He changed Tiwat

Han Fulai's assessment result was—

"...As expected, you're all bark and no bite now."

Han Fulai knew that his previous plan was still half successful—a strategy of using one enemy to devour another, and weakening the enemy!

Han Fulai's plan to have Shen He use the power of the Demon God to fight Ba Che was based on this idea—to weaken one's own strength. By having Ba Che deplete the Demon God's power within Shen He, Shen He's strong will, combined with the support of the Xizai Spear, would definitely be able to suppress the Sea God within her. If Han Fulai hadn't messed up and let the Xizai Spear slip from his grasp, his plan would already be a great success.

In terms of combat power alone, Ba Che is a magical beast with strength approaching that of a demon god. Although Shen He seemed to be overwhelming Ba Che after activating the power of the demon god's remnants, she also consumed a huge amount of the demon god's power. The moment she froze the tsunami thousands of meters high, she had already consumed most of the power of the demon god's remnants.

The subsequent fierce battle with Ba Che further depleted his strength; the power of that tsunami that could freeze thousands of meters in the air was now impossible for the Sea God to unleash. Otherwise, Shen He wouldn't have needed to fight Ba Che for so long after catching up; another freezing attack would have sufficed. The reason the Sea God devoured the dragon offspring pseudo-fin that Ba Che dropped after killing him was because his power had plummeted and needed immediate replenishment.

While the overwhelming power of the Demon God War is terrifying, it is not limitless. Imagine, if a single rock spear from the Lonely Cloud Pavilion could suppress a whole group of demon gods, what would be the point of the Demon God War if Zhongli could hurl hundreds of such rock spears with a wave of his hand? And what about the legendary Thunder God Wuxiang, who is said to have cleaved a canyon with a single strike? If every strike of hers possessed that power, would there still be any decent land left for people to live on in Inazuma?

If it were a battle like those in fantasy novels, two powerful beings fighting could fight to the point where "even the Great Dao itself would be obliterated." If these demon gods were to indiscriminately unleash their ultimate attacks, the entire continent of Teyvat would have been destroyed long ago.

Clearly, these are all exaggerated creations of legend. While demons may indeed possess the power to move mountains and overturn seas, it's definitely not something they can do under normal circumstances. It's more like a last-ditch, desperate attack, the ultimate weapon that, once unleashed, would leave them bedridden for centuries, much like the legendary wind god Barbatos disappearing after flattening the mountains of Mondstadt. Only in this way can the outcome of the demon war be reasonably explained.

Han Fulai was certain that, in terms of pure strength, the Sea God was only slightly superior to him; otherwise, with the little immortal power he had recovered, the shield would have been destroyed and he would have died long ago. In other words, he still had a chance to destroy the Sea God's will and save Shen He!

Chapter 117 The Way of Liyue: Inner Saint, Outer King [4k5]

As a top student who received basic education in the Chinese system, Han Fulai learned a principle in junior high school: energy conversion efficiency cannot reach 100%.

Just like the elemental reactions on the continent of Teyvat, although they sound magical and unscientific, in Han Fulai's eyes they are just chemical reactions with different names—although a high school chemistry teacher would make you stand outside as punishment if you heard a student say "water element".

Even the highest level of energy utilization in modern physics theory, "matter-antimatter annihilation," is only close to 100%.

Regardless of the source of the supposedly inexhaustible energy within the demon god's body—such as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth or the essence of the sun and moon—converting it into other forms of energy and outputting it will inevitably result in losses. This is similar to "nuclear fusion," which will be completed in the next fifty years forever. Even if the demon god has its own nuclear reactor, the energy it utilizes through nuclear fusion will be at most 0.7%.

To improve energy efficiency, one must pay the corresponding price to build an energy conversion system, such as a nuclear fusion reactor or a Dyson sphere.

Just like a pipe may have an endless supply of water, but you need a tap to let the water out. If you want to release more water in a short time, you need a bigger tap.

The remnants of the demon need a human body to possess them because they need a tap to hold water.

The formless remnants of demons retain only a fraction of their original power, and most are even incapable of developing self-awareness. Otherwise, how could the Yakshas possibly clean up the ruins left by the demon war across Liyue?

