Genshin Impact: The Beginning of the Wind

After carefully sensing the Divine Cherry Tree that was now in front of him, Su Feng had to admit that at least for now, he couldn't get any clues about the previous tremor from it. However, combined with the slight fluctuation of time he had felt before, Su Feng had a new idea.

Although he didn't know why there was a time fluctuation on the Divine Cherry Tree, this fluctuation clearly indicated something. Perhaps he could only get what he wanted from it when the time came.

Especially considering that the one who controls time is the Great God of the World, and given the relationship between that person and Wendy, Su Feng strongly suspects that the Great God who controls time wants to use him to achieve some purpose.

Unfortunately, it's clear that Ishtar is in a state of oblivion at this point in time, and Su Feng has no way to find her. After thinking about it carefully for a while, he could only helplessly admit that he could only continue to wait.

Since the other party has taken action, we can simply wait for time to pass and we will naturally get the answer.

"It seems you have some leads?"

Although it was unclear what Su Feng had sensed, after he paused for a long time in front of the Divine Cherry Tree, Yae no Miko naturally understood some things, and Su Feng did not intend to hide his thoughts.

“That’s right. I’ve learned some things from the Divine Cherry Tree, but unfortunately it’s not the right time yet. It seems I really will have to stay in Inazuma for a while.”

Although having a general direction should be a good thing for Su Feng, he was still a bit troubled by Inazuma's current chaotic situation and General Raiden's hostility towards him.

He really didn't want to continue the conflict with General Thunder, but unfortunately, things were clearly not going according to plan.

Although he didn't know what Ishtar wanted to do, Su Feng could already feel the overwhelming sense of wicked humor coming from this very beginning.

Putting everything else aside, at least in terms of personality, this Tokiwa-sama is probably even worse than Wendy.

Are all people who play with time like this?

Tsk, it's infuriating and frustrating. Without the ability to manage time, dealing with the other party won't be easy.

"Alright, I might have to stay here for a while. I hope you won't mind my intrusion."

After careful consideration, Su Feng decided to stay at Narukami Shrine for a while and wait to see how things would develop.

After all, this is the closest place to the Divine Cherry Tree. Su Feng, who longs to obtain more Herrscher Cores to complete himself, does not want to stray too far from the Divine Cherry Tree until he has clearer clues.

"Oh? That's not a problem. I can tidy up a bit and make some room."

"But do you have the money to pay for your accommodation?"

Upon hearing this, Yae no Miko's eyes lit up. She looked Su Feng up and down before saying something meaningful.

"..."

"Do I need to pay more?"

Chapter Eight: The Voice from the Divine Cherry Tree

It turns out that Yae no Miko may not be quite up to par in battle or as a divine servant, but she definitely has the potential to become a shrewd businesswoman—of course, this may also be because her amusement-loving nature is just too strong.

This girl actually dared to ask Su Feng for accommodation fees, and even listed a bunch of random charges such as room usage fees, food fees, garbage collection fees, and even sightseeing tickets, which just hearing about them makes one want to hang her on a cherry tree.

Honestly, if this guy hadn't practically pushed Su Feng to his limit by listing a whole bunch of miscellaneous fees and then conveniently mentioned at the last minute that the shrine's sacred wine was free and unlimited, he might already be hanging up there.

The chief priest of Narukami Shrine was hanged by a stranger for overcharging various fees—if the reporters from Steambird News knew about this, they would probably jump up in excitement.

This is absolutely groundbreaking news that will shake the entire Seven Kingdoms.

Thankfully, there aren't any reporters from Steambird Newspaper in Inazuma right now. Is the isolationist policy a good thing in some ways? (Just kidding)

Of course, this little ripple was just a minor act of revenge by the Eightfold Divine Child. After all, the difference in strength between the two sides was too great. If Su Feng were really pushed to the limit, even though she, as a member of the Thunder God's family, wouldn't be in real danger, she would probably still be tormented.

Even when facing a ridiculous movie, Yae no Miko had never suffered much loss. Now, she had been defeated by another unfamiliar god's familiar.

How can this work!

Even if this divine companion seems abnormal no matter how you look at it, even if this divine companion can even temporarily gain the upper hand in the battle against the Thunder General, it doesn't matter. How can this scumbag fox be bullied?

It was precisely because of this that Yae no Miko (the Divine Child) orchestrated this farce. Although she was not entirely clear about Su Feng's financial situation, considering that beings of this level would not care about Mora, Yae no Miko, after a brief assessment, precisely quoted a price that would almost completely drain Su Feng's finances.

