Original God, But It's a Chat Group

Finally, there was Fontaine. Another Furina was hidden there, the genuine current Hydro Archon.

She had spent five hundred years gathering energy behind the scenes, all so she could kill herself to give Neuvillette a bit of excitement, allowing him to become the complete Hydro Dragon King once more and pardon Fontaine's water spirits.

He just wondered whether that suicidal madwoman had considered one possibility: destroying the Hydro Archon's throne might directly awaken the Herrscher of the Void on Celestia. Then, just as Neuvillette regained the Hydro Dragon King's authority, he might get dragged out and beaten again, have his power stolen once more, and watch a new Hydro Archon throne be established. The only reason the people and gods of the Teyvat continent could jump around so wildly was because the Queen of the Void was asleep. Otherwise, this self-sacrificial atonement plan was simply courting death!

So Furina was also a possible target, though she ranked far below the previous three. She first had to complete her storyline and make Neuvillette willing to forgive the people of Fontaine. Otherwise, if Li Yue took Furina away too early, Neuvillette might be unable to forgive humanity and directly wipe out everyone in Fontaine.

Li Yue might have been a fun-seeker, but he was not someone who killed people indiscriminately, especially not Navia and Clorinde!

Therefore, there were currently only two souls he could acquire: Boreas and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.

"Fine. I'll go fish out that old wolf later. As for any trial or whatever, what the hell does that have to do with me?"

Having confirmed the two souls he could currently obtain, Li Yue could barely wait.

"Looks like you've found your target, Li Yue-kun."

"That's right. I know where to find souls capable of using Elemental Power. I'll open the door shortly!"

Hearing that they could go to Teyvat, Aizen's interest was piqued as well, and he even thoughtfully offered some advice.

"Before that, I'll give you one more suggestion, Li Yue-kun. If you want to merge with souls that inherently possess Elemental Power, you should start with the easiest ones. Your Reiatsu is not particularly strong yet. Suppressing powerful souls right from the start may be difficult. Begin by suppressing weaker ones, then use the power gained from those you have already suppressed to suppress subsequent souls. That will make your growth much easier."

Although Aizen himself was the sort of ruthless monster who could crush heaven and earth and take on a crowd alone, he did not reject efficiency. Whenever he believed a method was effective, he used it directly.

Hearing Aizen's words, Li Yue, who had originally planned to claim Boreas first since he was nearby, immediately changed his target. His first stop would be Sumeru!

Given Boreas's personality, he would definitely resist if subdued. Though Li Yue believed he could handle a remnant soul, why make things harder when he could make them easier? He had to make the trip anyway.

More importantly, Li Yue happened to have a teleport point at the Sanctimonious Palace in Sumeru, so he could open a door straight there.

Once he separated Greater Lord Rukkhadevata from the World Tree and merged her into his Inner World, his familial relationship with Nahida would gain another layer!

"Godfather, you were right. I've already decided on my first target."

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

Aizen was immensely curious about beings like Demon Gods. Li Yue had not said much during the live stream before, but now that he would soon come into direct contact with one, Aizen was delighted and eager to learn about the first Demon God they would encounter.

Li Yue's expression instantly turned solemn.

"She's a young single mother!"

Aizen:?

Gin Ichimaru felt excluded—jointly excluded by his superior and his future junior. Although this superior was someone he had always wanted to slash to death, that did not stop him from feeling left out.

Specifically, his superior and future junior were talking about things he could not understand at all, and none of their topics included him. In short, they were not letting him play!

Gin Ichimaru figured that what they were discussing was probably something Li Yue had brought back from the future. Perhaps the Hueco Mundo Resistance of the future had discovered something new, such as this so-called Elemental Power displayed by the three artificial souls before them. Li Yue had most likely used that to earn Aizen's trust, at the cost of leaving Gin Ichimaru, a Bleach from this era, completely unable to understand. After all, he was not a researcher.

The feeling was subtle. On one hand, seeing Li Yue, this junior, earn Aizen's trust made him feel gratified. It showed that his future junior was quite capable, capable enough to gain such trust from Aizen. That meant his plan to use Aizen against the Quincy had a high chance of succeeding. On the other hand, he himself had spent over a hundred years beside Aizen to earn that same degree of trust, only for a newcomer who had appeared mere days ago to surpass him so easily. Did that not make him seem somewhat incompetent?

Several centuries of effort had been surpassed by a few short days of acquaintance. Was that not a kind of...

With such complicated feelings, Gin Ichimaru was ordered by Aizen to return to the Seireitei first. Meanwhile, Aizen followed Li Yue behind Gin Ichimaru's back, leaving the world of Bleach and heading for the Teyvat continent.

A deep-blue spatial gate opened atop Gazing Star Cliff in Mondstadt. Li Yue and Aizen stepped out of it.

"So this is the Teyvat where you live, Li Yue-kun."

The moment Aizen landed, he curiously observed his surroundings. To him, everything here was novel, just as Venti and Nahida had found the world of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend before. It was a brand-new world, and everything was unknown.