Perhaps it was a cruel joke of fate, or perhaps it was destiny, but Shen He possessed extraordinary talent and was instantly chosen by the remnants of the Demon God to become a sacrifice for possession. The reason Shen He was chosen was because, in the Demon God's eyes, Shen He's body was the most capable of unleashing the Demon God's power. The remnants of the Sea God, seeking revenge against Morax, needed a vessel capable of unleashing their power.

Having figured all this out, Han Fulai had the confidence to fight the remnants of the Sea God. Shen He was ultimately not a Demon God, and the remnants of the Demon God, without their own Demon God body, could not unleash the power that could only be unleashed with the energy system of a Demon God.

Although there are many unscientific aspects to the Teyvat continent, in essence, this other world still follows some very basic scientific principles—for example, a 122mm cannon barrel cannot fire a 152mm shell, and the remnants of the demon god cannot exert their due power within Shenhe's body, and it has now been weakened by layers of damage!

In fact, if Han Fulai knew what the Sea God was thinking, he would feel real fear—because the Sea God had seriously considered eliminating Han Fulai's consciousness and then possessing him.

Just as the sea god could see through Shen He's fate of being alone and cursed after being summoned by Shen He's father, he could also see through Han Fulai's fate—and what he saw was nothingness! In the false heavens of Teyvat, there was no destiny star for Han Fulai!

In the mind of the Sea God, Han Fulai was truly the best vessel for his consciousness, a vessel of the Demon God level!

Therefore, the Sea God even controlled his strength slightly, refraining from using any powerful or elaborate moves. He only aimed to break through the Jade Shield, rendering Han Fulai unable to resist, and then destroy his will to possess him. After all, the Sea God didn't want a broken and tattered body.

However, for Han Fulai, this is a major positive development.

He dared to challenge the sea god alone, and was even confident that he could defeat the sea god and even destroy the sea god's consciousness by himself, because he still had a trump card to play.

—The trump card regarding "natural justice".

However, revealing this trump card requires sufficient preparation time; in other words, it requires a long incantation. In this regard, he really has to thank Zhongli, because the Jade Shield ensures that he is not interrupted while casting the spell.

Since becoming acquainted with Zhongli, Han Fulai had pondered a question—the question of "natural law".

Whether Zhongli and he were discussing the past when Guhua ascended Sky Island, or their conversation in the teahouse on the rock, they both remained tight-lipped about Sky Island, or rather, the principles of Heaven. However, as a transmigrator, he was deeply impressed by Zhongli's Constellation and skill descriptions—Zhongli was currently the only person on the Teyvat continent who, when unleashing a move, would utter phrases like "This is the Way of Heaven" and "The principles of Heaven will prevail." His Constellation even contained the line, "Azure Jade, driven to forever illuminate the principles of Heaven."

If the "Heavenly Principles" of Sky Island are a taboo for Zhongli, one of the Seven Rulers of the Mortal World, then what are the Heavenly Way and Heavenly Principles that Zhongli keeps talking about? Moreover, Zhongli is clearly also secretly raising the flag of rebellion against Sky Island, which shows that he does not really agree with Sky Island and it is impossible for him to support Sky Island's way of doing things as "Heavenly Way" or "Heavenly Principles".

This question had troubled Han Fulai for a long time, but he was too embarrassed to ask Zhongli, "What is the deep meaning behind the name of your move? It sounds very powerful."

It wasn't until he discovered that the verses in the ancient poems resonated with Zhongli's immortal power and the Disaster-Suppressing Spear that he realized something—"Heavenly Principles" doesn't just refer to "the maintainers of Heavenly Principles".

In fact, the concept of "Heavenly Principles" existed in ancient China, and the sages even developed it into a complete philosophy that governed several dynasties in ancient China!

As a Chinese literature major, these are all essential professional courses that cannot be bypassed when studying ancient Chinese literature.

The knowledge he had acquired in China became his reliance today, helping him discover the secrets hidden in that book of ancient poems.

Gu Hua's plagiarism is widespread and lacks systematic organization. This collection of ancient poems is not arranged by author or date, since all the "authors" are Gu Hua. However, the last three poems in the collection are somewhat special—they are three poems by different authors and in different styles, but they are included together, as if Gu Hua wrote them at the same time.

