Why should I be the one to suffer? Besides, this little girl is completely useless. Why should we give her the things?"

Clement threw the salt cup he had been holding onto the stone table and lunged to grab the salt ruler.

Zhongli gripped the salt ruler tightly in one hand and used the other to shield Clement, his eyes already icy cold.

"So, you want to break the 'contract'?"

Zhongli's voice was as cold as his eyes.

Seeing this, Han Fulai stood behind Zhongli with his arms crossed, watching Clement with great interest. He was ready to watch Zhongli beat up the child. In his eyes, a huge "danger" had already appeared above Clement's head.

Ignorance is bliss. Clement, who was completely unaware that he was breaking his contract in front of the "God of Contracts," sneered and said arrogantly, "So what if I've destroyed it? I know almost all the passages in this ruin, and there are no monsters or traps at all... So, you're useless now."

Wow, you're really brave! Han Fulai almost applauded Clement. With the mentality of enjoying the show, he even hoped that Clement would say a few more words and add more anger points to Zhongli.

And Clement did not disappoint Han Fulai.

"You've reminded me, I still need to get my wages back from the head of your Rebirth Hall. How can you be such a troublesome advisor to your employer! After all, I'm the one who hired you. Why should I have to follow your rules?"