He changed Tiwat

Ningguang slowly and gently pushed him away.

She opened her mouth.

Han Fulai heard her speak.

He heard her say, "Silly boy... I was just kidding."

Han Fulai felt his body gradually stiffen; it wasn't a psychological feeling, but a physical one.

He saw his body covered by a layer of yellow sand, and he saw himself turn into a weathered stone statue.

This must be the mark she left inside her body just now? Turning into dust from the inside out.

He couldn't open his mouth.

High in the sky, Tianyi watched this scene quietly. Her voice was clear and cold, like a kind of judgment: "Politicians are creatures who always fall into their own traps."

"Are you talking about me?" Ningguang asked softly.

Tianyi snorted: "Is there anyone else here who can hear me?"

Ningguang forced a smile: "What did I fall for? Do I look like the kind of fool who falls for love so easily?"

Tianyi looked up at the sky and said, "I never said you were tricked."

Ningguang said in a low voice, "That was all just acting. It was all to trick him into falling into my trap. I said, save him first, then kill him... I may regret it, but when the rightful heir is in power, I have to uproot him. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

Tianyi shook his head: "Wipe away your tears before you speak."

Ningguang raised her hand, then lowered it, as if she wanted to explain something.

Tianyi said quietly, "You love him."

Ningguang's eyes widened, and all her words disappeared into her throat, leaving her mute.

Chapter 421 It's better than I never met so-and-so that day [4k]

After a long while, Ningguang raised her wrist.

The "Locking of the Mortal World" slowly descended from the sky and landed in her palm.

The girl, who had returned to her original form, also shrank in size, like a fairy from a myth, floating gently beside Ningguang.

"What are you thinking about right now?" Tianyi asked.

After a long silence, Ningguang finally spoke: "I was thinking that this way, there would be no more obstacles on my path to becoming a god. You said that the biggest difference between gods and humans is that gods do not have human emotions."

Back then, Yelan, carrying Ningguang's authorization, traveled to the Abyss of Layered Rocks to pose a question to the messenger from Sky Isle, the "Primordial Shadow," regarding the "Layered Rock Nail." Her question was simple—"Can humans become gods?"

The answer is yes.

However, once one becomes a god, one is no longer human.

Tianyi floated and tumbled in the air, seemingly casually saying, "Two liars."

These words puzzled Ningguang: "What do you mean?"

Tianyi shook his head and said, "You're deceiving yourself that you're heartless, and he's deceiving himself that he's unwise... You had plenty of opportunities to kill him before, but you chose the most heartbreaking way to convince yourself to be heartless towards him; and him, he was clearly always on guard against you, but when you revealed a little bit of your feelings to him, he lied to himself that you would never hurt him again. See, aren't you two liars?"

“I’m sure that if you had just lied to him, no matter how far-fetched your explanation was, he would have found a reason to cover it up. But you, you could have lied, but suddenly you couldn’t bear to lie to him anymore, and even killed him so that you wouldn’t have to lie to him again in the future… So you humans are very weak, weak because humans have emotions.”

"But isn't this what you humans are really like?"

Ningguang gave a bitter smile: "A demigod is still not a god... As long as one is still human, one has human emotions."

She reached out and wiped away the tears on her face.

"It won't happen again."

Six months ago, on the day the results of the Liyue civil service exam were released, Ningguang had a conversation with Baixiao at the Qunyu Pavilion.

She offered a "favor" to Han Fulai, who had just arrived in Liyue. At that time, she told Bai Xiao that Mora couldn't buy people's hearts, and that favors were the most precious thing in the world.

She also said to Baixiao:

"Actually, the more money Mora makes, the more I realize that I've lost some of my humanity. Some people say I look like an immortal, but I'm not an immortal, I'm just becoming less and less human. I like walking around in the city, playing with children, tasting desserts, and making chess games, because these things make me feel like I'm still a human being."

Bai Xiao initially thought Ning Guang was being modest, implying that no matter how successful a businessman is, he should never forget his roots... but what Ning Guang said was actually the truth.

The more money Mora earned, the less human she became, or rather, the closer she was to God.

The Geo Archon created Mora after encountering Guiyuan. At that time, he was the "God of Contracts" and the "Martial God of Liyue," but not the God of Commerce and Wealth.

Before the Emperor, the deity representing wealth was Gui Zhong, who subdued Gui Li Yuan with wisdom and business acumen. Gui Zhong was a demon god of dust who had the ability to "turn stone into gold".

Using circulating currency to amass faith and divine power was not Morax's invention. If Hargentus had not died, perhaps the currency on the continent of Teyvat today would not be called "Mora" but "Tus".