But the unlimited supply of fine wine is another form of appeasement.

After all, he's from Mondstadt, so he must be a drunkard, right?

It has to be said that the scumbag is really good at manipulating people. Although Su Feng didn't really care about Mora, he was emptied of his pockets by a rather humiliating price as if someone could see right through him, and then his mouth was stuffed with fine wine.

Even if he wanted to lash out, he couldn't find a reason to do so, not to mention that everything arranged by Yae no Miko was quite good, leaving him no room for criticism.

Spacious and brand-new rooms and furnishings, delicious Inazuma specialty food, shrine maidens who can fulfill any request Su Feng makes, a refreshing environment, and the occasional sight of scum foxes and many shrine maidens practicing their dances.

Add to that the precious sake brewed by Narukami Taisha using special techniques, which was originally reserved for the castle tower and was almost impossible to see under normal circumstances—so how much Mora would Su Feng have to pay for such a luxurious treatment?

The answer is 13,624 Mora in cash plus a piece of turquoise that Su Feng received as a tip while busking, though no one knows who gave it to him.

Well, to be more precise, it was Su Feng's entire fortune. The Eightfold Divine Child somehow accurately derived this figure and emptied Su Feng's pockets.

Obviously, this number is extremely insulting to some extent. Fortunately, Su Feng has become quite thick-skinned after learning bad habits from Wendy, so he did not choose to kill her to cover it up after revealing that he was a poor man.

In short, this was clearly a small act of revenge by Yae no Miko. Fortunately, this girl was exceptionally good at controlling the degree of revenge, so Su Feng didn't dare to do anything to her.

After settling into Narukami Shrine, Su Feng no longer spent all his time immersed in sake. Usually, he would pick up a jar of fine sake and decisively slip away to the roots of the sacred cherry tree below Mount Kage.

Yae no Miko was very pleased with this – it was perfect for having more people to look after Kami Sakura for free.

Meanwhile, ever since Su Feng obtained information about the Divine Cherry Blossom Purification from Yae no Miko, he has been very curious about the methods for dealing with impurities, so he has been studying the operation process of the Divine Cherry Blossom recently.

It's easy to understand why the abyssal power that corrupted Inazuma could be broken down—the Divine Cherry Blossom is rooted in the entire Inazuma ley line, so it's not difficult to break down a small amount of abyssal power by taking advantage of the sheer size of the ley line.

But after eliminating the power of the void realm and absorbing the power of the light realm, how exactly were those impurities dealt with?

It sounds like a simple and easy-to-understand method to purify it directly, but is this thing, which is no worse than the Demon God's Resentment, really that easy to purify?

In any case, even Zhongli didn't have a good solution when facing the grudges of the demon gods. He could only choose to seal them away and try to wear them down little by little over a long period of time. By the way, so far this method hasn't been very effective. Various kinds of grudges of the demon gods still occasionally slip out from the gaps in the seals in Liyue.

The Great Sage of Demon Extermination has been working overtime for thousands of years to get rid of these things, but there is still no hope of completely solving them. To this day, Liyue can only deal with them bit by bit, like playing whack-a-mole, but they can never get rid of them completely.

So, in order to figure out how the Divine Cherry Tree dealt with so much filth, Su Feng has been living at the base of the Divine Cherry Tree for the past few days. Unfortunately, he still hasn't found any clues.

To be more precise, so far he has only seen the decomposition, attenuation and absorption of the power of the abyss on the Divine Cherry Tree. As for the filth contained in the power of the abyss, it has simply been piled up at various nodes of the Divine Cherry Tree, as if the tree has no intention of dealing with it at all.

What does this mean? It's impossible to wait until the Great Purification Ceremony to deal with all of this all at once, right? Gathering the filth and solidifying it into monsters for the samurai and priestesses to eliminate in one go?

But this only temporarily disperses the filth; it doesn't reduce the amount of filth at all. If that were all, Inazuma would have been completely covered in all sorts of filth long ago.

It now seems that the Divine Sakura Great Exorcism should indeed have the ability to purify impurities, but it should not be just about letting the warriors defeat the embodiment of impurities on the surface. If that were all, it would not be able to eliminate the impurities at all.

However, if one wants to witness such a scene, one will probably have to wait until the Great Purification of the Divine Cherry Blossom, but unfortunately, Yae no Miko has no time to bother with the Great Purification of the Divine Cherry Blossom right now.

