"This world was not as harmonious as it appeared. It had always stood on the brink of destruction. While the Seven Archons stabilized the human nations on the continent, The Sustainer of Heavenly Principles stabilized the entire world and resisted outsiders. Beyond this world lay the endless Abyss, an immensely corrosive force. The Abyss was constantly eroding this world, and Forbidden Knowledge was a product of it. Forbidden Knowledge could grant people power, but it would also directly corrupt them into the Abyss's lackeys. King Deshret was a Demon God renowned for his technology. He developed incredibly futuristic technology on the Teyvat continent, but the Forbidden Knowledge he brought back also made all of Sumeru suffer unbearably. In the end, to protect Sumeru, he chose to sacrifice himself. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata then helped him purify the remaining Forbidden Knowledge, but the price was a weakening of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's own power."
"Later, because humanity recklessly courted death, the second Abyss assault swept across the entire Teyvat continent, even contaminating the World Tree. Once the World Tree was contaminated, it meant the entire world of Teyvat would be affected. So Greater Lord Rukkhadevata sacrificed herself as well, sealing the remnant of her soul within the World Tree as a vessel for Forbidden Knowledge. She then waited for the new Dendro Archon to purify her, using the method of sacrificing herself and perishing together with the Forbidden Knowledge to completely cleanse the World Tree. That was also the mission of the current Dendro Archon, Nahida."
"But you know the current Dendro Archon's situation."
Li Yue shrugged after finishing.
"Ah, I understand."
Aizen nodded slightly.
"So, Li Yue-kun, do you intend to save Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, who sacrificed herself to protect the world?"
"That's right. She's my daughter's mother, my wife whom I've never met. If I don't save her, it would be an outrage against Heavenly Principles!"
Li Yue's righteous words made Aizen's eye twitch slightly.
"Then please begin. The moment you separate the soul, I will contain it safely and intact."
If all they needed was to separate Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul from the World Tree, Li Yue could do it alone. But containing and reinserting the separated soul required Aizen, an expert in soul research.
Li Yue held Enma's Blade, its tip aimed at the World Tree.
"Enma's Blade, be careful. You can't hurt either the World Tree or Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."
Did you really need to say that? Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is my wife too!
This might require a lot of force. The World Tree contains an enormous amount of information. Raise the Reiatsu output and go straight to Bankai!
"No problem. Bankai!"
Having received Enma's Blade's prompt, Li Yue immediately activated Bankai. His surging Reiatsu instantly filled the entire space within the World Tree.
Li Yue was already proficient at cutting open spatial gates, but this was his first time separating a soul. So he had his Zanpakuto help directly. Enma's Blade, which loved beautiful girls just like Li Yue did, naturally gave it everything she had. Especially since, after Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul fused into Li Yue's Inner World, she would be living in the same place as Enma's Blade. Enma's Blade could hardly have been happier.
The glowing blade tip touched the World Tree and sank directly into it. It did not cut the World Tree open, but entered it instead. Light formed from immense Reiatsu followed the blade deep into the World Tree.
"Found it!"
Having located the target, Li Yue immediately gripped the hilt with both hands and forcefully flicked upward with the flat of the blade. A green orb of light was pulled out of the World Tree by Enma's Blade.
"World... forget me..."
"World... forget me..."
"World... forget me..."
Good lord, she was still repeating it even after being pulled out. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, that was way too cursed.
Feeling speechless, Li Yue looked toward Aizen beside him.
"I'm ready."
Aizen pulled a pitch-black bead from his sleeve and aimed it at the green orb. The orb instantly transformed into points of light and was absorbed into it.
"Absorption complete."
After the green points of light were completely absorbed by the bead, the entire World Tree space began to change.
The dim space suddenly became bright. Not only that, new leaves immediately sprouted from the few withered branches of the World Tree. The entire World Tree radiated the brilliance of life.
"It seems the World Tree has been healed by you, Li Yue-kun."
According to what Li Yue had said earlier, remnants of Forbidden Knowledge remained in the World Tree, causing problems with it and, by extension, affecting Teyvat as well. Now that the Forbidden Knowledge had been stripped from the World Tree along with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul, the problem of Forbidden Knowledge naturally no longer remained.
"Mm, it should be healed. The remaining Forbidden Knowledge was stripped away along with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The World Tree is now in a completely pure state."
"Forbidden Knowledge..."
Aizen looked at the bead in his hand.
"This should be the Hōgyoku."
"That's right. This is the Hōgyoku I created. It can store souls and implant souls."
As he spoke, Aizen tossed the Hōgyoku directly to Li Yue.
"Li Yue-kun, what you need to do next is absorb the soul that was just taken in by the Hōgyoku. Absorb that soul into your Inner World, then make her submit to you. Her power will then be yours to use."
"Of course, if possible, Li Yue-kun, please leave behind the Forbidden Knowledge contained within that soul when you absorb it."
Li Yue was not surprised in the slightest by Aizen's words.
"Godfather, you want the Forbidden Knowledge? That stuff is highly corrosive. Do you really want to study it?"
"Of course I understand your warning, Li Yue-kun. But as a researcher, it would be far too tragic if I couldn't study knowledge that has fallen into my hands."
Aizen adjusted his glasses.
"Besides, Li Yue-kun, you said that it was highly corrosive, but you never said it was completely untouchable, did you? Knowing my personality as you do, you should understand that I could never give up researching something like this."
