Compared to Keqing and the others—who already knew how bizarre and varied magic treasures could be—the ordinary citizens of Liyue Harbor had their worldview shattered today.
They had never imagined that a cultivator's treasure could be that outrageous.
Many were already thinking:
If the Ministry of Civil Affairs ever publishes a "Seven Nails Sword Manual,"
they'd better start saving every fallen strand of hair—
Who knows if one day a treasure will kill people with names, another with hair, and another with breathing too loudly?
"Doctor Hanxue…"
a Liyue citizen called out carefully.
Hanxue jumped like someone stepped on his tail.
"Don't call my name! I'm not Hanxue!"
The citizen paused—then instantly looked at him with open disdain.
"Relax, Doctor Hanxue. You think you're worthy of Ningguang using that terrifying gourd on you?
If Ningguang wants to teach you a lesson, it'd be an honor if she only used a lightning talisman."
Harsh as it sounded, Hanxue had no way to refute it.
He coughed awkwardly.
"Apologies, I overreacted. What did you want to ask?"
"Nothing much. Aren't you the one who claimed you understand cultivation novels best?
What do you call a treasure like Ningguang's?"
At once, countless ears perked up.
"Yeah! I've never seen such a treasure in any novel!"
"One shout of your name and you're sucked in—too weird!"
"And if she had it all along, why didn't she use it sooner?"
"Idiot, if she used it at the start, what would we watch? Huh?"
"Exactly! And obviously Ningguang's group wanted to use Osial and Baqiu to practice their arts."
"By the way… if a gourd counts as a treasure, what about a cultivator's brick? Does it also have special effects?"
"Also, why hasn't the Ministry released the second volume of Shushan Chronicles yet? Volume 1 ended two months ago!"
"Isn't the author Xingqiu? He's probably busy cultivating. No complaints, right?"
"Uh… just asking…"
The lively chatter filled Liyue Harbor again.
The martial artists had finished wiping out the remaining monsters.
Now they sat along the harbor edge with everyone else, watching the chaos out at sea.
Though Ningguang's bizarre treasure was shocking, the martial artists were far more fascinated by Beidou's brutal, wide-open fighting style.
That—now that—was battle.
Better yet, despite the massive number of monsters today, virtually nothing was damaged.
The martial artists had only suffered scrapes—usually from friendly fire.
The harbor had a few cracked tiles.
Even the boats hadn't overturned thanks to the cultivators' protective sky-barrier.
If anything, this whole crisis brought in profit.
The snack vendors got rich.
The harbor tax revenue skyrocketed.
A profitable demon attack—Liyue truly lived in a blessed age.
Osial was now sealed away.
This marked the practical end of the "Demon God Attack."
Only Baqiu remained—
And surrounded by cultivators, she was living on borrowed time.
From a distance, Liyue almost looked like the villain.
Osial, sealed for a thousand years, broke free to reclaim dignity—
Reasonable.
Baqiu traveled thousands of miles to reunite with her lover and join the revenge—
Also reasonable.
Yet within minutes, Osial was sucked away to certain doom.
Baqiu, alone and helpless, was battered by Liyue's "evil cultivator syndicate."
Together, husband and wife would perish here in Liyue Harbor.
Thinking like that, the citizens felt briefly guilty.
But only briefly.
Poor Osial?
Not their problem.
Come attack Liyue—
You deserve to die.
Parents' Box Seats
Xingqiu's parents and Chongyun's parents sat in the best-viewing balcony.
Watching the empty ocean where Osial once roared, Xingqiu's father sighed.
"Treasures… truly a cultivator's greatest support."
Chongyun's father nodded solemnly.
"Cultivation arts, pills, treasures, arrays, spirit beasts—
These are what define a cultivator's strength.
"Unfortunately, pills are too expensive. Even after saving for so long, Yun'er barely buys any.
Arrays require array disks—he can't afford those either.
As for spirit beasts—only Lady Ganyu has one.
"And treasures…
The Sword Grove is right there, yet treasures have spirits.
