Original God, But Chat Group

Watching Zhongli's twitching mouth, Li Yue waved his hand to indicate he was joking.

"By the way, what are you going to do with this thing?"

Li Yue fixed his gaze on the seal in Zhongli's palm. Sealed inside was the Karmic Debt that had accumulated on Xiao for over a thousand years. No matter where it was placed, it would cause enormous trouble, instantly spawning a batch of powerful monsters on the spot.

"For this Karmic Debt, the only solution I can think of now is to seek out the other Adepti in Liyue and ask them to seal it away."

Zhongli offered his method, which was also how he dealt with most of Liyue's enemies: seal them! A Demon God dies and pollutes the land? Seal it! Azhdaha goes mad and attacks humans? Seal him! Encounter a problem with no clear solution? Seal it!

Li Yue shook his head repeatedly at Zhongli's lazy approach.

"Honestly, sealing isn't safe enough. You never know when the seal might break."

"Then does my young friend have a better idea?"

Li Yue's miraculous nature had piqued Zhongli's interest. If Li Yue had a superior solution, that would be for the best.

"Of course!"

Li Yue reached out, took the seal of Karmic Debt from Zhongli's hand, and it vanished directly.

"And that solves it?"

Watching the seal disappear from Li Yue's hand, Zhongli was curious.

"That thing went to...?"

"I sent it to a friend."

"Another world?"

"Yeah, another world."

After obtaining the seal of Karmic Debt, Li Yue turned around and sent it out as a red packet in the Chat Group.

As for the recipient, it was naturally Yifu, far away in the Soul Society. That kind of thing, he would definitely be willing to accept and then research.

70. A New Group Member Makes a Grand Entrance

After installing the household appliances and resolving Xiao's Karmic Debt issue, Li Yue had nothing much to do for a while. He didn't take Nahida back to Mondstadt either. He'd previously considered having Dvalin fight Li Yue to train his combat skills, but now he didn't even have much interest in fighting Dvalin.

Dvalin, I'm no longer the same me as before!

The price for that was that after Li Yue enjoyed a comfortable little stretch of days, Venti directly tracked him down from Mondstadt to Liyue!

"Li Yue, my friend, why did you leave without saying goodbye? You know, I waited for you in Mondstadt for a full twenty days, and you never came back!"

Looking at Venti blocking the entrance of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor with a face full of grievance, Li Yue's forehead was covered in black lines.

"Hey, Li Yue, who's this?"

Hu Tao stood beside Li Yue, staring curiously at Venti, asking in a low voice, but how could that low voice escape Venti?

"You must be Hu Tao, the director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, right? I'm Venti, a bard from Mondstadt, and also Li Yue's close friend."

"Oh, a bard from Mondstadt! The seventy-seventh director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is me, Hu Tao! The Hu in Hu Tao is the Hu of 'hu chi hai he' [gorging oneself], but the Tao in Hu Tao isn't the Tao of 'tao qi' [mischievous]! Wait, a bard from Mondstadt actually knows my name? Has my reputation spread to Mondstadt?"

Hu Tao happily hopped over to Venti, curiously looking him up and down.

"Of course, Director Hu Tao's great name traveled with the wind from Liyue Harbor all the way to Mondstadt. As a bard, I was fortunate enough to learn of it!"

"Hehe~~ Not bad, not bad. I didn't expect this director to be so famous in Mondstadt. Li Yue, do you think we could set up shop in Mondstadt..."

Faced with Hu Tao's inquiry, Li Yue recalled the cemetery behind the West Wind Cathedral.

"On that point, I think you should ask the Knights of Favonius Church in Mondstadt, since they handle funeral arrangements in Mondstadt City."

"Huh? Mondstadt already has someone handling that kind of business? Then forget it."

Hu Tao directly abandoned the idea of going to Mondstadt to do business.

"Speaking of which, Li Yue, you have a friend in Mondstadt too? Is it a new one?"

"That's right, a new friend I made on this trip to Mondstadt."

Li Yue pointed his thumb back at Venti to explain to Hu Tao.

"By the way, this guy isn't human. He's a Wind Spirit that's been following the Anemo Archon since ancient times. An old geezer."