"You seem to have a headache. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

However, just when Su Feng felt he was stuck in the process, a somewhat familiar yet different voice suddenly entered Su Feng's mind.

"!"

Chapter Nine: Lightning True and the Herrscher of Lightning Core 5K

P.S.: This chapter contains many personal interpretations; please be aware before reading.

The voice that suddenly entered Su Feng's mind surprised him, but what surprised him even more was that when he traced it back through his spiritual power, he discovered that the consciousness of the voice actually came from inside the Divine Cherry.

An unknown consciousness resides within the Divine Cherry Blossom, and it is a consciousness of a very high level. However, the other party is currently in a very bad state, and the entire consciousness is so weak that it seems that it may be annihilated at any moment.

"who are you?"

Su Feng wasn't too worried about the other party harming him. He was confident in his own strength and even more confident in the 'cocoon' behind him. Moreover, he was quite curious about who could hide inside the Divine Cherry Blossom without being discovered by that scoundrel fox above.

“Me? Perhaps you can call me ‘True’.”

When Su Feng asked the question, the mysterious voice remained silent for a while before vaguely revealing its name. Upon hearing the name, Su Feng's pupils constricted slightly.

"Really? Lightning is real?"

Su Feng's voice was filled with doubt and disbelief.

Inazuma's Raijin is a twin demon god. The original Raijin's real name was Baal, but he usually refers to himself as Raiden Shin. The current Raijin is Raiden, who is Raiden Shin's sister and shadow dancer, and his real name is Balzebub.

In reality, very few people know that Raijin is a twin demon god; most mortals don't even know that Inazuma's Raijin has been replaced.

Su Feng learned a lot about Raiden Shin and Raiden Movie from Wendy and Zhong Li—although most of these were ancient history from five hundred years ago, five hundred years is not a long time for a being of the level of a demon god.

But regardless, it is clear that lightning truly perished in the calamity five hundred years ago.

This is a fact that anyone or even a god would acknowledge, yet now a consciousness has appeared in the Divine Cherry Blossom that calls itself Raiden Shin?

And this happened while he was researching the Divine Cherry Blossom?

This is somewhat too much of a coincidence.

However, considering Istar, who has been quite prominent since arriving in Inazuma, and the time fluctuations surrounding the Divine Cherry Blossom, Su Feng couldn't help but feel that this coincidence wasn't impossible.

That god who controls time seems to have some unspeakable, wicked sense of humor at times, which is quite similar to Wendy.

Even so, Su Feng remained vigilant, as he couldn't be sure whether this 'Lightning True' was a consciousness 'born' after Shen Ying had been silently corrupted by the abyss or filth.

"There's no need to worry about me so much. What's here now is just a wisp of my remnant spirit. If it weren't for the protection of the Divine Cherry, I would probably have completely vanished by now."

Raiden seemed to sense Su Feng's wariness, but even so, she still used a soft voice to explain her current situation.

"..."

"If that's the case, why don't you show up in front of them? You should know how much pain that disaster caused your sister."

"If she could receive your support and comfort at this time—even just a wisp of lingering hope would be very comforting for her."

"If that were the case, Inazuma might not be like this now."

"Besides, given your current condition, Lei Film Studio can definitely save you,"

Su Feng was somewhat puzzled by Lei Dian's explanation. He really didn't understand why the other party would choose to conceal the fact that he still had a part of himself alive.

For a demon god, the fact that it still retains a portion of its consciousness means that lightning is not truly dead.

The demon god is immortal, and if someone is willing to pay a certain price, there is a high chance that Raiden Shin can be saved if there is still a trace of his consciousness remaining.

Furthermore, considering that Raiden and Raiden are twin demon gods, it wouldn't be that difficult to save her; at least Raiden's power is more than capable of doing so.

The power of the same origin should not be able to erode or pollute lightning.

"No way~"

However, when faced with Su Feng's question, Raiden's voice revealed a hint of melancholy.

Upon hearing this voice, Su Feng couldn't help but imagine a figure similar to General Thunder in his mind, and slowly shook his head with a gentle smile that could never appear on General Thunder's face.

If this really is Raiden, then she must be an extremely gentle girl.

Such an idea seemed to involuntarily pop into Su Feng's mind, and what was even stranger was that a ripple seemed to stir in his heart... a thought similar to reminiscence and longing?