Zhongli could use Chakra too?

After Lumine and Paimon left, only Yucheng and Zhongli remained at the table, and the atmosphere immediately began to turn awkward.

"Mr. Zhongli, did you stage all this so you could retire with peace of mind?"

"You figured it out. I have existed for over six thousand years. After thousands of years of wear, even stone occasionally feels weary. But Liyue is, after all, a city I built with my own hands, one into which I poured my heart and soul. Even if I truly wish to let go, I must test whether Liyue, as it stands today, can withstand the trial of losing its god.

"Until this trial is over, I hope you can keep my secret."

"I can keep it secret, but I have one small condition I hope you'll agree to, Mr. Zhongli."

"As the God of Contracts, contracts touch every aspect of my life, and I am not averse to them. Since I am asking a favor, naturally I must pay a corresponding price. Go ahead."

"I want a Pyro Vision."

"A [Vision] can only be obtained through a human's yearning for their wishes. Though my contracts prevent me from explaining, granting Visions is beyond my power."

"No, no, no, Mr. Zhongli. I don't want a real Vision, just a fake one, like the one you're wearing. If you can't give me a real one, surely a fake one is possible?"

"Why is that?"

Zhongli clearly could not understand Yucheng's actions. Over his six thousand years, he had seen countless humans ask him for wealth, power, beauty, and Visions. While Yucheng's earlier request for a Vision had been within his expectations, what he wanted was actually a fake Vision.

Yucheng glanced around and, finding that no one was paying attention to them, spat a small flame straight from his mouth. It immediately vanished into the night.

Though the flame was small, the shock it gave Zhongli was immense. As far as he could sense, Yucheng had not absorbed any Pyro energy from his surroundings at all, yet he had accomplished the feat of spitting fire from his mouth.

"How can you wield elemental power without a Vision? Are you not human?"

"I'm a genuine human."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Yucheng's words, Zhongli's gaze suddenly sharpened, exuding an imposing pressure despite his lack of anger. Sitting opposite him, Yucheng suddenly felt as though an enormous boulder were pressing down on him, nearly leaving him unable to breathe.

In Zhongli's understanding, the human body could not contain violent elemental power at all. Even when someone with a Vision wielded elemental power, the elements from outside did not flow through their body. Instead, they first entered the Vision and were then released through it. This was also why Visions were called external magical organs.

Since Yucheng was human, yet had neither a Vision nor a Delusion obtained from Snezhnaya, there was only one way he could have mastered the elements-he had come into contact with forbidden knowledge!

Forbidden knowledge was a line that could not be crossed in Teyvat, and something Celestia did not sanction. As one of the Seven Archons recognized by Celestia, Morax naturally had to uphold that boundary. This, too, was one of his contracts.

"Mr. Zhongli, calm down, calm down. I haven't come into contact with anything shady. This is something I discovered by accident, a special energy produced inside the body. It doesn't need any medium. In theory, everyone can produce it."

Zhongli frowned. The next instant, both he and Yucheng vanished.

A server at [Third-Round Knockout] discovered that the guests at the table outside had actually disappeared. Most importantly, they had not paid either. In a panic, he hurried to report it to the owner.

"Boss, the guests at the table outside ran off without paying!"

"What bastard dares eat at my place for free? Wait, which table did you say? The one outside?"

"Yes! That guest looked so distinguished, too. He didn't look poor at all. Who would have thought appearances could be so deceiving? He didn't even pay for his meal."

The owner rapped the server hard on the head. "Watch what you say. Mr. Zhongli is a regular here. Perhaps it simply slipped his mind. Here, don't rush to clear the table yet. If he doesn't come back tonight, just take the bill to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. It's hardly a big deal."

Yucheng's vision went dark. The next instant, Zhongli was holding his arm, and they had appeared outside Yucheng's home on Mt. Tianheng. Zhongli entered the cave abode with practiced familiarity, then shut the main door.

"Show me this energy you spoke of," Zhongli said in a commanding tone.

Yucheng had no choice but to circulate his chakra. Gradually, blue energy appeared around his body. Zhongli stared fixedly at the chakra, cautiously making contact with a little of it to examine it closely.

He could hardly be blamed for being so cautious about chakra. After all, it was something suspected of being forbidden knowledge. As the oldest of the gods, he naturally knew how terrifying forbidden knowledge was.

According to legend, King Deshret Al-Ahmar of Sumeru, whose strength rivaled his own, had died because of forbidden knowledge. Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had also died after being tainted by forbidden knowledge, and the Seven Archons' destruction of Khaenri'ah back then had likewise been due to forbidden knowledge.

However, as he sensed this power, his tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed. This power was not forbidden knowledge. Not only that, but its form was extremely advanced, as though it had been created specifically for humans.

"Explain."

"I named this energy chakra. It's a special energy created by mixing the physical energy produced by the active cells in the human body with spiritual energy in a particular ratio."

"Chakra? A mixture of physical and spiritual power? Interesting. But this power appears to have no elemental attributes. How did you breathe fire?"

Yucheng then formed hand seals. To let Zhongli see clearly, he performed each hand seal very slowly, then followed them with [Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique].

An enormous fireball burst from Yucheng's mouth. The scorching heat it produced instantly raised the temperature of the originally cool cave abode by dozens of degrees.

"This chakra you speak of actually became pure Pyro energy after you made those strange hand gestures. Interesting. In terms of universal rationality, since it can become Pyro energy, could it also become other elements?"

"In theory, yes, as long as you master nature transformation. But it's very difficult. For an ordinary person, becoming proficient in just one nature is already quite good."

"Try channeling chakra into my body?"

Yucheng could only comply. He took hold of Zhongli's right arm and channeled his chakra into Zhongli's body. The moment it entered, Yucheng sensed his connection to it abruptly vanish, like a kite whose string had snapped.

After carefully sensing the chakra for a while, Zhongli quickly analyzed its energy composition. Then something happened that shocked Yucheng.

Blue energy actually began to appear around Zhongli's body as well, but this energy was worlds apart from Yucheng's own chakra.

Seriously? Zhongli really was worthy of being Rex Lapis. He had actually figured out chakra on his own in an instant!