It was unknown how long it had passed, but the sky cleared and the world became bright.
The previous storm clouds had disappeared without a trace, as if it had all been a dream.
But everyone in Teyvat knew that it was real.
All the nations were in an uproar, quickly exchanging information, wanting to know what had happened in Liyue.
Even Ningguang was confused. When she contacted Zhongli, there was no response. For a time, she was somewhat panicked.
Fortunately, Zhongli sent a divine power back, telling her that everything was fine and that he would explain later.
This finally calmed things down somewhat, and the Qixing ordered the Millelith to maintain order in Liyue Harbor.
On Celestia, there was also an uproar, with many gods trying to contact Celestia.
But Celestia seemed to be even more deeply asleep than before, as if it had been hit by some tremendous blow.
There was nothing to be done, so Celestia had to remain silent for now and continue waiting for the fated cycle.
One ascension, and the entire Teyvat was in turmoil. Who knew how many butterfly effects would appear.
However, Jiang Yan didn't care.
What was there in the world called a fated cycle?
The world was bizarre and unpredictable. Its essence was unknown, an incomprehensible change.
No matter how Teyvat was before, now a true cultivator, Jiang Yan, had arrived.
Teyvat would be like this.
On the high mountain where the Cloud Retainer resided in the Jueyun Karst.
Jiang Yan and the others gathered around the stone table again, everything around them as if nothing had happened.
Only Jiang Yan, the purple runes on his forehead, now had a hint of gold, faintly noble and mysterious.
Zhongli and Cloud Retainer were exhausted from the aura of the tribulation, and their current states weren't very good.
Jiang Yan noticed this and smiled apologetically.
He reached out and lightly tapped the void, and a few purple-golden lines appeared out of thin air and merged into the four of their bodies.
The next moment, the fatigue and restlessness disappeared.
Even Zhongli felt a sense of comfort, as if he had returned to the time of his birth, without any erosion…
Erosion?
Zhongli's eyes flickered, and he calmed his mind to feel it.
After a moment, he looked up at Jiang Yan in disbelief.
“Rex Lapis?”
Zhongli’s actions caught Cloud Retainer's attention, and she looked at him puzzled.
“What's wrong?”
Zhongli shook his head, remained silent for a moment, and then said complexly,
“My erosion… has reduced by one-fifth…”
“What!”
Cloud Retainer was shocked, but then her eyes were filled with joy.
“Erosion… can… it be removed?”
“Of course, it can.”
This time, Jiang Yan answered, his tone gentle.
“So-called erosion is the limitation of lifespan imposed on you long-lived beings by Heaven and Earth.”
“And we cultivators are a group of beings who defy the rules of Heaven and Earth. Naturally, for us, this constraint is a piece of cake.”
Cloud Retainer wanted to strike while the iron was hot and have Jiang Yan remove Zhongli’s erosion in one go.
But Zhongli gestured for Cloud Retainer not to mention it.
Cloud Retainer opened her mouth, but she still didn’t say it.
What happened today was too magical. Now it felt like she was dreaming.
Jiang Yan, the ordinary person she had spent a hundred days with, had thunderously ascended to immortality before her very eyes?
And, compared to him, she didn’t even feel worthy of being called a god…
Which celestial being could be as ridiculously strong as him?
This was more unbelievable than Rex Lapis falling in love with swimming and wanting to go to the deep sea to find seafood every day.
And the move Jiang Yan used just now, where he wielded that golden thunderous sword, to be honest, if it were elemental power, or if it were divine power, then she would have blown up her cave for Jiang Yan to hear the sound.
It was a power she had never seen before, mysterious but extremely alluring. It wasn't the power attribute of any being in Teyvat.
Elemental power?
Don't even think about it.
Things were too complicated. Cloud Retainer needed to sort things out.
Ganyu and Shenhe on the side were also at a loss for words, looking at Jiang Yan and spacing out from time to time.
Zhongli saw that Jiang Yan was waiting for them to ask, so he organized his words and said softly,
“It was rumored that ascension existed. I also thought it was just a exaggerated and fabricated description from fiction writers.
“I didn’t expect that I would be opening my eyes today, that there really is such a thing as ascension in the world.
“But, if I'm not mistaken, that tribulation… wasn’t Teyvat’s energy… no! It should be a manifestation of some kind of rule that transcends the world, right?”
Jiang Yan smiled and nodded.
“It’s the manifestation of Dao.”
Dao…
This word was the one that Zhongli had heard the most from Jiang Yan.
In the depths of his heart, he felt that this thing was important.
But before he could ask, Jiang Yan said again,
“Ascension is indeed ascension, and its existence is undeniable.”
“But I’m not an immortal, I just broke through to a higher realm, a test given by Heaven and Earth.”
“In your understanding, you can think that I defied Heaven and Earth, and therefore owed Heaven and Earth a debt, which I needed to repay with a life-or-death battle for what I took.”
Zhongli became interested, put down his teacup, and said softly,
“It’s like the contractual laws I control. If you want to get something, you have to give something in return, a fair exchange.”
