He changed Tiwat

The driver immediately started bleeding from his nose.

The young lady stood with her hands on her hips and angrily scolded, "When my grandfather was the head of the Heji Hall, your grandfather was making a living on the streets of Huyan by doing foot massages! You don't even have a head in your family, yet you dare to teach me how to do things? If my Jiang family didn't give you a job, you could live in a slum like Huyan for ten lifetimes and never even get close to me!"

The nearby workers noticed the commotion and gathered around in twos and threes. Some helped their coworkers up from the ground, while others stopped the carriage to grab the reins.

"Don't think you can get away with hitting someone!"

"That's right! Come with me to the General Affairs Department!"

The young lady swiftly retreated into the carriage, only to emerge a second later, carrying a gold-inlaid and jade-decorated sword.

She brandished her sword and slashed at the laborers surrounding her, her moves surprisingly skillful, clearly indicating she had studied swordsmanship. Had she not been young and weak, she might have easily dislocated one of the laborers blocking the cart.

The laborer was cut by her and cried out in pain. The surrounding workers were even more indignant and rolled up their sleeves to surround her.

Miss Jiang showed no fear, pointing her sword at the crowd: "You lowly people, trying to rob me?! I'll lock you all in jail, you believe me?"

If she could just hold on a little longer, the entourage she had just shaken off would arrive. Standing on the carriage, she could see the attendants and guards running towards her, panting heavily. With the Jiang family's influence in Dali Prefecture, she truly meant what she said—that she could throw someone in jail.

Just then, the sword in her hand suddenly rang out with a "ding".

Then, this sword, forged through countless trials, suddenly broke into two pieces out of thin air.

Miss Jiang was in a daze when she suddenly saw an unfamiliar bearded man appear before her.

The strange occurrence of the broken sword must be related to the person in front of us.

"You dare break my things! Do you know who I am? My surname is Jiang!" Miss Jiang said angrily. "Believe me or not, I'll tell my father and have you punished."

The man reached out and covered her head.

A chill ran from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.

"Surname Jiang? Never heard of him."

With those five fingers pressing down on her head, Miss Jiang experienced the fear of death for the first time in her life.

Her usually sharp tongue dared not utter a single word—for her intuition told her that uttering even one more word would mean certain death.

"Uncle Qianyanjun! Something happened here!"

A slightly childish voice came from behind, and a barefoot little girl selling fish was leading the Qianyan soldiers on patrol nearby as they hurried over.

"What a pity," Ye Mingxiang sighed softly.

He brushed his hand over the head of the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, and then suddenly disappeared.

A gust of wind blew by, and Miss Jiang felt a chill on her head as her long hair fell down—her head looked as if it had been shaved, leaving her bald.

Miss Jiang burst into tears and hid inside the carriage.

Jiang Lingjun, the only daughter of the Jiang family of Kaiyang Star and the head of Baishui Hall, started wearing short hair and dressed as a man at the age of thirteen, the reason for which was unknown to the world.

—Only Ningguang from back then knows the truth.

Twenty years ago, a storyteller in Liyue Harbor wrote a story called "The Complete Story of the Bearded Gentleman," which tells the tale of a bearded knight-errant who upholds justice and helps the weak.

The story of the Bearded Man was later adapted into a paper puppet show and performed at the North Wharf of Liyue Harbor. It was an essential performance for festivals and was widely loved by children.

After Ye Mingxiang finished recounting her past, Jiang Xue couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.

He knew all too well that the wealthy and powerful families on the Jade Capital Terrace were often disreputable in private, but he never imagined they had become so arrogant.

The Liyue Sept are known for their low profile, but their families are not necessarily so.

—This is probably what many people really think: if wealth and status are not displayed in public, it's no different from wearing fine clothes at night.

The eldest daughter of the Jiang family that my senior brother encountered was notoriously arrogant and domineering. Now it seems that it might not just be her nature.

"...In your eyes, Hilichurls and humans are not the same species, while in the eyes of those people, humans are not the same species either."

