"The cultivation of Mount Shu is divided into two great paths: the Human Path and the Immortal Path.
The Immortal Path… let's set that aside for now. It is far too distant. Most will never complete the Human Path in their entire lives, let alone tread the Immortal one."
"As for the Human Path, it is roughly split into four great realms:
Refining Essence into Qi, Spirit Transformation, Refining Spirit into Void, and Merging with the Dao.
Before these realms, there is a preparatory stage known as the Hundred-Day Foundation Building.
The vicious beasts that have appeared in Teyvat so far—almost all of them are in this stage. At most, the strongest are at the peak of Foundation Building.
As for the Sect Master, his cultivation is at the peak of Refining Spirit into Void."
Kazuha's voice grew lower, as if weighed down by awe.
"More terrifying still, the Sect Master is not yet thirty years old. His talent is one that shakes the ages.
You must understand—most people will never qualify to reach the stage of Refining Spirit into Void.
Even with supreme talent, to reach that realm normally takes tens of thousands of years. To reach its peak, not less than a hundred thousand.
Yet he has done it in just three decades."
Ayaka's eyes widened in disbelief.
"A hundred… a hundred thousand years?
Is it even possible for humans to live that long? Even the Geo Archon himself, the oldest known, is only six thousand years old…"
Kazuha shook his head gently.
"For cultivators, strength is not the only pursuit. Immortality is their other goal.
At the Sect Master's realm, to live hundreds of thousands of years is nothing.
Once he breaks through to Merging with the Dao, his lifespan will be measured in the millions.
And should he ascend into true immortality—he will no longer die, sharing eternity with the heavens themselves.
Even I, as I stand now, already possess several centuries of life."
"Longevity—this is the most fundamental trait of a cultivator."
The others were left speechless. Only now, by comparing lifespans, did they begin to understand how unfathomable cultivators truly were.
"Tell me, Kazuha," Kokomi's tone was steady, though her gaze was sharp, "just how powerful are beasts of the Foundation Building stage?"
She cared most about this. If Kazuha was right, then spiritual revival would soon cover all of Teyvat.
When that time came, Inazuma would have no choice but to confront these creatures.
She needed to know what they faced.
"In truth, beasts of Foundation Building are not overwhelmingly strong."
Kazuha answered softly:
"A beast at the peak of Foundation Building is only comparable to an elite follower of a god.
But to slay one, you would need at least such a follower at their peak.
The true terror of beasts lies in this: they are born immune to much of elemental and divine power.
Their blood flows with spiritual qi. Elemental force, divine energy—these are merely fragments within qi, a tiny fraction.
Against true spiritual qi, they are inherently disadvantaged.
That is why, even at the early stage of Refining Essence into Qi, I could still stand against the Shogun for a time.
We cultivators wield true essence, condensed from qi itself. Compared to divine power, it is incomparably superior."
Ayaka fell silent, then whispered:
"If Inazuma were to face a beast at the peak of Foundation Building… yet we had no cultivators, no martial practitioners… and if the Shogun herself did not intervene—
What price would we have to pay to bring it down?"
Kazuha was quiet for a long moment. Then he shook his head.
"If it came to that… of the tens of thousands in the Resistance, perhaps fewer than one in ten would survive.
And of you, the bearers of Visions, at least half would die.
If a beast of Refining Essence into Qi appeared, and the Shogun did not act… it would tear through all of Inazuma. None could stop it."
He spoke plainly, using himself as the measure.
If Ei did not take the field, Kazuha himself could tear through all of Inazuma alone.
Even should there be hidden followers of gods, they could not stop him.
When he had slaughtered the Tenryou Commission's men earlier, he had scarcely drawn upon his true essence. Only his duel with the Shogun had cost him greatly.
The group fell silent, until Kokomi breathed out:
"So then… cultivation is something we cannot avoid."
Kazuha nodded in agreement.
"In the Teyvat to come, martial cultivation may grant survival at best.
But to preserve peace, as before, Inazuma must have enough cultivators to suppress all threats.
Do what you can to obtain such a chance. You may not have the time to wait for the next Sect-Opening Ceremony. Find a way—any way—to enter Mount Shu."
They all nodded heavily, weighed down by the thought.
Kazuha alone noticed—the guards who had been at the doorway earlier were gone.
But he did not mind.
If this news reached the Shogunate, it might be for the best.
Perhaps it could move the Shogun herself to act, to stabilize Inazuma, and seek cultivation for her people.
As for the three decayed clans of the Tri-Commission…
If they were arrogant enough to dismiss Mount Shu as nothing, they would soon learn otherwise.
Mount Shu did not condone its disciples slaughtering mortals.
But if mortals were foolish enough to provoke Mount Shu—then yes, it could unleash slaughter without restraint.
Do not think that being the righteous sect's leader meant they did not kill.
The Sword Sect of Mount Shu had carved its name with blood.
Though Jiang Yan never spoke of it, all could sense the truth.
To high-level cultivators, mortals were not the same kind of life.
At best, ants on the roadside. At best, pets kept at home.
Never equals.
To put it simply—
A single glance from them was already a favor.
