As the gem disappeared into the clouds,
Two surging divine powers suddenly descended upon the Jade Chamber.
One was from Venti, whom Jean and the others were very familiar with.
The other was from the Geo Archon himself.
Green and golden light condensed before the group.
Venti, in this moment, no longer had his usual carefree appearance.
Behind him, the wings of a great archangel spread wide as a look of divine solemnity covered his face.
This was his divine form.
"I knew it! That guy was totally putting on an act earlier!"
Paimon puffed up angrily with her hands on her hips.
Venti turned his head and blinked at her.
"Ehe~"
Hmm…
Even though his appearance was awe-inspiring, deep down he was still the same unreliable bard.
"In the name of Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, my people—Lion of the South Wind, Jean Gunnhildr."
"Do you wish to represent the people of Mondstadt and sign the final contract with Liyue that will open the path to the future?"
Jean took a deep breath.
She hadn't been able to sleep last night and had already talked it over with Lisa.
At this point, since they had already agreed to a joint advancement with Liyue, there was only one path forward.
At the very least, with Liyue's help, the lives of Mondstadt's citizens would surely improve.
Jean stepped forward, solemnly placing one hand on her chest.
"Guided by the winds, I, Jean Gunnhildr, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, accept all consequences and ask Lord Barbatos to sign the contract."
Venti looked at her with a complicated expression, though there was a hint of relief in his eyes.
"As you wish. In the name of the Archon of Mondstadt, Barbatos, I hereby sign this final contract with Morax, the Archon of Liyue."
Zhongli spoke in a low voice:
"Even if the heavens fall, the contract must be honored!"
"Those who break it shall suffer the punishment of stone!"
Each drew a thread of divine power and intertwined them in midair, slowly forming a radiant scroll.
The contract had only one clause:
"Mondstadt and Liyue shall live and die together."
Signed: Morax and Barbatos.
Together with the specific terms agreed upon yesterday, the final contract was now complete.
As for the will of the people…
Ningguang, as the head of the Qixing, represented all of Liyue's citizens.
Though Jean was only the acting Grand Master, her leadership was enough that when she spoke, Mondstadt's citizens would rally behind her.
The two women thus served as representatives of public will.
The contract brought a palpable sense of binding obligation to both sides.
It was split in two—one copy went to Venti, the other to Zhongli.
An unbreakable alliance was now officially formed.
Zhongli gave Venti a nod.
Just as Lumine was about to ask a question, Zhongli's figure flickered and vanished.
"Old friend, always upholding the contract…"
Venti, shedding his divine form, pouted.
"Yeah, yeah, I know! It was only that one time! Do you have to keep reminding me?"
"Barba—"
Before Jean could finish her words, Venti grinned and interrupted:
"Just call me Venti. Being a god… it's fine to do it once in a while."
Jean nodded slightly, glancing at him with a hint of inner conflict.
"Worried about this contract?"
Venti blinked meaningfully.
"Don't worry. Mondstadt signing this contract is the right choice. In time, you'll understand."
"It will lead to a truly unimaginable opportunity."
Since even Venti had said so, Jean felt reassured.
She turned to Ningguang and asked softly:
"Miss Ningguang, can we now discuss the deal?"
"Deal?"
Ningguang chuckled and shook her head.
"Just call me Ningguang. From now on, Liyue and Mondstadt will be eternal friends. So shall we."
"But… by signing this contract, you are no longer allowed to trade precious items like alchemical potions with Liyue."
This made Jean and the others anxious, about to protest—
But Lisa stepped in first and said:
"So, by signing this contract, we can meet Mr. Ryen?"
Ningguang smiled softly.
"Lisa truly lives up to the title of the genius of the Akademiya in two centuries…"
"Yes, by signing this contract, you may now come with me to meet Ryen."
"From yesterday until now, everything done has been to give you all the chance to meet him. And the condition for meeting Ryen is binding yourselves completely to Liyue."
"From now on, even if—"
Ningguang paused, looking deeply at Jean and the others.
"Even if we face destruction like Khaenri'ah once did… even if we are attacked by the Seven Archons, Mondstadt must share that burden with Liyue."
With that, Ningguang stood gracefully and began walking outside.
"Come, this is the final step. I will take you to see Ryen."
"However… Ryen might not be in Teyvat right now."
Upon hearing this, everyone's pupils shrank.
"Not in Teyvat?"
Lisa became serious and looked at Ningguang solemnly.
"Oh right, I almost forgot to introduce him to you."
As they boarded a floating platform heading toward a villa at the foot of Mt. Tianheng,
Ningguang smiled with ease.
"Ryen is the Lord of a World."
"As you may have guessed… he governs an entire world…"
…
Regarding Ningguang's attempt to pull Mondstadt into the fold, Ryen was fully aware—and he approved.
After all, the Minecraft world was vast. Even if all of Liyue were thrown into it, it wouldn't cause a ripple.
There would be countless mods in the future, and relying solely on Liyue to develop them would take decades.