"The poor in the eyes of the rich, the commoners in the eyes of the nobles... are not human beings."

Ye Mingxiang slowly dug her hand into her chest, grasped the silver blade, and slowly pulled it out of her chest.

This is a wound he has carried for four hundred years.

“I know that people are born into different social classes, that the heavens bring both fortune and misfortune, and that the world is full of coldness and warmth. This is the ‘justice’ that the gods give to people… but I do not accept it.”

The broken blade fell to the ground with a clang.

This cry was his farewell to the past.

From that moment on, Ye Mingxiang told herself that her past self was indeed dead.

Now, all that remains of his chest is a deep crater.

“There was once a man who lived in a place with a deep pit. One day, he wanted to know just how deep the pit was. He lowered a rope to probe it, but the rope was too short; he threw in a stone, but it went silent. He was very curious, extremely curious. What do you think could satisfy his curiosity?”

Ye Mingxiang's question was directed at Han Fulai.

Han Fulai looked at Ye Mingxiang and replied in a deep voice, "He jumped into the deep pit to find out firsthand just how deep it was."

"I have not yet been able to land."

Ye Mingxiang pointed to the deep hole in her chest.

I want to know the answer to this.

“I… can help you find the answer, we can all help you,” Han Fulai said earnestly.

But Ye Mingxiang shook her head.

"The only one who can help me is myself. You and I are not on the same path."

He paused, then said, "You think that once you destroyed the energy core of the 'Seven Heirs Insects,' the matter is over, isn't it?"

Han Fulai's expression suddenly hardened. His intuition told him that Ye Mingxiang was not bluffing, and that the matter was not over.

But what did he miss? What else did he fail to think of?

A stone appeared in Ye Mingxiang's hand.

A blue-purple crystal with spiral patterns on its surface.

That was the crystal he had picked up next to the "Seven Heirs".

The stone, known as "Lapis Lazuli Crystal" by the Liyue Asgardians, is a crystallization of power from beyond this world.

"Have you ever thought about why the 'Seven Sons Worm' of Kanria stayed in the Abyss of Rocky Lair? Remember the worm in the Book of Kings? It spun silk. The silk it spun helped Haftarvid's Kingdom of Kerman become the most prosperous country. The true value of the 'Haftavid Worm' lies not in the worm itself, but in the silk it spun."

"The Laminar Rock Abyss is not a naturally formed deep pit, and the glassy sand that is unique to the Laminar Rock Abyss is not a naturally formed mineral."

Ye Mingxiang held up the "cold glass crystal" in her hand.

"This is what I've been looking for, something that can only be obtained by awakening the 'Seven Heirs'."

He inserted the "Cold Crystal" into his chest.

The pit has been filled.

Chapter 294 The Birth of the Abyss God [4k]

The situation changed drastically, and Han Fulai couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Before this, he thought that with the lucky buff from the "wishing stone," everything would go smoothly.

His reason for stopping the confrontation between Jiang Xue and Ye Mingxiang was to steer the situation towards reconciliation—this had nothing to do with emotional factors. Before hearing about Ye Mingxiang's past, Han Fulai didn't know what Ye Mingxiang's true thoughts were, and of course, he had no relationship or empathy with her.

What he truly valued was the information Ye Mingxiang possessed.

Jiang Xue's senior brother hailed from Kanria, possessed royal blood, had joined the Abyss Order, maintained close ties with the Fools, and had lived for several hundred years. His experiences over those years were invaluable. Detailed information about Kanria, the Abyss Order, the Fools… these forces had always been kept secret in the game, and even Han Fulai, as a transmigrator, knew very little about them.

Especially the mysterious organization, the "Abyss Order," which even Zhongli didn't know much about. He had now disrupted the Order's "purification ritual," ruined their plan to contaminate the "Layered Rock Nails," and directly or indirectly caused the deaths of several Abyss Apostles... With such a deep grudge, he really couldn't be at ease without gathering more information.

