Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

"No wonder I didn't sense any hatred in these remnants of the demon god; it turns out He willingly allowed himself to be killed..."

Mentioning this, Kong's feelings were quite complicated.

Perhaps the greatest sorrow is despair; in the end, this demon was left with nothing but utter despair and deathly silence.

"Yes. If He had not sought death, it would not have been an easy task for His people to kill Him."

"No, I don't believe it... It's all a hoax! It's a lie! The truth is definitely not like this, it's not..."

Wanyan clutched her head in anguish, refusing to face reality.

Seeing that she was still unwilling to face reality, Jiang Bai really couldn't hold back anymore.

"Hey, you really don't know how to be polite!"

"It was clearly your own ancestors who killed your own gods, and it was the Emperor who protected you, yet you are afraid to bear this sin, you beautify your own history, you treat your benefactors as enemies, and you turn a blind eye to the real enemies!"

"What do you mean by granting a relatively easy release? Isn't it just that you felt the Salt Demon could no longer protect you, so you killed Him and used His death as a pledge to pledge your allegiance to other demons?"

"It's nothing but betrayal for personal gain, and you make it sound so nice. What do you mean by 'not accepting'? This isn't a question of whether you accept it or not! Faith? If I were the Salt Demon, I'd find your faith disgusting!"

"You didn't cherish what you had while it was there, but now that the Salt Demon God has been dead for thousands of years, you suddenly remember how good He was. Even the most despicable words cannot describe you!"

"What sins has the Emperor committed to take in such an ungrateful bunch!"

Chapter 409 Who says you can only believe in one god?

"No...no! No!"

Wan Yan covered her ears and screamed; the collapse of her beliefs drove her to the brink of madness.

She stumbled to her feet, her eyes bloodshot, her once neatly tied hair now a tangled mess. She swayed as she pointed at Zhong Li and roared, her voice shrill and piercing:

"That's not true! The Salt Demon was killed by Morax, how could it be her people! You're lying to me! You're all lying to me! You're trying to shake my faith in the Salt Demon! You're all in cahoots!"

"She's so pitiful..." Paimon couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"This truth is far too cruel," Sora sighed.

"Pitiful my foot!"

Jiang Bai poured a pot of water directly over Wan Yan's forehead. "The Emperor was scolded by her all the way. The Emperor is the one who is pitiful!"

The cold water finally woke Wan Yan from her long dream, and she sat slumped on the ground in a daze.

Her eyes were unfocused, dull and lifeless. The things she had persisted in for so many years seemed like a joke, causing her to lose all her energy and spirit, and she no longer had any of the passion she had shown when criticizing the Rock King Emperor.

"Xiao Bai." Zhong Li stopped him from further provoking him and shook his head.

"The Rock King Emperor doesn't care what people think of Him. Whether it's the Salt Demon God or the Rock King Emperor, they have both passed away. It's not a good thing to worship a deceased god."

Still wanting to continue cursing, Jiang Bai muttered resentfully, "The Emperor may not care, but I do..."

"Moreover, I think what you said is wrong, Master. I don't think it's a bad thing to have faith in a deceased god."

Jiang Bai corrected his mistake very seriously:

"For me, faith is ultimately a wish for a better life."

"The Emperor has passed away. When the people of Liyue encounter difficulties again, they will no longer hope that the Emperor will appear to help them quell the disaster. They will still pray to the Emperor and ask for his protection, but it will only be for peace of mind, rather than really thinking that the Emperor will appear to help them."

"As the people of Liyue gradually adapt to the passing of the Geo Archon, he will become a symbol of faith, like the Anemo Archon of Mondstadt, rather than a deity who appears every year to guide their development..."

Jiang Bai couldn't help but think of Mondstadt.

The wind god may seem absent, but it is omnipresent in Mondstadt.

Venti says he is weak because he gave up his rule over Mondstadt, but if his strength comes from his beliefs, then Venti is undoubtedly very strong.

After all, the people of the Land of Wind have a very pure faith in the wind god who has not appeared for thousands of years. They practice the freedom of the wind and have turned the wind god into a symbol of belief.

This faith is not mixed with much self-interest; it is a simpler expression of prayer and blessing.

Pure things often bring greater power.

Zhongli is looking at this matter from a god's perspective, but from Jiang Bai's perspective, it's a completely different view.

Seeing that Zhongli was listening attentively, Jiang Bai continued, "It is not that faith disappears when a god dies; on the contrary, faith becomes even purer after a god dies."

Jiang Bai's hometown has no gods, so he directly applied it to the environment he originally lived in.

Although there are no real gods there, there are many gods created by humans. People endow these gods with all sorts of abilities, such as creating or destroying the world, bringing wealth or bringing marriage...

Ultimately, however, these are merely man-made symbols of belief.

These created gods never appeared until the world was destroyed.

But did this affect their faith?

No!

Who could resist bowing to the God of Wealth when they see him?

But the Rock King Emperor is different; the Rock King Emperor is different from all the gods that Jiang Bai knows.

The people of Liyue revere and believe in him because of what he did, not because they believe in his power.

Even though He is dead, people's memories will not disappear, His achievements will not be forgotten, and faith will naturally not disappear.

And how could faith, as a symbol of belief, be a bad thing?

Once, the people of Liyue held the idea of ​​having the omnipotent Geo Archon grant their wishes, but after the Archon's passing, faith became just faith, and they no longer truly sought anything from the Archon.

After listening to Jiang Bai's opinion, Zhong Li thought about it seriously for a moment and said, "From a general rational point of view, what you said makes a lot of sense."

Indeed, the content seen varies greatly depending on the perspective.

Although Zhongli lived as a human, he was still a god.

God's perspective is definitely different from that of humans.