What's even more unusual is that these three poems are preceded by a short preface. Many Chinese poets write prefaces before writing their poems, recording their reasons for writing or their insights and experiences; this is not unusual, and many famous works in middle school Chinese textbooks fall into the category of "prefaces." What's unusual is that none of Gu Hua's other poems have prefaces, but these three do.

Han Fulai began to recite the preface he had seen in the book of ancient poems.

—"To judge the beauty of heaven and earth, to analyze the principles of all things, and to observe the completeness of the ancients. Few can encompass all the beauty of heaven and earth, or be worthy of the appearance of the gods."

Although Gu Hua, the plagiarist, would not leave the original author's name, Han Fulai knew who the author of this preface was—"Zhuangzi: Tianxia".

Although Poseidon didn't know what Han Fulai was doing, he knew that whatever Han Fulai wanted to do, he just needed to stop him in advance. His attack intensified, the Poseidon's trident flashing, almost shattering the Jade Shield—but it barely did.

Han Fulai continued reciting: "Therefore, the way of inner sage and outer king is obscure and unclear, suppressed and unexpressed, and people in the world each do what they desire and act according to their own methods."

Poseidon's spear stopped, for he saw a phantom he had never seen before appear behind Han Fulai. The man was dressed in ancient robes, drumming on a basin and singing; though his voice was not heard, his meaning was clear—it was the "Tao."

"Alas!" Han Fulai sighed deeply, and the phantom behind him also let out a silent sigh at the same time.

Poseidon felt a sudden sense of alarm and involuntarily took a step back; this was the first time he had retreated since the start of the war.

With that sigh, the entire ice space suddenly trembled, as if an earthquake had struck, centered on Han Fulai's position—but this was clearly beneath the sea, a cage created by Shen He using the power of a demon god combined with her ice magic.

Poseidon barely managed to stand by supporting himself with his spear, and was greatly puzzled—could there be earthquakes in the sea?

The illusory figure behind Han Fulai was none other than Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi was a representative figure of the Daoist school of thought in China, and together with Laozi, they were known as "Lao-Zhuang".

As a transmigrator from China, when Han Fulai thinks of the immortals of Liyue, the first thing that comes to mind is Taoism, which has been passed down in China. If it is no coincidence that the immortal arts and Taoist traditions of China have spread to Liyue, then Zhongli, the "ancestor of all immortals," clearly has inextricable connections with Taoism.

However, Zhongli's actions were far removed from the traditional concept of an immortal; and Zhuangzi's phrase "inner sage and outer king" does not only refer to Taoism!

After the preface comes the main text, which is naturally a poem.

Then Han Fulai recited in a loud voice: "A half-acre pond opens like a mirror, reflecting the sky and clouds. How can it be so clear? Because it has a source of living water!"

This is a poem that every student in China who has received nine years of compulsory education has memorized. It is called "Thoughts on Reading" and was written by Zhu Xi, a poet of the Song Dynasty, or rather, Zhu Xi, a great master of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties and a representative figure of "Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism".

A pond may be only half an acre in size, but it can hold the light of the sky and the shadows of the clouds, displaying the grandeur of a lake or sea; though the human body may be small, the heart can be as vast as the sea and as boundless as the rivers, encompassing all things!

Why can that pond always remain clear? Because it is not water without a source, but has an inexhaustible source that continuously supplies it with fresh water.

—And on the continent of Teyvat, there is something else that is everywhere, endlessly and inexhaustibly!

Just as if echoing the poem spoken by Han Fulai, the seawater around the platform suddenly surged high, creating waves even in a closed space.

There is light in the waves.

The light pierced through the jade shield from all directions and entered Han Fulai's body.

He took flight!

It floats in mid-air without relying on wings, wind, or elemental forces.

Normally, Han Fulai might have felt uncontrollably excited, or even couldn't help but express his feelings, but now he had neither the time to be excited nor the time to express his feelings.

He felt an uncontrollable force surging into his body, threatening to burst his meridians. Although his appearance remained almost unchanged, he could feel his body was like a balloon inflated to its limit, ready to burst at any moment.

This power lacks the elemental properties commonly found on the continent of Teyvat, or rather, all attributes are mixed together so that it is impossible to distinguish them, just as red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple are mixed together and eventually become pure white.