Ye Mingxiang was practically a walking intelligence treasure trove for him. Even though they were on different sides and couldn't be allies, he still hoped to extract as much information as possible from her.

Unfortunately, his "luck" clearly hasn't reached the level of "wish fulfillment".

"Have you ever thought about why the 'Seven Heirs' of Kanria would remain in the Layered Rock Abyss?"

Ye Mingxiang asked him this question before.

—To be honest, Han Fulai had really thought about this issue.

But before Ye Mingxiang told him, he didn't know that the thing was called "Seven Heirs Worm" or anything about the "Chronicles of Kings".

So he always thought that the giant serpent of the ruins of Kanria would remain here simply to open a passage to the abyss and release the monsters from the abyss.

Then, five hundred years ago, Kanria was destroyed, and this giant serpent of the ruins lost its manipulator, and has remained silent underground ever since.

Logically speaking, this explanation makes perfect sense, so Han Fulai naturally assumed that Ye Mingxiang wanted the energy core mounted on the giant serpent in the ruins.

Dainesreib had previously told him in the ancient ruins that the "Order of the Abyss" was carrying out a project called "The Loom of Fate," and one of the key points of that project was to find the "First Ruin Guardian" in Mondstadt and extract its energy core. According to Dainesreib, this energy core was the initial prototype, using technology from the Abyss, and was very different from the later mass-produced Ruin Guardians.

However, the Abyss Order's plan failed because Daines Reeb, together with the Traveler Luminous, seized the energy core from the Order and is now keeping it in a safe place.

Based on this clue, Han Fulai deduced that the giant serpent in the ruins contained a special energy core, and devised a plan to destroy the energy core with the help of the "Layer Rock Nail".

The most unique part of the relic guardians in Kanria, also known as the "One-Eyed Treasure" series, is their energy core.

Five hundred years have passed since the destruction of Kanria, yet the Ruins Guardians can still operate on their own, relying on more than just stored energy. Han Fulai recalled a quest he had done in a game before, which mentioned that the Ruins Guardians had the ability to draw energy from the ley lines to sustain themselves.

The energy core within the giant serpent is likely the most unique among all mechanical creations in Kanria. To power its enormous body, it naturally requires far more energy than a typical energy core. As seen in the battle with the "Apostle of Fate," that energy core is practically equivalent to a nuclear reactor with unlimited energy; its ability to draw energy from the earth's veins even produced a "breathing sound" from the serpent.

Although it pollutes the abyss energy and isn't exactly a "clean energy source," its power is undeniable—the ability to cause earthquakes alone is terrifyingly destructive. Imagine if this behemoth did nothing but lurk underground, drawing energy from the ley lines, causing earthquakes every few days; no one could withstand that.

For Kanria, this giant serpent of the ruins was like a "continental shelf oscillator" from science fiction!

That's why Han Fulai was annoyed. He should have realized that the giant serpent of the ruins wasn't just a simple "Kanria brand tunnel boring machine"—tunnel boring machines don't need to create earthquakes.

If Han Fulai were a Kanriyan, he would definitely use this thing as a strategic weapon to threaten the enemy's capital city. For example, he could have the Ruin Serpent excavate from underground to the vicinity of Liyue Harbor, and then extract ley lines to create an earthquake that would collapse Liyue Harbor... Just like the tsunami unleashed by Oser and Barchak, the mere existence of such a "weather weapon" would be enough to deter and restrain the enemy, forcing them to devote most of their forces to defending against such a devastating attack.

Why did the Kanreans only send such a strategic weapon to dig a tunnel? Why did they leave it unattended for hundreds of years?

Han Fulai has now found a better explanation: this "Haftavid worm" was sent to the special place of the Abyss of Lapis Lazuli to seek "power from beyond the world." This is even more significant than its role as a strategic weapon—as described in the Shahnameh, a power that could truly shake the rule of Sky Isles!

