Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

"Master, are your hands tired? Let me give you a massage." As he spoke, Jiang Bai looked at Kong, "Xiao Kong, quickly move a stool. How can Master stand like this? What if he gets tired?"

Little Kong?

Kong blinked blankly. Was she calling him?

Paimon chimed in with feigned seriousness, "That's right, that's right! Xiao Kong, quickly get Mr. Zhongli a chair, what if he gets tired of standing!"

Speechless, Kong moved the soft chair next to him over.

Zhongli sat there with a clear conscience.

The woman wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and struggled to her feet. She stared at Zhong Li, her eyes filled with resentment.

She never expected that she would be defeated by Zhongli so easily.

Even though Barbatos was in Mondstadt, he couldn't break free from her grip, even when he used his divine power.

She was ultimately aware of her own strength and did not wish to linger there.

"Hmph, the contract is complete. Morax, it's time to give me your Heart of God."

"The contract is complete. As you requested, I grant you what you were promised." Zhongli looked indifferently at the woman in front of him, and the Heart of God appeared in his hand.

This was the first time Jiang Bai had seen the Heart of God up close.

Zhongli's Divine Heart is quite different from Venti's, exuding a golden light belonging to the Geo element, but the design style is very similar, like a chess piece.

The Heart of God floated into the woman's hand, and she turned and left.

The lady left, leaving only the few of them in the room.

Paimon exclaimed in surprise, "I never imagined you were actually the Rock King Emperor! Jiang Bai even told me at first that you were the murderer of the Rock King Emperor..."

Jiang Bai's embarrassment kicked in again at the mention of this.

"Don't talk about this anymore!"

"Oh? Why can't I say it again?" Zhongli quite enjoyed seeing his little disciple make an awkward mistake.

Jiang Bai banged his head against the wall, making a loud clanging sound. "If you want to force me to my death, just say so!"

"Uh, fine, don't tell me then, just don't bang your head against the wall..." Paimon was genuinely worried that he would smash his head against the wall and die.

“From a certain perspective, Jiang Bai isn’t wrong.” Kong, who was called Xiao Kong, added gloatingly, “After all, the Rock King Emperor did die because of Zhong Li.”

When the feeling of embarrassment reaches its peak, as if it has crossed a threshold, it is no longer so embarrassing.

Jiang Bai gave up on himself and stopped struggling.

"Zhongli, why did you give them the Heart of God? And what is that contract you mentioned?" Seeing that Jiang Bai was giving up, Kong stopped teasing him and continued to ask questions.

Zhongli shook his head. "It's not a gift, but a transaction based on a contract—it's between me and that Ice Queen."

"Okay, then why fake your death?"

"Yeah! Your fake death was really too much! Everyone was happily welcoming you, and then a dragon suddenly fell from the sky, almost causing a major disaster..." Paimon didn't understand Zhongli's behavior at all.

Instead of letting Zhong Li speak, Jiang Bai answered the question for him.

“Because he wants to retire,” Jiang Bai said seriously. “He once discussed with me whether humans need gods. He said that humans may not need gods.”

"In dangerous times, gods can provide protection for mankind, but in times of peace, the importance of gods is greatly reduced."

"He has established Liyue for 3,700 years, and for 3,700 years he has never given up his responsibilities, formulating various policies to guide Liyue's development. He has been so diligent and conscientious that anyone would have been exhausted long ago. So, he is tired too."

Zhongli nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

He wanted to hear how much Jiang Bai had guessed after turning that corner.

"Although he was tired, he was afraid. He had cared for the children for 3,700 years, and he was afraid that if he let go one day, they would be gone. So, he staged a death scene and cooperated with the Fatui to test the people of Liyue."

"If Liyue can overcome this crisis without him, then he can truly let go. If it can't, he will definitely take action to suppress it before Oser attacks Liyue Harbor."

“That’s right.” Zhongli nodded, quite approving.

Jiang Bai is quite smart, but his thought process is a bit abnormal in some ways.