It's like pure light, pure energy—this is the power Han Fulai is currently absorbing, which is likely the same power as immortal power—the power of "earth veins"!

Ley lines are unique to the continent of Teyvat; they are conceptual networks connecting everything in this world, with different elements flowing within them. It is said that everything that happens above and below ground is recorded within the ley lines.

But Han Fulai was no longer able to think about these things. He only had one thought in his mind—if he didn't release the excess energy in his body, he might explode on the spot!

As if he had trained a thousand times, Han Fu naturally raised one hand and uttered four words etched into the ancestral DNA of every Genshin Impact player—

"The heavens move, and all things are in motion!"

A celestial star appeared in the void above Han Fulai's head and crashed down on the stunned sea god.

On that day, Poseidon finally remembered the fear of being dominated by Morax and the humiliation of being blasted to dust by a falling rock star.

In the Minlin region of northwest Liyue, beneath the massive and ancient Falcon Tree, lies a little-known grotto.

To be precise, this is a prison. It was a grotto-heaven prison created by the Rock King Emperor, who gathered three immortals and worked together to create it using the magic of external landscapes.

The prison holds a dragon king named "Ruo Tuo," a demonic dragon born from the essence of Liyue's Geo element. He is the strongest elemental creature that even the Geo Archon and the Geo Archon could not easily suppress.

Rhododendron was once the most loyal ally of the Geo Archon, joining forces with him to cleanse the Liyue region during the Demon God War, but the two eventually turned against each other.

The Rock King Emperor personally fought him, driving him into the cave. He then ordered the immortals to work together to seal the passage and created the "Sword of No Craftsmanship" to suppress the entrance to the cave, thus sealing away the Dragon King Ruo Tuo. This history has been over for a thousand years.

Zhongli is currently standing at the entrance of the cave with a young man wearing glasses.

The Adventurers' Guild recently received a request from Old Dai, the foreman of the mines under the Liyue Guild's Glorious Hill Office. Six days ago, four miners went missing near the Laminar Falls. Old Dai and his team mobilized all their workers to search the entire mining area without finding a trace, so they requested the Adventurers' Guild's assistance. Besides the Adventurers' Guild, Old Dai also found a very unusual outside helper.

Because the head of the Walnut Hall heard about the extraordinary foreign aid in the streets, he was inspired to compete for no reason. Zhongli, a guest of the Rebirth Hall, was dragged to compete in gambling on stones and unexpectedly met Kunjun, the heir of the Kun family, a forging family in Liyue.

After that, he helped investigate the accidental disappearance of miners and traveled with Kunjun, a young man with the ability to "talk to stones," until they reached the bottom of the Fulong Tree.

—Of course, this is only the superficial reason. The real reason is that Zhongli sensed the loosening of Ruoduo's seal and the instability of Liyue's ley lines. He knew that his old friend Ruoduo had awakened.

The blue crystals on the branches of the dragon tree in front of them are a symbol of the Dragon King Ruoduo absorbing the essence of the earth's veins.

If the branches of the Dragon Tree were to be filled with blue crystals, Rota would unleash its full power. Now, Zhongli, having lost his Divine Heart, has no guarantee of victory against the fully-formed Rota. That's why he made prior arrangements within Liyue Harbor, using the pretext of searching for miners to secretly arrive at the base of the Dragon Tree. He must reseal Rota before it fully recovers.

The reason he didn't inform the other immortals to come alone was not only because he wanted to leave them to guard Liyue Harbor, but more importantly, because he didn't want others to suffer the same torment of opposing their old friends as he had.

He was about to lead Kunjun into the cave, but suddenly stopped because he sensed the instability of the earth's veins once again. This time, the earth's veins reacted quite strongly, as if magma surging from the ground had suddenly burst onto the surface.

—Someone is absorbing energy from the Liyue ley lines, and at a level equivalent to a Demon God!

And that direction is... Liyue Harbor.

"Mr. Zhongli, aren't we going in?" Kunjun asked in confusion.

Zhongli closed his eyes and sensed for a while, then a slight smile appeared on his face.

—That is the resonance of ideas that have prevailed on the land of Liyue for three thousand seven hundred years, the resonance of "reason".

