"Teyvat is the world we originally lived in. There, elemental power is the mainstream of the supernatural."
"Later, the Sect Master descended, founded Mount Shu, created the Mount Shu World, recruited disciples, and opened the mountain gates."
"Now, our Mount Shu has nearly a thousand outer sect disciples, several thousand service disciples, and dozens of inner sect disciples."
"And, by the way, my precious daughter Klee is one of Mount Shu's three divine physiques and the Sect Master's only true personal disciple~"
Himeko couldn't help giving Alice a surprised look.
"Elder Alice, you already have a child?"
"Of course! Klee is a gift from the heavens, my most treasured little girl."
The moment she mentioned Klee, Alice's expression softened noticeably. For a moment, she really did look every bit the doting mother.
Himeko grew curious.
"Then why didn't I see Klee earlier?"
Alice froze for a second, then wilted a little.
"Because the Sect Master asked Ganyu and Miko to oversee Klee's closed-door cultivation."
"Klee's talent is incredible. She has one of Mount Shu's three divine physiques—the Crimson Emperor Heaven-Burning Body. It's the same constitution as one of Mount Shu's Golden Immortal ancestors."
"The Sect Master has high hopes for Klee and has poured tremendous resources into her."
"Her cultivation speed is very fast, but she's still young, and a bit too fond of playing. So the Sect Master had Ganyu and Miko watch over her while she cultivates."
"I see," Himeko murmured, then offered softly, "That just means the Sect Master values Klee a great deal."
"Eh-heh! There are plenty of people who'd love that kind of treatment and can't get it. You should be satisfied. Once Klee's cultivation surpasses yours, you'll probably be miserable."
Venti looked positively delighted at the thought, throwing Alice a gleeful look. She shot him a glare and ignored him.
"Elder Alice, how come I haven't seen the Dragonhead Peak Lord or the Sect Master of Mount Shu?" Himeko asked, glancing around.
By now, Alice and Venti had escorted her down from the heights of Mount Shu. Since she wasn't a Mount Shu disciple, she naturally couldn't stay on the peaks for long.
Even outer sect and service disciples weren't allowed to casually wander to the summits of the Seven Veins.
Right now, the three of them were riding on cranes, with Alice and Venti escorting Himeko on a tour of the Mount Shu World.
Hearing her question, Alice replied quietly:
"The Sect Master and Zhongli aren't in Mount Shu at the moment."
"They went to Teyvat?" Himeko asked, following up.
By now, she'd already understood the difference between Teyvat and the Mount Shu World.
Teyvat was the world the cultivators had originally lived in—their "home."
The Mount Shu World was the cultivation realm the legendary Sect Master had created specifically to make it easier for Mount Shu disciples to train.
It sounded absurd, but…
He really was that absurd.
Creating a world just for convenience.
If he could do that for convenience, couldn't he also conveniently destroy the Honkai back in her world?
Himeko found herself envying Teyvat's luck on behalf of her own world.
With Venti and the others explaining along the way, she'd more or less gotten a grasp on the Mount Shu World.
In the entire world, the only true gathering place for regular humans was Mount Shu Village, not far from the mountain's base.
The Seven Veins of Mount Shu were strictly for people of Mount Shu. Only inner sect disciples could ascend the summits.
The Seven Veins themselves were absolutely safe. No beast in the entire world dared attack them.
Mount Shu Village, on the other hand, had some risk. But first, the people there all practiced martial arts. Second, Mount Shu disciples regularly took missions to clear beasts.
For now, Mount Shu Village was still relatively safe.
Outside of the village…
The Mount Shu World was vast beyond imagination.
Everywhere were vicious beasts at the Refining Essence stage, a level of danger far beyond what Himeko had imagined.
In this world, only cultivators could truly live in peace.
As for martial arts, Himeko had learned the basics: the system had been created by cultivators themselves.
Its purpose was to give ordinary people who couldn't cultivate a path to transcendence.
In the eyes of the cultivators, martial arts were indeed crude and weak.
But to Himeko, martial arts were anything but trivial.
If she could bring martial arts back to the Honkai world, let Valkyries train in it, wouldn't that make them far stronger?
They could suffer fewer casualties in their battles against Honkai.
If martial arts could be raised high enough, maybe it could even save Valkyries who'd undergone artificial stigmata experiments.
That thought, however, she kept to herself for now.
Her immediate priority was to fully understand her situation, then formally join Mount Shu and remain here to cultivate.
If she could achieve even a partial success on the path of cultivation, she might be able to solve the Honkai problem herself.
As for martial arts, she could always develop something later.
Everything she'd seen so far was tightly entwined with cultivation.
She lowered her gaze briefly, watching a colossal beast below—hundreds of meters tall—charging across the land. Her heart skipped a beat.
It wasn't that she looked down on Honkai beasts.
But faced with one of these early Refining Essence fiends…
Even emperor-class Honkai beasts would be nothing but snacks.
Judgment-class Honkai beasts might not fare much better.
