He changed Tiwat

Seeing that Han Fulai did not answer, Ningguang shook her head and took a step back.

"Don't worry, I just want a space where I can talk quietly without anyone peeping in."

As Ningguang spoke, she lightly tapped her finger, and the Lock of the Mortal Realm left her control, rising and hovering in mid-air on its own, seemingly operating as the core of the array in this outdoor space, rather than a weapon.

"There are some things I can only say here."

Ningguang spread her hands, indicating that she had no intention of using force.

Han Fulai stared coldly at Ningguang, the tip of the Salt Sorrow Spear in his hand drooping slightly.

“I will tell you the origin of this ‘Locking of the Mortal World’ and some secrets I know. This is my ‘sincerity’. Whether you believe me or not, you can decide for yourself after hearing it. Of course, you can also take action now if you want…” Ningguang revealed a provocative smile, “but you can’t beat me. Also, don’t bring any flowers with you when you fight.”

Han Fulai's lips twitched, and his indifferent expression finally crumbled.

That's the most annoying thing about Ningguang. She calculates everything so clearly. Like when you're bargaining, she can see right through your bottom line and then cuts the price in half to test your limits.

Han Fulai was now holding a gun in one hand and the glass lily in the other, unsure whether to put it away or throw it away—a truly awkward situation. Even if he tried to maintain a cold expression, Ningguang had already seen through his reluctance to fight.

He finally put away the gun and the flowers.

"Please speak, Lady Ningguang. I am all ears."

Ningguang looked at his helpless expression, tilted her head slightly, rested her chin on her hand, and her wine-red eyes were full of laughter.

"Hmm...where should I begin? Let's start with the 'Eye of God'."

"No one can explain how the Eye of God was born. It always appears out of thin air, leaving countless unappreciated seekers in vain."

"The empty shell of the unclaimed Eye of God is something left behind after the user's death. It contains no elemental power and there is no specific method to awaken it. It only has a very small chance of resonating with a person, and multiple people are not allowed to try repeatedly..."

"You've probably heard the stories circulating in Liyue, right? The stories about how I obtained that Vision."

Han Fulai nodded.

The origin of Ningguang's Eye of God is a common topic in storytelling, and he had certainly heard of it before.

It is said that Ningguang's Eye of God is the empty shell left behind by the deceased holder of the Eye of God.

When Ningguang first saw these empty shells, her immediate thought was: another new business opportunity has presented itself. If these empty shells were auctioned off, the wealthy would surely spend lavishly. Even if they couldn't resonate with the spirits, using them to decorate one's doorstep would be a superior business... If there were multiple channels to acquire empty shells, wouldn't that create a long-term trade?

At that time, Ningguang was playing with the empty shell of the Eye of God while writing the auction plan. Thinking of the rolling wealth, her smile became even brighter, and her eyes even turned into the shape of Mora. Well, although the storyteller couldn't possibly be there, Tian Tiezui and Liu Su always talked about this in this tone. If the audience asked them, they might even retort, "How do you know I wasn't there?"

In short, just as Ningguang was preoccupied with her grand plans to make a fortune, the empty shell of the Eye of God shone brightly.

As the Eye of God awakened, Ningguang's smile gradually froze.

Ningguang's attendant—the storyteller usually arranges for one of the following to appear randomly: Baiwen, Baishi, or Baixiao—pushes in through the door and, upon seeing the awakened Eye of God in Ningguang's hand, immediately congratulates his master on acquiring this precious treasure.

Ningguang, however, looked displeased and said irritably, "What's there to congratulate? It's already been opened, how can it still be sold?!"

—Upon hearing this, the audience would generally sigh that Tianquan Star truly deserves to be the richest person in Liyue. His money-grubbing attitude could not be more in line with people's impression of Ningguang. What is the Eye of God? It can't be sold for money. Is it more important than Mora?

Although there are various dialogues and interpretations of this story, they all follow the same template of "Ningguang being greedy for money and obtaining the Eye of God". People who hear it will think, "There is a reason why rich people get rich. Look, she even dares to sell the Eye of God."

People who form this impression often fail to notice where Ningguang's empty Eye of God came from.

There is an even more important question—what made her awaken the Eye of God?

Because of greed? Because of the desire to make money? Then wouldn't everyone have divine insight?

"...So this story is fake," Han Fulai replied.

