"This question…"
Jiang Yan's brows knitted slightly, and between them, the violet-gold sigil shimmered faintly like ripples on water.
"What is it? Something you can't speak of? If it's inconvenient, then there's no need," Zhongli added.
Jiang Yan shook his head.
"It's not that. It's just… the cultivation system has existed for so long that I don't actually know exactly how it was born.
How it reached the point it has today—I don't fully understand either."
"But…"
He lifted his hand.
A scroll, seemingly carved from white jade, floated into his grasp.
The script upon it was unlike anything Zhongli and the others had seen before—yet bizarrely, a single glance was enough for them to know its meaning.
The Jade Scripture of the Yellow Court.
It appeared to be the very text Jiang Yan had been reciting earlier.
But Ganyu remembered clearly—it had been a slightly yellowed, weathered paper book before.
Gazing at the scripture, Jiang Yan fell silent for a moment, then smiled faintly.
"The Great Way is fifty; Heaven's evolution is forty-nine; one is hidden away."
"That hidden 'one' represents a sliver of life—a thread of hope. Everything in this world contains such a thread.
"No matter how impossible something seems, that thread still exists.
To cultivate is to seek that hidden one—to be reborn from the nine deaths."
Zhongli looked dazed for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"A thread of life in all things…"
"I see. It seems the immortals you cultivate to become are indeed more complete… more extraordinary than our own."
Beside them, Cloud Retainer curled her beak but didn't argue.
Jiang Yan waved a hand with a smile.
"As I said before, it's not about belittling the immortals of Teyvat.
Cultivation draws on the strengths of all paths; any world, any system, has something worth learning.
"But… in our eyes, an 'immortal' can never be simply born and raised into being.
That is a foundational principle for a cultivator.
"Born a god, born a mighty being—these may be great powers, innate divinities.
But 'immortal' is a chance for transcendence the Great Way offers to all life across the worlds.
"In the eyes of a cultivator, immortality is an absolutely sacred future—and we are stubborn about its definition."
Zhongli seemed to understand, and Cloud Retainer's expression also softened.
"So… your ranks are defined very strictly?"
Jiang Yan nodded.
"That's right."
"Then… you're saying you're not yet an immortal?" Cloud Retainer blurted out, sounding frustrated.
"You're not lying to us? The way you fought earlier—you could easily flatten the Geo Archon."
Zhongli's face darkened beneath his hood, though he said nothing.
"I have no need to lie to you," Jiang Yan said helplessly.
"I may seem only one realm away from true immortality, but that one realm has trapped countless cultivators for eternity.
"Even the most gifted may take thousands, even tens of thousands of years to break through.
You still don't understand what 'immortal' means to us."
He looked at Cloud Retainer, raising a single palm.
In it shimmered a prismatic light, as deep and vast as a starry sea.
This was definitely not elemental energy.
Zhongli's heart tightened as he examined it carefully.
Beyond its nobility and profundity, he could sense nothing at all.
"Cloud Retainer, what I told you earlier was no exaggeration.
"An immortal shares the lifespan of Heaven and Earth, shines with the sun and moon.
After surviving the Three Disasters and Five Tribulations, they are free from birth, aging, sickness, and death—beyond the Three Realms, outside the Five Elements.
"To roam the North Sea in the morning, visit Mount Cangwu by evening; to pluck stars and grasp the moon, change the heavens and move the sun… even to create worlds—these are the powers of an immortal.
"Simply put—an immortal is a lifeform above the world.
They stand beyond it. At least… that is how it is in Teyvat."
Zhongli sighed in yearning, and even Cloud Retainer's eyes shone.
The fact alone that such beings stood above the world set them far apart from Teyvat's immortals.
"An incredible cultivation system indeed," Zhongli said.
"In that case, our calling ourselves immortals may be a touch presumptuous."
Cloud Retainer gave a disgruntled hum but didn't argue.
"There's no need to put it that way," Jiang Yan said, shaking his head.
