After successfully diverting the Abyss,
Su Xuan used the Mirror of Heaven and Earth's time-reversal power to restore the shattered remains of the "ancient moons."
As he had guessed, there wasn't much difference from his earlier theory.
The so-called "moons" that the ancient dragon empire had launched into Teyvat's orbital path were actually orbital defense platforms—something akin to massive railgun emplacements.
Once he'd parsed their structure completely through the Authority of Law, Su Xuan didn't linger any longer in the pitch-black void outside the world.
He used the Flying Raijin mark he'd left on the Jade Chamber and returned there in an instant.
The moment he set foot on the deck, he saw a tall, elegant figure waiting not far away.
"Welcome back. You've worked hard," Cloud Retainer hurried over to greet him.
Then she explained,
"They originally wanted to come out together and welcome you home before you arrived."
"But Ningguang refused. Her reason was that you don't like ostentatious displays like that."
Su Xuan nodded in satisfaction. "Ningguang did well. I really don't like that kind of scene."
Cloud Retainer said nothing more, simply stood there quietly looking at the man before her.
She knew he wasn't lying.
He truly disliked that kind of empty ceremony.
Besides, anyone who could walk freely in this place was already someone he acknowledged as "his." There was no need at all to put on some ridiculous public spectacle just to prove how important he was to them.
"Right—since you came looking for me, does that mean there's news about Guizhong?" Su Xuan asked curiously.
Cloud Retainer gave a soft "mm" and continued, "She wants to see you."
…
The two of them soon arrived at the room where Guizhong was being "held."
As soon as they met, Su Xuan got straight to the point.
"I heard from Liuyun you wanted to see me. Does that mean you've made up your mind?"
Hearing that, Guizhong's cheeks flushed red, and her gaze wandered upward in embarrassment.
To be honest, when she first heard Cloud Retainer explain the reason she'd been revived, she'd been completely stunned.
She had never heard anything so outrageous.
Of course, what Guizhong considered "outrageous" wasn't that Su Xuan's request was too excessive—it was that she simply couldn't wrap her head around it.
Liyue had always held "a life-saving grace is beyond repaying" as a fundamental belief.
But Guizhong's situation went far beyond a simple life-saving act.
Saving someone's life meant pulling them back from the brink of death and allowing their life to continue.
But Guizhong hadn't just been close to dying—she had been truly, completely dead. There was no "being saved" for her at all.
And yet the already-departed her had been given another chance to experience life in this world.
There was no way to even begin calculating that kind of debt.
"All of that… just for that?" Guizhong finally gathered her courage and tried to start her first real conversation with him.
Su Xuan didn't deny it. He smiled.
"I don't have any reason to let a beautiful girl like you go."
"Especially when this beautiful girl also happens to be the beloved friend of one of my women."
"Bringing you back has a very simple conclusion: I'm happy, she's happy, and my woman is happy too."
"Everyone's happy—why wouldn't I do it?"
"Pfft." Guizhong couldn't help laughing softly.
Only now did she realize this strange traveler from beyond the universe was actually pretty humorous.
His words sounded good and made an absurd amount of sense at the same time.
With that first exchange, the tension she'd felt toward him relaxed somewhat.
And with Cloud Retainer present, she let herself loosen up more, and teased with a smile,
"Under normal circumstances, I agree it all sounds like that."
"But your request is awfully strange."
"What if the beautiful girl refuses?"
"With your strength, forcing it would be easy. But that would crush her emotionally."
"If she breaks down, her friend will be upset as well."
"And if you don't get the experience you want, you'll be unhappy too."
Su Xuan didn't mind Guizhong's questioning at all.
He could tell that this lively girl wasn't being hostile. She just wanted an argument—a little contest of wits.
In the past, Guizhong had often challenged Cloud Retainer and the other adepti over their inventions and treasures.
Sociable and quick-witted, she never ran out of topics to latch onto.
Watching Su Xuan rest his chin on his hand and think—
Guizhong secretly felt delighted and even snuck a wink at Cloud Retainer.
Cloud Retainer could only shake her head and sigh inwardly.
Ah, Guizhong, Guizhong… you're about to eat dirt.
Sure enough—
After listening to her question, Su Xuan cleared his throat and smiled.
"You really don't need to worry about that."
"I have plenty of ways to overturn the situation you just described."
"If, after several attempts at forcing my way in, she still doesn't fall, and it truly does cause irreversible damage to her psyche…"
"Then the Mirror of Heaven and Earth's time reversal can cleanly reset everything back to before I started."
"Of course, the most direct method is to use Total Cognitive Override to hypnotize her."
"I only need to plant one simple suggestion: devote herself to serving me."
"Her personality won't change. Her friend won't be distressed over some emotional breakdown."
"And I still get to enjoy the service and be very pleased about it."
"But I don't particularly like messing with people's minds."
"And that was just the old approach anyway."
Guizhong: "?"
Cloud Retainer: "?"
"Old approach?"
The method of slowly reshaping someone's behavior through subtle psychological suggestion was already terrifying enough.
And this man actually had something better?
Guizhong looked at Cloud Retainer in surprise. "You're that shocked too? Don't tell me even you didn't know?"
Cloud Retainer shook her head and said nothing.
