He changed Tiwat

Ye Mingxiang said, enunciating each word clearly: "I killed those who deserved to die, and I will not pay for their lives."

"Whether or not to kill should be decided based on your own judgment?" the Emperor asked.

"So what if it is?" Ye Mingxiang retorted.

"Then draw your sword. If you defeat me, you will be justice for Liyue," the Emperor said calmly.

With a clear, ringing sound, Ye Mingxiang drew her sword from her waist.

This sword was certainly not the Ancient Sword of Thousand Rocks, but merely a silver ornament worn by the noblemen of Jade Capital Terrace. Local legend in Liyue says that silver can ward off evil, and silver swords are aesthetically pleasing; many young nobles like to wear one to demonstrate their prowess in both literature and martial arts. When he was doing business in Liyue Harbor, he inevitably had to socialize, and he adapted to this custom of wearing such ornaments.

Silver is relatively soft and is not suitable for forging into weapons. This kind of silver sword for ornaments is made of silver combined with other metals. Although it has a sharp edge, its power is only slightly stronger than a blunt sword.

But Kanria's swordsmanship doesn't care what weapon he uses.

The silver sword of Ye Mingxiang gleamed with a sharp light.

Xingxiang's forehead was covered in cold sweat—he actually dared to draw his sword against the Emperor!

Facing Ye Mingxiang's sword, the Emperor smiled calmly.

"Not bad. But you only have one chance, because I'm only giving you one chance. Use all your strength, and don't leave any regrets."

The silver light on Ye Mingxiang's sword turned into blue flames, and her whole body erupted with sword energy, instantly leaving sword marks on the floor of the flower hall.

Xingxiang retreated several steps.

This was the first time Xingxiang had witnessed his friend's true strength—the sheer pressure alone was almost comparable to that of a legendary immortal.

The blue flames surged, the sword light flickered, and then condensed into a thin line as fine as a spider's web—concentrating all the power into a single line, so that not a single bit of its power would leak out.

Ye Mingxiang's figure had vanished, leaving only a deep footprint on the ground. Only then did Xingxiang hear the sound of wind breaking through the air; Ye Mingxiang's speed had surpassed the sound barrier.

When no sound is heard, there is silence.

Extreme Step Kill - Silence!

In that instant of silence, the Wind-Slaying Sword had already slashed towards the oldest demon god on the continent of Teyvat.

The continuous clashing sounds eventually subsided into a single sound, into silence, into two fingers.

The Emperor pinched the blade of the longsword between two fingers and then broke it off.

A tear had appeared on the front of his collar.

The broken sword tip spun back on his fingertips.

His face remained as still as a black stone, but his golden eyes suddenly erupted with boundless killing intent.

"One move. I'll leave you with resentment."

This was the first and last time Ye Mingxiang saw the Liyue Martial God make a move.

In the center of the rocky abyss, Ye Mingxiang suddenly clenched her fist and punched her chest, striking the golden sun emblem on her breastplate.

The "Black Serpent Knight" armor he had been wearing shattered into pieces under this attack, revealing his body beneath.

Ye Mingxiang brushed aside her disheveled white hair and tore open her slightly oversized robe.

It was a withered and emaciated body, like that of a real old man. Beneath the pale skin, one could see black veins, like a dense spider web, which was quite terrifying.

There was a silver scar on his right chest.

Perhaps it shouldn't be called a scar, but rather a broken sword.

The broken sword from back then remained inside his body, having become fused with his flesh and blood.

He looked at Jiang Xue.

“Back then, Xingxiang took that blow for me. The sword pierced through his body before striking me. Otherwise, my heart might have been ‘purified’ by Morax’s divine power back then.”

"So I won't kill you, never."

Jiang Xue remained silent.

Ye Mingxiang said slowly, "After that day, I was disappointed in Liyue, disappointed in Morax, and I no longer believed in the 'Land of Contracts'. Without power, there is no justice."

Han Fulai opened his mouth, but found himself speechless.

During the War of the Demon Gods, Zhongli had a prior agreement with the Salt Demon God Heuria and the "King of Mortals".

First, be more lenient with her people; if there are conflicts, be lenient in all cases. Second, take good care of her people; reduce unnecessary corvée labor as much as possible. Third, allow the people of the Salt Goddess to continue to retain their faith in the Salt Goddess.

These three agreements, which can be collectively referred to as the "two more and one permission," secured control of Liyue's underground water veins and the allegiance of the Salt God's people, allowing Zhongli to quickly quell the Demon God War with minimal sacrifice.

In the name of the God of Contracts, Zhongli will never violate the contracts he has made during his reign.

