Original God, But Chat Group

"This world isn't as harmonious as it appears on the surface. It's always been on the brink of destruction. While the Seven Archons stabilize the human nations on the continent, the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles stabilizes the entire world, resisting outsiders. Beyond this world lies the endless Abyss—a highly corrosive force that constantly erodes it. Forbidden Knowledge is a product of the Abyss. It can grant power, but it also directly corrupts people into minions of the Abyss. King Deshret was a Demon God renowned for his technology, creating highly sci-fi inventions across the Teyvat continent. But the Forbidden Knowledge he brought back plunged all of Sumeru into agony. In the end, to protect Sumeru, he chose to sacrifice himself. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata helped purify the remnants of that Forbidden Knowledge, but the cost was a weakening of her own power."

"Then, because of humanity's reckless actions, a second Abyss surge struck the entire Teyvat continent, even polluting the World Tree. Contamination of the World Tree means the entire Teyvat world would be affected. So Greater Lord Rukkhadevata sacrificed herself as well, sealing her residual soul within the World Tree as a vessel for the Forbidden Knowledge, waiting for the new Dendro Archon to purify her. By sacrificing herself to annihilate the Forbidden Knowledge alongside it, she aimed to fully cleanse the World Tree—and that's also the mission of the current Dendro Archon, Nahida."

"But you know how the current Dendro Archon's situation is."

Li Yue shrugged as he finished.

"Ah, I can understand."

Aizen nodded slightly.

"So, Li Yue-kun, do you intend to rescue this Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, who sacrificed herself to protect the world?"

"That's right. She's the mother of my daughter, my never-met wife. If I don't save her, it would be an outrage against heaven itself!"

Li Yue's righteous declaration made Aizen's eye twitch slightly.

"Then, please begin. I'll perfectly contain the soul the moment you separate it from the World Tree."

If it were just about separating Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul from the World Tree, Li Yue could do it alone. But containing the separated soul and re-implanting it required Aizen, an expert in soul research.

Li Yue gripped Enma's Blade, its tip pointing at the World Tree.

"Enma's Blade, be careful. Don't damage either the World Tree or Greater Lord Rukkhadevata."

Do you even need to say that? Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is my wife too!

The force might need to be considerable—the information within the World Tree is immense. I'll crank up the Reiatsu output and go straight to Bankai!

"No problem, Bankai!"

Following Enma's Blade's prompt, Li Yue activated Bankai directly. The surging Reiatsu instantly filled the entire World Tree space.

Li Yue was already familiar with cutting open spatial gates, but separating a soul was a first for him. So he let his Zanpakuto handle it on its own. Enma's Blade, who shared Li Yue's love for beautiful women, naturally went all out—especially since, once Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul merged into Li Yue's Inner World, she'd be living in the same place as Enma's Blade. Enma's Blade couldn't be happier.

The gleaming blade tip touched the World Tree and sank straight in, not cutting it but penetrating it. The light of concentrated Reiatsu followed the blade deep into the World Tree's interior.

"Found it!"

Having located the target, Li Yue immediately gripped the hilt with both hands and used the back of the blade to sharply flick upward. A green orb was drawn out of the World Tree by Enma's Blade.

"World... forget me..."

"World... forget me..."

"World... forget me..."

Good grief, still repeating that even after being pulled out. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, you're way too stuck on this.

Li Yue sighed inwardly and turned to look at Aizen.

"I'm ready."

Aizen pulled a pitch-black orb from his sleeve and aimed it at the green orb. The green orb instantly dissolved into specks of light and was absorbed.

"Absorption complete."

Once the green specks were fully absorbed into the orb, the entire World Tree space began to change.

The previously dim space suddenly brightened. Not only that, but the few withered branches on the World Tree immediately sprouted new leaves. The whole tree radiated with the brilliance of life.

"It seems the World Tree has been healed by you, Li Yue-kun."

According to Li Yue's earlier explanation, remnants of Forbidden Knowledge on the World Tree had caused issues, affecting Teyvat as well. Now, with the Forbidden Knowledge stripped from the World Tree along with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul, the problem was gone.

"Yeah, it should be healed. The residual Forbidden Knowledge has been removed along with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The World Tree is now in a completely pure state."

"Forbidden Knowledge..."

Aizen looked at the orb in his hand.

"This must be the Hōgyoku."

"That's right. This is the Hōgyoku I created. It can store souls and implant them."

Aizen tossed the Hōgyoku directly to Li Yue.

"Li Yue-kun, what you need to do next is absorb the soul just taken into the Hōgyoku. Draw that soul into your Inner World, make it submit to you, and its power will be yours to command."

"Of course, if possible, Li Yue-kun, when absorbing the soul, please leave behind the Forbidden Knowledge carried within it."

Li Yue showed no surprise at Aizen's words.

"Yifu, you want the Forbidden Knowledge? That stuff is highly corrosive. Are you really going to research it?"

"I'm well aware of your warning, Li Yue-kun. But as a researcher, it would be too tragic to have such knowledge within reach and not be able to study it."

Aizen adjusted his glasses.

"Besides, Li Yue-kun, you said it's highly corrosive, but you didn't say it's completely untouchable, did you? Knowing my nature, you should understand that I absolutely cannot give up researching something like this."

"That's right. For Yifu, there's no way you'd give up researching this."

