I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

What kind of strange competitiveness is this?

Kujo Sara's expression darkened further: "A duel before the emperor is a fair and square duel under the watchful eyes of the shogun! How can this kind of sneak attack, which has no sense of justice whatsoever, be considered a duel?"

"Dissent from Ali!"

Li Lin raised his hand and said loudly, "You said before that Thor had a thousand hands and a hundred eyes and could see all of humanity, but now you're denying it, aren't you!"

"In short, I will not concede the outcome of this battle." Kujo Sara took a deep breath and answered calmly, "The duel before the Emperor must take place in the Castle Keep. Also, get up now."

"Oh."

The celestial dog's wings weren't particularly comfortable to sit on; in short, they were a bit uncomfortable on his bottom. Li Lin obediently got up, muttering something under his breath.

Kaedehara Manyo leaned over and discovered that Li Lin was complaining that the General's program was too outdated.

“I suspect that when Lei Movies copied the code from Kanria, they used C++,” Li Lin said with great distress. “Why didn’t they use Java?”

If Kaedehara Manyo were a programmer, he should have chimed in and said, "It doesn't feel as simple as Python..."

"What code?" Kaedehara Manyo asked.

"It's robot technology stolen from Kanria." Li Lin revealed one of the top secrets of the Inazuma Kingdom without any hesitation. "You know that General Thunder is a twin god, right?"

Kujo Sara walked at the front with her eyes fixed on the road, but in reality, her ears were secretly perked up.

"Hurry up and bring it up, I can't wait any longer." Kaedehara Manyo's curiosity was like a cat's, just like Nagatsuki's.

"Why are you so naive?" Li Lin pouted. "But a region can only have one mortal ruler, so in order to make Raiden Shin become the God of Naruto, Raiden committed suicide once, and was then resurrected by Raiden Shin using his authority."

"But the problem is that this power to reflect resurrection seems to be only usable by lightning. So five hundred years ago, lightning must have gone crazy and went to Kanria to quell the rebellion, and was sent there with the grass god at the time."

Li Lin calmly recounted the secrets from five hundred years ago.

"Think about it, Lei's movies have lost Sasa Yuri, Torachiyo, and Kitsune Sakura. Now his own sister has betrayed him and committed suicide. Naturally, radical ideas have emerged."

"What radical ideas?" Maple Leaf had already been trained by Li Lin to be a competent straight man.

“The eternal ideas of metaphysics,” Li Lin said with his hands behind his back. “So this obsessed shut-in girl became withdrawn. First, she used her mind to create a pure land of mind... oh, that is, the power of life and governance. Her consciousness entered into it to meditate, and then she transformed her body into a machine that operates according to a predetermined program.”

"I have to say, it's pretty cyberpunk."

Li Lin commented: "Those iron monks I've seen before actually upload their consciousness into a black box and then artificially accelerate time... About one hour outside is equivalent to one small kalpa inside, which is 16,798,000 years."

"You can't listen, you can't see, you can't touch. When the time is up, you can extract the thoughts inside and put them into the standard body of the Iron Monks, the Golden Body."

"These monks, who are too lazy to even live, create a simulation of their own thoughts and personality, using exhaustive methods to recreate the illusions of the past, and engage in an eternal question-and-answer game with the outside world. This is neither a symbol of wisdom, but it preserves the appearance and characteristics of a living being."

"What do they call it again... Oh, to eradicate the cause and effect of birth and death, to cross the torrent of birth and death, to be neither born nor die, neither defiled nor pure."

Li Lin's words sent a chill down the spines of all the listeners.

"I didn't expect you to be so humorous," said Kaedehara Manyo with a laugh.

Li Lin neither confirmed nor denied the claim.

This is certainly not a unique landscape of Teyvat, but rather the first world he traveled to, that cyberpunk future, Earth two thousand years in the future.

Ironically, these monks, who have gone mad and no longer want to live, are considered "enlightened" and enjoy a higher level of citizenship.

Li Lin wanted to say something more, but Kujo Sara stopped.

Fortunately, we've already arrived at Kujo Jinya.

241 Taking a break from my busy schedule to steal a figurine

Many years later, Li Lin happily played running games with Nian and a group of his good friends in Mansu.

The host was Nian, and the running team's content involved outwitting and outmaneuvering the troublemakers led by Li Lin.

A group of officials watched from the sidelines, pointing and commenting on the game's progress.

"Keep quiet," Li Lin scolded, half annoyed. "Anyone who disobeys will be silenced."

While Li Lin was lording it over the Sichens, Nian and Li Lin's friends conspired to switch the game pieces. When Li Lin returned to the table and opened the pieces, he fell silent for the first time ever.

Why do tabletop role-playing games include Truth or Dare?

"Oh, I suddenly remembered I still have a practical training report to write." Li Lin stood up with great enthusiasm, indicating that he couldn't let playthings distract him from his studies and had to go write the report.

"It's alright, it's alright, let your sister write it for you." Nian grabbed his arm, not letting Li Lin leave. "Hurry up and tell us, we can't wait any longer."

Li Lin looked around, his expression serious: "You really want to hear it?"

At the same time, they subtly cast their pleading glances toward the group of Sichen who loved watching the drama unfold, especially the Night Watchmen.