The head of the Silver Plains Hall on Tianji Star back then was also the leader of the Salt God's remnants.

If the descendants of the Salt God still worship the Salt Demon God Heuria today, just as Wanyan did, then it was the same four hundred years ago.

The fundamental purpose of the "reforms" implemented by the Celestial Pivot Star was to unite the power of the wealthy merchants of Liyue and strengthen the power of the Salt God's remnants—for a country, the economy is naturally one of the most powerful forces.

Zhuji intends to secretly usurp power from Liyue by controlling the economic lifeline.

Of course he would fail; he has already failed.

For Zhongli, all of these things were under his control.

Even if Ye Mingxiang hadn't been there, and the Seven Stars Conference had actually passed Zhuji's proposal, this "reform" would certainly have failed—not to mention, Yuehaiting still had a three-thousand-year-old permanent secretary watching over things. Even if the policy were passed, civil servants could completely distort it during implementation.

For these reasons, Zhongli could solve everything without killing anyone.

The ambitions of the Salt God's descendants are like those of a certain Chinese Minister of Water Resources who surrendered but secretly kept his weapons and radio—they won't make a ripple at all.

But Ye Mingxiang was unaware of these things.

He would never know why Zhongli preserved the faith of the salt god's descendants.

Han Fulai knew, but he couldn't say it.

Demons are immortal.

The slain demon god only lost his personality and physical body, but his energy is immortal.

Zhongli sealed the Salt God's relics for thousands of years, hoping to one day reopen them.

The land of Liyue is filled with suppressed and sealed demon gods.

Zhongli had already prepared to resurrect them in another form—as a force against the laws of nature.

Zhongli can take in the remnants of the Salt God, so he can certainly take in the remnants of the Kanria. The fact that he would sit idly by while Ye Mingxiang, this "Kanria spy," rose to a high position in Liyue is itself a statement of his stance.

However, Zhongli's attitude towards Kanria is also something that cannot be revealed.

He may not know, but he cannot deliberately help Canria.

Han Fulai fully understood Zhong Li's actions and Ye Mingxiang's thoughts.

For someone with ideals, nothing is more painful than the shattering of those ideals; Han Fulai once had such an experience.

So he could only remain silent.

“From that day on, I was already a dead man in Liyue. The mission Krodal gave me also failed, so there was no point in me staying in Liyue. In the following hundreds of years, I traveled around Teyvat…” Ye Mingxiang said, a bitter smile appearing on her face, “It was all the same. It was all the same everywhere.”

Chapter 293 Today I Heard a Leisurely Tale, and My Name Is the First in the List [4k]

Ye Mingxiang pressed her hand against the scar on her chest.

His fingers slowly scratched through the dry skin.

No blood flowed out; his veins contained only black "karmic obstacles."

"The nobles of Mondstadt are arrogant and domineering, the magistrates of Inazuma exploit everyone from top to bottom, the courts of Fontaine disregard human life, and the academic cliques of Sumeru hold absolute power... The people of Winterfell sacrifice everything for their empress, but their lives are merely fuel in the furnace of ambition, while the people of Natalya never leave the volcanic region, generation after generation turning to ashes in endless wars..."

"This is the nation ruled by the seven gods of the mortal world, this is the kingdom of God. The gods will only watch their people suffer without doing anything, this is 'God loves the world'!"

His fingers dug into his chest.

"'The curse of immortality' is indeed a curse. This curse prevents me from closing my eyes and from seeing all of this. There is no such thing as 'justice' in this world."

“I am the cursed one. I know you see me as another species, like those cursed beings turned into monsters. But I am not the only one cursed. Not only the Kanriyans. Doesn’t everyone in this world live under an eternal curse?”

Han Fulai remained silent.

He remembered what Zhongli had told him in the Salt God Ruins.

—The demon god is not human.

"The reason I'm telling you this is so that you know that I'm different from you. As a demon god, my rules of conduct are different from those of humans."

That's what Zhongli said to him back then.

Demons can take on countless forms; their human form is merely for convenience in traversing the world. They are fundamentally different from humans—their understanding of "love" is also different from that of humans.

Even the understanding of "love" differs among the various demon gods.

The way they rule the country is the way they love their people.

“I wish my people to have the power to choose. This is my wish as the ‘God of Covenants’.”

—These are the words Zhongli said to him at the time.

For Zhongli, granting all humanity the "power to choose" is the way this "God of Contracts" shows his love. To free humanity from the dictates of fate and allow them to choose their own happiness... For this goal, the oldest demon of Teyvat embarked on a path of rebellion against the laws of nature.

