Original God, But It's a Chat Group

Seeing Zhongli's twitching mouth, Li Yue waved a hand to show he was joking.

"By the way, how are you going to deal with this thing?"

Li Yue turned his gaze to the seal in Zhongli's palm. Sealed within it was over a thousand years' worth of Karmic Debt accumulated on Xiao. No matter where it was placed, it would cause enormous trouble, instantly creating a batch of powerful monsters.

"As for this Karmic Debt, the only method I can think of now is to find Liyue's other Adepti and ask them to seal it away."

Zhongli offered his solution. This was also how he dealt with most of Liyue's enemies: seal them! A Demon God's death polluted the land? Seal it! Azhdaha went mad and attacked humans? Seal it! Didn't know how to solve a problem? Seal it!

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

"Honestly, seals aren't safe enough. After all, you never know when one might break."

"Then does my friend have any solution?"

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

"Of course!"

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

"And that solves it?"

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

"Those things were...?"

"I gave them to a friend."

"An Otherworld?"

"Mm, an Otherworld."

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

As for the recipient, it was naturally his godfather Aizen, far away in Soul Society. He would absolutely be willing to accept something like this and study it.

A New Group Member Makes a Grand Entrance

After installing the household appliances and resolving Xiao's Karmic Debt problem, Li Yue temporarily had nothing else to do. He did not take Nahida back to Mondstadt either. He had previously considered having Dvalin fight Li Yue to hone his combat ability, but now he barely had any desire to fight Dvalin at all.

Dvalin, I was no longer the person I used to be!

The price of that was that, after Li Yue had enjoyed a peaceful little stretch of days, Venti came all the way from Mondstadt to Liyue!

"Li Yue, my friend, why did you leave without saying goodbye? Do you know that I waited for you in Mondstadt for a full twenty days, yet you never returned!"

Seeing Venti blocking the entrance to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor with a resentful expression, Li Yue's face darkened.

"Hey, Li Yue, who is this?"

Standing beside Li Yue, Hu Tao curiously stared at Venti and quietly asked Li Yue. But how could such a quiet voice possibly escape Venti's notice?

"You must be Director Hu of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. I am Venti, a bard from Mondstadt, and also Li Yue's closest friend."

"So you're a bard from Mondstadt! I'm Hu Tao, the seventy-seventh director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor! The Hu in Hu Tao means eating and drinking heartily, but the Tao isn't the Tao from naughty! So, a bard from Mondstadt actually knows my name? Has my reputation already spread all the way to Mondstadt?"

Hu Tao happily skipped over to Venti's side and curiously examined him from head to toe.

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

"Hehe~~ Not bad, not bad. I never thought this director would be so famous in Mondstadt. Li Yue, tell me, do you think we could do business in Mondstadt...?"

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

"For that, I think you should ask Mondstadt's Knights of Favonius Church. They are responsible for funeral arrangements in Mondstadt City."

"Huh? Mondstadt already has someone handling that line of work? Then forget it."

Hu Tao immediately gave up on the idea of doing business in Mondstadt.

"By the way, Li Yue, you even have friends in Mondstadt? Did you just meet him?"

"That's right. He's a new friend I made during this trip to Mondstadt."

Li Yue hooked a thumb back at Venti as he explained to Hu Tao.

"Also, this guy isn't human. He's a Wind Spirit that followed the Anemo Archon back in ancient times. He's an old bastard."

"Huh? He's actually a Wind Spirit from ancient times!"

Hu Tao looked at Venti in surprise. Venti had not expected Li Yue to expose his true identity the instant they met. It made him somewhat glad that Li Yue had misunderstood his identity and categorized him as a Wind Spirit. Otherwise, with Li Yue's personality, his identity as the Anemo Archon would definitely have been blurted out everywhere.

"That's right, that's exactly it."

Hu Tao nodded. She was not particularly curious about Venti, instead staring at Li Yue.