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

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

"And that is Mondstadt City, the heart of Mondstadt."

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

Aizen was brimming with curiosity. He very much wanted to meet that seemingly ordinary Anemo Archon from Li Yue's Live Stream Room, preferably study the Anemo Archon's body and see what exactly a Demon God was.

"Unfortunately, Venti isn't in Mondstadt right now. I took him and Nahida to Kasumigaoka's world, and they're sightseeing over there."

"What a pity. What about the other gods?"

Aizen did not give up. He wanted to study other gods as well, and he knew that Liyue had a God of Geo.

Li Yue could only shake his head helplessly.

"Zhongli is in Liyue, but personally, I wouldn't recommend that you study Zhongli, Godfather. The Seven Archons are currently the strongest controllers of the elements in this world. In terms of the Bleach world, they are all holders of Kido-type Zanpakuto, and every one of them is the strongest in their respective element. Godfather, you understand what that means, right?"

"I see. I understand."

Top-tier Kido-types shared one trait: they excelled at extremely large-scale attacks. Captain Commander Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka was like that. In theory, Tōshirō Hitsugaya's Hyōrinmaru could be as well, but Tōshirō himself was too weak. Without fully mastering his Bankai, his Bankai could not even defeat Old Man Yamamoto's Shikai. So Aizen did not even spare Tōshirō a second glance. Who wasn't a genius captain?

When facing these top-tier area-attack specialists, Aizen's Illusion seemed somewhat lacking. Indiscriminate wide-range attacks limited the effectiveness of his illusions. He had not yet fused with the Hōgyoku, so he was not arrogant enough to fight opponents skilled in massive area attacks.

"Besides, there's another reason. The Seven Archons are important to the Teyvat continent. I still have to live in this world, so it's better if nothing happens to them for now."

The Teyvat continent's storyline hasn't even started yet. I still need to play it. If you solve everything, what will I even play?

"But you needn't worry, Godfather. Above the Seven Archons are seven ancient dragons. They likewise represent the seven elements, and their status is even higher than that of the Seven Archons. I happen to know that Sumeru has a half-dead Dendro dragon. It commands the Dendro element and is the Dragon King of the Sands. It's far superior to a Demon God. You can study that one however you like."

"Oh?"

A being higher than the Seven Archons made Aizen even more interested. Li Yue was a good brother—he really did share good things with others!

"That would be excellent."

"Let's retrieve my first target first."

As he spoke, Li Yue drew his blade and slashed through the air, opening a Portal leading to the Sanctimonious Palace.

The deep-blue spatial gate appeared again. Li Yue led Aizen through their second crossing, though this time, it was a crossing within the same world.

Taking a single step through the spatial gate, Li Yue brought Aizen to the Sanctimonious Palace once again. The imprisoned Lesser Lord Dendro Archon was no longer there. Only a pedestal remained, one that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had once used for secluded meditation and contemplation.

Aizen looked around curiously again after landing, while Li Yue explained.

"This is Sumeru City, the capital of the Nation of Grass, Sumeru. It is a city built atop a 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. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, Sumeru's former Dendro Archon, has not completely died. Her remnant soul remains in the World Tree. As long as I separate her soul from the World Tree, I can take her away."

"The World Tree you mentioned, the one capable of controlling all the information in this world?"

At the mention of the World Tree, Aizen's eyes gleamed. Another unknown thing—he wanted to study it so badly.

"That's right, but we can't touch it for now. The World Tree concerns the entire Teyvat world. If anything goes wrong, it will directly awaken this world's guardian. She also possesses the power of space. I'm not her match yet, and she has the authority to summon the Seven Archons."

"I understand."

Aizen nodded with some disappointment. Another thing he could not touch for the time being. What a shame.

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

"Reaching the space where the World Tree resides requires the Dendro Archon's power. The Dendro Archon is the World Tree's incarnation. Her consciousness is connected to it, and she is its administrator. But I do not want Nahida's identity exposed yet, because that would make things less fun."

At the mention of Nahida, Li Yue grinned. He intended to pretend he did not know Nahida's real identity, then properly train her. How could he expose it so early?

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

"I don't."

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

"But I can try. I'm in Sumeru right now, on the Sacred Tree. This is the closest place to the World Tree. If I keep opening doors downward from here, theoretically, it should be easy to open a spatial gate leading to the World Tree."

"Then you may begin trying, Li Yue-kun."

Aizen looked at Li Yue with some speechlessness. He had thought Li Yue could easily obtain the soul he wanted, but in the end, Li Yue did not even know the way there and had to start randomly trying.

"Well, I'll have to trouble you to wait over there, Godfather. It's nighttime in Teyvat anyway, so nobody will come here. We can take our time."

The three worlds where the Chat Group's members were located shared synchronized time.

