A visit to the Jade Chamber

The Jade Chamber, the only flying palace in Liyue Harbor, was the exclusive property of the Tianquan, Ningguang.

The other members of the Liyue Qixing received no such treatment. Coming here to sightsee was fine, but working here? Absolutely not!

Although Liyue was jointly governed by the Liyue Qixing, their standing and influence differed enormously.

The people of Liyue Harbor had long regarded Ningguang's Jade Chamber as the most prestigious of places. Everyone considered it an honor to ascend to it, but some of those "invited" up by Ningguang lived in constant fear, unable to find a moment's peace.

Yucheng was in precisely that situation. Led by Yelan, he nervously boarded the floating stone elevator leading to the Jade Chamber, occasionally casting deeply resentful glances at her beside him.

This damn woman couldn't even invite someone properly, stirring up so much trouble out of nowhere. After everything I did to Yelan earlier, now I'm heading straight into her home base. Yucheng kept feeling that Yelan would launch a sneak attack on him inside the Jade Chamber.

So Yucheng cunningly created a shadow clone to go in place of his real body. If anything happened to the clone, he would have no choice but to flee to Jueyun Karst and lie low.

The Shadow Clone Technique was a higher-tier version of the Clone Technique. Not only did it create conscious, tangible bodies, but once a shadow clone disappeared, the original would automatically receive the intelligence it had gathered. It could be considered one of the essential techniques for a ninja.

With his current chakra reserves, Yucheng could create no more than two shadow clones. Any more would leave his real body far too weak and could easily cause the situation to spiral out of control.

That was also why the Shadow Clone Technique was not forbidden, while the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was. Without enormous chakra reserves to support it, one would never dare attempt Naruto's human-wave tactics.

The moment he stepped onto the Jade Chamber, Yucheng marveled at Ningguang's extraordinary taste and understood why the system had set the Jade Chamber as its highest standard for rewards.

Pavilions, terraces, towers, landscaped gardens-it had everything. Combined with the magnificent views, it suddenly made Yucheng feel that the cave dwelling he had lived in before was nothing but a shabby hole in a mountain.

The moment he entered the Jade Chamber, its antique Chinese-style decor, understated yet refined, luxurious without being vulgar, drove Yucheng wild with envy. He was positively sour with it.

Inside the vast Jade Chamber, only Ningguang's three personal secretaries, Baiwen, Baixiao, and Baishi, were handling intelligence and organizing documents. The walls of the office area were covered in all sorts of notes. With a quick glance, Yucheng actually spotted information about his own Mingxia Floating Life Stone.

Holy shit? It's already come to Ningguang's attention?

Finally, at the long table in the office area, Yucheng met the woman who reigned over Liyue: the Tianquan, Ningguang.

Her exquisite features were framed by long platinum-blond hair, swept up with a black-and-gold hair ornament. The vermilion tassel hanging over her forehead complemented her red eyes, the same color as Yucheng's. An air of grace and opulence washed over him, but the hint of dominance in her eyes warned anyone against underestimating this immensely wealthy woman of Liyue. Calling her the richest person in Liyue would be no exaggeration.

Seeing Yelan arrive with her guest, Ningguang stopped her work and picked up the pipe beside her to toy with it.

"Yelan, what took you so long? And why does your expression look off? Did something happen?"

"N-no, nothing. Uchiha Yucheng is here. I'll take my leave now."

"Oh, don't be in such a hurry to leave. It's been so long since we girls last saw each other. Stay here tonight, and we can have a few drinks later."

Liyue's two most elegant mature beauties sleeping together... That image is too beautiful to imagine. Right, I heard Ningguang is also close to Captain Beidou of The Alcor. Beidou is a mature beauty too. Could it be...

Yucheng felt as though he had stumbled upon some great secret, and his expression suddenly turned strange. Could the reason this rich woman has never had any romantic rumors about her be that Ningguang is a lesbian?

"You must be Mr. Uchiha. I've been hearing quite a lot about you lately. But that expression of yours... Were you just thinking something rude?"

"My apologies, Lady Ningguang. When I first arrived in Liyue, I heard of your illustrious reputation. Meeting you today, I never expected you to possess such peerless elegance and commanding presence. You have the bearing of an empress."

"You flatter me, Mr. Uchiha. Liyue will always be Rex Lapis's Liyue. We merely ease our lord's burdens. If we're speaking of an empress, surely Inazuma's Raiden Shogun is truly worthy of the title. I must see her splendor for myself if I have the chance."

"Her? She's merely a warrior. Asking her to govern a nation is really asking too much of her. Still, she can't be blamed. In the battle five hundred years ago, her older sister and her friends all died. She truly had no one left to turn to."

Yucheng's words greatly shocked Ningguang, Yelan, and the three secretaries listening in nearby. Inazuma had closed its borders long ago, and none of them knew any of this.

"Oh? The Raiden Shogun actually had an older sister? This is the first I've heard of it. Mr. Uchiha, would you tell me more? Baixiao, serve the tea."

"Lady Ningguang, you can just call me Yucheng. None of this is really a secret. It's just that Inazuma is far from Liyue, and it all happened so long ago. It's perfectly normal that you haven't heard of it.

"Inazuma had twin gods. The older sister, Raiden Makoto, excelled in strategy and administration but was very weak in combat. The younger sister, Raiden Ei, possessed astonishing combat prowess but lacked skill in strategy.

"During the Archon War, the sisters swept through all the gods within Inazuma. Unfortunately, the Archon War could have only one victor in each region. Thus, the younger sister, Raiden Ei, voluntarily relinquished her divine seat, allowing her older sister, Raiden Makoto, to become the first Electro Archon, while she herself became the shadow warrior behind her."

Yucheng briefly recounted the story of the two generations of Electro Archons, including the current Raiden Shogun's views on eternity.

Everyone present was clearly very interested in the story. After all, it concerned gods. Although its protagonists were gods of another nation, Liyue had always been renowned for walking alongside its god, and curiosity and respect toward gods came naturally to its people.

After hearing Yucheng's story, the atmosphere grew lively. They even began discussing whether some of the Electro Archon's choices had been correct and offering their own views on eternity.

Just then, Ningguang suddenly changed the subject. "Well, Mr. Yucheng, you truly are remarkably knowledgeable, to know so much history unknown to outsiders. Could you also tell me what purpose you have in repeatedly contacting our adepti during your time in Liyue?"

With those words, the previously harmonious atmosphere instantly grew tense. Ningguang, Yelan, and the three secretaries all stared fixedly at Yucheng. From their stance, if he failed to provide a perfect answer, they would subdue him right there on the spot.