From his perspective, he is considering things that will happen a hundred years, a thousand years, or even further into the future.

There will be a second Geo Archon in Liyue, and when the second Geo Archon appears, what will become of those who worship the deceased Geo Archon?

For Jiang Bai, Zhong Li was simply being limited by his fixed mindset.

Who says you can only believe in one god?

"That does make sense." Paimon looked at Jiang Bai with surprise, as if he were seeing him in a completely new light.

Jiang Bai corrected her, "It's not just that there's a reason, it's that there's a lot of reason!"

"What do you think?" Jiang Bai looked up at the sky.

As a fellow outsider, Kong's perspective is quite constructive.

Kong nodded in agreement, "That makes a lot of sense."

Zhongli looked at Jiang Bai with a gratified expression, "Bringing you here was definitely the right decision."

Yes, who says you can only believe in one god?

After being praised by Zhongli, Jiang Bai felt like he was floating on air.

Quickly cough lightly to steady yourself.

Looking at Wanyan, who was soaking wet and pale as if she had lost all her will to live, he lost all interest in arguing with her.

"The mistakes of your ancestors are their mistakes, not yours. Although their behavior was shameful, without them, there would be no you today. As the younger generation, you must accept and recognize the mistakes of your predecessors."

The pain intertwined with ancestral beliefs and faith is the punishment the Salt Demon inflicts upon you a thousand years after his death.

Wan Yan's eyes twitched.

"Is this punishment...?"

Seeing that she reacted, Jiang Bai pointed at the salt sculptures and continued, "If you want to feel better, you can stop treating these people as ancestors, but that's just deceiving yourself."

Wanyan turned to look at the statue that was still holding a sword, and her eyes regained some of their liveliness.

"No, they are my ancestors. If it weren't for them, there would be no tribe like mine today."

"I didn't understand before why my elders wouldn't tell me how the Salt Demon died. Every time I mentioned it, they would fall silent and look pained."

"At that time, I thought it was because we lived in the territory of our enemy, and we were suffering because we knew that the Rock King had harmed the Salt Demon, yet we had to accept His false mercy..."

"So, we ourselves were the murderers who killed the Salt Demon..."

"It turns out that each generation's refusal to forget its past is a form of atonement."

Chapter 410 This is our punishment

Hearing her words, Jiang Bai suddenly understood.

At first, he was furious and thought that everyone in this clan, like Wan Yan, had long forgotten their history and were all heartless bastards. But he was wrong.

No wonder Wanyan was the only one pursuing the history of the Salt Demon God, and no wonder she could only find Zhongli.

Because the elders in the family all knew about these things, but were too ashamed to tell her, a younger generation, they let her find the truth on her own.

Jiang Bai looked at her with pity; this outcome was tantamount to the collapse of her faith.

Seeing that she no longer addressed the Emperor by his name, Jiang Bai decided to show mercy and forgive the woman.

"Although you have realized your mistake, you misunderstood the Emperor for so long and made unfounded speculations about him. You must apologize before the statue of the Emperor every day with three sticks of incense!"

Wan Yan was silent for a moment before saying, "I will."

Jiang Bai was finally satisfied.

It's alright, not hopeless.

However, while I can forgive her, I still need to record the matter of the Salt Demon God, just in case another Wan Yan comes along.

“Master, how about we write a book about the Salt Demon God? We can write down His achievements, stories, thoughts, and ending, which can serve as a warning to future generations and also as historical material for study.”

The story of the Salt Demon is truly educational. It teaches us that weakness is a sin, that running away solves nothing, and that endless concessions only lead to the loss of everything. Each and every one of these is a lesson in itself.

Zhongli looked at Wanyan, "If I'm going to write a book, I'll inevitably have to include the story of your clan in it. Are you willing?"

"The merits of the Salt Demon God should not be buried. Although He is a weak demon god, He has at least given us a safe haven. As for the betrayal of my clan, please do not hide it."

Wan Yan paused for a moment, then said, "This is our punishment."

Jiang Bai wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the remnants of the demon god around him had receded somewhat.

Leaving the underground and seeing the sunlight again, Jiang Bai stretched.

"Should this place be sealed up again?" he asked Zhongli.

There are remnants of demons inside; if it's not sealed, it will have an impact.

"Tell Qianyan Army what happened here, and have Qixing arrange for people to seal the entrance to the palace."

Zhongli showed no intention of making a move.

He's just a guest elder at the Hall of Rebirth now, so let Qixing handle this kind of matter.

"Oh, then I'll call Chongyun here to keep watch." Jiang Bai nodded.

This salt flat is quite remote, and not many people usually come here, but there are still quite a few monsters like Slime Chunchuri and Slimebloom living here. These monsters are very susceptible to the influence of the remnants of the demon gods inside.

If it gets affected, Xiao will definitely come to exorcise the demon. Of course, we can't trouble the immortal Xiao with such a matter.

Now it's time for Chongyun, the alchemist from Tianheng who is eager for training, to step in!

While Chongyun was searching for the evil spirit, he suddenly received a message from Jiang Bai. After hearing what Jiang Bai had to say, he jumped three feet high.

"Salt from the earth! Evil spirits! Remnants of demons!"

He was so excited that he almost lost control of his pure Yang energy.

Finally, he can show off his fighting skills!

It's so painful to be a sorcerer who exorcises demons but can't find any evil spirits at all!

He threw away the unreliable information about evil spirits that Xingqiu had given him and rushed off to the Salt of the Earth without stopping.

......

Watching Wanyan leave on her own, Jiang Bai, holding the salt cup and salt ruler, looked at Zhongli and asked, "Master, she didn't want either of these things. What should we do with them?"

"Come with me to Guyun Pavilion again."