He changed Tiwat

Han Fulai's repeated examination of the "Lamenting Ice Jade" clearly piqued Abedo's interest and further aroused his thirst for knowledge as an alchemist.

"You look like you've thought of something," he asked.

"Hmm..." Han Fulai didn't know how to explain to Abedo for a moment.

Could it be that "this is the first time in my life I've seen character upgrade materials dropped by a dungeon boss, so of course I have to take a good look at them"?

However, if asked what he had thought of, he did indeed have some ideas—

"'Pure and flawless'... Liyue has had this idiom since ancient times, which is generally used to describe a woman's chastity or a person's noble character. This piece of jade gives me that feeling. Moreover, our Liyue's Laminaria and Jade Valley both produce jade, but it's rare to find one as flawless as this one... Such a fine piece is indeed very rare."

Although this item is used as a character upgrade material in the game, in the real world it is genuine jade, and it could probably fetch a lot of money if sold to places like "Jie Cui Xing" or "Ming Xing Zhai".

In addition, the ice element it contains makes wearing it as an accessory in the summer feel like carrying a portable ice pack. I imagine it will sell very well.

However, apart from that, Han Fulai couldn't glean anything more from this "Lamenting Ice Jade".

Abedo looked slightly disappointed: "So you don't recognize this jade?"

"Huh?" Han Fulai asked with a hint of doubt, "Isn't this the 'Sorrowful Ice Jade'?"

Abedo shook his head and said, "'Aixu Ice Jade' is what our world calls it. It is named after the type of elemental power it contains, but that does not represent the essence of this jade."

"'The name we use in our world'...?" Han Fulai keenly noticed the anomaly in Abedo's statement. "You mean, it has another name in other worlds?"

"Yes, I thought that as a visitor from another world, you should know these things..."

As Abedo spoke, he directed Han Fulai to continue flipping through the paper.

After skipping over a long explanation of the elemental properties, alchemical applications, and geographical distribution of the "Sorrowful Ice Jade," Han Fulai saw what Abedo wanted him to see—

Setting aside practical purposes, alchemy is essentially a discipline that studies the nature of matter and the laws governing its changes, ultimately leading to the laws governing the operation of the world and the flow of ley lines. In this world, however, seeking the "root" is even considered a "sin," so how can one possibly access the essence of matter?

Fortunately, Ms. Alice opened up a path for us to understand "the world beyond".

... (This is a quote from Ms. Alice's travelogue, which records her experiences of going to several ancient countries in another world to gain knowledge of that world.)

"Earth, water, fire, and wind, follow my command to recreate the four elements and reshape the five elements."

Every alchemist knows this saying, but few know its origin and source.

In fact, alchemy is also a discipline that comes from "outside the world".

The Five Elements theory originated in a foreign world from a country called "Huaxia," which divided all things in the universe into five attributes: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.

Next to the ancient country of China, there was another ancient country called India, where people believed in the "Four Great Elements" theory, thinking that all things in the world were composed of four basic elements: earth, water, fire, and wind.

The phrase "Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, follow my command to recreate the Four Great Elements and reshape the Five Elements" refers to the creation legend of another world.

... (This section records the Chinese myth of Pangu creating the world and the Indian myth of Purusha creating the world.)

We have reason to believe that the alchemy of this world originated from two ancient kingdoms in another world.

The alchemical material commonly known as "Ai Xu Bing Yu" in this world has another name in that world: "Shiva Jade".

This is clearly a paper that could cause Han Fulai's pupils to tremble.

He had long suspected the existence of cultures similar to those on Earth in Liyue and Mondstadt, and Abedo's paper undoubtedly confirmed this idea. It could be said that this paper was far more helpful to him than Abedo had imagined.

The fact that "Teyvat and Earth share the same cultural origins" is the greatest takeaway Han Fulai gained from this paper.

Compared to that, even the fact that "Aixu Bingyu's" real name is "Shiva Jade" couldn't shock him this much.

After all, as a Chinese person, he was really unfamiliar with Indian mythology...

If you were to ask him what he knows about neighboring India, he would probably only know the basic national conditions from textbooks and Indian jokes from the internet, such as how in India, not only do people not receive dowries, but they also give very generous dowries...

