Original God, but It's a Chat Group

Venti pulled Li Yue aside and began explaining in a low voice.

It turned out that after Li Yue left, Venti had taken Nahida and let loose. Though both were gods, Nahida was only a five-hundred-year-old child who knew nothing. Naturally, when it came to what to do, she deferred to the more experienced Anemo Archon. And what kind of person was the Anemo Archon? Someone who could do anything except proper work.

Even though it was an Otherworld, it was nothing to someone born with the instincts of a social terrorist.

The first thing he did was take Nahida to a bar, and he even found himself a perfect excuse!

"Li Yue once said that Taverns are where information is exchanged most densely. It's easiest to gather intelligence there. An Otherworld must be the same!"

Young Nahida declared that Li Yue was right! Then she followed Venti to the bar, hoping to learn about this world.

They did gather quite a bit of information, but Nahida could not understand most of it.

"The Japan Team's head coach is utter trash. They didn't even make the quarterfinals!"

Quarterfinals? Head coach? Was that some kind of competition?

"Seriously, discs have gotten more and more expensive lately."

"Can't be helped. They say filming needs ultra-HD cameras now. My friend said their new camera cost several million!"

Filming? Was that a Kamera?

"Why hasn't Sony gone bankrupt yet? Haven't they always said they were losing money? How are they not bankrupt yet?"

Sony? Was that a person's name? Or something else?

"Recent light novels are so boring. They're all Otherworld adventures, and their settings are practically identical. Don't these authors have anything else to write?"

Light novels? Nahida knew those. Novels from Inazuma had those, and so did Sumeru, but it seemed the Akademiya had banned them.

Nahida seriously used her abilities to continuously gather information about the Otherworld, while Venti ran straight to the counter to sweet-talk someone into buying him a bottle of Otherworld liquor. The beer Kasumigaoka had ordered online would not arrive for several more days. He could not wait any longer!

As it turned out, the person he tried to sweet-talk was the bar owner himself—the gang boss, Kuroda Masanori.

Kuroda Masanori was worrying over his daughter Kuroda Masaki's education. He was drinking alone at the counter when Venti walked right over and started chatting him up.

Kuroda Masanori was stunned when Venti struck up a conversation with him. He had influence around here; practically everyone knew him. Yet someone actually dared speak to him like that.

But as they talked, they really did hit it off. It turned out that because Kuroda Masaki was the daughter of a gang boss, no one usually dared play with her. The child had become terribly lonely and blamed her father, Kuroda Masanori, for being a gang boss and causing nobody to play with her. She had started sulking at him.

The moment Venti heard that, he knew how to solve it! He directly pulled Nahida over and had her play with Kuroda Masaki. When Kuroda Masaki discovered that there was actually a girl willing to play with her, she was delighted on the spot. Seeing his daughter happy, Kuroda Masanori became happy as well, and he started drinking with Venti like they were sworn brothers.

After hearing Venti's account, Li Yue was utterly speechless.

"So, you used my daughter to score yourself a free drink? No, that's not right. You also scored who knows how many free drinks after that. Am I right?"

"Ehe~ It was a fair trade, my friend. As they say in Liyue, it was a contract!"

Venti grinned smugly.

"Nahida was willing to play with Masaki, and she could also learn about the Otherworld. As the middleman, I got a tiny little benefit. That's not excessive, right?"

Learning about the Otherworld through Peppa Pig, huh?

Li Yue gave Nahida, who was standing nearby, a speechless glance. Forget it. He had originally planned to let this child go astray anyway. Peppa Pig it was. At least it was better than Pleasant Goat.

"There's nothing wrong with a middleman receiving benefits, but why did my daughter have to be used for your transaction? As Nahida's father, wouldn't I be more suitable as the middleman? What do you think would happen to you if I personally paid them a visit as Nahida's father?"

Nahida did not need any scolding, but Venti definitely needed to be taught a proper lesson.

"Uh... you're right."

Venti instantly caved. Whether he could come here to drink depended entirely on Li Yue's mood. A man under another's roof had no choice but to bow his head. He still wanted to keep drinking Otherworld liquor!

"Please, Li Yue, for the sake of how we once fought hard together!"

Yet Li Yue simply continued smiling at him.

Venti looked at Li Yue's expression and gritted his teeth!

"Didn't you say before that you wanted to fight Dvalin to train yourself? One battle probably isn't enough, right? I have a great relationship with Dvalin. I can find a way to make Dvalin fight you a few more times, so you can properly build up your combat experience!"

"Deal!"

