At this moment, Sumeru City was covered in dark clouds, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling. In an instant, heavy rain poured down with an overwhelming force.
However, facing this bizarre change in weather, the people of Sumeru were not surprised. For those who had lived in the rainforest for a long time, this was already a common occurrence. After all, sudden thunderstorms like this happened hundreds of times a year, and during the peak rainy season, they might experience several in a single day.
Based on years of experience, such thunderstorms were usually a first-time occurrence, short and intense, and wouldn't last long.
Indeed, after only about ten minutes, the sky gradually cleared, and Sumeru City returned to peace.
Meanwhile, inside the Divine Innovation Workshop, the fully activated Gnosis was embedded in the center of the mecha. Under the Balladeer's control, the surging energy gradually began to converge.
The Balladeer, as the mechanical puppet personally created by Ei and the prototype of the Raiden Shogun, was not merely a vessel for the Gnosis. His power ceiling was actually very high, as he was meant to protect Inazuma while Ei resided in the Plane of Euthymia.
If Inazuma truly encountered a powerful enemy invasion, such as the calamity from five hundred years ago returning, the strength of a mere adeptus-level combatant would be far from enough. His true purpose was to achieve God-level combat power through the power of the Gnosis.
However, after creating the Balladeer, Ei unintentionally discovered that this puppet she had created would secretly weep in his sleep at night.
The Balladeer's weak display made Ei realize that as the guardian of Inazuma, he didn't need too many fragile human emotions. Thus, the Balladeer was directly discarded by Ei for this reason.
Originally, Ei intended to destroy the Balladeer directly, but considering that he already possessed his own consciousness and thoughts, he was also a child she had created.
Ei couldn't bear to destroy him, so she left layers of seals on his body, placing him in the Shakkei Pavilion to continue his slumber, and left him a golden ornament as proof of her identity, until he was mistakenly taken away by Katsuragi, who had accidentally entered the pavilion.
Ei learned from her experience in creating the Balladeer. This time, the second-generation Raiden Shogun she created actually used her own top-tier God body as material, enabling the second-generation Raiden Shogun to possess top-tier God-level combat power from the moment of her birth, without the need for the Gnosis's power.
Therefore, this most respected and sacred Gnosis of Inazuma became useless and was kept by Yae Miko for nearly five hundred years.
The Balladeer felt an unending flow of power surge into his body, causing him to involuntarily let out a wild and chuunibyou-esque laugh. He secretly sighed in his heart, "Hahahahaha... Is this the power that only a God can possess? It's simply exquisite!
It's worth all the hardships I've endured, all the betrayals, abandoning everything, denying and scoffing at all things human. My chest will no longer be tainted by worldly affairs. I will discard the inferior emotions of humans. My hollow parts, like a pure white scroll at the moment of birth, will be filled with the supreme God's heart, brimming with divinity.
Beelzebul, Yuto, and... Dottore, just you wait. The day I fully ascend to godhood, your era... will come to an end! Hehehe... Hahahaha!"
After his unrestrained laughter, the Balladeer's mood calmed. He was undergoing his final transformation in the baptism of the gnosis of electro's power... The sages observing the progress of the project were incredibly excited to see that the Balladeer could easily withstand the unparalleled power of the Gnosis. This meant their plan was about to succeed. Even if the escaped Lesser Lord Kusanali launched a counterattack, they would not fear with this new God backing them.
Azar took the other three sages to a quiet place to conspire: "The second step of the God Creation Project has already succeeded. Next, it's time for the third step. Is there any trace of the lost canned God knowledge now?"
Khajeh: "Reporting to Grand Sage, according to the Akasha's calculations, there is a ninety percent probability that it is in the hands of our Scribe, Alhaitham."
Azar: "Alhaitham? Speaking of which, we haven't received any information from him back to the Akademiya for a long time, have we? We only approved three days of leave for him back then."
Khajeh: "That's right. Moreover, according to eyewitnesses and the Akasha's response, Alhaitham seems to have gone to Aaru Village, and he appears to be accompanied by the Traveler, who is very close to the Lesser Lord Kusanali, and the General Mahamatra Cyno, who is an enemy of the Akademiya."
Azar frowned tightly upon hearing this, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes, saying: "Suspicious circumstances? Hmph! How likely do you think Alhaitham will betray the Akademiya under the instigation of these people? Fifty percent? Seventy percent?"
Khajeh understood Azar's gaze immediately and said, "I understand. At this critical moment, it's better to kill by mistake than to let one go!"
Azar nodded and added, "After we retrieve the canned God knowledge from Alhaitham, remember to tamper with it before letting the experimental subject absorb it. His mind is not that of a God right now, which is the best time for us to act."
Khajeh: "I know. Sumeru has spent so much manpower, material resources, and financial resources helping the Fatui Harbinger from Snezhnaya become a God. He can't just become a God and then walk away back to Snezhnaya. What would all our efforts be for! This new God must belong to Sumeru!"
Azar's eyes were filled with fanaticism: "Yes! Creating a God is a thing of the past for us. Our current goal is to control a God, to make the omniscient and omnipotent wisdom of a God available to us at any time, to let Sumeru truly regain wisdom."
With that, the four sages exchanged a smile, looking at the new God who was in a deep slumber, their eyes as disdainful as ever, just like how they used to look at the Lesser Lord Kusanali.
At the same time, Nahida, who had been pulled away, only felt herself experiencing a dizzying sensation before finally arriving in a mysterious, lush Domain.
Nahida carefully surveyed everything before her. The entire Domain was filled with a scent of plants that made her feel at ease, making her feel especially close to it.
And the three-story wooden villa not far away made her involuntarily walk forward, wanting to explore it. Nahida had a premonition that once she entered that villa, all the answers would be revealed.
Nahida cautiously pushed open the courtyard gate, and the sight before her made her unconsciously smile. The entire courtyard was like a plant museum of Teyvat, with a large variety of plants neatly arranged and planted.
Qingxin, Glaze Lily, Violetgrass, Silk Flower, Wolfhook, Valberry, Windwheel Aster, Cecilia, Small Lamp Grass; Naku Weed, Dendrobium, Sumeru Rose, padisarah, Kalpalata Lotus, and so on.
It could be said to cover all the plants from the four nations of Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru. No matter how harsh the growing environment these plants required, in this courtyard, they all competed in beauty and grew exceptionally vigorously.
Nahida squatted on the ground, somewhat entranced, looking at the Qingxin garden closest to her, unconsciously wanting to reach out and touch it, when she heard a teasing voice from not far away.
"Those are ingredients my beloved personally planted, so don't damage them!"
"Ingredients?"
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