Of course, he had heard of the name "Shiva." After all, Shiva is one of the main gods in Hindu mythology and appears frequently in various anime and manga. But ultimately, he only knew the name; he had absolutely no idea how this Hindu deity was connected to "Aishodrama" and the Winter Queen.

Although Abedo was talking about Earth's mythology, it was a bit embarrassing that he, a transmigrator from Earth, didn't know as much as Abedo—but compared to saving face, information was of course more important.

Therefore, Han Fulai humbly asked his teacher Abedo, "Teacher Abedo... what is the connection between this 'Shiva Jewel' and the essence of the Ice God?"

At this point, Abedo adopted the same patient and dedicated attitude he had shown as a teacher, and explained the "Shiva Stone" to Han Fulai in great detail.

"Shiva is one of the three main gods of the ancient Indian kingdom. He is the supreme god, with many incarnations and forms, and is in charge of many divine functions, including 'singing,' 'sacrifice,' 'dance,' 'wild beasts,' and 'storms,' leaving behind countless myths in the world."

"Legend has it that Shiva holds a drum in his right hand, symbolizing life, and holds a flame in his left hand, symbolizing destruction. However, Shiva is more often called the 'God of Destruction' than 'life' because he would perform a dance of destruction at the end of the universe, during which he would unleash world-destroying flames that would burn everything in the universe to ashes."

"A myth of world destruction..."

Han Fulai frowned as he looked at the "Lamenting Ice Jade" in his hand. This kind of world-ending mythology was pretty much the same old formula—either a massive fire or a great flood… but…

"The Winter Queen is a goddess of ice... Shouldn't it be the job of Nata the Fire God to destroy the world with fire?"

In response, Abedo extended his finger and gently tapped the "Lamenting Ice Jade" in his hand.

He didn't know what he did, but Han Fulai found that the jade suddenly shone brightly, and then a message that seemed to have been pre-recorded in the jade flowed into his mind.

It was a woman's voice, filled with sorrow and resolve:

"...I'm sorry to have made you all bear the sorrow of the whole world with me."

"Since you can endure my bitter cold, you must all have burning desires in your hearts, right?"

"Then, burn the old world for me."

Chapter 372 Destroying an Old World

“As I said, the pure elemental power contains the will of the Seven Rulers of the Mortal Realm, and I think you heard that just now,” Abedo said.

Han Fulai nodded slightly. He had indeed heard it—that sorrowful yet resolute voice was probably the will of the Ice Queen.

Wendy once told him in a dream:

"The Seven Rulers of the Mortal Realm, using the 'Heart of God' as their proof, obtained authority over the ley lines flowing with the seven elemental torrents. When a person's desires are conveyed to the heavens, the seven gods must, according to the command of heavenly principles, bestow fragments of their own control upon that person. Of course, this process of bestowal is entirely governed by the Sky Isle system and is not subject to the management of us, the Seven Rulers of the Mortal Realm..."

It is likely that the will of the Ice God contained within the ice element is the "fragment of the Seven Gods' dominion over elemental power".

"Burn the old world for me"—this is the will of the Ice God, the current "God of Destruction".

She really wants to destroy the world.

Moreover, as the Winter Queen, a deity of the ice element, she did indeed use the word "burning," which is completely consistent with the myth of Shiva erupting world-destroying flames.

However, Han Fulai had even more in mind.

He recalled hearing the "Ninth Company" from the depths of the towering cliffs sing their military song, "The Song of the White Night Polar Star," in the depths of the abyss.

The lyrics end like this:

"Those who follow us into the darkest place, let us create a new world together."

"Know that the complete destruction of everything will be the beginning of a new order."

"At the end of destruction will come the dawn of purity."

In retrospect, that military song wasn't merely a morale-boosting aria, nor were its lyrics a metaphor. The rank-and-file soldiers of the Fools may not have known Her Majesty the Queen's true intentions, but they were indeed helping her carry out her will…

Han Fulai held the "Lamenting Ice Jade" and said softly, "I understand. The Ice Queen... wants to destroy an old world and then create a new one."

Aberdo tilted his head slightly, thought for a moment, and gave an approving reply.