Dvalin, far away in Teyvat: ?

But She Still Has Me!

Although Venti wanted to taste Otherworld liquor, he still knew that, as the Anemo Archon, he could not remain away from the Teyvat continent for too long. His Gnosis had yet to be delivered, and he had already been gone for a day and a night. It was time to return. If he stayed away for a few more days, La Signora would get anxious. As for coming back later, he could just ask Li Yue to open a door for him.

With the enormous fortune of ten thousand yen provided by Kasumigaoka, Li Yue took Venti and Nahida around for another half day. Only after spending every last cent, leaving not even a needle or thread behind, did he open a door and return to Teyvat.

After passing through the deep-blue spatial gate, Li Yue brought Venti and Nahida back to Gazing Star Cliff.

Early yesterday morning, they had set off from here for the Otherworld. After spending a day and a night there, they now returned to Teyvat full of excitement. Looking at the familiar golden scenery, Venti could not help sighing.

"Though the Otherworld's scenery is nice too, Teyvat's wind still makes me feel more comfortable."

"The Otherworld doesn't have Elemental Power, and you're a Wind Spirit. Of course Teyvat feels more comfortable to you."

Li Yue helped maintain Venti's Wind Spirit persona.

"Exactly, that's it!"

Venti hurriedly nodded, firmly cementing his identity as a Wind Spirit.

"By the way, where did you go after you left alone last night, Li Yue?"

After waiting all morning, Venti's curiosity could no longer be contained. His intuition told him that Li Yue had definitely gone to another world, and he was also very concerned about Li Yue awakening the Dendro element. That power which concealed his presence looked exactly like the Dendro Archon's dream authority.

"After I let you play in Kasumigaoka's world, I went to another world myself."

So he really had gone to another world! And he had not taken Venti along to have fun!

Venti looked at Li Yue with eyes full of resentment.

"Come on, don't look at me like that. Not every world is as peaceful as that one. The second world I went to was extremely dangerous. There were many monsters there that could devour human souls. You're a Wind Spirit, so it doesn't matter to you, but my daughter isn't. Did you expect me to take my daughter into such a dangerous world?"

Li Yue spread his hands, looking completely justified.

"After awakening this ability, I could travel to two worlds. I went to the first world alone first, and only brought you there after confirming it was safe. I went to the second world alone first, then found that it was extremely dangerous."

"All right, it was my mistake not to consider that."

Venti helplessly scratched the back of his head and lowered it in apology.

"But what's going on with your Dendro element? Could it be that there are people from the Teyvat continent in Otherworlds too?"

Venti cared deeply about the Dendro element Li Yue had displayed.

"That matter, huh."

Li Yue glanced at Nahida, who was also staring at him curiously.

"Nahida, there are many Cecilia flowers here. Could you help me pick some? As many as possible."

"Does Li Yue want flowers?"

Nahida was somewhat puzzled, but she still immediately went to pick flowers as Li Yue requested.

But Nahida had thoughts of her own. There were many Cecilia flowers on Gazing Star Cliff, and picking flowers was simple for her. As the Dendro Archon and sovereign of plants, she could gather flowers directly from afar. She did not go far at all. Instead, she hid behind a large rock and secretly listened to Li Yue and Venti's conversation. She also wanted to know what exactly was going on with Li Yue's Dendro element and why it was so similar to her own power.

Naturally, Li Yue knew Nahida had not left, because her Reiatsu was less than ten meters away. But all of this was intentional.

"All right, Nahida has already left. You should tell me now, shouldn't you?"

Venti had also sensed that Nahida had not left, but he did not expose her. After all, the two of them were hiding their true identities from Li Yue as well.

"I asked Nahida to leave because I didn't want to hurt her."

A sorrowful expression appeared on Li Yue's face.

"As everyone knows, Nahida is an orphan."

"Huh?"

Venti looked utterly bewildered. Was that something everyone knew? But Li Yue ignored him and continued explaining.

"There is an evil organization in Sumeru that adopts orphans everywhere to conduct evil experiments, and Nahida was one of its victims."

That did not seem entirely wrong, because there really was an evil organization that adopted orphans for experiments.

"After adopting Nahida, I discovered she was smarter than ordinary children and possessed powers that ordinary children did not have. That was probably why the evil organization imprisoned her to study her."

I don't think that's how it was.

Venti muttered inwardly.

"So I adopted Nahida because I wanted her to run freely through Teyvat. But last night, after wandering through another world, I wanted to go back and pick you up. Yet the door I opened did not lead to the world where you were. Instead, it led to a strange space."