It had been noon in Teyvat when Li Yue left. He had shopped in the world of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend until evening, entered the world of Bleach at night, and returned to Teyvat at night as well. This meant the three worlds followed synchronized timelines.

Aizen did not stand on ceremony. He walked to the side and began studying the pedestal left behind by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The residual Dendro element energy on it was also something Aizen wanted to collect. This time, he could not study the Seven Archons or the World Tree, but surely the Dendro element could not be off-limits too? While Li Yue randomly opened doors, Aizen could take advantage of Sumeru's incredibly abundant Dendro element environment to gather a batch of Dendro element energy and bring it back for study.

Sever the world, Enma's Blade!

He opened a door. On the other side was Treasure Street.

Sever the world, Enma's Blade!

He opened a door. On the other side was the Grand Bazaar.

Sever the world, Enma's Blade!

On the other side was the Tomb of King Deshret. Treasure Street and the Grand Bazaar were at least within Sumeru City, but how could opening a door downward lead all the way to the Tomb of King Deshret in the desert?

Slash, open, Palace of Alcazarzaray. Slash, open, Akademiya! Damn, the Grand Sage was drooling in his sleep. Bad luck!

Slash, open...

Inside the Sanctimonious Palace, Li Yue opened doors for a full two hours. He controlled his Reiatsu output, gradually increasing it from low to high in order to control the distance of his Portals and keep them within Sumeru as much as possible.

Yet after two hours of Reiatsu output, Li Yue had opened Portals to most of Sumeru's regions, but he still could not open a Portal to the space where the World Tree was located.

"This shouldn't be happening. I've opened Portals all the way to the harbor leading to Fontaine. Why haven't I reached it yet?"

He had opened Portals through nearly all of Sumeru, even through much of Sumeru's hollowed-out underground, yet he simply could not find the World Tree.

"Li Yue-kun, is there a possibility?"

Aizen, who had been gathering Dendro element energy while watching from the side, could not help speaking. He felt Li Yue was wasting far too much time and decided to offer a hint.

"That World Tree that controls all information in this world may not be in this world at all. Just like the Human World, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo in my world—they belong to the same world, yet they are separate worlds."

In Aizen's view, how could something as important as the World Tree be placed in this surface world? It had to be kept in another world, just as the Seireitei was in Soul Society yet still managed the Human World.

"That's right! It must be that! I know what to do now."

Li Yue understood at once and directly unleashed his Reiatsu.

"Bankai!"

Enma's Blade's Shikai could only open doors within the same world. Only its Bankai could open doors between worlds. Previously, when using Bankai to open doors to the worlds of Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend and Bleach, Li Yue had envisioned his target world. This time, he envisioned the space where the World Tree was located.

As for the connection between Li Yue and the World Tree's space, did he not have Nahida?

The deep-blue spatial gate opened again. This time, however, it did not lead to any location in Sumeru, but to a fog-filled space. Along with the mist came a single sentence.

"World... forget me..."

"World... forget me..."

"World... forget me..."

"World... forget me..."

"World... forget me..."

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

"Li Yue-kun, what is this?"

"Ah, that voice?"

Li Yue felt somewhat awkward. He had heard the voice when opening the door, and even after entering this space, he could still hear it. It was not that the voice sounded bad—after all, it belonged to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata—but it sounded like a video had frozen, repeating over and over again. No matter how pleasant a voice was, if it played nonstop twenty-four hours a day from every possible angle, it would become annoying. Especially with the constant repetition, it had a rather bizarre feeling.

"The owner of that voice is our target this time: the former Dendro Archon, the current Dendro Archon's mother, the World Tree's administrator, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."

It had not been like this in the game. Had she not only called out once? Why was the real situation a nonstop repetition?

Oh, no, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata did seem to repeat it continuously. Back in version 3.0, one could repeatedly hear that sentence at the Statue of The Seven. A whole crowd had speculated about what was going on, and lore enthusiasts had frantically made videos analyzing and deducing the cause.

So Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had actually been repeating herself endlessly inside the World Tree? That was indeed rather bizarre.

"Could you tell me about this former administrator of the World Tree?"

Aizen stopped frowning and carefully examined the enormous tree before asking Li Yue.

"Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was one of the first generation of the Seven Archons. Unlike other Demon Gods, who needed to seize divine positions by participating in war, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's position was basically predetermined. She was more or less appointed by the Heavenly Principles as Sumeru's god."

"But Sumeru did not have only Greater Lord Rukkhadevata back then. Besides her, there were King Deshret and the God of Flowers. Of those two, one was a troublemaker and the other was a simp. The God of Flowers was an enormous troublemaker, while King Deshret was her simp. There was also Apep, the Dragon King of the Sands. The God of Flowers died first. After her death, King Deshret even built her an incredibly luxurious tomb. Beyond that, King Deshret ventured beyond the world and brought Forbidden Knowledge into this world."

"Forbidden Knowledge?"

Another new term. Aizen's response was clear: he was very curious!

Under Aizen's direct gaze, Li Yue immediately began explaining.