"What? An ancient Wind Spirit!"

Hu Tao stared at Venti in surprise, while Venti hadn't expected Li Yue to blow his cover the moment they met. This made him a bit relieved that Li Yue had initially mistaken his identity and pegged him as a Wind Spirit; otherwise, with Li Yue's personality, his identity as the Anemo Archon would definitely be casually blabbed.

"That's right, it is."

Hu Tao nodded, showing no further curiosity about Venti, instead fixing her gaze on Li Yue.

"People say Liyue has many Adepti, but I've never met a single one. You, Li Yue, are really lucky—you ran into the Golden-Winged Great Sage, who follows the Lord of Geo, in Liyue, and then you met the Wind Spirit by the Anemo Archon in Mondstadt. Do you have some special luck or something?"

The matter of Li Yue and Xiao had already been told to Hu Tao by Zhongli. There was nothing to hide about it, and saying it wasn't a problem.

Naturally, Nahida's matter had also been mentioned, but unfortunately, Hu Tao wasn't very interested in her. A Sumeru girl adopted by Li Yue, and a Dendro element Vision bearer at that—Liyue Harbor had its share of such Dendro-element lolis.

"Alright, I don't have any special luck."

Li Yue waved his hand at Hu Tao.

"So, Venti, you're a Wind Spirit from Mondstadt. Why aren't you staying in Mondstadt to help your Anemo Archon keep an eye on things? What are you doing coming all the way to Liyue?"

"It's still because of you, my dear friend. You promised to take me out to play, but then you left without even a word. I was really worried you'd ditch me and sneak off to have fun with Nahida."

Venti spread his hands, his face full of resentment, making his meaning perfectly clear.

You said we'd hang out together, but then you just up and left—so not cool.

But Li Yue, the one being blamed, didn't care at all. Instead, he turned the tables on Venti.

"Come on, I'm not from Mondstadt. I went there because of Dvalin's situation. Now that the Dragon Disaster is over, why would I stick around? Staying in a hotel costs money, buddy. Are you gonna foot the bill?"

"Then forget it. I'm broke myself, living off other people's charity."

Venti quickly waved his hands, not daring to promise anything about money.

"Besides, I just came back to Liyue. With my abilities now, going to Mondstadt is no big deal anytime. If anything, it's not that you can't find me—it's that I can't find you. At least you can track me down at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. You don't even have a place to stay."

"When you put it that way, Li Yue, I guess you're right."

Venti scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"So you expect me to keep shelling out for hotels?"

"Uh... ehehe~~"

With no way to explain, Venti just went for the cute dodge.

Hu Tao, listening nearby, got curious again.

"Dvalin's situation? Li Yue, didn't you say you were going to find that Albedo guy, and that he's your brother?"

"Yeah, I did go find Albedo. It just so happened Mondstadt was dealing with a Dragon Disaster, so I took care of it on the side. Dvalin's the dragon causing it, and he's also the Anemo Archon's familiar. His status in Mondstadt is about the same as Azhdaha in Liyue's legends."

"I see. And what about Albedo? Did you find your brother?"

"Found him, and I made a deal with him for some illustrations. In a few days, I'll go see him again and submit the drawings he does for me."

"Illustrations? Are you writing a new novel?"

"Exactly, but this time it's a bit different from before."

"Alright, just don't forget about our Wangsheng business. I've got that second-phase project you mentioned all ready to go. As soon as you give the word, we can sell it. You said to wait a month, and that time's almost up."

Hu Tao's mind was still fixed on her luxury second-phase project.

"About that project—did Zhongli give away the burial plot yet?"

"Oh no... I forgot to ask. I'll go ask him right now! If he hasn't given it away, I'm going to give him a real talking-to!"

"Exactly, if he's been slacking off, you've got to lecture him properly. No more bird-watching and loafing around!"

Li Yue didn't try to calm things down—he fanned the flames instead!

"But about the second-phase project, I think we should postpone it."

"Huh? Postpone? Why?"

"Because my gut tells me that if we push it back until after the Rite of Descension, the profits will be even bigger!"

Just thinking about the scene at the Rite of Descension made Li Yue's lips curl into a smile.

"Is that so..."