“And you… the things you pursue are an unfair exchange with Heaven and Earth, so you will suffer this punishment, this is the essence of the Heavenly Tribulation?”
Jiang Yan chuckled and nodded.
“You could say that.”
Zhongli's eyes glowed golden, and he carefully scrutinized Jiang Yan for a moment.
Compared to before, Jiang Yan now had a strange sense of conflict between noble and ordinary.
After looking at it for a long time, it made people feel a little uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Jiang Yan also noticed this situation, and did not know what he did, but the next moment, he seemed to return to his original transcendent appearance.
Zhongli guessed that it was the suppression of life levels.
He shook his head with a sigh.
“Cultivators… are truly a strange group of beings.”
“With a human body, they defy the will of Heaven, and they compete with fate. They are constantly walking on a path that violates the will of Heaven and Earth.
“In my six thousand years of life experience, I have never heard of such a thing.”
Jiang Yan took a sip of tea and said in a low voice,
“Cultivation, cultivation… cultivation is about immortality, cultivation is about being equal to Heaven. Heaven and Earth are supreme, how could they allow such rebellious beings?”
“Therefore, we cultivators are essentially breaking the rules of Heaven and Earth, setting our own rules. Not only do we incorporate great power into our bodies,
“We also pursue the control of the power of Heaven and Earth in our hands.”
“To put it simply…”
Jiang Yan paused and said with a smile,
“It’s actually ‘My fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of Heaven’. Although it sounds a bit second-rate, it’s actually the most appropriate description of cultivators.”
Jiang Yan had heard these words every day, so he naturally found them cringy and embarrassing.
But for Zhongli and the others, it was a novel saying.
“My fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of Heaven…”
Zhongli’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he kept repeating these words. He seemed to be thinking of something, sometimes his emotions were high, and sometimes he felt a sense of resentment and loss.
In the end, he sighed.
“My fate is in my own hands, not in the hands of Heaven. It’s arrogant, but a beautiful hope. However, for us, it is unattainable.”
Seeing Zhongli say this, Cloud Retainer suddenly became unhappy and sulked in a corner with her cheeks resting on her hands.
Jiang Yan saw the gloomy atmosphere and waved his hand awkwardly.
“It’s not like that. There are countless ways in the world. As long as there is achievement, then there is something to be taken.”
“Our paths may be different, but they’re not necessarily incompatible. What I said before was not meant to disrespect your godhood.”
“Every world naturally has its own unique features. It’s just that from a personal perspective, your so-called gods…”
“In my opinion, they are actually divinely born saints, not gods that can be cultivated.”
“Sometimes, I can't help but envy your gods…”
“At least, you were born divine, and don't have to, like us, fight against people, fight against Heaven, from birth to death, walking on the path of competition.”
“If you win, you’ll have a chance at immortality. If you lose, you’ll die without a burial place…”
Looking at the thoughtful Zhongli and the others, Jiang Yan said softly,
“Do you know what that Heavenly Tribulation was just now?”
“……”
Zhongli and the others recalled the Heavenly Tribulation just now, and became even more silent.
It was something that made them feel despair when they thought back on it.
It was hard to imagine how Jiang Yan had faced it head-on.
“It was the Triple-Nine Thunder Tribulation. It’s the easiest Heavenly Tribulation that cultivators have to face. Above that, there are the Six-Nine Thunder Tribulation, the Nine-Nine Thunder Tribulation…”
“Thunderous Heavenly Tribulations like this are actually the easiest.”
“We cultivators are most afraid of the Three Calamities and Five Tribulations, the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, and the Heart Tribulation of the True Self…”
“These Heavenly Tribulations are silent and invisible, but they are all catastrophes that leave imprints on the soul. Old Age, Sickness, Death, Hatred and Discontent, Love and Separation, Unfulfilled Desire…”
“These tribulations target the heart and the nature of man, the Dao heart.”
“If you fail to pass the tribulation, at best you will suffer a collapse of the Dao heart and lose all your cultivation. At worst, you will become completely insane and never recover.”
“Even the most basic Thunder Tribulation, which only affects the body and not the heart, has only a one in a hundred chance of survival.”
“You only know about the bright and glamorous side of cultivators, ascending to immortality and becoming ancestors. You don’t know how many cultivators have died halfway and perished without a burial place.”
After saying this, Jiang Yan let out a long sigh and looked towards the dark sky. It seemed that Jiang Yan saw through the false heavens of Teyvat.
He saw the countless bright and brilliant flames of talent burning and blooming in the endless world.
What did he, Jiang Yan, have more than these prodigies?
He was just a system that wasn't very smart.
But cultivation, in the end, had to depend on himself. The realm he had achieved now was ultimately obtained through the binding of his improved mental state and the Yellow Court Jade Scripture.
This was the greatest support that the system could provide him.
Going forward, he would only be able to improve his realm through his own continuous research of the Yellow Court Jade Scripture.
Thinking about it…
It was interesting!
Jiang Yan suddenly smiled again.
Although he couldn't become a deep blue point cheat, but…
His cheat was pretty powerful.
He could definitely make it on the path to immortality.