Ryen had no problem with more people.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have met with Jean and the others alongside Ningguang at the Jade Chamber last night.
Ningguang also spoke frankly about her intentions.
Liyue couldn't monopolize the benefits for too long.
Otherwise, what happened to Khaenri'ah could also happen to Liyue.
Taking advantage of Celestia's current slumber, Ningguang intended to strip away all of Celestia's control, piece by piece.
When Celestia finally awakened in the future…
It would be all alone.
If it dared to make a move against Liyue, the other six nations and all Seven Archons would unite to beat it down.
Liyue…
Would become the invisible Third Throne!
Last night, Zhongli had taken Venti away to talk extensively about the MC world.
Venti had finally understood what Zhongli was trying to do.
To be honest, Venti was quite pleased.
Originally, the plan had less than a 30% chance of success.
But now, as long as they followed the plan step by step, success was guaranteed.
Even without thinking hard, it was clear what needed to be done.
Though Venti disliked interfering with Mondstadt's freedom…
Sometimes, survival was more important than freedom.
Khaenri'ah was still a cautionary tale—did Venti truly feel no fear or concern?
If he really didn't care, why would he go to such lengths, even handing his Gnosis to the Cryo Archon?
But now, none of that mattered.
This magical world, with such unimaginable potential…
Could solve all of Mondstadt's problems—and Venti's worries.
Worst-case scenario? They fight!
If they lose, they retreat!
After a round of rest and recovery, they could come back stronger and fight again!
Why wouldn't they do it?
With all hesitation gone, Venti wished he could've signed every contract last night.
In the short span of a minute as the floating stone descended…
Jean and the others remained silent.
They had passed through a divine power barrier, followed by an adeptus aura scan…
And finally landed about a kilometer away…
On the first layer, they encountered hundreds of mounted knights patrolling;
on the second, 300 light infantry like yesterday.
Finally, they crossed a blockade formed by dozens of wolves.
These wolves were bubbling with effects, like they had drunk alchemical potions.
They were a breed Ryen had taught others to raise—wolves naturally infused with potion effects.
Even a random one could tear apart high-level monsters with ease.
Even shielded Abyss Mages would be bitten in half.
This was a newly designed defense system built in just seven days.
The reason?
Because last time, the debt collectors had dropped in from the sky.
After Madame Ping warned Tartaglia, she also informed Ningguang to rebuild the defenses.
This place had become Liyue's true armory of strength.
Finally, after passing through the main gate, Ningguang led the group to Ryen's private courtyard.
It looked peaceful, like an ordinary rural home.
A few blocky-looking trees stood nearby.
Beneath them were large fields.
In the fields, Qingxin, Glaze Lilies, Jueyun Chilis—herbs native to Liyue—grew everywhere.
Even more astonishingly, Jean and the others spotted Mondstadt's native plants like Dandelions, Small Lamp Grass, and Cecilia…
All growing just as lushly as the others.
"What… What is this?" Jean asked in shock, staring at Ningguang.
Different crops normally needed specific regions and environments to grow.
But here, it seemed anything from Teyvat could flourish effortlessly.
Completely defying the laws of nature.
"This is one of that world's special traits," Ningguang said with a proud smile, "though just a small one."
"Keqing has already converted half of the Guili Plains' land. In the future, it'll be just like this—filled with herbs from all across Teyvat."
She glanced into the house but didn't find Ryen and sighed.
"As expected, he's not here? Oh well…"
She turned back around and invited everyone to sit at a table in the courtyard.
"How fascinating… These pieces of furniture all seem to be made out of square blocks," Lisa said in amazement, examining the tables and stools.
Even after all her studies in the Akademiya, she had never seen such uniform, geometric blocks.
"Are these also features from that world?"
"Correct," Ningguang replied with a chuckle and began to explain:
"Half a year ago, Ryen descended upon Teyvat. Perhaps to observe Liyue, he met Keqing and Ganyu. About a month ago, we formally began our collaboration."
"All the changes you've seen started only a little over a month ago."
"In that short time, Liyue has undergone a complete transformation."
"Countless resources, unimaginable treasures, an infinite world…"
"What you've seen at Liyue Harbor is just the tip of the iceberg."
"Even the now most in-demand Lapis Lazuli, we have tens of thousands of tons in reserve."
"Liyue doesn't need Mora anymore. If we wanted, we could easily crash Teyvat's entire economic system."
"Do you know how a Golden Apple is made?"
Ningguang asked with a sly smile, turning to Lisa.
The latter looked stunned.
"With… gold?" she guessed.
"That's right," Ningguang nodded.
"To make a Golden Apple, you need about 16 tons of gold."
"Even higher up, there's the Enchanted Golden Apple, which requires more than 160 tons of gold."
"And as for gold…" she paused, then said softly while meeting everyone's shocked gaze:
"Recently, the total amount of gold harvested by Liyue Harbor in that world is…"
"81,900 tons!"
~~----------------------
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