As Venti made a face at her, Alice's composure finally cracked.
Yes, she did get a lot of face in Mount Shu because Klee was Jiang Yan's disciple.
But that did not mean she was going to let anyone say that to her face.
She had her pride.
Glaring at Venti, Alice paused midair, fingers curling into an orchid gesture. Behind her, a golden lotus of Buddha-light blossomed.
Rings of golden flame spun out from it, turning into burning halos that swept toward Venti.
Venti stuck his tongue out, slapped the gourd at his waist, and the gourd soared into the air, expanding into a flying mount. He hopped onto it and drifted out of the way of the incoming flames.
A heartbeat later, he was already a streak in the sky.
Alice snorted and threw out another palm.
For a split second, Himeko could've sworn she saw a towering, solemn bodhisattva behind Alice, mirroring her gesture, pressing out a palm of its own.
"Whoa— you're going all out?!"
Venti yelped, hurriedly raising two fingers. A razor-thin sword beam shot out. It failed to shatter Alice's palm imprint, but it gave him just enough of an opening to slip away.
Alice didn't bother chasing him.
Aside from his extreme attack arts like the God of Wine Mantra and the Drunken Immortal Moon-Gazing Technique, Venti's other skills—Cloud-Body Clone, Supreme Heaven-Walking Art, and the like—were all top-tier escape techniques.
In terms of speed alone, even Qingluan couldn't keep up with him now.
Maybe it was because he'd been traumatized by Qingluan in the Nine Nether. Maybe he was just naturally fond of running away.
Either way, being good at running was a skill in itself.
Alice snorted.
"A dignified Anemo Archon, acting Peak Lord of Chaoyang Peak, and all he loves is running away. Shameful."
Then she turned back to Himeko with a smile.
"Come on, I'll take you to see some other places. You haven't seen our main gate yet, have you? It's quite the magnificent sight."
Himeko stared at her, still half in a daze.
After a moment, she asked, puzzled:
"Elder Alice… Mount Shu is a Daoist sect, right?"
"Of course. Didn't I say?"
Alice spread her hands.
"Mount Shu is the leading sect of the Daoist path. In the upper realms, we're one of the pillar sects among the eight hundred and ninety-three Daoist orders."
Himeko silently pointed at the faint Buddha-light still lingering behind Alice.
"Then… unless I sensed wrong, what you just used… felt like a Buddhist technique?"
Alice's face froze.
She laughed it off.
"Details, details. The Sect Master has said it himself—there's really not much real conflict between Daoism and Buddhism at the true level."
"Our 'boss' upstairs, one of the Three Pure Ones, the Upper Pure Lord of Numinous Treasure, gets along very well with the Buddhist Future Buddha."
"Or to put it another way, the Three Pure Ones and the Three Supreme Buddhas are all close Dao-companions."
"So using Buddhist techniques isn't a big deal. And it's not just me—Diluc's even cultivated the Wrathful Vajra Body."
"The Sect Master's rule is: no taboos. As long as you don't violate Mount Shu's precepts, you can cultivate whatever you like."
"I see. Mount Shu really is quite open-minded," Himeko murmured.
But she also understood.
Mount Shu could afford to be "open-minded" because its foundations were deep and its strength overwhelming. It could afford not to care.
The cultivation world was still a society. Wherever there was a society, there were clashing ideologies.
At the top, the leaders of Buddhism and Daoism could get along because they were on the same level.
Lower down…
Things weren't necessarily so harmonious.
Otherwise there wouldn't be so many stories across the worlds about Buddhism and Daoism being at each other's throats.
"Then… is romance allowed in Mount Shu?" Himeko asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Or, in your terms… Dao-companions?"
Alice tripped in midair, almost falling off her sword.
When she recovered, she looked back at Himeko with an odd expression.
"Did I… say something wrong? Sorry."
Himeko scratched her cheek, embarrassed. Alice glanced left and right, then lowered her voice.
"Don't talk about that kind of thing in front of others. Mount Shu doesn't practice emotionless dao, and we don't treat love as taboo."
"But… for now, it's not a topic we speak of openly."
Himeko was too sharp not to catch the implication.
Anything that could make Alice uncomfortable had to involve the Sect Master.
Which meant…
The Sect Master was the one leading the "romance" trend?
Realization dawned, and Himeko suddenly understood. But the gossip-fire in her heart was already burning.
"Can you… tell me?" she asked, unable to stop herself.
"Uh…"
Alice looked a little guilty.
"The Sect Master doesn't care. But it is his private life. Talking about it is something the Disciplinary Hall punishes."
"That said, if you join Mount Shu, you'll find out sooner or later anyway."
"But once you know, you can't spread it around. If it involves the Sect Master, even I can't stop Xiao from taking your head off."
She leaned in close and whispered into Himeko's ear:
"When they joined Mount Shu, Ganyu was mid-stage Refining Essence into Qi, and Miko was late-stage Refining Essence into Qi."
"After just a month or two, Ganyu advanced to Refining Qi into Spirit, and Miko's already at peak Refining Essence, ready to cross her tribulation."
"You get it, right?"
