After Jiang Yan departed, Azhdaha soon returned to Liyue Harbor.
At the docks of Liyue Harbor, Guizhong stood by the shoreline, as if waiting for someone's return.
Seeing Azhdaha come back, she immediately stepped forward.
"How was it? You didn't suffer any serious injuries, did you?"
Hearing her question, Azhdaha replied,
"I'm fine. Just some superficial wounds."
Guizhong nodded, but her gaze kept drifting past Azhdaha's shoulder, clearly searching for someone.
"Stop looking. Jiang Yan didn't come back with me."
Azhdaha said helplessly.
Guizhong froze, then asked nervously,
"Did Jiang Yan go off to do something again?"
After Jiang Yan's previous inexplicable departure from Liyue—and his return followed by a long slumber—Guizhong had become extremely sensitive to him leaving again.
"He told me he was going to find the Geo Archon. This time, it probably won't be anything serious."
Azhdaha didn't truly know what Jiang Yan intended to do, but to calm Guizhong, he could only say this.
Guizhong finally let out a breath of relief.
After all, going to see Morax was far better than disappearing alone again.
"All right. Now that Jiang Yan has awakened, we should be happy."
Azhdaha said to Guizhong.
Guizhong nodded, and together with Azhdaha, returned to Liyue Harbor.
At this moment, thanks to Little White and Apep joining the fight, the battles across Liyue were quickly brought under control.
Apep, as the Dendro Dragon King—and currently at peak strength—felt no fear even when facing gods on the scale of the monster tides, let alone mere hordes of monsters.
Almost the moment Apep arrived, every battlefield turned decisively one-sided.
The various Liyue military districts launched counteroffensives, completely exterminating the monster tides.
Meanwhile, in Inazuma.
With the addition of the Chenyu Fleet and the Skyborne Fortress Wu Ma, Inazuma's defensive battle entered a white-hot phase.
Within Inazuma City, civilians frantically gathered what limited resources they could, supplying energy to the front lines and the fleets at sea.
With Inazuma serving as an energy resupply point, and under the dense artillery coverage of the Chenyu Fleet and Wu Ma, the monster tides were repelled wave after wave.
However, compared to Inazuma City, the battlefield at the Grand Narukami Shrine was far more dire.
Although Kapatcir had joined the fight, the Grand Narukami Shrine lay at the northern edge of Narukami Island—effectively the main front of Inazuma.
Before Kapatcir's arrival, the soldiers there had already suffered devastating losses. Even with Kapatcir's formidable strength, it was still only a low-ranking god. Against endless waves of monsters, exhaustion was inevitable.
(A small trivia note: In the canon story, Kapatcir was a being that the Raiden Shogun killed with a single arrow. Its combat strength isn't particularly high; fundamentally, it's closer to a powerful beast. So classifying it as a low-ranking god isn't unreasonable.)
"Damn it, there are too many monsters!"
Kapatcir roared. At this point, it was fighting in a frenzy, thunder constantly crashing down from the sky and triggering violent explosions.
Kitsune Saiguu was covered in blood. Prolonged combat had drained nearly all of her remaining elemental power.
"Kapatcir… if I die, please help move the refugees inside the Grand Narukami Shrine to Inazuma City."
Her expression was calm, as if she had already made her decision.
"Kitsune Saiguu, you—"
A sense of dread surged in Kapatcir's heart.
"I'll ignite the Hakushin blood within me to buy you all one last window of time. I'm counting on you, Kapatcir."
A pale white glow lit up around Kitsune Saiguu, her eyes filled with resolve.
Just then, a thunderous roar echoed across the sky.
Everyone looked up in shock—including Kitsune Saiguu and Kapatcir.
Through the gray, oppressive clouds, seven-colored light pierced down from above.
"Fist That Shatters the Galaxy!"
A clear, resounding voice rang out from the heavens.
The next instant—
Under the horrified gazes of all present, a massive pillar of seven-colored light slammed down from the sky.
The ground shattered. The entire Narukami Island began to quake violently.
Wails of agony filled the air as the monsters struggled in madness—but the moment they touched the light, they turned to ash, annihilated in an instant.
After a moment, a figure descended and landed before Kitsune Saiguu.
"Kitsune Saiguu, from now on, you owe me one life, you know."
"Dying whenever you please isn't allowed."
The figure turned around. Beneath his handsome features was a bright, sunny smile.
"Jiang Yan!"
Kitsune Saiguu widened her eyes and cried out in joy.
Jiang Yan's dramatic descent from the sky, paired with his striking appearance, was—at least to a woman—no different from a prince on a white horse riding in on rainbow clouds to save her life.
Kitsune Saiguu's heart pounded wildly. At that moment, Jiang Yan's image was deeply etched into her mind.
"You don't look like you're in very good condition."
Jiang Yan frowned slightly as he looked at her blood-covered body.
Kitsune Saiguu glanced at the bloodstains on herself, her cheeks faintly flushing.
"No, it's not… I…"
Jiang Yan didn't dwell on her reaction. He raised his hand, and the Horse Talisman flared to life in his mind.
A gentle white light appeared in his palm. In an instant, the injuries on both Kitsune Saiguu and Kapatcir were completely healed.
"Thank you, Kapatcir."
After healing them, Jiang Yan smiled and thanked it.
"No need. I was merely fulfilling the contract between us."
Kapatcir nodded toward Jiang Yan.
"Mm. Since I'm here now, leave the rest to me. You both should get some proper rest."
Jiang Yan said with a smile, then walked up to Kitsune Saiguu.
"We can catch up after everything's settled. Leave this place to me—go back to the Grand Narukami Shrine and rest."
He gently stroked Kitsune Saiguu's soft white hair, his tone warm and reassuring.
Her cheeks flushed even redder, clearly unaccustomed to Jiang Yan acting like this so suddenly.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yan's inner thoughts were—
Absolutely ecstatic!
He'd wanted to touch those fox ears for ages!
Heh.
"All right. Later, remember to bring the soldiers back to clean up the battlefield."
After lightly rua-ing Kitsune Saiguu's ears once more, Jiang Yan turned around, seven-colored light once again blooming around his body.
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