From Su Han's perspective,
the entire world was in turmoil.
War.
Chaos.
Extinction.
No one could escape it.
As for the knight and princess that the little black coal ball mentioned, Su Han never saw them.
Still, the destruction of Takamagahara was only to be expected.
The once-arrogant clansmen were now all kneeling before the Divine Tree.
They hoped for an end.
Unfortunately, the Divine Tree did not grant their wish.
At that moment, someone proposed to the Grand Elder that they should slaughter the chicken for its eggs.
The Grand Elder refused.
The reason was simple.
The Divine Tree had begun resisting them.
In the past, they could use all kinds of methods to force the Divine Tree to give birth to gods.
But now, the elders of the clan had all perished in the war.
The world had fallen into darkness.
If internal conflict broke out with the Divine Tree now, the consequences would be disastrous.
"But Elder, the clansmen can't endure much longer..."
"Those things outside have all been corrupted by the Abyss. Their strength has increased many times over."
"That's right. If we don't make a decision soon, we'll definitely be wiped out."
How could the Grand Elder not know this?
But he truly had no solution.
At this time, however, the Divine Tree was considering something else.
It wanted to send away the children it had given birth to.
"In the past, I had no choice."
"But this time is different. I swallowed all the darkness myself and gave all the nourishment to you."
"So restore your former purity and innocence. Struggle to live on."
The little black coal ball's story
was partly true and partly false.
That elder had fabricated lies.
Takamagahara and the gods had always been fundamentally opposed.
As for why it said only two statements were false,
it was because Makoto really had given her power to Ei.
The tree had sealed itself away.
The birth of the twins could be considered premature.
If they had not been born early,
the entire world would have been destroyed.
"Help me..."
"Please help me."
The world fell into darkness.
Monstrous beasts tore the world apart.
Monsters were everywhere.
At that moment, Su Han felt the tree speaking directly to him.
"You can sense me?"
"Yes. Not only that, I can also feel that you are someone from the future. Tell me, did they survive?"
The tree's response
surprised Su Han.
He nodded.
The tree fell silent for a moment.
Then it made a decision.
"I understand now. It seems my judgment was correct. Even if this world cannot survive, that unexplored world may still have a chance to breathe."
"Go, my children."
"May you live safely in that unknown world."
"Forget everything about Takamagahara. Take the gift I leave you and live freely for once."
The tree made a request to Su Han.
It wanted to use its final strength to send the Raiden sisters away.
But it lacked a coordinate.
Su Han immediately understood.
This was the necessity of history itself.
So he gave the coordinate to the tree.
The tree conveyed joyful emotions.
Within that land of darkness,
the tree began to sway.
A massive spatial passage was torn open.
The Abyss was attacking the world and destroying Takamagahara.
Yet the tree chose to use all its power to open the passage.
It wanted to send away the final hope.
The Grand Elder was furious.
He wanted to lead the clansmen through the blockade.
He wanted to escape this world.
"You wretched beast! We were the ones who nurtured you, yet you betray us!"
"If you're leaving, take us with you!"
The Grand Elder roared in rage.
But the tree ignored him completely.
After the sisters Makoto and Ei departed,
it immediately sealed the spatial passage.
However, at the moment of farewell,
it also gave them a seed and a strand of spiritual light.
"May you find happiness in the new world..."
The tree's choice was utterly resolute.
It transformed its own body into a massive seal and locked the entrance completely.
Ahead lay a new world.
Though it did not know what kind of place it was,
the tree understood one thing.
The person from the future trusted it and gave it the coordinates.
Therefore, it too would use itself to seal the entrance to the Abyss.
At the very least, while Makoto and Ei were still growing,
the Abyss could not be allowed to disturb them.
Although the Abyss ultimately appeared anyway,
its actions earned Su Han's respect.
After the tree died, the visions became fragmented.
The scenes that followed
were mostly disconnected flashes.
Su Han later saw a young Alice.
She was not yet pregnant and had brought several companions to explore the area.
When they saw the ruined Takamagahara,
the women immediately began chattering among themselves.