He gazed towards Liyue Harbor and murmured to himself, "The way of Liyue is inner sage and outer king. The first step to entering the path through literature... Congratulations, young friend Han."

Chapter 118 Confucianism on the outside, Legalism on the inside, and inclusiveness

A star fell from the sky.

"Mora...x!" Facing the celestial star, the sea god roared from the depths of his throat like an echo from hell, a roar formed from his thousand years of resentment.

The falling star was far less powerful than what the sea god had witnessed. If Morax's Heavenly Strike could be compared to a real meteorite impact, creating a deep crater thousands of meters in radius, the explosion of Han Fulai's star was at most a hundred meters in radius.

But the sea god is no longer the sea god of yesteryear; he is now merely the remnant of his obsession with revenge.

Even if he were to be hit by a weakened version of Tianxing like Han Fulai, he could be blown to pieces.

Poseidon raised his trident high, pointing it directly at the celestial star.

The tip of the spear gleamed with a blue light, symbolizing the blue gleam of the ocean.

The land may be vast, but the ocean can submerge it; the rocks may be hard, but a drop of water can penetrate them! Just like when he flooded the town of Guiliyuan with a tsunami, even the Rock God Morax and the Dust God Guizhong could not stop him!

Physical fatigue and depleted strength were all forgotten by Poseidon. He now had only one thought: to take revenge on Morax!

A phantom image also appeared behind the sea god. The majestic sea god sat in the center of the giant clam shell, the dragon-like beast chariot he drove roaring towards the sky, and behind him were towering waves that seemed capable of overturning the heavens.

All the seawater in this icy space was controlled by the power of the sea god, rushing towards the falling celestial star!

The celestial petrified the seawater, and the seawater shattered the rocks; the two forces canceled each other out and disappeared without a trace.

Poseidon, leaning on his spear, gasped for breath; the previous attack had nearly exhausted his demonic power. Han Fulai, suspended in mid-air, was also suffering. His first use of the earth's veins had resulted in the Heavenly Movement technique, and he felt as if every cell in his body was being burned by flames. Even with Gan Yu's "Descending Heavenly Splendor" still active, it couldn't alleviate the burning sensation within Han Fulai's body.

Han Fulai's intuition told him that it was best not to use this power again for a while. It was like a cannon barrel overheating after firing a shell; it needed a certain amount of time to cool down, otherwise it might explode.

But Poseidon has no intention of giving his opponent a chance to breathe.

He raised his trident, and the tip of the spear once again shone with the luster of the sea.

The ice platform beneath his feet shrank dramatically, leaving only a foothold less than five meters in diameter—this was the sea god melting ice into water; as the sea god, his ability to manipulate water elements far surpassed that of others.

Those who possess the Eye of God or are immortals need ice-based magic or ice elemental power to condense water into ice, but for the Sea God, he only needs to use his demonic power to freeze a thousand-meter-long ocean tide, because ice is merely one of the three states of water. The transformation from ice to water, and from water to ice, is all within the Sea God's control.

With the water element replenished, the sea god's power grew even stronger. A colossal dragon composed of water suddenly rose from the sea, its might even rival that of Ba Che.

Just as Ba Che was resurrected, the water dragon looked up and condensed into a water cannon. The surrounding water elements, like the Yangtze and Han rivers flowing into the river, poured directly into the water cannon, and soon the size of the water cannon even matched that of the celestial star that Han Fulai had previously smashed down. Clearly, the sea god wanted to retaliate.

Han Fulai calmly and slowly began to recite the second of the three poems:

"Danger and safety are not lingering in my heart, just like floating clouds passing through the sky."

As soon as he finished reciting the words, the burning sensation throughout his body instantly faded away. The giant dragon baring its fangs and claws, and the cannon that destroyed everything, were like fleeting clouds in Han Fulai's mind—nothing existed outside his mind.

The poem, titled "Sailing at Sea," was written by Wang Shouren, the founder of the "Yangming School of Mind" in the Ming Dynasty, when he encountered a great storm while sailing: Although the sea is filled with ever-changing winds and towering waves, as long as my heart remains unmoved, what do these waves matter?

As Wang Shouren said, "Be cautious and do not look at it, be fearful and do not hear it; cultivating this mind is purely in accordance with the principles of Heaven."