Original God, But Chat Group

Finally, Fontaine. Fontaine also hides a Furina—this one is the real, current Hydro Archon.

She's been gathering energy behind the scenes for five hundred years, all so she could cut herself down to help Neuvillette get back on his feet, letting him become the complete Hydro Dragon King and absolve Fontaine's water spirits. But I wonder if this suicidal mastermind ever considered one possibility: that destroying the Hydro Archon's throne might wake up the Herrscher of the Void on Celestia, leading to Neuvillette getting his Hydro Dragon authority snatched away again right after he gets it, getting beaten up, and having a new Hydro Archon throne rebuilt. It just so happens the Herrscher of the Void is asleep, so everyone on Teyvat—humans and gods alike—is running wild. Otherwise, this whole self-sacrifice play is practically a death sentence!

So, Furina is also an option, but her priority is far behind the first three, because she has to finish her storyline first, letting Neuvillette be willing to forgive the Fontainians. Otherwise, if Li Yue takes Furina away too early, Neuvillette might not forgive humanity, and they'd all be wiped out.

Li Yue might be a thrill-seeker, but he's not someone who kills people for no reason, especially not Freminet or Clorinde!

So, for now, there are only two souls to harvest: Boreas and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.

"Alright, I'll go scoop up that old wolf later. As for trials or whatever, none of my damn business."

Having settled on the two souls he could grab for now, Li Yue couldn't wait any longer.

"It seems Li Yue-kun has found his targets."

"That's right. I know where to find souls that can use Elemental Power. I'll open the gate soon!"

Hearing they could go to Teyvat, Aizen's interest perked up, and he even offered a thoughtful suggestion.

"Before that, let me give you another piece of advice, Li Yue-kun. If you want to integrate those souls with Elemental Power, it's best to start with the easiest one. After all, your Reiatsu isn't very strong yet. Jumping straight into suppressing a powerful soul might be tough. Start with a weak one, use the power you gain from suppressing it to suppress the next one—that way, your growth will be smoother."

Even though Aizen himself was a ruthless powerhouse who could take on a crowd solo, he wasn't against efficiency. When he saw a more effective method, he'd use it without hesitation.

Hearing Aizen's words, Li Yue, who had been planning to go grab Boreas first since it was close, immediately changed his target. First stop: Sumeru!

Boreas's personality meant he'd definitely resist if subdued. Li Yue figured he could handle a remnant soul, but if he could make things easier, why not? He'd have to make the trip anyway.

Especially since Sumeru had the Sanctimonious Palace as a TP point, so he could open the gate and go straight there.

Once he peeled Greater Lord Rukkhadevata off the World Tree and integrated her into his Inner World, Li Yue's kinship with Nahida would gain another layer!

"Godfather, you're right. I've settled on my first target."

"Can you tell me who your first target is?"

Aizen was full of curiosity about beings like Demon Gods. Li Yue hadn't said much during the livestream, and now that they were about to make direct contact, Aizen was thrilled, eager to learn about this first Demon God they'd encounter.

Li Yue's expression turned serious.

"A young single mother!"

Aizen: ?

41. The World... Forgets Me...

Gin Ichimaru felt left out—sidelined by his boss and his future junior. Even though his boss was someone he'd always wanted to kill, that didn't stop him from feeling excluded.

The evidence was clear: his boss and his future junior were talking about things he didn't understand at all, and none of the topics included him in the discussion. In short, they weren't playing with him!

Gin figured they were talking about something Li Yue had brought back from the future—that future Hueco Mundo Resistance had probably discovered something new. Like the so-called Elemental Power these three artificial souls were showing. Li Yue was likely using that to earn Aizen's trust, at the cost of Gin, a modern-day Soul Reaper, being completely lost, since he wasn't a researcher.

It was a strange feeling. On one hand, seeing his junior Li Yue earn Aizen's deep trust was reassuring—it meant this future junior had real skill, enough to make Aizen trust him that much, which boosted the chances of his plan to pit Aizen against the Quincy. On the other hand, Gin had spent over a century by Aizen's side to earn that level of trust, only to be easily surpassed by a newcomer who'd shown up recently. Did that make him look incompetent?

Hundreds of years of effort, overtaken by just a few days of interaction—wasn't that a kind of...

Caught in this complex mindset, Gin was ordered by Aizen to return to the Seireitei, while Aizen himself, without Gin, followed Li Yue out of the Soul Reaper world and into Teyvat.

A bluish spatial gate opened on Gazing Star Cliff in Mondstadt, and Li Yue and Aizen stepped out.

"So this is your Teyvat, Li Yue-kun."

As soon as he landed, Aizen looked around with curiosity. To him, everything here was novel—just like when Venti and Nahida had gone to the Saekano world. A brand-new world, full of unknowns.

"That's right. This is Gazing Star Cliff, in Mondstadt, ruled by the Anemo Archon."

Li Yue pointed to the distant lights of Mondstadt City in the middle of Cider Lake.

"And that's Mondstadt City, the heart of Mondstadt."