Seeing that, Guizhong's curiosity only burned hotter.
"So, without using any mental manipulation, you've now got an even better way to tame a stubborn girl like me?"
Su Xuan: "…"
As expected of you, Guizhong.
Blurting out lines like that without even blinking—he had to respect it.
The women of Teyvat really couldn't be judged by appearances alone.
"This is something I only recently worked out."
"By tuning the balance of yin and yang within the body, you allow the two to complement and react with each other…"
"So that both parties' energy rises together."
Cloud Retainer and Guizhong both fell silent in thought.
The Way of Yin and Yang?
As adepti of Liyue, they at least had some minor grounding in that.
From their understanding, what Su Xuan had just described was part of the yin-yang path related to cultivation and "health."
Not especially hard to understand.
"But what does that have to do with the problem we were just talking about?" Guizhong asked, puzzled.
Su Xuan nodded. "The yin-yang method I explored is structured around drawing nourishment from you."
Cloud Retainer: "?"
Guizhong: "?"
"I absorb that nourishment and use it to strengthen myself—"
"Then I feed that power back into you."
"You gain strength by taking in my energy."
"As you keep absorbing it, your inner core will gradually be dyed with my power."
"In the end, that core will start to pulse in response to my energy's fluctuations."
"Put simply…"
"In the future, you'll be able to grow stronger and stronger by taking my energy—but the price is that, as you grow stronger…"
"Your inner core will become more and more influenced by me. Under certain conditions, it'll become restless just because my power stirs."
"This influence isn't on your mind—it's on…"
"I think the two of you understand."
Cloud Retainer was utterly speechless after listening to that.
Guizhong also clearly understood something deeply alarming; panic flickered across her eyes.
That meant that in the future, even if they didn't want to go through that yin-yang "exchange" with Su Xuan, their own cores would start protesting—
Forcing them, just to calm that internal agitation, to seek him out for "help."
Wasn't that a bit too unreasonable?
"So you see, even if that beautiful girl you mentioned doesn't want to, it doesn't matter."
"After a few sessions, I only need to deliberately resonate my power with hers from a distance…"
"And to suppress the turbulence in her core, what do you think she'll do?"
Cloud Retainer: "…"
Guizhong suddenly flailed her pale arms. "I object! I strongly object! I'm fine with us getting stronger together, but intentionally triggering resonance like that is way too evil!"
…
In the room within the domain space—
Cloud Retainer recalled Guizhong's protests and couldn't help wanting to laugh.
Who told her to pick a fight over such ridiculous topics with Su Xuan in the first place?
Now she was just reaping what she'd sown.
Of course, even if Guizhong had obediently agreed to Su Xuan's terms from the start, the final outcome probably wouldn't be much different from the current one.
Cloud Retainer's heart pounded restlessly in her chest.
Her friend's struggling and pleading… didn't prick at her conscience at all.
On the contrary, even Guizhong's calls for help—aimed at her—sounded oddly sweet to her ears, tinged with a strange excitement.
"Heh… so that's how it is…"
"Even without this so-called resonance of his, I've already got no way out."
She let out a rare, heavy sigh in her heart.
"Liuyun… why are you just standing there…" Guizhong's panicked cry snapped Cloud Retainer out of her thoughts.
"Get over here and save me…"
Guizhong stretched her slender arms toward her, grasping at the air.
Cloud Retainer frowned slightly.
Then she saw Su Xuan's hand fall, almost lazily. "Behave yourself."
Shaking her head, resigned—
Cloud Retainer forced her legs to move and walked toward Guizhong.
"Liuyun…" Guizhong looked up in surprise. "You're here to take my place—"
But before she could finish, the hand she'd reached out was sharply batted down.
In the next instant, Cloud Retainer's hands clamped down firmly on Guizhong's arms, pinning her in place.
"Hmph."
Guizhong: "!?"
Cloud Retainer ignored the disbelief in Guizhong's eyes, and instead turned to Su Xuan with a pleasant smile.
"Guizhong's always been like this. Smooth talker, endlessly clever."
"Her head's full of ideas and schemes."
"In short, she's the type that absolutely does not behave herself."
"I'll hold her down for you. All you need to do is focus on nourishing yourself."
Guizhong: "Liuyun, you traitor— mmph…!"
Even Su Xuan looked at Cloud Retainer strangely.
"What exactly are you doing, Liuyun?"
"I simply can't stand her attitude."
Cloud Retainer said it with a straight face.
"You didn't just bring her back to life. You also saved this world."
"And she's still wriggling around and making a fuss like this—that's basically disrespecting you."
"So, I'm just teaching her a lesson on behalf of all living beings in Teyvat, that's all."
Guizhong: "????"
Wow. Could she please have a little shame?
This had somehow escalated to "the living beings of all Teyvat"?!
Guizhong was completely numb.
When had she ever disrespected Su Xuan? When had she ever been ungrateful for being brought back?
She was just… instinctively trying to run away, that's all!
Su Xuan: "…"
"Try saying something I can actually believe?"
At that, Cloud Retainer's face reddened instantly. After stammering for a while, she finally bit the bullet and spoke.
"Then… please let me take in more of your energy later."
"I want to gain more power as quickly as possible."
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/lucarioTL