"I am more satisfied with the way this incident was resolved than I expected. The answer given by the Liyue Seven Stars even exceeded my expectations."

Jiang Bai was quite aware of what the Seven Stars had been doing during this period, and he also wanted to hear Zhong Li's evaluation.

"My expectations of them were originally the same as those of the immortals: simply to protect Liyue. But they used this opportunity to replace the gods, exploiting the vacuum created after my death to quickly seize all power in Liyue..."

Chapter 302 He really tricked me terribly.

"Huh? This doesn't sound like good news!" Paimon exclaimed in surprise.

Wouldn't a normal person be angry if their rights were controlled by others?

“Haha…” Zhongli laughed out loud, “I think this is very good. This is something I was worried was too early, but also vaguely looked forward to… It is a sincere practice for me, an ancient god.”

“I knew you’d say that,” Jiang Bai said, unsurprised.

A ruler who wants to step down naturally hopes that the successor will be excellent, and Ningguang, who accomplished this, is undoubtedly extremely excellent.

"So, what price did the Ice Queen pay to obtain the Heart of God?" Kong asked.

“Yes. You say that transactions should be fair, but what in this world is worth exchanging the heart of God for?” Paimon was also full of doubts.

"From a purely rational perspective, there really isn't one." Amidst the questioning gazes of the others, Zhongli changed the subject.

"But I am the God of Contracts, and over thousands of contracts have been established through my hands over thousands of years. I will never easily make a deal unless it is profitable. The deal with the God of Ice is the 'contract to end all contracts' that I made in my final moments as the God of Rock."

"A contract that ends all contracts, so mystical..." Jiang Bai yawned. "Let's go, let's go. Things are done, it's time to go back and rest. I'm exhausted, and there's the Immortal Offering Ceremony tomorrow..."

As soon as he relaxed, Jiang Bai, whose mental energy had been greatly depleted, felt his eyelids drooping.

After taking only two steps, Jiang Bai suddenly remembered something and looked up into the air, "Please help me dig the young master out, lest he really die in the coffin..."

"Okay." Kong nodded.

As I stepped out of the North Bank, the rain had stopped.

Kong looked at the gradually bustling Liyue Harbor and felt quite good.

"Speaking of which, we just suppressed a demon god." Paimon belatedly realized just how remarkable their feat had been.

Kong shook his head. "This wasn't done by the two of us. It was done by the immortals, the Seven Stars, and everyone in Liyue."

Even so, Paimon was still in a good mood.

"That's right. Let's go dig for the young master; hopefully he hasn't woken up yet."

The two left Liyue Harbor and arrived at the hillside near the Golden House.

The spot where Jiang Bai dug the pit wasn't hard to find, and the soil was a different color from the surrounding area after it was dug up, so the two of them found it quickly.

He pulled out a shovel that he didn't know he had put in his backpack at some point, and started digging.

"I don't know if he's awake yet, probably not."

D'Artagnan had already woken up. He was in good physical condition and had not suffered any fatal injuries, so he had regained some consciousness.

He felt as if his hands and feet were tied, as if he were in a very narrow place.

A series of throbbing pains shot through my internal organs, and I also felt pain on my face.

As his memories gradually returned, he remembered how he had gotten his injuries.

The lady should have already summoned the demon god, right? Was Morax forced out? Did you get the Heart of God?

He desperately wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and he kept feeling drowsy, making him want to fall asleep.

In the end, he forced himself to open his eyes by sheer willpower.

All he could see was darkness. He controlled the water element to create a water blade and, by instinct, cut the ropes binding him.

Then, he began to explore in this sealed space.

"It seems they were locked inside a stone box..."

He tried to open the stone box with force, but the box wouldn't budge.

Perhaps he was too weak due to his serious injuries, or perhaps the box was sealed shut; D'Artagnan couldn't be sure for the moment.

But because of this exertion, his internal organs were in excruciating pain.

Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. Dadalia lay in the box, panting, wondering what the situation was and how to get out of there.

