The bleeding curse of the Beast Realm Hounds was a real pain.
Unlike typical curses that directly or indirectly harm the body, this one wrecked the entire bodily system.
Reisen Riou figured it wasn't just a curse but a manifestation of the hounds' erosive power. If a person was a small world, the curse eroded their "boundary"—or more accurately, their defensive system—just like the hounds eroded Teyvat's world barrier.
Unlike Teyvat's massive barrier, a human's boundary was nearly defenseless against this curse.
Ordinary shields were useless. Those below LV30 life energy were basically doomed, dying in agony as the curse dissolved their defenses.
Only beings with strong enough life force could rebuild their defensive systems under the curse's assault.
Reisen was stumped but, through cautious experiments, found two solutions.
First: Bolster the body with Yingwei Qi, a Liyue medical concept of vital energy from refined nutrients. Ying Qi, nutrient-rich, flows in the veins as a blood component. Wei Qi, swift and protective, flows outside, guarding against external evils. Catalyzed by Thunder Elixir techniques, Yingwei Qi could resist the curse and rebuild the body's defenses post-infection—a purification and recovery method.
Problem was, it was tough. It needed Thunder Elixir mastery and a newly invented spell to activate Yingwei Qi, which Reisen hadn't simplified yet.
Second: Create a false boundary to divert the curse, usable before or just after infection. This was simpler—Reisen knew both curse-transfer and boundary-mimicking spells. He just needed to combine and streamline them.
As Reisen prepared to upload his findings, he got a message from Yae Saiguu about her experiments.
Her approach differed. She aimed to extract the curse from the wound with elemental force, then obliterate it. For wounds and damaged areas, she used traditional fiend-banishing and purification spells, with an older Thunder Elixir version—three updates behind—for recovery.
Lazy fox, Reisen thought. Saiguu hadn't updated her Thunder Elixir technique. Not entirely her fault—the latest three versions required extensive knowledge in pharmacology, Electro dynamics, barrier theory, and energy-material science. Without Reisen's beginner-friendly AI and foolproof design, learning them would take ages.
Saiguu's method worked decently but lagged behind Reisen's Yingwei Qi-Thunder Elixir combo in recovery.
Reisen sent his data to Resurrection for analysis and called Saiguu via ley line comms.
After a few beeps, Saiguu's projection appeared. "Little Reisen, what's up?" she teased.
"Wanna discuss spell development, Lady Saiguu," Reisen said, unfazed, cutting straight to it.
Saiguu sighed, "Boring," but asked, "What's your brilliant idea, Shrine Master?"
Reisen launched into a lecture: analyzing the hounds' curse, discovering Yingwei Qi's counter, developing a spell to activate it, and combining it with Thunder Elixirs to amplify and simplify the process.
He didn't notice Saiguu's eyes glazing over.
Her curse research was old-school—most youkai knew curses, and Saiguu was a master. Her method was simple: banish the curse's tainted energy, then heal with spells. She'd used an outdated Thunder Elixir for extra effect, knowing the curse's toughness.
Listening to Reisen, she felt outclassed. She had no clue about his Yingwei Qi method but gained new curse insights. Given time, she thought she could replicate the curse itself.
Saiguu rubbed her tingling ears and cheeks, stunned.
Reisen moved to his second idea—diverting the curse with a false boundary. Saiguu followed this better; it was closer to traditional spells she knew.
He wrapped up quickly, as it was simpler. "This curse is a nightmare. Normal purification and recovery spells barely work, and rebuilding the body's boundary is slow. If the curse stacks, even big shots like us wouldn't hold up."
Saiguu froze—she hadn't considered curse stacking.
"But your curse-extraction spell is solid," Reisen added. "It stops the curse from spreading."
Saiguu frowned. "It's tricky, and the extraction spell demands a lot from the caster. I'm trying to simplify it, but I'm stuck. Plus, you know how dangerous this curse is—it's not something you can just toss out."
"Huh, really?" Reisen stroked his chin, thinking.
His mind wandered to Liyue's talismans, Inazuma's ofuda, then chips. "Got it!" he blurted, hanging up to dive into research.
"Hey!" Saiguu yelped, fuming. What's the idea, jerk?
"Stacking, huh? I might actually have something," Reisen muttered uncertainly in the testing ground's Serenitea Pot-like space.
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