"People say Liyue has many Adepti, yet I've never encountered even one. But you, Li Yue, have such good luck. In Liyue, you met the Golden-Winged Great Sage who followed the Vago Monarch, and in Mondstadt, you met a Wind Spirit who followed the Anemo Archon. Could it be that you have some special kind of luck?"

Zhongli had already told Hu Tao about Li Yue and Xiao. There was nothing worth hiding about it, and there was no issue with telling her.

Naturally, she had also been informed about Nahida. Unfortunately, Hu Tao was not very interested in her. She was just a Sumeru girl adopted by Li Yue, and a bearer of a Dendro element Vision. Liyue Harbor did not lack little girls with Dendro element Visions.

"All right, I don't have any special luck."

Li Yue waved a hand at Hu Tao.

"By the way, Venti, you're a Wind Spirit from Mondstadt. Instead of helping your Anemo Archon keep watch over Mondstadt, why did you run all the way to Liyue?"

"Isn't it because of you, my dear friend? You said you would take me out to have fun, but then you suddenly left without leaving me even a message. I was worried you would abandon me and secretly go have fun with Nahida."

Venti spread his hands, his face full of resentment. His meaning was obvious.

You promised to take me along, but then you just left. That was completely unfriendlike.

Yet Li Yue, who was being blamed, did not care in the slightest. Instead, he began criticizing Venti.

"Come on, I'm not from Mondstadt. I went there because of Dvalin's situation, and now that it's settled, why would I keep staying there? Hotels are expensive, my friend. Are you going to pay for me?"

"Then forget it. I'm penniless myself and live entirely off other people's charity."

Venti hurriedly waved his hands. He did not dare make any promises involving money.

"Besides, I only returned to Liyue. With my current abilities, can't I go to Mondstadt anytime I want? Rather than saying you couldn't find me, it would be more accurate to say I couldn't find you. At least you can come directly to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to find me, but you don't even have a place to live."

"Now that you put it that way, it does seem so."

Venti scratched his head awkwardly.

"So did you expect me to keep paying to stay in hotels?"

"Uh... ehehe~~"

Unable to explain himself, Venti simply chose to act cute and muddle through.

Hu Tao, who had been listening to their conversation, became curious again.

"Dvalin's situation? Didn't you say you were going to find some Albedo and that he was your brother?"

"Yes, I went to find Albedo. Mondstadt just happened to be suffering from a Dragon Disaster, so I dealt with it while I was there. Dvalin is the dragon behind that Dragon Disaster, and he's also an Anemo Archon's familiar. His status in Mondstadt is probably similar to Azhdaha, the Dragon King from Liyue's legends."

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

"I found him, and I arranged for him to do some illustrations. In a few days, I need to visit him again and submit the drawings he makes for me."

"Illustrations? Are you writing another new novel?"

"That's right, though this one will be somewhat different from the previous one."

"All right, just don't forget about Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business. I've already prepared the second-phase project you mentioned. We can start selling it as soon as you give the word. You said before that we had to wait a month, and the time is almost up."

What Hu Tao cared about most was still her luxurious second-phase project.

"For that project, has Zhongli given away the cemetery plots yet?"

"Oh no... I forgot to ask. I'll go ask Zhongli in a moment! If he hasn't given them away, I'll definitely give him a proper lecture!"

"That's right. If he's slacking off, make sure to lecture him properly. He should stop spending all day bird-watching and fishing!"

Not only did Li Yue fail to dissuade her, he added fuel to the fire!

"But regarding the second phase, I think we should delay it."

"Hm? Delay it? Why?"

"Because my intuition tells me that if we postpone the second phase until after the Rite of Descension, the profits will be greater!"

At the thought of what would happen during the Rite of Descension, Li Yue's lips could not help but curl upward.

"I see..."

Hu Tao lowered her head and thought for a moment.

"All right. Since you think we should delay it, Li Yue, then we'll delay it!"