"Is that wine-loving Anemo Archon in Mondstadt City?"

Aizen was brimming with curiosity. He wanted to go meet that seemingly ordinary Anemo Archon from Li Yue's livestream, preferably study the Archon's body to see what a Demon God really was.

"Unfortunately, Venti isn't in Mondstadt right now. He went with Nahida to Kasumigaoka's world and is sightseeing there."

"What a shame. What about the other Archons?"

Aizen wasn't giving up, still wanting to study other Archons. He knew there was a God of Geo in Liyue.

Li Yue shook his head helplessly.

"Zhongli is in Liyue, but I personally don't recommend you study him, Godfather. The Seven Archons of this world are the strongest elemental controllers. In Bleach terms, they're all Kido-type Zanpakuto wielders, and each one is the strongest in their element. You should know what that means, Godfather."

"I see. Understood."

Top-tier Kido-types all shared one trait: they excelled at massive area attacks. Captain Commander Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka was a prime example. Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Hyōrinmaru could theoretically do it too, but Hitsugaya himself was too weak—without fully mastering Bankai, his Bankai couldn't even beat Old Man Yamamoto's Shikai. So Aizen didn't even bother looking at Hitsugaya. Wasn't everyone a genius captain?

Facing opponents like that, Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu felt a bit lacking, because indiscriminate area attacks limited the effectiveness of his illusions. Without having merged with the Hōgyoku yet, he wasn't arrogant enough to fight opponents who excelled at large-scale attacks.

"Plus, the Seven Archons are vital to Teyvat. I still live in this world, so it's better if they don't cause any trouble for now."

The Teyvat storyline hasn't even started yet. I still want to play through it. If you solve everything, what's left for me?

"But don't worry, Godfather. Above the Seven Archons, there are seven Ancient Dragons, also representing the seven elements, and they're even higher in rank than the Archons. I happen to know there's a dying Dragon King of the Sands in Sumeru. It controls the Dendro element and is the Dendro Dragon King—way more advanced than a Demon God. You can study that one all you want."

"Oh?"

A being even more exalted than the Seven Archons—Aizen's interest flared even higher. Li Yue was a true brother; when he had something good, he actually shared it.

"Then that couldn't be better."

"Let's go retrieve my first target first."

With that, Li Yue drew his blade and slashed through the air, carving out a Portal leading to the Sanctimonious Palace.

The azure spatial gate reappeared, and Li Yue led Aizen through a second crossing—though this time, the leap was within the same world.

Stepping across the spatial gate, Li Yue brought Aizen once more to the Sanctimonious Palace. Now, the palace no longer held the imprisoned young Dendro Archon; only a pedestal remained, the one Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had once used for seclusion and meditation.

Aizen set foot on the ground, his gaze roving with renewed curiosity, while Li Yue explained.

"This is Sumeru City, the capital of the Nation of Grass, Sumeru. It's a city built upon the Sacred Tree, and the roots of this Sacred Tree connect to the World Tree of the Teyvat continent."

"My first target is the World Tree. The former Dendro Archon of Sumeru, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, didn't fully die. Her remnant soul lingers on the World Tree. If I can peel her soul away from it, I can take her with us."

"Is this the World Tree you mentioned, Li Yue-kun—the one that can grasp all the information in the world?"

When the World Tree came up, Aizen's eyes gleamed. Another unknown thing—he longed to study it.

"That's right, but we can't touch it for now. The World Tree is tied to the entire Teyvat world. If something goes wrong, it would directly awaken this world's guardian. That being also wields spatial power, and I'm not a match for her yet. Plus, she has the authority to summon the Seven Archons."

"I understand."

Aizen nodded, a trace of disappointment in his eyes. Another thing he couldn't touch for now. What a pity.

"Then, Li Yue-kun, open the passage to the World Tree."

"To reach the space where the World Tree resides, you need the power of the Dendro Archon. Since the Dendro Archon is the incarnation of the World Tree, her consciousness is linked to it—she's its administrator. But I don't want to expose Nahida's identity yet, because that would ruin the fun."

When he mentioned Nahida, Li Yue grinned wide. He was planning to act as if he didn't know her true identity and then properly train her—how could he reveal it so early?

"Then, Li Yue-kun, do you know another way to reach the World Tree?"

"No."

Li Yue spread his hands, and the smile on Aizen's face froze stiff.

"But I can try. Right now, I'm in Sumeru, on the Sacred Tree—this is the closest point to the World Tree. If I keep opening gates downward from here, theoretically, it should be easy to open a spatial door leading to the World Tree."

"Then, Li Yue-kun, you may begin your attempts."

Aizen gave Li Yue a speechless look. He had thought Li Yue could easily obtain the soul he wanted, but in the end, he didn't even know the way and had to resort to random attempts.

"Well, Yifu, just wait here for a bit. Since it's nighttime in Teyvat now, no one will come here. We can take our time trying."

The three worlds where the Chat Group members were located shared a synchronized timeline.

