Under the guidance of the Sword Demon God Qingxu, Aether quickly gained a deeper understanding of the sword.
Only after truly learning did he realize just how shallow his previous comprehension had been.
Just as Qingxu had said, only by first understanding the sword could one truly learn how to wield it.
And the highest realm of swordsmanship lay in unity between person and blade.
This was something the Sword Demon God had already achieved from the moment of his birth.
Why?
Was Qingxu's Comprehension truly that extraordinary?
Ha—of course not.
That was because the Sword Demon God's true form was the Qingxu Sword itself.
Over the following month, Aether traveled back and forth between Qingxu Pool and Liyue, studying the way of the sword under Qingxu's tutelage.
Every day, he brought two bottles of Maotai as tuition.
Qingxu taught with exceptional patience, practically guiding him hand-in-hand. Aether's foundation in swordsmanship had been thin to begin with, and whenever he encountered something he didn't understand, Qingxu would carefully explain it to him.
Learning, after all, was a long and gradual process.
During his spare time, Aether sought out Morax, intending to discuss plans for the development of Liyue's territory.
There was no helping it—every time he visited Qingxu's domain, the contrast was impossible to ignore.
Although Qingxu did not care about the size of his territory, and its overall area was not large, the quality of human life there—their housing and living conditions—was far superior to what Liyue currently had.
Liyue's people were still living in thatched huts.
In terms of comfort, warmth, and protection, thatched huts were vastly inferior to wooden or stone houses.
So development in Liyue could no longer be delayed.
Originally, Aether had planned to wait until Guizhong and Morax formed their alliance, relocated to Guizhong's territory, and established a city like Guili Assembly before truly pushing urban development.
But comparison bred urgency. Seeing the difference firsthand had ignited Aether's desire to act earlier.
When Morax saw Aether appear, he was mildly surprised.
Over this period, Aether rarely came to see him, spending nearly all his time in Qingxu's territory instead.
If Aether had come today, it surely meant he had something in mind.
"You're not going to practice swordsmanship today? How do you have time to come here?" Morax asked.
Aether laughed. "It's not like I study every single day. Today's a rest day for both Qingxu and me. What—am I not allowed? Or did I disturb your old man's nap?"
"Ha. Of course not," Morax replied with a soft chuckle.
Aether went straight to the point.
"Morax, don't you think the living conditions of Liyue's people are rather… modest? Their quality of life and living standards are pretty rough."
"Don't you plan to properly develop and manage your territory?"
Morax considered for a moment before answering, "I believe that as demon gods, we should not intervene in every matter. If humans become overly dependent on us, then once they are separated from a god, they will have no capacity to survive on their own."
"Oh, I know—you want to let nature take its course and let humans rely on their own wisdom to grow," Aether said, waving his hand.
"To someone who doesn't know you, it might even look like you're just too lazy to manage things and have nothing better to do every day."
"I'm only talking about development. I'm not saying we should handle everything for them. Do I really look that idle?"
"Simple guidance is enough. There's no need to do everything personally."
Aether looked at Morax as he spoke.
Simple guidance…
Hearing this, Morax realized that perhaps he had indeed been a little too hands-off before.
In battle, Morax was naturally unmatched.
But when it came to governing a territory, he was still very much a novice.
That made sense—after all, this was before Guizhong's era.
"Then how should we guide them?" Morax asked.
As a demon god, there were countless things he could accomplish easily. But for humans, where exactly should he begin guiding them?
Many things that were trivial for a god were still far beyond human capability at present.
Aether smiled. "Why not start with housing?"
"Guide the people to gather stone and fell trees, using wood and stone to build sturdier, more comfortable homes."
"Improvements in living conditions are the most directly felt."
"Also, food. Right now, humans can only rely on hunting and gathering. Those two methods are far too limited. And when something is limited, its ability to withstand risk is poor."
"Sooner or later, the prey will be hunted to exhaustion, and berries and fruit trees will be stripped bare. Their growth cycles are slow as well."
Morax listened carefully to everything Aether said.
Housing was easy enough to address.
But food… how could that be solved?
He was not Aether. As the Demon God of Manifestation, Aether could conjure all kinds of strange and wonderful foods at will.
Hunting and gathering were the mainstream food sources of this era.
Morax asked, "That is indeed a problem. But are there any other methods?"
Aether chuckled softly.
The current Morax had not yet accumulated thousands of years of knowledge and experience. Aether, on the other hand, carried within his mind the cultural legacy of millennia from Earth. Naturally, he understood more in this regard.
"Of course. Along the coast of Liyue, fishing is also possible. The sea here doesn't freeze in winter, which makes it an excellent food source."
"But unfortunately, someone used a mountain to cut Liyue off from the sea, losing that resource. Still, protecting humans from flooding isn't wrong—one can only say that gains and losses always coexist."
After all, certain someone claimed to want humans to develop independently, yet also cleared out nearby beasts and blocked tidal disasters with a mountain.
He had created an exceptionally safe living environment.
As everyone knew, throughout human evolution, disasters and hardship were the driving forces behind progress.
An overly comfortable environment often caused stagnation instead.
Still, it wasn't a big issue. Later on, the coming Demon God War would become a powerful catalyst…
After hearing this, Morax lowered his head and thought carefully. It did seem that there was some contradiction in his actions.
But without that mountain, how would they face the tides and floods?
Aether continued, "Besides fishing, there's another method—farming. You should know this, right, Morax?"
"Yes. The mortals have attempted planting before," Morax replied. "But the growth cycles are long and the yields are small. Over time, fewer people continued to try."
This matched what he had observed in his territory.
Some had transplanted berry bushes and fruit trees into Liyue, but they only bore fruit once a year, and the harvest was pitiful.
Naturally, such efforts were eventually abandoned.
Aether smiled faintly, already forming more ideas in his mind.
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