“Yes, it’s fake. I made it up myself,” Ningguang laughed. “Most people don’t have the Eye of God, so they naturally don’t know why the Eye of God has awakened. But truly discerning people will realize that the reason for this awakening is fake, and will only laugh at the storyteller for making things up—but they will also overlook the fact that even the Eye of God itself is fake.”

"So what is the truth?" Han Fulai asked.

“It’s treasure hunting.” Ningguang pointed to the Lock of the Mortal World floating above her head. “It is the treasure left behind by the God of Dust, Gui Zhong. It is the treasure I found in the ruins of Gui Li Yuan when I was young.”

"Back then, I was not as old as Ke Qing is now, and my 'Ningguang Merchant Guild' was just starting out and was far from being as large as it is today. In order to make money, I racked my brains to develop various sources of goods, and even had the idea of ​​treasure hunting."

“You know, there are all kinds of ruins on the land of Liyue, many of which are secret realms that have been sealed for thousands of years without being discovered, burying countless ancient treasures. Any one of them is priceless. So I want to compete with those treasure-hunting groups for business.”

"I searched all over Liyue Harbor for clues about the ruins, and then I remembered that I had seen a learned guest in the 'Hall of Rebirth' when I was a child, so I went to ask him. Then that guest told me the clues about the Guiliji ruins."

Han Fulai grinned, thinking to himself, "As expected, the root of all evil is you, Zhongli."

"Following that gentleman's guidance, I found five stone tablets in the Guili Plains ruins. That was the former site of Liyue Harbor, the location of 'Guili Village,' and the stone tablets were carved by the ancestors of Liyue. Although the inscriptions were incomplete, I was still able to decipher important information from them."

Ningguang closed her eyes and recited the contents of the stone tablet: "...Initially, it prospered because of agriculture, and people gathered to form a market...A god descended, named 'Gui Zhong,' who was good at raising dust, which covered the sky for thousands of miles...He gave four admonitions to all the people...Later, another god descended, using rocks as vessels, and moved the people of Liyue to the market to protect them together—taking the names of the two gods, the market was named 'Gui Li.'"

"That was also the first time I heard the name Gui Zhong. What I'm searching for is the relic of this demon god. According to the inscription on the stone tablet, Liyue was originally ruled by two gods. In other words, Gui Zhong can be considered an ancestor of the people of Liyue. But there's something I don't understand..."

“Look, even the Salt God has descendants still alive, so why do we never worship Gui Zhong? There are still ruins left in Gui Li Yuan, and this goddess is very powerful and has a good relationship with the Emperor. What happened that made her name not even known in Liyue Harbor?”

"There are some strange patterns on those five stone tablets. I made rubbings of the stone tablets and pieced them together to form a topographical map. Well, it is obvious that someone drew a treasure map to guide future generations to find the treasure."

"I continued searching along the terrain indicated by the treasure map and found two more stone tablets buried underground."

"A stone is engraved with the ending of Guizhong: ...The battle took place at 'Guili Plain,' when black dust filled the sky and thousands of rocks shattered..."

"And on another piece it is written: 'Teach them with wisdom, discipline them with virtue, strengthen their sinews and bones, and let their will be united. These four things together form the Guili Collection.' The homeland is hard to leave. The treasure is in Guili, which leads to the 'Four Admonitions of Returning to the End.' Future generations who wish to achieve their goals should use this to examine their own hearts..."

Han Fulai stroked his chin, pondering to himself. This is both a precept and a test; the ancient people who carved stone tablets certainly wouldn't have done it. Why make it so complicated? If there really is a treasure, they could just write it down clearly.

This kind of "riddler" style, where several pillars are erected in the four cardinal directions and the seal can only be broken by unlocking them in sequence, and when you are given something, you are left with a bunch of questions that are hard to understand... Han Fulai had encountered this style in "Salt in the Earth" before. Needless to say, it was Zhongli who did it.

Ningguang's discovery of the Dust God's inheritance, just like his acquisition of the Salt God's inheritance, was part of Zhongli's scheme.

In other words, before he traveled through time, before Han Fulai existed on the Teyvat continent, Zhongli had actually found a successor and trained her to become the "Geo Queen" of Liyue.

Ningguang continued, “‘Teach them with wisdom, discipline them with virtue, strengthen their bones and muscles, and unite their wills. When these four are combined, they will form the Guili Collection.’ This sentence is actually the riddle and also the qualification for treasure hunters. Only those who meet the ‘Four Commandments of Guizhong’ can receive the inheritance of Guizhong. To solve this riddle, the most important thing is ‘wisdom,’ and coincidentally, my mind is not bad.”