"All right, you two acquaintances can catch up on your own. I'll go find Zhongli first and ask whether he's given away the cemetery plots!"

With Zhongli's personality, he definitely had not given them away. Hiahiahiahia~~~

After sending Hu Tao off, Li Yue looked at Venti.

"Why are you still here?"

"Uh, if I'm not here, where should I be?"

Venti looked utterly speechless.

"You're the Anemo Archon's subordinate, so of course you should go back to Mondstadt. If you wander around for no reason, be careful that the Anemo Archon doesn't find out and beat you up!"

"No, no, that won't happen. The Anemo Archon yearns for freedom. As the Anemo Archon's familiar, there's even less chance of my freedom being restricted."

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

Ever since Dvalin had been thoroughly beaten up last time, he had been furious upon waking up. He could not cause trouble for Li Yue, since Li Yue had helped him, and Venti was the one who had tricked him. So whenever he saw Venti, he would whip him up in a gale. Sometimes, whenever he thought about it and felt annoyed, he would even go looking for Venti just to toss him around with the wind!

Venti had suffered terribly. Li Yue had conveniently returned to Liyue, so Venti used finding Li Yue as an excuse to run to Liyue. While he was indeed looking for Li Yue, he was also laying low until Dvalin calmed down before going back.

"Fine then, do whatever you want. I have things to do, so I'm leaving first."

Over the past few days, Nahida had either been studying physics or following Zhongli around Liyue, strolling through streets and alleys, drinking tea, bird-watching, and listening to opera, all under the pretext of studying the Vago Monarch's experience in governing. Li Yue had not been idle either.

While the group members were temporarily busy with their own lives, he had been working hard to improve himself as well. There were only three people in the group, after all; they could not have endless topics to chat about every day. Everyone had their own lives, and Li Yue had his own too, right? For example, using his dream authority to create all kinds of exquisite skins and scenes, so he would not be unable to think of anything in a rush when he needed them in the future. Or practicing flight with the Anemo element. Or fishing with Tian Shu at Liyue's docks!

And today, the Chat Group had finally completed its one-month cooldown and was about to welcome a new member. This was a major event within the Chat Group!

After sending Venti off to wander around Liyue Harbor on his own, Li Yue took his fishing rod and folding stool back to that familiar spot. He set up the stool, propped up the rod, and began chatting in the group.

Meme Lord: It's coming, it's finally coming! A new Chat Group member is coming!

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 what you care about more, pervert-kun, is having new entertainment.

Meme Lord: Ehehe~ As expected of my senior, you understand me so well!

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: ...

Meme Lord: Oh, right. To prevent unnecessary misunderstandings after the new member joins, I've deleted the information related to my senior and godfather.

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

Meme Lord: At first, I uploaded the information so my senior and godfather would believe what I said. But after thinking it over, publicly exposing your information like that was fine when there were few people, but it would become somewhat inconvenient once there were more. Godfather's information could easily create unnecessary misunderstandings, while my senior is still a pure young maiden, so some images should not be exposed too much. So I simply deleted it. Wasn't that very considerate of me?

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

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

Meme Lord: ???

Li Yue stared blankly at the two people in the group, who had spoken in perfect unison.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: The pervert-kun I know would only happily give a thumbs-up at the sight of a beautiful girl's body. He would never think of this. Who are you really?!

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: No, Miss Kasumigaoka, Li Yue-kun indeed would not think of this. But based on the information I know, Li Yue-kun would still do it! It is simply not for the sake of considering us two.

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

Hair Gel Man in the Sky: Previously, Li Yue-kun could not travel to other people's worlds, but now he can freely go to them. Whether others believe him no longer has any meaning to Li Yue-kun. He only needs to know one thing now: whether the world the new group member comes from can bring him enough entertainment.

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

Meme Lord: ...

Meme Lord: Fine, fine, you've said everything already. I don't even need to explain myself.

Fat Woman in Black Stockings: Now this is the pervert-kun I'm familiar with.