So long as you kept your place, Mount Shu was easy to deal with.
But step beyond that, and Jiang Yan was no man of mercy.
Look only at the records of how Mount Shu dealt with demonic sects: either not at all, or to the last root.
Such was the world.
The courtesy of the high-born was arbitrary.
But should the low-born mistake it for equality, that was the gravest folly.
Kazuha withdrew from his thoughts, and continued explaining Mount Shu's cultivation to Ayaka and the others.
He had done all he could.
The rest was beyond his hands.
He still had to worry about the punishment that awaited him upon his return…
Meanwhile, at the Shogunate's main camp.
A shadowed figure crept through the lines, hand-seal in pocket, passing without hindrance until he came before Kujou Sara.
Once inside, he dropped to one knee.
"General Kujou, this subordinate bears urgent news—of Kaedehara Kazuha's cultivation, and the great upheaval now overtaking all Teyvat!"
At this, Kujou Sara, who had been reading a cultivation novel left behind by Lady Yae, snapped her head up, eyes fixed on the soldier.
With a wave, she dismissed all others and sealed the surrounding five hundred meters.
Then she shut the book and commanded coldly:
"Speak!"
But the soldier hesitated, stalling.
"General, I believe… this matter is grave enough that the Shogun herself should hear it."
Sara's brows drew tight in displeasure.
"The Shogun must sit in Tenshukaku. How could she come here?"
"But…" The soldier looked troubled.
"General, this matter has already swept across all of Teyvat. Only we of Inazuma stand excluded.
This touches upon Inazuma's very survival. I believe only the Shogun can decide."
Sara's frown deepened. Events were already beyond her expectation.
Yet Ei had just battled Xiao, and had not prevailed. Surely her mood was foul.
After a pause, Sara asked quietly:
"…Is it truly so dire?"
The soldier nodded heavily.
"By what I have heard—if we continue as we are, Inazuma may well face annihilation. Every one of our people would perish."
Sara shot to her feet.
This soldier was one she herself had raised, even saved from death. He would never lie to her.
If he said this, then she had no choice but to believe.
She could not decide this alone.
After a moment's thought, she drew forth a strange charm and poured elemental energy into it.
At Tenshukaku.
Ei had only just returned by leyline transfer. She had not yet retreated into the Plane of Euthymia.
Xiao's condition was far too strange.
She knew his strength—close to that of a god, but no true god. Perhaps one day he could reach it, but not now.
And yet he had defeated her so easily.
Impossible.
Even Morax himself, hailed as the God of War, could not defeat her so effortlessly.
And she had wielded Musou no Hitotachi.
Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.
"Mount Shu… Shixiong, Shidi…
And that figure—just a pair of eyes, yet they made me feel he could crush Inazuma in his palm. That Sect Master…"
A chill gnawed at her heart.
Eternity?
If she could not resolve this—forget eternity. Inazuma itself would perish.
As for the shattering of her myth of invincibility, she cared little.
Mortals called her strongest, but she knew the truth.
The Geo Archon and Anemo Archon—those two old men—were full of tricks.
The witches of the Hexenzirkel were hardly to be trifled with either.
In all of Teyvat, she might not even rank among the top ten.
Invincible? She had never claimed it.
Even with Orobashi—if he had not sought death with all his heart, she could never have killed him so easily.
That serpent was a true top-tier god, defeated only because he was weaker than Morax.
Ei searched through the General's memories, but found little beyond her commands for Kujou Sara to end the war swiftly.
Nothing else of worth.
In that moment, she regretted having made the puppet so inflexible.
Now, she was blind to Teyvat's changes.
Yes, she could cling to Eternity, sealing Inazuma off.
But Teyvat was one body. And now, things had gone far beyond her imagining.
Especially Jiang Yan's appearance. Against such a being, she could not even muster the will to resist.
With such a presence in Teyvat, her Eternity was a joke.
For the second time in her life, Ei felt such deep anxiety. The last was five hundred years ago…
Suddenly, the charm in her robes lit up.
The one she had given to Kujou Sara. If it shone, it meant Inazuma faced mortal peril.
At once, Ei's face changed. In a flash of leyline light, she stood at Sara's side.
Her gaze swept the camp. Finding nothing amiss, she turned to Sara with displeasure.
"What is it?"
"Shogun-sama." Sara bowed deeply.
"Our agent within the Resistance brings word of upheavals across Teyvat—of matters touching Inazuma's very survival.
I dared not decide alone. I could only summon you."
Ei's eyes fixed on the kneeling soldier.
He pressed a knee to the ground, voice steady:
"Shogun-sama, every word is true.
If we do not act swiftly, Inazuma will surely perish, and all our people with it!"
Ei seated herself upon the dais.
"Speak!"
The soldier gathered his words, then reported the most vital points:
"Cultivators have descended. Mount Shu has triggered the revival of spiritual qi in Teyvat.
Vicious beasts and monsters are being born.
With time, they will spread to Inazuma.
According to that Mount Shu disciple, Kaedehara Kazuha—beasts at the peak of Foundation Building are equal to elite followers of gods.
And already, in Liyue's Jueyun Karst, more than a hundred have appeared!"
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