Demons are immortal; though their personalities may perish, their power will endure forever.

The power of demons comes from their authority, that is, their "Tao".

Just as the Rock Lord is not only a rock god who can manipulate rocks, but also represents many divine roles, it also symbolizes that he represents the numerous "paths" on the continent of Teyvat and possesses a variety of different powers.

The war between demons and gods is also a "battle of the Dao".

The victors of the Demon God War are the most powerful demon gods. In their victory, they also received the "Tao" of the defeated and obtained the divine authority and power that the defeated represented.

Of course, not every deity of the loser is compatible with the deity of the winner. For example, most of the deities represented by the Rock King need to be related to "rock" and "contract". Therefore, the powers of the demon gods in the sea are basically sealed rather than received. The same is true for the other seven ruling bodies of the mortal world.

For certain purposes, the Geo Archon deliberately sealed away some of the power of the ancient demon gods on the land of Liyue.

This includes the "lock of the mortal world".

The stone lock, containing all the wisdom of ultimate return, is the "Tao" of a demon god.

When Liyue's newspapers interviewed Ningguang, they asked her why she was so obsessed with accumulating wealth, even though she had a lot of money.

Ningguang replied, "Having a fortune is certainly good, but what's wrong with earning another mora?"

Of the Seven Stars, only Ningguang enjoys being in the spotlight and stealing the limelight. She's like a politician from the modern world who has traveled back in time, living in newspaper headlines and photo booths. It seems that being in the limelight is the sole meaning of her life. Keqing has quite a few complaints about her, but Ningguang never tires of it.

Because she wanted to become the faith of those who pursued wealth, to become the embodiment of money.

If Han Fulai's path to becoming a god was to gather people's hearts, then Ningguang's path to becoming a god was to accumulate wealth.

Becoming the richest person in Teyvat is just the beginning—assets can change. This year it's Ningguang, next year it might be Pantarone, and the year after that it might be "Flying Cloud Merchant Guild"... Such a richest person is not enough to become a god.

Ningguang needs to be the undisputed richest person in Teyvat, the number one richest person whose assets are less than the combined assets of the top 99 people on the rich list.

She is indeed capable of manufacturing precious metals, even Mora.

However, simply creating currency is of little use.

Uncirculated banknotes are just waste paper, and precious metals buried underground have no value. Only when a currency becomes a "general equivalent" does it have value.

She needs to transform currency into "assets" that have value.

Han Fulai had repeatedly obstructed Ningguang's "ascension to the throne," but Ningguang had been able to tolerate it all. This was not solely due to "feelings," but rather to the "transactional conditions" offered by Han Fulai—not only political interests, but also economic interests.

Each time, Han Fulai helped her make money, making her richer and richer.

Han Fulai helped her become the chairman of the "Liyue National Bank", Han Fulai helped her interfere with the logistics supply of the Thousand Rock Army, Han Fulai helped her defeat the "Northern Bank"... She wanted "Heavenly Authority as the Supreme Power", which was something she originally wanted to do, so she could accept such exchange conditions.

Merchants incur costs in order to gain profits; their short-term sacrifices are for the sake of long-term benefits.

But wealth needs power to protect it.

Once those seven stars who have served for generations fall from power, their wealth and power will be nothing but fleeting clouds.

If destroying the Jade Pavilion could bring Liyue's "Heavenly Authority as Supreme," then Ningguang would not hesitate to destroy the Jade Pavilion.

So... what if war could bring about Liyue's supremacy in Teyvat?

The Fatui attacked the Jade Pavilion and released the Demon God Ocel to attack Liyue Harbor—what a perfect pretext for war!

The closer you get to Liyue's core secrets, the more you understand just how powerful Liyue truly is.

The fact that the Thousand Rock Army couldn't defeat the Fatui doesn't mean that Liyue can't defeat Winterlands.

Although this matter was essentially a deal between the two gods, Geo and Cryo, it gave Ningguang an opportunity to take advantage of it.

The grief and anger of the people and immortals over the death of the Emperor gave her a perfect opportunity to simultaneously manipulate the will of the gods and immortals and make the charade real.

To this end, Ningguang secretly contacted Piero, the commander of the Fools, and arranged a good show of the Fools attacking the Jade Pavilion. Otherwise, how could the Fools have the right to possess the spatial coordinates to be teleported to the Jade Pavilion?

If she had successfully destroyed the Jade Pavilion, leveraging her prestige in protecting Liyue and her righteous cause of avenging the Emperor, there should have been a tacit war between Liyue and Winter. And war is the easiest way in the world to gather faith and wealth.