"Is that so... Indeed, in the Hindu mythology of this other world, the world is constantly being destroyed and reborn. After Shiva destroys the world, a new world will be reborn. In that case, it is understandable why the Ice Queen became the 'Goddess of Destruction'. Perhaps because of certain things, she thought it would be better to destroy the existing world and rebuild it."

"That's not surprising; Timaus and Sugar often say things like that when they write their lab reports..."

Han Fulai glanced at Abedo helplessly. Sometimes he really couldn't tell if Abedo was joking or serious...

—Professor Abedo was not joking.

He was still troubled by the task his master had left him before he left: "Show me the truth of the world and the meaning of the world."

It's normal for science students to have the urge to destroy the world once an hour when writing papers, but unfortunately, liberal arts students like Han Fulai will never understand that.

As a rigorous science student, Abedo's research on the Seven Gods did not stop there.

He guided Han Fulai to continue flipping through the paper.

“Besides the ‘Lamenting Ice Jade,’ the gems representing the other six elements also correspond to the mythology of that ancient kingdom in another world. I wrote a research paper on the Formless series for this purpose…”

Then Han Fulai saw a series of papers that completely refreshed his understanding.

For example, the "Prithiva Topaz," which represents the rock god and rock element, essentially corresponds to the Indian mythological earth goddess Prithvi. She is the earth mother with virtues such as greatness, strength, immortality, and nurturing all living beings, and also has the function of managing treasures—almost perfectly matching Zhongli except for the fact that her gender is not publicly known...

For example, the "Vajrada Amethyst," representing Thor and the element of thunder, essentially corresponds to Vajra, the thunder god in Hindu mythology. Vajra is the indestructible Vajra and the origin of the vajra, the weapon used to subdue demons. Thor's eternity is like Vajra—indestructible and unchanging. Similarly, everything else matches except for the gender…

Among the other deities he was not very familiar with, the fire god "Agnidus Agate" corresponds to the fire god Agni. As the personification of fire, it symbolizes the miracle of the eternal and immortal flame, and is also the messenger for humans to convey their wishes to the heavens through sacrifice. It is said that the Nata tribe still retains such fire sacrifices.

The water god "Varunada Lazurite" corresponds to Varuna, who is considered the god of the sky, rain, and the sea. Varuna is in charge of law and order, and monitors the actions of mankind. It is said that the stars in the sky are his spies, used to observe and track down liars—which is quite similar to the story of the water god of Fontaine sending pure water spirits as spies.

The grass deity's "Growing Jade (Nagadus Emerald)" corresponds to the Naga, one of the eight classes of celestial beings. Legend has it that when Buddhism disappeared, the dragon palace served as a place to protect and secretly store Buddhist scriptures—a description quite similar to the Chancellery. It's just unknown whether there's any hidden connection between the grass deity of Sumeru, Buddhism, and dragons…

But what surprised him most was the paper about his old acquaintance Wendy—because in the study of "Vayuda Turquoise," which represents the element of wind, Abedo had written the following line:

"'Shiva,' an incarnation of Shiva."

—The things hidden within Barbatos were probably never a secret to the witches. Abedo probably already knew about the connection between "Time Rule" and the Wind God.

“I think you should have noticed... Apart from Shiva, who symbolizes the ice god, including his avatar Shiva, none of the other gods possess Shiva’s status as a ‘chief god’. And on the continent of Teyvat where we live, only the ‘Primordial One’ and the ‘Four Shadows’ can be called ‘chief gods’.”

Han Fulai nodded, which was already a clear indication that the Ice God's true identity was above that of the demon gods in the mortal world.

“There’s another point,” Abedo added. “In the mythology about Shiva, there’s a story about how Shiva’s wife Sati died because of him. Shiva then abandoned love and retreated to the mountains to practice asceticism, living in seclusion. Later, Sati was reborn as Parvati, the goddess of the Himalayas, but she still loved her husband Shiva from her previous life.”

"However, because Shiva no longer felt love, he remained unmoved by Parvati. So Parvati sought the help of Kama, the god of love. Kama found Shiva and pierced his heart with an arrow made of flowers. After being struck by the arrow, Shiva fell in love with Parvati. However, Shiva discovered that his sudden love was due to Kama's interference, so he unleashed divine fire, burning Kama's body to ashes. Kama thus became an 'invisible' god..."