"These four clues point to four ruins in Guili Plain, and the mechanisms inside the ruins need to be solved using these four clues. Oh dear, you know we merchants are usually the ones who use our brains. As a result, that treasure hunt involved climbing mountains and wading through rivers, and I almost died in the ruins... But all that effort paid off. After solving the four mechanisms, I obtained clues to the location of the treasure, as well as the secret code to unlock the mechanisms."

"His wisdom is like water, benefiting all things, and serving as a mirror for self-reflection."

"His virtue is like a tree, providing shade for a room, and its life continues endlessly."

"Strengthen your muscles and bones, and act when the time is right."

"With one heart and one mind, our resolve will endure forever."

"Actually, these 'Four Commandments of the End' can also be considered a treasure. It is because of these four teachings that I am the person you see today."

Yes, recognizing people like a mirror, being good at nurturing talent, waiting for the right time to act, and remaining steadfast in one's will—this is how Ningguang came to be today.

Ningguang had already told him this before the Battle of Bacha—

"I, Ningguang, only know one move. I've been training for a thousand days, but I'm going to use it in one day."

No wonder Zhongli said something profound to him before opening the Salt God Ruins.

Zhongli said, "That's fair."

Without the legacy of the Demon God, how could he possibly fight against the successor of the Dust God?

So, Liyue had a crown prince who waited twenty years to ascend the throne… only to be transported to another world. Then, suddenly, the old emperor said to her, "Shall we depose the eldest son and establish a more virtuous one?"

Chapter 417 When asked if I had it, I truly didn't. [4k]

Han Fulai gazed silently at the heavens.

It turns out that in Ningguang's eyes, he really was a younger brother... When she wasn't vying for the position, she genuinely treated him like a "royal younger brother".

So Ningguang was trying to win him over and promote him from the very beginning, because at that time she considered him "one of her own," a representative of the civil service team that the Emperor had brought to assist her, and she was even the examiner for Han Fulai's successful civil service exam.

If he had simply stayed a quiet and unassuming secretary, and Ningguang had smoothly ascended to the throne of Tianquan, given his achievements, Ningguang might have even bestowed upon him the title of General of Tiance or made him a prince of Qin...

Even though he and Ningguang had a falling out after that date, Ningguang never officially broke off their relationship. Later, when they were fighting against the Northern Bank, the two of them cooperated well even without meeting each other, and she never tripped him up.

The two truly entered into a confrontation after Zhongli opened the Salt God Ruins for him.

—I thought Ningguang was a hostile visitor, but now it seems I am the one who came here.

Many "minor details" that he had never paid attention to before now seem to make sense when he thinks about them.

For example, during the Battle of Oser, even the immortals like Liuyun Zhenjun did not receive a dream from the Emperor, nor did the other seven stars know about it. Why was Ningguang the only one to receive it?

For example, why would she dare to trust Han Fulai, this newcomer and "younger brother," and let him command the battle?

Why did Ningguang initially not consider the involvement of the immortals and instead try to resolve the conflict using human power alone?

What makes Ningguang so certain that smashing down the Jade Pavilion will solve the problem of Oser?

If Ningguang was determined to rule by man, why would she accept Han Fulai's plan to distribute political benefits and implement a system of joint rule by humans and immortals?

If we introduce the condition that "Ningguang is the Crown Prince of Liyue", everything becomes clear.

—It's all an act. Zhongli is acting, and Ningguang is acting too.

The Battle of Ausel was originally Ningguang's "Crown Prince Ascension" ceremony. The destruction of the Jade Pavilion was to win over the immortals. It should have been a play with Ningguang as the protagonist! How Ausel was fought didn't matter, because it was just a play. The key to the play was whether the protagonist, Ningguang, could steal the spotlight!

Ningguang was able to accept his plan because he recognized her as his "sister" on the spot, because Han Fulai was both the Emperor's person and her person, and Han Fulai's achievements were also her achievements!

—Because Han Fulai was “a celestial being at Yuehai Pavilion and a human being at Qunyu Pavilion,” he was able to please everyone.

His greatest value lies not in his talent, but in his position.

The value of Han Fulai lies in his united front work.

With him as her "younger brother," Ningguang doesn't need to worry about the elder immortals like Lord Liuyun; she only needs to maintain a good relationship with him. Ningguang might even think he's someone the Emperor specifically sent to act as a bridge between her and the immortals, a crucial ally in her rule of Liyue.