He remembered that he had fainted at the time, and judging from his appearance, it didn't seem like he had been saved by the lady. In other words, he was still in Jiang Bai's hands.

Thinking of the business of the Rebirth Hall, D'Artagnan suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "Hiss~ That guy isn't going to bury me alive, is he?!"

Just as he was thinking this, he faintly heard the sound of digging.

He pressed his ear against the stone wall and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming he hadn't misheard.

It would be too humiliating for a high-ranking executive to die in here.

After digging for a while, the shovel finally hit the stone coffin. He pressed on and dug away all the soil on the stone coffin. Then, he rubbed his hands together and used force to lift the coffin open.

A blinding light suddenly shone in, and D'Artagnan instinctively looked up to shield her eyes.

"He's awake! And he's untied the ropes!" Paimon tensed up upon seeing D'Artagnan awake.

Kong immediately drew his sword, ready to knock the young master unconscious if he made any unusual move.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, D'Artaglia sat up, propped up by the sarcophagus, and looked at the empty space with a wry smile. "I'm already like this, you don't need to be so wary of me, do you?"

Paimon crossed his arms and turned his face away. "Hmph! Who knows what other trump cards you might have up your sleeve!"

Tartaglia looked at the now calm Liyue Harbor and asked in confusion, "Friend, what's going on now?"

"Who are you calling me 'friend'? Don't just call me whatever you want!" Paimon was annoyed.

To her attitude, D'Artagnan simply shrugged. "What does it matter? Anyone who's on the path to becoming stronger is a friend."

"So it's said that Morax appeared and re-suppressed Oser?" He looked into the sky.

Kong shook his head. "The people of Liyue, together with the immortals, have re-suppressed Oser. Your plan has failed."

"Is that so...that's quite surprising..." D'Artagnan's surprise was undisguised, but then he fell into thought. "If that's the case, then resealing another demon god wouldn't make much sense..."

"What! You actually want to unseal another demon god!" Paimon was stunned!

Kong placed his longsword directly against his neck and warned, "Zhongli has already given the Heart of God to the lady, so you don't need to think about how to get his Heart of God anymore."

Although he hadn't had much contact with Zhongli, and hadn't developed a close relationship with him during the Sending-Off-Immortals Ceremony, he had confirmed that Zhongli was not the deity who had taken his sister away.

Since there was no enmity between them and they had a friendly relationship, he naturally chose to stand on Liyue's side.

He wasn't the kind of person who would stand idly by while others did bad things, so if Tartaglia tried to release another demon, he would kill him without hesitation!

Hearing this, D'Artagnan was even more surprised than when he heard that Oser had been suppressed.

He rubbed his forehead, his feelings incredibly complicated. "Zhong Li is actually Morax? I've been trying so hard to find Morax, and he really tricked me terribly..."

Chapter 303 Congratulations on your retirement!

With Zhongli as his powerful backer, Paimon held his head high, looking quite smug.

"Hmph! Your female colleague got a beating from Zhong Li and ran away with her tail between her legs. You're our prisoner now, don't expect anyone to come to your rescue!"

“That woman actually got beaten up by Zhongli. I really want to see her expression when she was defeated…” Upon hearing this, Dadalia made no attempt to hide his mockery.

Given that lady's arrogant and conceited nature, she'll suffer a great loss sooner or later.

Zhongli only gave him a scolding, which was considered lenient.

If she encountered a god with a bad temper, he might just kill her with a single blow.

He has already accepted the reality that Zhongli is Morax; there's nothing he can do about it if he doesn't.

Fortunately, the Heart of God has been obtained, the Queen's mission is complete, and other things are not so important anymore.

"You laugh at her, but you're no better than her, are you?" Kong Wuyu lowered his eyes.

Does this guy still not realize that he's a prisoner of war?

"You'll always encounter many failures on the road to becoming stronger, but only by learning from those failures can you become stronger, right, my friend?"

D'Artagnan didn't care about his failure; he wasn't an Executive from the start.

If you can't even face a single failure, then your mentality is really too weak!