Unfortunately, Han Fulai's appearance and the will of the Geo Archon he represented forced Ningguang to temporarily restrain herself and cooperate, in order to wait for a later opportunity. Ningguang's strong support for Han Fulai's plan to enrich and strengthen Liyue was not entirely out of altruism.

It should be said that everything Ningguang has done so far has been paving the way for her to become a god.

But now Han Fulai has discovered this and noticed her conspiracy with the Fools.

He himself also had divine lineage and understood divine powers, so Han Fulai was able to figure out what she was plotting.

That's a profit far greater than controlling Liyue; Ningguang is indeed making a bigger deal than Liyue itself.

She is usurping the power of the Emperor, the God of Commerce and Wealth.

In the hearts of the people, the Rock King Emperor is now "dead," so a new god can be born.

She now holds the "Golden House" and the "Liyue National Bank," and in effect controls the "Mora" and the "Liyue Coin."

Her ambitions were not limited to one country or one region. In fact, she had already said it before the Battle of Ba Che: she wanted to let the shadow of Qunyu Pavilion cover the seven kingdoms.

She is not the successor of the Rock King Emperor; she wants to replace the Rock King Emperor and become the new Goddess of Wealth and Commerce.

This was the only secret she had to protect before she could accomplish her goal.

Although Rouran's words to her at the Qunyu Pavilion the other day contained many inaccuracies, one sentence resonated deeply with her—

"I want to change the chessboard and stop being a pawn of the gods."

She is not another Finale, she is herself, the one and only Ningguang on the continent of Teyvat.

She didn't want to be a pawn of the gods.

She also has her own path to walk.

This is a struggle over the Dao.

That night by the Luhua Pond, Ningguang said these words to Han Fu—

"I will eventually grow old, and the seven stars will rise and fall; this is inevitable."

“But I hope that the name ‘Ningguang’ can live on, no longer representing me as a person, but becoming a symbol. In this way, my thoughts and actions can transcend the limits of time. This is the ‘infinity’ I pursue.”

"Permanence is power. Change is powerlessness."

Ningguang's long hair moved automatically without wind.

"The seven stars taking turns on the stage is nothing more than a castration of power. No matter how powerful a person is, once they die, they are nothing. Only immortal gods truly possess power. If you don't want to be a pawn, then you must become a god. And only gods are worthy of pursuing 'infinity'."

She waved her hand gently, and a gust of wind swept behind her from her palm.

There stands a statue that is about to turn to dust.

The wind swept over the statue, and the statue turned to dust—there was indeed a pile of dust on the ground, but it didn't weigh as much as a person.

Two hands reached out from behind Ningguang, one encircling her waist and the other gripping her throat.

Ningguang tried to turn her head, but that hand made her completely unable to move.

She heard Han Fulai's voice as he spoke to Tianyi: "Thank you for letting me hear her heartfelt words."

Tianyi put her hands on her hips, looking nonchalant: "Xiao Guangguang is only stubborn in words, so he lost everything."

"Then can I help you teach your disciple a lesson?" Han Fulai asked.

Tian nodded. "She deserves a lesson... well, just don't do it in front of me."

Then she vanished with a "pop," disappearing into the "Lock of the Mortal World."

This time, it's definitely not in front of her.

“Hmm, Ningguang, look, even your Master Tianyi couldn’t stand it anymore and told me to teach you a lesson. People say that love makes you stupid, and you are no exception.” Han Fulai said in Ningguang’s ear, “I just didn’t want to hit you before, it’s not like I couldn’t beat you.”

"...Why...?"

Han Fulai gripped her neck tightly, making it so that she could only manage to squeeze out a few sounds from her throat.

"You're asking me why I didn't die? Everyone here has the inheritance of a demon god, so why do you think you can kill me like this? Well, I was indeed seriously injured, and my strength has dropped to its lowest point, but injuries can be healed."

"Oh, by the way, you didn't know that Gan Yu was able to use the 'Heavenly Descendants' technique to heal me through the contract. That was underwater, so you didn't see it. And you also don't know just how strong my Salt God's power is. You probably think I'm just another Heuria?"

"Look, the human body also contains salt. Your current condition is called 'hyponatremia,' causing dizziness and weakness, right? It's because I've removed salt from your body."

"You should be more ruthless. Like when you were hitting me on the Jade Pavilion, use your 'Heavenly Jade Collapse' to smash me. Maybe I would really die... Or is it that you can't bear to do that? Hmm?"