They were innately resistant to any energy that wasn't spiritual qi.
Himeko didn't hold much hope that Honkai energy could do anything reliable to creatures like that.
She pulled her thoughts back and looked to Alice, waiting for her answer.
Alice hesitated a moment, weighing whether she should say more.
She had only just met Himeko, and the latter wasn't part of Mount Shu.
Still, her instincts told her Himeko had good talent and was well-suited to join them. That was why she'd brought Himeko to see all this.
But when it came to Jiang Yan…
After a moment of silence, Himeko spoke first.
"If it's not convenient to say, it's fine."
"…No. It's not that," Alice said, shaking her head.
"Most topics involving the Sect Master are forbidden to discuss. It's stated clearly in the Disciplinary Hall's rules."
"But this doesn't really count as a secret."
"The Sect Master and Zhongli went to the Demon-Sealing Tower to cultivate. One day outside is one year inside."
"Zhongli will probably be back in three days. As for the Sect Master, that's hard to say. It could be soon. It could be a while."
"But he'll definitely return before the Nine Nether exploration begins."
Himeko nodded slightly, still a bit lost.
"The Demon-Sealing Tower is…"
"The sect's foundational immortal artifact, forged by a Golden Immortal ancestor. It suppresses demons and holds many powerful ones inside," Alice said casually.
Himeko couldn't help but sigh.
"So the ancestors of Mount Shu are Golden Immortals?"
"No, Taiyi Golden Immortals," Alice corrected, lifting her chin proudly. Then she added:
"You want to join Mount Shu, don't you?"
Himeko didn't hide it. She nodded.
"Cultivation is crucial for me. If I can cultivate… I might be able to completely solve the Honkai crisis in my world."
"So I want to cultivate. Elder Alice, is there any way?"
Alice thought for a bit, then replied:
"Normally, if you want to enter Mount Shu, you have to pass the recruitment at the Opening Ceremony."
"But we just held one half a month ago. There won't be another anytime soon."
"Beyond that, there's the inner sect's internal recommendation privilege."
"Each inner disciple only gets one recommendation. The person they put forward must have extremely strong talent and be able to pass the Heart-Testing Array."
"Those you saw earlier—Neuvillette, Furina, and the rest of the new elders—they joined Mount Shu recently through internal recommendations. It's only been about a week."
"But their talents are all peerless. Elder Barnabas and Elder Furina are both Heaven-Spirit Roots."
"Rosalyne has a Scarlet Blaze Vein, and Arlecchino has a supreme spiritual root."
"And Neuvillette… is a bearer of the Amethyst Dragon bloodline."
"In short, anyone recommended internally is a once-in-a-generation genius."
"If you're confident, I can recommend you and let you try."
Himeko looked at Alice, eyes softening.
"…Thank you, Elder Alice. We barely know each other. Why are you treating me so well?"
"Well…"
Alice blinked, then smiled.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it's intuition. My gut says your arrival might give the Sect Master new plans."
"And you just might bring benefits to Mount Shu."
At that, Venti's gaze sharpened slightly. He looked at Himeko with newfound seriousness.
Alice's intuition had never been wrong.
"In any case, don't worry. I won't harm you," Alice said, patting Himeko's shoulder.
"Of course. With a late-stage Refining Qi into Spirit cultivator like you, if you really wanted to hurt me, I'd never dodge it anyway."
Himeko smiled faintly.
"Then I'll be in your care, Elder Alice. No matter what my talent is, I want to try. It's the best way I can think of to save my world."
Seeing her earnest expression, Alice nodded.
"Later, I'll send you back to Teyvat. You can stay in Liyue Harbor. Ningguang will inform the Ministry of Civil Affairs."
"Although Teyvat is also undergoing spiritual revival and there are plenty of dangerous beasts, the Liyue Harbor region is still quite safe."
"Liyue's martial arts are very well developed. They're more than enough to protect the people."
"And Liyue is the region closest to Mount Shu. Its people understand cultivation well."
"You can learn more about cultivation while you're there."
In truth, if Himeko were willing to practice martial arts—and if her armor weren't already in pieces, and her combat power so depleted—she could have stayed in Mount Shu Village.
Mount Shu Village, though located in the more dangerous cultivation world, did have its own defensive strength.
Mount Shu disciples also regularly came to clear out the beasts.
But even then, it wasn't a place just anyone could stay.
Himeko, however, shook her head and looked at Alice with quiet resolve.
"Thank you for your concern, Elder Alice. But, if possible, I'd like to stay in Mount Shu Village."
Alice hesitated.
"But… Mount Shu Village is in the Mount Shu World. It's still quite dangerous."
"You don't practice martial arts, you have no means yet to handle the beasts and monsters."
"And who knows when the Sect Master will return? If anything happens in the meantime…"
Himeko smiled.
"It's alright. I don't think my luck is that bad. And since I intend to join Mount Shu, I should get familiar with things here at the source."
"As for protecting myself—I still have a few tricks left."
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