Hu Tao lowered her head, thinking it over.

"Alright, since you think we should postpone, Li Yue, then we'll postpone!"

"Okay, you two old friends can catch up on your own. I'm off to find Zhongli and ask if he's given away that burial plot!"

Knowing Zhongli's personality, he definitely hasn't. Hiahiahiahia~~~

After seeing Hu Tao off, Li Yue turned to Venti.

"Why are you still here?"

"Uh, where else would I be?"

Venti looked exasperated.

"You're the Anemo Archon's subordinate, so go back to Mondstadt. If you wander around too much, the Anemo Archon might find out and beat you up!"

"No way, no way. The Anemo Archon values freedom. As his familiar, I'm even less likely to have my freedom restricted."

Venti lied without batting an eye. The real reason he left Mondstadt for Liyue, besides finding Li Yue, was to avoid Dvalin.

Ever since Dvalin got thrashed last time, he'd woken up furious. He couldn't easily take it out on Li Yue—after all, Li Yue had helped him, and the one who'd tricked him was Venti. So whenever he saw Venti, he'd blast him with a gale. Sometimes, just thinking about it would piss him off, and he'd seek Venti out for another windstorm!

Venti was miserable. Since Li Yue had returned to Liyue, he used finding him as an excuse to come here—partly to see Li Yue, but mostly to lie low until Dvalin cooled off.

"Well then, do whatever you want. I've got things to do, so I'm off."

Nahida had been spending her days either studying physics or tagging along with Zhongli, strolling through Liyue's streets, drinking tea, watching birds, and listening to opera—claiming it was to learn the Vago Monarch's governance experience. Li Yue wasn't idle either.

While his group friends were busy with their own lives, he worked hard to improve himself. After all, the group only had three people—they couldn't chat endlessly every day. Everyone had their own lives, and Li Yue had his too. For example, using his dream powers to craft all kinds of detailed skins and scenes, so he wouldn't be stuck in a pinch later. Or practicing flying with the Anemo element. Or fishing with Tian Shu at Liyue Harbor!

And today, the Chat Group's month-long cooldown was finally over. A new member was about to join—a big deal in the group!

After sending Venti off to wander around Liyue Harbor on his own, Li Yue grabbed his fishing rod and folding stool, returned to his usual spot, set up the stool, propped up the rod, and started chatting in the group.

Meme Lord: It's coming, it's finally coming! The new group member is about to join!

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: Li Yue-kun, you really are excited.

Meme Lord: Of course I'm excited—it's a new friend and a new world!

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: I think you, Pervert-kun, care more about finding new entertainment.

Meme Lord: Hehe~ As expected of Senpai, you know me so well!

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: ...

Meme Lord: Oh, right. To prevent any misunderstandings when the new group members join, I've already deleted the info about Senpai and Yifu.

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: Oh? Why delete that information?

Meme Lord: I uploaded it at first to make Senpai and Yifu believe what I said. But now that I think about it, openly sharing your info like that—when there were few people, it was fine, but once there are more, it's a bit inconvenient. Yifu's info could easily cause unnecessary misunderstandings, and Senpai is still a pure maiden—some scenes shouldn't be too exposed. So I just deleted it. Pretty thoughtful of me, right?

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: Something's off! Very off!

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: Yeah, Li Yue-kun is acting very strange.

Meme Lord: ???

Li Yue stared blankly at the two in the group who spoke in unison.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: The Pervert-kun I know would only gleefully give a thumbs-up at a beautiful girl's body—he wouldn't think of this. Who are you?!

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: No, Miss Kasumigaoka, Li Yue-kun indeed wouldn't think of that. But based on the information I know, he would do this! Only, the purpose isn't for our sake.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: What do you mean, Aizen?

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: Before, Li Yue-kun couldn't go to other people's worlds. But now, he can freely go to anyone's world. So whether others believe him or not no longer matters to Li Yue-kun. He only needs to know one thing now: whether the new group member's world can bring him enough entertainment.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: As expected of Aizen, easily seeing through Pervert-kun's true motive!

Meme Lord: ...

Meme Lord: Fine, fine, you two said it all—I don't even need to explain.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: Now that's the Pervert-kun I know.