"I've seen your immortals—their abilities are truly mysterious, not inferior to many cultivator techniques…
"Though their combat power is somewhat lacking."
Cloud Retainer bristled but could find no retort.
When it came to combat strength… she knew they couldn't compare.
Jiang Yan moved on.
"Just as a person is the starting point of the human path, an immortal is the starting point of the immortal path.
Cultivation is an endless struggle across the river—there is no true end.
"If one day you stop improving, and believe you've reached the end… it only means you've gone as far as you can go.
"Mortals wish to cultivate; cultivators wish to become great powers; great powers wish to ascend to immortality; immortals wish to become titans of the Immortal Realm; titans wish to achieve the Dao.
"And after achieving the Dao? Perhaps, like me, they keep walking still.
"This road has no stopping place.
And no way back."
It wasn't clear whether he was speaking to them… or to comfort himself.
Either way, Zhongli and the others didn't interrupt.
After a moment, Jiang Yan returned to the present and smiled gently.
"Heaven and Earth are finite, but the human heart is infinite.
So an immortal seeks inward, not outward.
"Only by cultivating oneself and cultivating the Dao can one become a true immortal."
Zhongli had the faint impression that Jiang Yan was teaching him the way of cultivation.
He asked instead,
"The ability you just used—it wasn't elemental power, nor divine power. Is it unique to cultivators?"
In answer, Jiang Yan extended his hand again.
This time, everyone could see clearly:
Gold, wood, water, fire, and earth cycled in turn, even shifting into Teyvat's seven elements.
Strangely, these elements—normally volatile when in contact—blended seamlessly.
One person mastering all elements was astonishing enough.
But then Jiang Yan formed a strange seal with his fingers—
In an instant, golden light wrapped his entire body.
Zhongli frowned slightly—at this moment, Jiang Yan's defense seemed utterly unbreakable.
It was absurd.
Even Zhongli had never seen a force that was neither elemental nor divine, yet so absolute.
Jiang Yan lowered his hand, the golden glow fading.
Then he pressed two fingers together like a sword.
The once-gentle aura around him transformed in a heartbeat—like a blade unsheathed, sharp enough to rend the sky.
A piercing radiance tore open the clouds above.
Zhongli's artifact—the Primal Rock Jade—suddenly slipped from his control, flying of its own accord to orbit Jiang Yan.
It moved like a living thing, circling him joyfully.
Zhongli was about to speak when his ears twitched.
He turned sharply toward the sea of clouds below the cliff—
Something was approaching.
Before it came into view, a gale like blades of ice blasted upward, tearing the clouds apart.
Now they saw clearly—
Countless rivers of swords.
Rotten, pristine, earthen-stained, chipped—
They were all swords, masterless or bound, gathering behind Jiang Yan.
At his will, they swirled together like a night-blooming flower about to open—
A blossom of death.
The gleam was so fierce that Cloud Retainer and Zhongli could hardly keep their eyes open.
Standing tall upon the Primal Rock Jade, Jiang Yan raised his hand, fingers still in a sword seal.
The storm of blades grew even sharper.
"No elemental power… What is this?! Archon?!"
The commotion finally drew other immortals.
A divine stag, a white crane, and a green-haired youth arrived quietly—
Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper, and Xiao.
Their eyes lifted to the figure above, their pupils shrinking.
Instinctively, they closed ranks around Zhongli.
"Do not be alarmed," Zhongli said evenly, forcing his voice calm.
"This is merely Daoist Jiang Yan… testing his sword."
"Daoist… Jiang Yan?"
The newcomers looked more bewildered than reassured, but if Zhongli said it was fine, they would stand down.
After all…
With that kind of display, if it were a fight, they'd be skewered like candied fruit in seconds.
"Daoist Jiang Yan," Zhongli called up, voice ringing clear,
"This move is most curious—does it have a name?"
High above, Jiang Yan's lips curved faintly.
"Sword-Riding Technique!"