Cupid with arrows made of flowers...

Han Fulai recalled the symbol he had seen on the kite representing the Ice God—the Ice God of the past was indeed the "God of Love." But the one sitting in the Winter Palace now was no longer the "God of Love." The "God of Love" had "lost his body" and become an "invisible deity"?

Chapter 373 Have you forgotten me?

Considering the witches' tradition of using various myths and fairy tales to allude to the history of Teyvat, Rhinedoth's decision to send Abedor to study the essence of this world and explore these otherworldly myths may actually be a way of telling him the truths buried in history...

Combining Abedo's myths about Shiva with the story of "The White Princess and the Six Dwarfs" leads to a new conclusion:

Let's assume that the "White Princess" is "Shiva"; the "Prince of Light" is "Sati"; and the "Ice Queen from 500 years ago" is "Kama".

The White Princess's lover, the Prince of Light, died for her, and... it seems he is waiting to be resurrected.

...It seems plausible that the "White Princess" wanted to destroy the "old world without him" and create a "new world with him".

The Ice Goddess, who was once the "Goddess of Love," was caught up in this matter for some reason and ended up "losing her body."

The one currently residing within the Ice God's body is the "White Princess," who is also the "God of Destruction, Shiva"...

From this perspective, the "Shiva Jewel" is a metaphor for the true identity of the Ice Queen. The Ice Queen is no longer the former "God of Love" Barnabas, but another "chief god" like Shiva... This inference may really be very close to the truth.

Of course, due to the limitations of the natural order, many historical records on the continent of Teyvat are ambiguous, including the myths and legends that he and Abedo knew. They may not strictly correspond to actual history, and deviations are inevitable.

But in any case, this is already a significant step forward.

—At least in Han Fulai's mind, there was already a possibility of cooperating with the Ice Queen.

After all, no matter how much he and the Fatui were at odds, he had never stopped the Ice Queen from collecting the "Heart of God".

Even though he is still at odds with Winter and is even encouraging Mondstadt to join the opposing camp, he is well aware that at the national level, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies.

From this perspective, Wendy's decision to send him to Inazuma to find the "seeds of time" may have a deeper meaning waiting for him to discover...

Soon after, Sisters Barbara and Grace returned to the church, and Han Fulai and Abedo's "idle chat to pass the time" came to an end.

Although their conversation today will have a profound impact on the future history of Teyvat, no one will know any of this until the "future" becomes "history".

After two mornings and two afternoons of rehearsals, Han Fulai and Barbara's concert rehearsal was finally completed.

Barbara's idol skills are indeed quite good, far surpassing the popular young actresses Han Fulai had seen before. Sister Grace, as the choir's lead singer, also has considerable expertise in singing and dancing, providing many professional suggestions on choreography and performance rhythm.

With the help of these two, Han Fulai, a complete novice in the entertainment industry, was now considered to have one foot in the door.

Of course, Wendy, the "goddess of poetry" who taught him the art of the piano, was the most important contributor.

Although Han Fulai is not yet able to compose music like Wendy, he has no problem playing and singing according to the written score. If he were to end up performing on the streets one day, he would not starve with a seven-stringed zither by his side.

The only thing that bothered him a little was that Grace and Barbara were both a bit too respectful to him during rehearsals...

Well, if he told Barbara right now that he had one of her "handshake tickets," Barbara would probably be so scared that she'd immediately go to her sister Jean and disband the fan club...

—After all, he had verbally abused an acting archbishop in front of the two nuns, and later sent that acting archbishop to the trial hall in Barbatos's name.

In the eyes of the two devout nuns, Han Fulai was a genuine follower of the wind god. This follower not only represented Lord Barbatos in punishing evil and promoting good, but also stood up for Grace and Giliana, and was extremely loving towards children—he was practically a "saint" walking among men!

They even heard that the Knights were preparing to erect a monument in honor of Sir Humphrey.

Such a person certainly deserves their respect.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "worship is the furthest distance from understanding."