"That's right. Godfather could never give up researching something like this."
Li Yue smiled and nodded.
"Since you still want to research it, I'll leave the Forbidden Knowledge behind. But be careful. I don't want to have to replace my godfather so soon."
"Ah, if I, Aizen Sousuke, could be so easily corrupted by something like that, then I would be nothing special."
With Aizen smiling, Li Yue tightened his grip on the Hōgyoku and began absorbing Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul within it.
When the Hōgyoku absorbed a soul, it absorbed everything within it completely. But when stored inside the Hōgyoku, all those things were separated and mixed together. In other words, once Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul entered the Hōgyoku, she had been separated from the Forbidden Knowledge within her soul.
"Then, let's begin!"
Li Yue held the Hōgyoku and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw an azure sky.
Wife X Old Wang Next Door √
The grayish-white Inner World had already transformed into its Shinigami uniform state. Li Yue looked around as he asked the kimono-clad girl behind him.
"Little Blade, where's my wife?"
"You brat, who are you calling Little Blade?"
"Obviously you. Who else would I call that, Enma?"
"Of course you should call me Enma! What kind of terrible name is Little Blade?"
"Alright, Little Blade. No problem, Little Blade."
"Damn it, you're using that joke on me? Believe it or not, I'll have my wife cut you down later!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? She's my wife!"
Li Yue crossed his arms.
"I'm Nahida's dad. She's Nahida's mom, so she's my actual wife. Got it?"
Li Yue used his connection to Nahida to score first!
"Oh? Are you sure that's how it works?"
Enma's Blade also crossed her arms, propping up her chest as she looked at Li Yue with disdain.
"Sorry, Little Blade, but when it comes to Nahida, you can never beat me."
"I see. What a pity."
Enma's Blade grinned.
"But this is your Inner World. Though it may be your Inner World, I'm the one in charge here. Your wife will be living with me from now on."
Li Yue's eyes widened.
"Damn it! I forgot about that!"
"I, Enma's Blade, acknowledge that she's your wife! And I think she's absolutely gorgeous!"
Enma's Blade gave Li Yue a thumbs-up, then licked her lips.
"Your wife is amazing!"
"Am I getting cuckolded by my own sword?"
Li Yue looked horrified. Then, filled with rage, he charged at Enma's Blade. Yet she simply watched him rush before her without any defense, only for him to slide forward and kneel on the spot.
"Sorry. I admit I was a little too loud just now. Please be merciful and spare my wife!"
"Oh? Your wife?"
Enma's Blade crossed her arms again and tilted her head back slightly.
"Guh..."
Li Yue clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and squeezed his eyes shut. After a fierce internal struggle...
"Sorry. That is your esteemed wife."
"Xiao Li, you're quite clever after all."
Having claimed victory, Enma's Blade was in an exceptionally good mood, even calling him Xiao Li.
"From today onward, remember to call me Lord Enma! And call my wife Lady Enma!"
Hearing Enma's Blade's arrogant words, a smile returned to Li Yue's previously aggrieved face.
"Yes, Lord Enma."
He raised his head and looked at Enma's Blade.
"Lady Enma really is useful."
Now it was Enma's Blade's turn to widen her eyes.
"Damn it! I forgot about that!"
"Don't worry. I'll make plenty of use of Lady Enma from now on."
"No, no, no. She's your wife, Li Yue. I'm merely the neighbor who helps take care of your wife when you aren't around."
"No, no. She is clearly Lady Enma. I'm merely an insignificant person who uses Lady Enma right in front of Lord Enma."
"She's your wife!"
"She's Lady Enma!"
What had initially been a fight over who had the right to call Greater Lord Rukkhadevata their wife had somehow turned into a fight to make Greater Lord Rukkhadevata the other person's wife. The bizarre turn of events left Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, who was watching from the side, utterly bewildered.
"What... is going on?"
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, who had been absorbed into the Inner World, had awakened quite some time ago. Mainly because she had no choice but to wake up—the two people beside her were too noisy for her to sleep at all.
After opening her eyes, the beautiful single mother in an emerald-green dress, with pointed ears and pale green hair, saw a man and a woman arguing. One wore a black kimono, and the other wore a kimono skirt. They seemed to be from Inazuma, while she herself lay atop a huge grayish-white stone.
Unlike the small form she had displayed within the World Tree, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata appeared in a mature form within Li Yue's mind, free of Forbidden Knowledge.
Looking upward, she could see a bright blue sky. Yet strangely, there was no sun in it. A sky with no sun, yet still bright?
She then looked around and saw the same vast horizon. After surveying her surroundings, she finally made out where she was. She seemed to have appeared upon an enormous grayish-white tree, and the massive platform beneath her appeared to be its canopy. This was somewhere she had never seen on the Teyvat continent!
"Where... is this!?"
"This is my Inner World."
Li Yue answered Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's question.
"Your Inner World?"
"That's right. This is my Inner World, esteemed Lady Enma."
"Lady Enma? Are you referring to me?"
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata tilted her head and asked Li Yue curiously.
"No, no, no. He isn't talking about you."
Enma's Blade smacked Li Yue on the head with one hand.
"This is that guy's Inner World. His name is Li Yue, and you are the esteemed Lady Li."
"Huh?"
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata let out a confused cry.
One moment Lady Enma, the next Lady Li—what was going on? She was not married.
"Of course it's because of your child—your daughter Nahida."
Before you continue