But Han Fulai still couldn't say this to anyone.

The "Layered Rock Nail" from Sky Island still hangs in mid-air, like a silent backdrop.

Han Fulai suddenly remembered Zhiyi, who was now in the depths of winter—being an undercover agent was a truly painful thing.

The loneliness of being surrounded by enemies and the fear of walking on thin ice can easily drive someone mad.

Speaking of which, Zhongli has been a "confidant of the imperial court" for thousands of years.

"Twenty years ago, I returned to Liyue and went to Liyue Harbor again. Four hundred years have passed, and Liyue Harbor has changed a lot. The city has expanded, the buildings are taller, and there are more people. I don't recognize any of the shops on the dock... But some things haven't changed." Ye Mingxiang's eyes flickered.

"I saw laborers unloading cargo at the dock, carrying loads almost as heavy as themselves from the ship to the dock, trip after trip..."

That day, Ye Mingxiang returned to Liyue Harbor and entered the city through the North Gate.

His appearance has changed drastically since then. The people of Winter Solstice are known for their fierceness, and since his return from Winter Solstice, he has grown a full beard and looks quite like a valiant warrior. Even acquaintances would probably find it difficult to recognize him—and almost everyone who saw him in Liyue Harbor is no longer alive.

The Liyue Harbor North Wharf was bustling with activity, but he blended in unnoticed among the crowd.

A laborer wearing a coarse cloth shirt had just finished unloading a batch of goods. His bronze skin was covered with beads of sweat the size of soybeans, and he was leaning against the side of the cargo box to rest.

Ye Mingxiang patted his shoulder: "Excuse me, where are some places to drink tea around here?"

This wasn't the first time the laborer had been asked for directions; merchants traveling from the north and south who couldn't find their way would usually ask the locals.

Seeing that Ye Mingxiang looked like a bodyguard traveling with merchants, a job that was hard work, the laborer felt a little friendly and immediately replied, "If you want to drink good tea, head south to Chihu Rock. That place has the most teahouses and taverns. If you're just thirsty and want to find a bowl of water, go to 'Baiju Inn' up ahead and say hello to the landlady. She always has refreshing barley tea on hand, and it's free."

Ye Mingxiang thanked the laborer, took a few steps, then turned back and asked, "By the way, I'd like to inquire about the current market rates at the dock if I have goods that I need you to unload."

The laborer held up two fingers, "Twenty thousand moraes a day is enough."

Four hundred years have passed, and the wages of dockworkers have only increased from 10,000 moras per day to 20,000 moras per day.

Ye Mingxiang recalled the days when he ran a tea shop in Liyue Harbor, where he used to pay the waiters 20,000 Mora a day. He smiled and asked, "How long have you been doing this? Have you thought about changing jobs?"

"I've been working at this dock for over ten years." The laborer returned a simple, honest smile. "All I have is this much strength. Earning money with my strength gives me peace of mind."

Just then, the sound of horses neighing and people shouting rang out from not far away.

Ye Mingxiang looked in the direction of the sound and saw two tall, pure white horses with their front hooves raised, and the grooms were shouting and pulling on the reins.

A laborer lay sprawled beside the carriage, the fruit he had been carrying on his shoulder now scattered on the ground, and he struggled to get up for a long time.

"Didn't I tell you to hurry back to the manor? Who gave you permission to stop?" A head popped out of the lavishly decorated carriage. It was a girl of about twelve or thirteen, with a pretty and lovely face and long, smooth black hair like silk. She was pouting, her face full of dissatisfaction.

"I'm so sorry, Miss, the horse spooked... and hit someone." The coachman tumbled off the seat in a panic, bowing repeatedly in apology. He looked more like he had offended a devil than a little girl.

The young lady glanced at the workers on the ground, then turned her gaze back to the two white horses.

"Is my horse alright?"

"No, no," the driver quickly shook his head.

"Hmph, consider him lucky." The young lady curled her lip and said to the coachman, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and drive! At the luncheon later, there will be a famous chef that my father specially invited from Fontainebleau to make a special dish called 'King Crab Lobster' using Inazuma's 'General Crab' and Mondstadt's 'Thorn Dragon'. You can't taste it anywhere else. If you delay the meal, you'll have to compensate me."

At this moment, the laborer who had been knocked down managed to straighten half of his body, his right rib covered in bruises, clearly needing immediate medical attention.

The coachman looked at the injured worker with a troubled expression.

"But...Miss, this...isn't that a bit inappropriate..."

Suddenly, the young lady jumped out of the carriage and kicked the driver in the face.