Himeko's eyes widened.
"Legendary dual cultivation techniques?"
Alice didn't comment further. Himeko let it go and smoothly changed the subject.
"Elder Alice, how far do you think I'll need to cultivate to resolve the Honkai?"
"That…"
Alice frowned slightly, thinking it over.
"Let me see your Gem of Plague for a moment."
Himeko handed it over without hesitation.
Alice took it in one hand and began to calculate with the other.
For a moment, Himeko saw a thin veil of light settle over her face, making her look oddly mysterious.
Back in Shenzhou's folk stories, there were always tales of "masters" who could pinch their fingers and see five hundred years into the past and future.
Schicksal's investigations had long since proven those were nonsense—early applied psychology at best.
If they'd been real, Schicksal would've hired one to predict every Honkai eruption.
But this was different.
This was a genuine late-stage Refining Qi into Spirit cultivator divining.
Himeko believed this.
This wasn't psychology. This was real cultivation.
After a while, the glow on Alice's face faded. She handed the Gem of Plague back, looking faintly relieved.
"Good news. Your world's future is entangled with the Imaginary Tree, so I can't see it clearly right now."
"But if we use the previous era's strength as a reference, then as long as you reach mid-stage Refining Qi into Spirit, you'll be able to handle the Final Herrscher easily."
"If something goes wrong and the Imaginary Tree itself steps in…"
"Then you'd probably need to reach Return-to-Void."
"Just now, our Mount Shu Heavenly Dao charged all the way to the Imaginary Tree, borrowed a wisp of the Sect Master's will, and forcibly suppressed the Tree's resistance."
"But I don't think your world will get to the point where the Imaginary Tree has to go all out."
Himeko didn't fully understand all the connections there.
But she could tell this much:
At her current stage, Alice was already strong enough to erase Honkai.
The problem was, she couldn't ask Alice to do it. Even if it would be easy for her, that wasn't how Himeko wanted to do things.
She wanted to be the one to stand up and save her world.
In the past, she hadn't had the talent. Now that she had the path of cultivation, there was no reason she couldn't claw her way up with effort.
She trusted Kiana, yes.
But as a teacher, she wanted Kiana to have a lighter life, not one spent carrying the world on her shoulders.
"Mid-stage Refining Qi into Spirit, huh…"
Himeko nodded, somewhat reassured. She asked casually:
"That sounds doable. Elder Alice, if I start cultivating, about how long would it take me to reach mid-stage Refining Qi into Spirit?"
Alice gave her a long, considering look.
"If you're fast… within three thousand years, probably."
"…"
Three thousand years.
The smile froze on Himeko's face.
In three thousand years, who knew if the Honkai world would even still exist?
Who could wait three thousand years for her to finish cultivating?
After a long silence, she said, a bit pained:
"Elder Alice… how did you reach late-stage Refining Qi into Spirit?"
"Me? I hit late-stage Refining Qi into Spirit as soon as I switched cultivation paths."
Alice spread her hands cheerfully.
"If you can fully control the Gem of Plague, you'll probably be at peak Refining Essence into Qi after your first conversion. That's actually quite fast."
"So in our world, Herrschers are really that weak, huh…" Himeko sighed, a little hollow.
"No. Herrschers are not weak."
Alice shook her head firmly.
"It's just a matter of realm and energy."
"Herrschers in your world are born with authority over scientific laws—Imaginary space, electromagnetism, molecular motion, that sort of thing."
"Strictly speaking, if they were properly developed, even a Refining Essence-level Herrscher would be stronger than a Refining Qi-level demon god."
"Because a Herrscher's roots are linked to the Imaginary Tree. The Tree-and-Sea cosmos is built on science."
"In terms of pure destructive power, your side is stronger."
"But your Herrschers are just ordinary people suddenly transformed…"
She thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.
"Let me put it this way."
"The demon gods in our world are holding rifles with a few hundred bullets."
"The Herrschers in your world are rocket launchers with a single shot—but that one shot hits way harder than a pistol."
"The key difference is that our demon gods are inherently mystical beings, long-lived with higher realms."
"Once they convert to cultivation, they can use their realm as a base to rapidly increase their strength."
"Your side has the energy, but your realms are low. No matter how much power you have, your realm bottleneck will hold you down."
"Cultivation doesn't just train your power. It trains your realm."
"You get that, right?"
Himeko nodded slowly.
"Cultivation brings everyone's power into a single evaluation system. Without it, all the measures are uneven."
"Exactly."
Alice spread her hands.
"As the highest system across the myriad worlds, cultivation is ultimately defined by realm."
"And honestly? The Herrschers of your world—how much of that power really belongs to you, and how much is borrowed from the Imaginary Tree?"
"Science and mysticism aren't the same thing…"
She sighed.
"Anyway, just remember this much: if no one from your side cultivates, our demon gods would have a very hard time winning against your Herrschers."
"Of course, there are special cases. Take Zhongli, for example. Even without cultivation, he could shatter a continent. Compared to your current-era Herrschers, he's much stronger."
"And then there's Venti. Don't be fooled by how unserious he acts. He's actually very strong too."
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