Li Yue nodded with a smile.

"Since you still want to study it, I'll leave the Forbidden Knowledge behind. Please be very careful. I don't want to have to find a new Yifu anytime soon."

"Ah, if I were easily corrupted by something like this, it would only mean that I, Aizen Sousuke, am nothing special."

With a smile from Aizen, Li Yue gripped the Hōgyoku in his hand and began absorbing the soul of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata within it.

When the Hōgyoku absorbs a soul, it takes in everything within that soul completely, but when stored inside the Hōgyoku, everything within the soul is separated and mixed separately. That is to say, once Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's soul entered the Hōgyoku, she was separated from the Forbidden Knowledge inside her soul.

"Then, let's begin."

Li Yue closed his eyes, gripping the Hōgyoku. When he opened them again, he saw a clear blue sky.

43. My Wife × The Neighbor Next Door √

In the gray-white Inner World, Li Yue, now in his Shinigami uniform, looked around as he asked the kimono-clad girl behind him.

"Little Blade, where's my wife?"

"You little punk, who are you calling Little Blade?"

"Who else? You. Or should I call you Enma?"

"You should definitely call me Enma. What kind of crappy name is Little Blade?"

"Got it, Little Blade. No problem, Little Blade."

"Damn it, you're pulling that meme on me, huh? Believe me, I'll help my wife cut you down later!"

"Ha, what do you mean 'your wife'? That's my wife!"

Li Yue crossed his arms.

"I'm Nahida's dad, and she's Nahida's mom, so she's my real wife, get it?"

Player Li Yue scores first using the Nahida connection!

"Oh? You sure about that?"

Enma's Blade crossed her arms too, puffing out her chest and looking at Li Yue with disdain.

"Sorry, Little Blade, but when it comes to Nahida, you'll never beat me on this."

"Is that so? What a shame, then."

Enma's Blade grinned.

"But hey, this is your Inner World. Sure, it's yours, but I'm the one in charge here. Your wife's going to be living with me from now on, you know."

Li Yue's eyes went wide.

"Damn! I forgot about that!"

"I, Enma's Blade, acknowledge that she's your wife! And I must say, she's quite the catch!"

Enma's Blade gave Li Yue a thumbs-up, then licked her lips.

"Your wife's amazing!"

"Am I seriously getting cucked by my own blade?"

Li Yue's face twisted in horror, then he charged at Enma's Blade in fury. She just stood there, completely unguarded, watching him rush up to her—only for him to slide into a kneel on the spot.

"Sorry, I admit I was too loud just now. Please, have mercy and spare my wife!"

"Oh? Your wife?"

Enma's Blade crossed her arms again, tilting her head back slightly.

"Grrr—"

Li Yue clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and shut his eyes tight. After a fierce inner struggle...

"Sorry, that's your esteemed wife."

"Xiao Li, you're not so dumb after all, are you?"

Having claimed victory, Enma's Blade was in a great mood, even calling him Xiao Li.

"From today on, remember to call me Lord Enma! And my wife, Lady Enma!"

Hearing Enma's Blade's arrogant words, Li Yue's previously aggrieved face broke into a smile again.

"Yeah, Lord Enma."

He looked up at Enma's Blade.

"Lady Enma sure is handy to use."

Now it was Enma's Blade's turn to stare wide-eyed.

"Damn! I forgot about that!"

"Don't worry, I'll be making good use of Lady Enma from now on."

"No, no, no—that's Li Yue's wife. I'm just the neighbor who looks after her when you're not around."

"Not at all, that's clearly Lady Enma. I'm just a nobody who uses Lady Enma right in front of Lord Enma."

"She's your wife!"

"She's Lady Enma!"

What started as a fight over who got to claim Greater Lord Rukkhadevata as their wife had somehow twisted into both sides trying to pawn her off on the other. The bystander, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, watched the whole thing with a bewildered look on her face.

"What... is this situation?"

Absorbed into the Inner World, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had woken up early—mainly because she couldn't help it. The two people nearby were too noisy; there was no way she could sleep.

When this beautiful single mother, dressed in an emerald-green gown with pointed ears and pale, scallion-white hair, opened her eyes, she saw a man and a woman arguing. One wore a black kimono, the other a short kimono skirt; both seemed to be from Inazuma, while she herself lay on a massive gray-white stone.

Unlike her small, childlike form within the World Tree, in Li Yue's Inner World, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata appeared in her mature form, free of the Forbidden Knowledge.

Turning her gaze upward, she saw a bright blue sky, but strangely, there was no sun in it—a bright sky without a sun?

Then she looked around, seeing the same vast horizon, and finally, after scanning her surroundings, she realized where she was. She seemed to be on a colossal gray-white tree, and the large platform she lay on appeared to be its crown—a place 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, respected Lady Enma."

"Lady Enma? Are you referring to me?"

Greater Lord Rukkhadevata tilted her head, asking Li Yue curiously.

"No, no, no, he's not talking about you."

Enma's Blade smacked Li Yue's head aside.

"This is this guy's Inner World. He's called Li Yue, and you are the respected Lady Li."

"Huh?"

Greater Lord Rukkhadevata let out a confused sound.

First Lady Enma, then Lady Li—what was going on? She wasn't married.

"Of course it's because of your child, your daughter Nahida."