If they don't acknowledge you, you won't get one.
Yun'er doesn't have any treasure at all."
He sighed again.
"In Teyvat, our family had no trouble giving him a comfortable life.
But in Shushan, Mora is worthless.
We can't help him at all…"
Xingqiu's father laughed sympathetically.
"You're still better off. I heard Shenhe has plenty of treasures—gifts from the Sect Master and from Cloud Retainer herself.
"But that's Shenhe's own fortune.
We didn't help her much either."
Then his eyes narrowed, looking toward the battlefield.
"Only Baqiu remains.
Judging from how Ningguang and the others aren't moving, this is clearly left for the newly inducted inner disciples.
"Beidou and Lady Yelan have had their fun.
Next… it should be our boys' turn."
Chongyun's father chuckled.
"Indeed. Let's just hope they don't embarrass themselves before all of Liyue."
"They won't lose. At least that much I can guarantee."
They clinked cups and drank.
Abyss on the Sidelines
From another hidden vantage point, the Abyss Prince stared at the aftermath of Ningguang's absurd gourd-capture.
His expression darkened.
"From today on…
No one in the Abyss is allowed to call each other by our real names."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Even the Deep Bathym Faction disciples thought—
Honestly, Ningguang didn't need a treasure to kill them.
But calling themselves "No.1," "No.2," "No.3" felt comforting somehow.
Baqiu's Last Stand
Night had stopped attacking.
Standing calmly atop her flying sword, she closed her eyes, reflecting on her use of Rogue's Scripture.
With this battle, her realm comprehension surged.
Given a few more days, before entering the Nine Abyss Secret Realm, she might break through into mid-stage Refining Essence.
Beidou, meanwhile, had almost exhausted her true essence.
But her mastery of Prison-Crushing Divine Elephant Force had deepened enormously.
Both silently thanked Baqiu and Osial.
These two "invaders" had essentially delivered themselves as training dummies.
After one more heavy kick that sent Baqiu flying, Beidou landed on Yelan's sword.
"Sorry," Beidou said cheerfully. "Ran out of true essence. Mind if I ride your sword for a bit?"
Yelan opened one eye, gave her a look, then closed it again.
Below them, Baqiu was on her last breath.
This was the opening Xingqiu and Chongyun had been waiting for.
The two boys exchanged a glance—
And instantly understood each other.
Ever since receiving "Love That Topples Cities"—
a dual-cultivation-like, paired combat art—
they had only practiced their individual halves, never the combined form.
Partly because the "pair technique" looked… suspicious.
Partly because practicing it together felt like it would invite rumors.
But today—
They realized they had been wasting a treasure.
Baqiu was the perfect test subject.
Wait to return to Shushan and practice with beasts?
Humiliating.
Practice with senior disciples?
Even more humiliating.
Right here, right now—
This was their chance.
Their eyes ignited.
Their auras intertwined—
Not merging, but complementing,
forming a complete whole.
A strange light rose from both of their heads—
twisting upward into the sky—
then weaving together as if responding to each other.
Their qi surged—
And all the cultivators froze.
The Qixing halted.
Ningguang stopped playing with her gourd.
All of Liyue Harbor looked over.
Even the Jade Chamber's audience—everyone except Jiang Yan—leaned forward in fascination.
Because the aura radiating from the two boys…
Was unmistakably the aura of a dual cultivation art.
Shogun Yae Miko even narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
This…
This was basically a public dual cultivation ritual.
Xingqiu and Chongyun felt their faces burn—
but they couldn't stop.
The technique had already begun.
Their sword intents linked—
their qi spiraled—
their combined combat state reached its peak—
And in a synchronized step,
Xingqiu lunged forward—
Chongyun appearing at his side.
Back to back—
Twin swords drawn—
Blue and red light spiraling around them—
They became two streaks of falling stars, plunging toward Baqiu.
They could no longer hold back their battle shout—
"QINGCHENG JUELIAN!!"
(Love That Topples Cities!)
The entire harbor:
"???"
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