This is certainly not his responsibility. His analysis and reasoning are based on existing intelligence, and the lack of intelligence led his reasoning to the wrong result.

He realized that Ye Mingxiang was seeking a powerful force to fight against Sky Island, but she had misunderstood the source of that power.

If Han Fulai had discovered this earlier, he would never have given Ye Mingxiang the chance to get close to the remains of the giant snake in the ruins.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing.

As the "Glazed Frost Crystal" merged into Ye Mingxiang's body, Han Fulai and Jiang Xue witnessed his transformation firsthand. Centered on the "Glazed Frost Crystal," swirling patterns identical to those on the stone suddenly appeared on his chest, and blue and purplish-black stripes emerged on his skin, as if he had been assimilated by the power of the crystal.

A layer of almost tangible black mist emanated from his body.

Han Fulai found this layer of black mist very familiar. The "Apostle of Fate," who had just lost his physical body and was smashed to pieces by the "Layer of Rock Nails," had also displayed a similar black mist-like soul form. Moreover, Han Fulai had seen the remnants of the sea god possessing Shen He at the bottom of the sea, and this black mist was extremely similar to the remnants of the demon god he had seen before.

This is... he changed the form of life?

Without jumping for leverage or casting spells, Ye Mingxiang didn't even make any movement; she simply floated slowly in front of Han Fulai and the others.

—Flying is the privilege of touching the sky, a symbol of transcending the human form.

Looking at Ye Mingxiang's appearance, it was as if a lightning bolt struck Han Fulai's mind.

He remembered what Shi Qing had told him during the Lantern Festival.

At that time, he and Keqing were walking on the long street of "Xiaoshi" at night when they saw a wealthy merchant donating floating stones to Wangya of the General Affairs Department to build "Mingxiao Lantern".

Unlike ordinary floating stones, the floating stones donated by wealthy merchants were brightly colored, including blue and red.

"Ordinary people usually use common green floating stone fragments to make lanterns and for donations. But wealthy merchants in Feiyunpo often use 'Lansheng Stone' and 'Xiasheng Stone'... This, to some extent, is a symbol of their status and wealth." That's what Keqing told him at the time.

Both of these types of floating stones are relatively rare.

Occasionally, some common shrubs in the northern part of Tianheng Mountain undergo mutations, commonly known as "Puffy Fruits." Their roots contain blue floating stones called "Mist Stones." The "Puffy Fruits" are actually just the seeds of these shrubs; their ability to swell so large and levitate is due to the influence of the "Mist Stones."

The red "Radiant Stones" are extremely dangerous to ordinary people. On the Guili Plain, the old "Ruin Hunters" who have lost their ability to fly rely on "Radiant Stones" to maintain their flight. Most "Radiant Stones" are obtained from the remains of "Ruin Hunters"—simply put, they are like energy blocks for the Ruin Guardians.

Moreover, during the reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion, he also heard some merchants talk about the rumors about the Floating Life Stone. It is said that the magic of the Floating Life Stone can attract demons, and large pieces of Floating Life Stone are often found in some mines where demons gather.

Han Fulai had never delved into why the Floating Stone possessed the power to levitate; however, the explanation that it contained wind elemental power seemed plausible. The rumor that the Floating Stone attracted monsters could also be explained by the fact that some monsters were fond of elemental forces.

But now that I think about it, why did the Ruins Guardian choose to charge the Floating Stone instead of something else?

The energy core of the Ruins Guardian uses the power of the Abyss, so what exactly is the energy contained in the Floating Stone?

In addition, it's not just elemental forces that attract monsters; abyssal power also attracts monsters. For example, he saw many monsters stained with black mud in the Layered Rock Abyss.

Moreover... apart from Liyue, no other country has Floating Stones.

"The Laminar Rock Abyss is not a naturally formed deep pit, and the glassy sand that is unique to the Laminar Rock Abyss is not a naturally formed mineral."

Ye Mingxiang's words echoed in his mind again and again.