"There was a gigantic tree there, but it was cursed, and a woman's voice kept echoing through the place."

The moment he said that, both Venti and Nahida were shocked. The tree Li Yue described was clearly the World Tree! And that echoing voice needed no explanation—it had to be Greater Lord Rukkhadevata! They had never expected Greater Lord Rukkhadevata to be inside the World Tree!

"I used my power to separate that woman from the tree and found that she was cursed. So I separated the curse from her body. After the curse was removed, that tree suddenly became somewhat more radiant. But that was nothing. What truly surprised me was the woman herself. She looked very similar to Nahida, so I guessed that she was probably Nahida's mother."

Li Yue told his fabricated story with deep emotion.

"The curse on her body made me realize that she, too, had once been captured by that evil organization for research."

I don't think that's how it was. The Akademiya being researched by Greater Lord Rukkhadevata sounds more likely.

"And the reason Nahida was captured was probably because she inherited her mother's power. That only strengthened my determination to protect Nahida and keep her from being captured by the evil organization again."

There was absolutely no need for that!

"But why not tell Nahida about this? If she knew you had found her mother, she would certainly be very happy."

Venti asked in confusion.

"Because although I found Aci, I had no way to let Nahida meet her."

Li Yue shook his head helplessly.

"Oh, Aci is Nahida's mother's name."

Aci... yes, that was a very Greater Lord Rukkhadevata sort of name.

"When I separated Aci from that giant tree, she was already in soul form. And due to my special circumstances, she was absorbed into my soul."

"Wait, absorbed into your soul?"

Venti stared at Li Yue in shock. That was the soul of a Demon God. Someone could actually absorb it?

"That's right. My soul is special. It involuntarily absorbs souls with special powers and converts them into my own power. I don't know the exact conditions, but after Aci's soul was separated from the curse, I absorbed her."

"I entered my Inner World and spoke with her briefly. I learned her name, and I let her know that I had adopted Nahida, that Nahida had escaped the evil organization's clutches, so she could rest easy. Since she was Nahida's mother, I suppressed my instinct to absorb souls and did not absorb and merge her. Instead, I let her live in my Inner World as an independent soul. That way, she could see Nahida through my eyes and watch her grow up with her own eyes."

"I see. That's pretty good too."

"That's right. That's why I can use Dendro element power. To thank me, Aci lent me her power and hoped I would use it to teach Nahida. Aci and Nahida, mother and daughter, both awakened Dendro element Visions. I had been wondering how to teach Nahida to use the Dendro element before, but now it's all worked out."

Those were not Visions. They were authority over the Dendro element!

Venti knew that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had sacrificed herself five hundred years ago to protect Teyvat. At the time, everyone believed she had left forever. He had never expected that her soul still remained. Though she was only a soul and had entered Li Yue's Inner World, she could still exist in soul form and watch over Teyvat. That was already remarkable enough. Everyone on the Teyvat continent owed Greater Lord Rukkhadevata a debt of gratitude.

Thinking that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was currently watching him through Li Yue's eyes, Venti's expression softened. Behind the rock, Nahida also clenched her little hands. Li Yue had actually found Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was watching her!

"But why can't you tell Nahida, then?"

"Because Aci can see Nahida, but Nahida can't see Aci. If Nahida learned about Aci, she would first be filled with hope, then sink into utter despair. She would know about her mother and know that her mother was watching her right before her eyes, yet she would be unable to see her mother. That feeling would be painful."

Li Yue helplessly shook his head again.

"So rather than give her hope only to make her despair, it would be better not to tell her from the beginning. To make it up to Nahida, Aci and I will do everything we can to give her a wonderful childhood."

Behind the rock, Nahida listened to Li Yue's words and lowered her little head in gratitude.

Thank you, Li Yue. Even though I know now, thank you for everything you've done for me.

"I'll make her understand that although she no longer has a mother, she still has me!"

Nahida, who had been so moved, scratched her little head. For some reason, Li Yue's words felt rather strange.

I'm Just a Weak Wind Spirit. What Can I Do?

Not long after Li Yue finished telling Venti the story about Aci, Nahida returned carrying a bundle of Cecilia flowers. Acting as though she knew nothing, she did not ask again about the Dendro element, nor did she ask why Li Yue had sent her to pick Cecilia flowers. She simply held the flowers in both hands and looked up at Li Yue.

"Li Yue, I picked the Cecilia flowers you wanted."

"Excellent. These are exactly what I wanted!"