"Can I really… see them again?"
The golden eyes of Xiao burned with rare intensity as he looked at Severin.
A prince of Snezhnaya would not make such a promise lightly.
"There is a method," Severin replied calmly.
"It may be worth attempting."
"When preparations are complete, I will inform you."
He then added, voice steady:
"Morax's suppression over the land is weakening. Liyue's nights grow restless. You still fight fiercely each evening. Return to Wangshu Inn and rest."
Xiao obeyed at once.
"Understood."
This time, there was vigor in his tone.
Hope.
After Xiao departed, Madame Ping bowed slightly.
"On behalf of Rex Lapis… and the people of Liyue… thank you."
"If you had taken Xiao away, Liyue would lose its peace."
Severin turned toward the distant mountains, hands clasped behind his back.
"The people of Snezhnaya are people. The people of Liyue are people."
"My rebellion against the Heavenly Principles is also for the people."
"If Xiao protects them, and I oppose the false heavens—our purposes are not so different."
Madame Ping lowered her gaze.
"Your vision… is vast."
Severin's eyes swept across the assembled adepti.
"You covet alchemy, forging, talismans."
"Xiao desires a new world."
"Is his horizon not broader than yours?"
"Next time you flatter me—include him."
"Alone, he has elevated my opinion of Liyue's adepti."
The words struck sharp.
No one dared rebut.
The Dust-Cleansing Bell
"If you truly wish to thank me," Severin said lightly,
"lend me the Dust-Cleansing Bell."
That relic—crafted by the late Guizhong—had long been safeguarded by Morax and later entrusted to Madame Ping.
Without hesitation, she retrieved it from a cracked teapot thick with cobwebs.
An artifact of immeasurable worth… hidden in plain sight.
The bell shimmered softly as it flew into Severin's hand, as though recognizing him.
He accepted it.
Then his gaze shifted toward Mountain Shaper.
"I once saw reports claiming you died supporting Mount Tianheng with your antlers."
"That your blood became the Bishui River."
Mountain Shaper blinked.
"That is false."
Severin nodded faintly.
"Merely confirming."
But inwardly, pressure mounted.
In the original timeline of the world, Mountain Shaper had perished.
Now he lived.
The butterfly effect was accelerating.
The future was no longer predictable.
A Problem Called Mora
After Severin departed—escorted by Yaoyao—the mood inside the realm turned grim.
Five hundred billion Mora for the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
One hundred billion spent demonstrating "Yuegui's" awakening.
Further losses during practice.
Only three hundred billion Mora remained.
Each adeptus would receive sixty billion at most.
Hardly sufficient.
A single failed pill refinement could burn billions.
To train five of them to proficiency?
At least 1.2 trillion Mora required.
A nine-hundred-billion gap.
For the first time in millennia—
The illuminated adepti worried about money.
Cloud Retainer suggested selling imitation Guizhong Ballistae.
Mountain Shaper offered rare tomes.
Moon Carver admitted to "a little private savings."
The divine guardians of Liyue—
Reduced to budgeting.
Yaoyao Knows
Suddenly—
A cheerful voice.
Little Yaoyao returned, hugging her now-talking Yuegui.
"Masters~ don't look at me like that."
"His Highness predicted you'd try asking me to help you borrow from the Northland Bank."
"That won't work!"
Yuegui echoed brightly:
"Won't work! Won't work!"
The five adepti coughed awkwardly and looked away.
Yaoyao added innocently:
"Why not ask Sister Ganyu? She's worked at Yuehai Pavilion for so long. She must have savings. Even if she doesn't, she'll have ideas."
Then she skipped off.
Door shut.
Lock clicked.
Inside the room:
"Yuegui! You can talk now!"
"Little Master! Little Master!"
She giggled, rubbing her cheek against the mechanical rabbit.
"Do you think the Masters will realize it was His Highness' idea to point them toward Sister Ganyu?"
"Won't realize! Won't realize!"
"Exactly~ As long as we don't say anything."
"Let the grown-ups worry about Mora."
Outside—
Five ancient immortals stood silently.
Contemplating loans.
From the very bank of the man who had just sold them a furnace for five hundred billion Mora.
The true refinement that day—
Was not pills.
It was the refinement of Liyue's treasury.
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/SwritesTL