Theresa, standing behind the Night Watchman, silently handed him a pair of sunglasses.

Surrounded by enemies on all sides, Li Lin sighed, "Well, that was near the end of the Genshin Impact arc, when the book had only reached 600,000 words..."

......

The soldiers of the Nine-Tailed Camp were disciplined and had already prepared a boat for Li Lin and his party.

Although the Tengu can travel between Narukami Island and Hachiyū Island at extremely high speed, who would want to fly against the strong winds when there is a boat to ride on?

The journey proceeded without any obstacles, and at 7:00 AM local time, Li Lin and his group disembarked at Ganjin Island.

"Although Kanagin Island is not large, it is the center for a significant number of festivals in Inatsume. Whether it is a festival organized by the shrine magistrate or the summer fireworks festival organized by Narukami Taisha, it is held on Kanagin Island."

Indeed, this is the case; the small island is filled with a festive atmosphere, as if this brief but joyful atmosphere has become eternal here.

It's not a holiday, yet it still brings a sense of joy.

At the port of Ganjin Island, they were greeted by the people of the Shefuxing (a local deity).

"I am a housekeeper in this company; you can just call me Thomas."

With his distinctive golden hair, typical of Mondstadt people, Thomas stood out remarkably in the crowd.

In an environment where the average height of the Inazuma group is 1.6 meters, he stands out from the crowd with exceptionally tall stature.

Historically, dealings with foreigners have been handled by two organizations: the Society Advisory Committee and the Heavenly Commander-in-Chief. The Heavenly Commander-in-Chief primarily leads in political matters, while the Society Advisory Committee takes the lead in cultural and religious matters.

However, Li Lin's identity is quite special. As a sage, he is an object of religious and cultural worship, and it is reasonable for the magistrate of the shrine and the Narukami Taisha to communicate with him. However, Li Lin's previous actions in facilitating the ceasefire were enough to allow the magistrate of the territories to intervene.

“Okay, Thomas.” Li Lin nodded and slowly walked down from the edge of the boat, his golden-purple eyes scanning the surrounding crowd.

“My name is Thomas… well, whatever you like.” Thomas wisely gave up arguing.

He sensed an unquestionable authority emanating from Li Lin.

Kujo Sara's eyes were wary; so this was the true form of the immortal?

After Li Lin stood firmly on the ground, he shook his head.

A faint, ethereal song seemed to drift from afar, like the sound of a shakuhachi being played, or the plucking of a Japanese koto, interspersed with the sounds of a shamisen and a taiko drum.

“Did you hear that? It’s a folk song from my hometown.” Li Lin’s strange actions undoubtedly attracted the attention of others.

"You're joking. This is Ganjin Island, so it's normal to hear music here."

Thomas chimed in from the side.

"No, I'm not referring to ordinary music, but the sound of the entire city—"

Li Lin patted his arm, signaling Orobas to wake up.

The sound of the taiko drums in the clouds grew louder and louder, like a somber rumble of thunder or a violent heartbeat.

Kujo Sara praised the power of the Thunder God, saying that he had a thousand hands and a hundred eyes, enough to see all of the world. Of course, there was an exaggeration in this, but when a mortal god sets foot on the territory of another living god, the other will naturally feel it.

If the reserved Zhongli had come here, Lei Yingdian might not have noticed so quickly. However, the person in charge of the Rock God at this moment is Li Lin.

—Thor has woken up.

Before Li Lin could finish speaking, purple lightning struck down from the highest point of Inazuma Castle, the castle tower, amidst the horrified gazes of everyone, causing the clouds to churn and swirl into a vortex.

"General!" Kujo Sara was about to leave when she was trapped by a rock prison that had sprung up from the ground.

The rock pillars, shrouded in golden-purple clouds, trembled slightly, their massive outlines resonating with each other, forming a barrier in the air that made it hard to breathe.

Li Lin pointed to the castle tower: "Go up there and have a good talk with Lei Yingdian about the duel in front of the emperor—but I'll decide the location, it'll be at the foot of Shadow Mountain."

Kujo Sara wanted to ask why, but when she saw Li Lin's purple-gold pupils, she lost all her strength to breathe.

As a Tengu, although she was not a member of the Thunder God's retinue, as a general in charge of the Heavenly Ranks, how could she not know that this was a power reserved for gods?

But which god would relinquish his authority to his retinue?

A terrifying possibility echoed in Kujo Sara's mind. She wanted to say something, but she was speechless and couldn't utter a single word.

After a long silence, she nodded silently, indicating that she would definitely pass on the message.

The rock prison crumbled in the golden-purple light, and the tengu flapped its wings and vanished in an instant.

"What's going on?" In the silence, it was Kaedehara Manyo who spoke first.

"It's nothing, it's just that General Thunder noticed my arrival."

Li Lin shook his head, and white jade-like antlers sprouted from the top of his head. Golden-purple clouds spilled from his collar, cuffs, and hem, and the scent of hawthorn blossoms in the air became incredibly strong.

"But..." Thomas finally recovered from the series of shocks, "But the head of the family is still waiting for you—"

Li Lin stood with his hands behind his back, staring indifferently at Thomas until sweat began to trickle down his temples, until a crack appeared between his brows from the inexplicable pressure.

"If he wants to see me, he should come to Narukami Taisha Shrine."