In the original game storyline that Han Fulai knew, Ningguang reached the pinnacle of her reputation by destroying the Jade Pavilion in the battle of Ocel, thus truly achieving "Heaven's Authority as Supreme." Keqing, on the other hand, was practically a junior character in the original storyline. Despite being a seven-star character, she essentially did everything to assist Ningguang. Players even jokingly said that Ningguang was only a four-star character because she lent Keqing a star…

If it weren't for this time traveler changing the plot, Liyue would already be in a state of "heavenly authority reigning supreme".

Liyue was already Ningguang's Liyue.

Han Fulai can now truly understand Ningguang's feelings. In his previous world, there was another unfortunate person who had been the crown prince for almost seventy years before finally ascending to the throne... He had an emperor with an exceptionally long reign above him, and he had been diligently working his way up in the Eastern Palace, his hair turning white from the hard work. Just when he was about to take the throne, the old emperor said, "Why don't you and your brother compete for the position?"

Zhongli, why did you have to depose the eldest son and install a worthy successor? Deposing the eldest son and installing a worthy successor has always been a path to chaos! Countless emperors in history have learned this bloody lesson!

There's no point in arguing about birth order; just accept it. Deposing the eldest son and establishing the most virtuous one is just forcing everyone into a vicious cycle of competition and backstabbing! Only by killing the "more virtuous" heir can one prove that they are the most "virtuous"!

Oh, Zhongli didn't rise to power from ancient times. He was the founding emperor, and he sat on the throne for 3,700 years. He even rose to power through force. For him, rising to power through fists was the only way to go from ancient times... Never mind then.

Seeing the changes in his expression, Ningguang could guess what he was thinking, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she continued, "When this 'Chain of the Mortal World' appeared before me, it wasn't the way you see it now."

"It's very similar to an ancient puzzle game passed down by our Liyue ancestors, called 'Renzao Liuhe'. Renzao refers to mortise and tenon joints. Liuhe refers to the four directions. This was used by ancient building craftsmen to train apprentices in mortise and tenon techniques, joining together disordered mortise and tenon joints to form a cube, and then assembling it into a whole through orderly rotation."

"Some say that this thing was taught to the ancient people of Liyue by the Emperor when he taught them architectural techniques, but now it seems that the one who invented this thing was actually the god of dust, Gui Zhong."

"At that time, I was faced with eight irregularly arranged corner pieces, and the connection between the mortise and tenon joints was extremely complex. Next to the corner pieces was a stone tablet that read, 'Without the rules of the contract, but without the proper tenon and mortise, no achievement can be made.'"

"This means that the two demon gods of the 'Gui Li Ji' fit together perfectly, like a mortise and tenon joint, helping and complementing each other to create Liyue. Restoring this 'Worldly Lock' and fitting it into its rightful place is my final test to obtain the Gui Li Ji's treasure. Furthermore, I only have one chance to restore it. Once I begin the restoration, the process cannot be stopped or reversed."

“I have some knowledge of arithmetic, and I tried to exhaustively count how many arrangements there are between the eight corner pieces of this ‘Worldly Lock’, and the result was… 3674160.”

Han Fulai was shocked when he heard the number. He had to find the one correct mortise and tenon joint among more than 3.6 million possibilities to unlock this "lock of the mortal world"... and Ningguang only had one chance...

Most importantly, she succeeded.

"...How long did it take you to unlock this 'worldly lock'?" Han Fulai asked.

On the summit of Qingyun Mountain, Zhongli silently gazed in the direction of Qingce Mountain.

Even with his keen eyesight, he could not see the scene hidden in the dust and sand.

He recalled that day, when black dust filled the sky and thousands of rocks cracked open.

The girl who always hid her smile behind her coat sleeves no longer smiled; she lay dying among the glass lilies.

She once said she wanted to brew a wine that would make people forget everything they had ever done.

He asked her curiously why she wanted to brew such a jar of wine.

She replied that his biggest problem was that he had too good a memory. If he could forget everything, every day would be a new beginning, which would make him so happy.

Having lived for six thousand years, he has never forgotten anything.

Including her last words.

That day she said to him:

"Those tiny people are as small and fragile as dust."

"Because we are so small, we never know when we might perish in a natural disaster or man-made calamity."

"So I'm always afraid."

"Because of fear, I always try hard to become smarter."

"I understand. So I think, since the gap in strength between us is too great, let's use technology and wisdom."

"If I had both your strength and my intellect... this city would be amazing, wouldn't it?"

"...It seems I still can't walk this path with you. Let's forget about that lock..."