When Li Yue left Teyvat, it was noon. He shopped in the Saekano world until evening, entered the Bleach world at night, and when he returned to Teyvat, it was also night—meaning the three worlds ran on the same time axis.

Aizen didn't stand on ceremony. He walked to the side and began studying the pedestal left by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The residual Dendro element energy on it was also something Aizen wanted to collect. This time, he couldn't study the Seven Archons or the World Tree, but surely he could study the Dendro element. While Li Yue randomly opened gates, Aizen could gather a batch of Dendro element energy in Sumeru's abundant environment and take it back for research.

Cleave the world, Enma's Blade!

The gate opened—to Treasure Street.

Cleave the world, Enma's Blade!

The gate opened—to the Grand Bazaar.

Cleave the world, Enma's Blade!

The other side was the Tomb of King Deshret. Treasure Street and the Grand Bazaar were at least within Sumeru City—how could opening downward land him all the way at the desert's Tomb of King Deshret?

Cleave, open—the Palace of Alcazarzaray. Cleave, open—the Akademiya! Damn, saw the Grand Sage drooling in his sleep—what a bad omen!

Cleave, open...

Inside the Sanctimonious Palace, Li Yue spent a full two hours opening gates. He controlled his Reiatsu output, adjusting it from low to high to manage the distance of his Portals, keeping them as much within Sumeru's borders as possible.

But after two hours of Reiatsu output, Li Yue had opened gates to nearly every part of Sumeru—yet he still couldn't open a Portal to the space where the World Tree resided.

"That can't be right. I've opened gates all the way to the port leading to Fontaine—why haven't I found the place yet?"

He had covered almost all of Sumeru, even the hollowed-out underground areas, but the World Tree was nowhere to be found.

"Li Yue-kun, could it be..."

Aizen, who had been gathering Dendro element on the sidelines, couldn't help but speak up. He felt Li Yue was wasting too much time and decided to offer a hint.

"That World Tree, which governs all information in the world, might not be in this world. It's like the Human World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo in my world—though they exist in the same world, they are in different realms."

In Aizen's view, something as important as the World Tree couldn't possibly be placed in a surface world like this. It had to be in another realm, just as Seireitei was in Soul Society yet still governed the Human World.

"Right! That must be it! I know what to do."

Li Yue understood and instantly burst out his Reiatsu.

"Bankai! "

Enma's Blade's Shikai could only open gates within the same world; only Bankai could open gates across worlds. Before, when he used Bankai to open gates to the Saekano and Bleach worlds, Li Yue had focused his mind on the target world. This time, he focused on the space where the World Tree resided.

As for the connection between Li Yue and the World Tree's space—well, wasn't Nahida there?

The azure spatial gate opened once more, but this time, it wasn't any location in Sumeru. Instead, it revealed a space filled with mist, and along with the mist came a single phrase:

"The world... forgets me... "

42. The Deranged Greater Lord Rukkhadevata

"The world... forget me..."

"The world... forget me..."

"The world... forget me..."

"The world... forget me..."

Within the World Tree Space, Aizen frowned slightly as he looked at the towering, translucent tree before him.

"Li Yue-kun, what's this?"

"Ah, that voice."

Li Yue-kun felt a bit awkward. When he opened the door, he'd heard this voice, and even after entering this space, it still echoed. It wasn't that the voice was unpleasant—after all, it belonged to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata—but the problem was that it kept repeating like a stuck video. No matter how beautiful a voice, playing it on a 24/7, 360-degree loop would grate on anyone's nerves. Especially with that constant repetition, it had a distinctly deranged quality.

"The owner of this voice is our target this time: the previous Dendro Archon, the mother of the current Dendro Archon, the manager of the World Tree—Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."

It wasn't like this in the game, was it? She only said it once. How come in reality, she kept repeating it?

Oh, wait—it seemed like Greater Lord Rukkhadevata did loop that line. Back in version 3.0, at the Statue of The Seven, you could hear that phrase over and over. A bunch of players speculated about what was going on, and lore enthusiasts churned out videos analyzing and theorizing.

So, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was actually stuck in a loop inside the World Tree? That was pretty deranged.

"Can you tell me about this former manager of the World Tree?"

Aizen no longer frowned but studied the massive tree seriously as he asked Li Yue-kun.

"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was one of the original Seven Archons. Unlike other Demon Gods who had to fight in wars to claim their divine seats, her position was essentially preordained—she was appointed by the Heavenly Principles as the god of Sumeru."

"But Sumeru didn't only have Greater Lord Rukkhadevata back then. Besides her, there were also King Deshret and the God of Flowers. One was a disaster, and the other was a simp. The God of Flowers was a total disaster, and King Deshret was her simp. On top of that, there was Apep, the Dragon King of the Sands. The God of Flowers died first, and King Deshret built her an extravagant tomb afterward. Beyond that, he ventured outside the world and brought back Forbidden Knowledge from beyond."

"Forbidden Knowledge?"

Another new term. Aizen's expression said: I'm curious!

Under Aizen's direct gaze, Li Yue-kun immediately began to explain.