Among them was a white-haired woman
who showed great interest in some of Takamagahara's research.
After everyone else left,
she secretly took away part of it.
As for the little black coal ball's origins,
very little appeared in the visions.
However,
its secret alterations to the contents of the book
and its tampering with the item Rhinedottir had taken
were both genuine.
As for what it actually was,
Su Han still failed to see.
Just before the vision completely ended,
a silver seed crossed countless stretches of time and space and arrived before Su Han.
"I'm sorry. I almost forgot to thank you for your help."
"This seed is a fragment of my true spirit."
"It contains the power of time and space and shares the same origin as Makoto and Ei. Thank you for allowing my children to survive."
"It's just a pity that I won't be able to watch them grow up happily."
The voice ceased there.
The vision came to a complete end.
Looking at the seed in his palm, Su Han seemed to understand why he had come here.
"This must be the pull of time, space, and destiny."
The spatial tunnel had indeed been opened by Makoto and Ei.
But strictly speaking,
the ship they traveled on and the power they used
had both originated from this Temporal Tree.
Even after five hundred years,
that karmic connection still remained.
If Su Han had never come here, Makoto and Ei would still have reached Teyvat.
But it would have taken much longer.
And this seed
would never have been born.
"So this is the thing that can save Makoto."
Feeling the immense power contained within it,
Su Han knew it was something capable of creating a god.
At the very least, it was far stronger than a Gnosis.
The Temporal Tree's power was boundless.
It had given birth to pair after pair of powerful gods.
With it,
all he needed was to travel five hundred years into the past.
Perhaps then he could revive Makoto.
Of course, that was only a possibility.
But if he never tried, how would he know?
Leaving the roots of the tree,
Su Han prepared to return.
He had no intention of staying in this dangerous world any longer.
However, the little black coal ball delivered some unfortunate news.
"Ancestor, if you want to leave, you can't. This teleportation route is one-way..."
"What did you say?"
Su Han stopped and stared at it in astonishment.
The little black coal ball shrugged and pointed toward the distant torii gate transportation site.
"See for yourself. The energy has already been completely exhausted."
Su Han turned to look.
It was exactly as it said.
The torii gate had even collapsed.
As for the teleportation array,
there was none at all.
"Damn it, this is serious."
Su Han couldn't help cursing.
The little black coal ball immediately tried to comfort him.
"Ancestor, you're incredibly powerful. We can't leave through here, but there may be other routes. Since you came from the Second World, has the Abyss spread there yet? If it has, finding another path should be easy."
"Hm? That's true."
Su Han immediately realized something.
The little black coal ball had reminded him of an important point.
If this path didn't work,
another one certainly would.
Thus, the two left Takamagahara and began exploring the Second World.
Along the way,
the little black coal ball asked about the reason for Su Han's earlier daze.
Su Han glanced at it and warned,
"If you're itching for a beating, just say so."
"No, no, no, Ancestor! Don't scare me. I was only curious..."
The little black coal ball instantly shut up.
It was terrified now.
Although both used lightning,
this great expert's power carried an incomparably sacred quality.
It felt as though the entire world was tormenting it.
The sensation was indescribably painful.
The two crossed mountains.
Traversed endless forests.
Flew over oceans.
Eventually,
they arrived at a continent.
From the fragments of memory,
Su Han learned the layout of the Second World.
Like Inazuma, Takamagahara was located on the world's edge.
It was surrounded by the sea and consisted of islands.
This place was the true mainland.
However, unlike Teyvat,
this region was not similar to Liyue.
Instead, it resembled an ancient knightly kingdom like Mondstadt.
Medieval European architecture could be seen everywhere.
In some places,
the traces of wars that had occurred countless years ago still remained.
The ancient kingdom had been powerful.
Its technology had also been advanced.
It was essentially a strengthened combination of Khaenri'ah and Mondstadt.
In other words:
immense military power and immense technological power.
But humanity was always greedy.
Looking at the countless remains scattered everywhere,
Su Han immediately understood what had happened.
Before long,
they arrived at the center of some ruins.
It appeared to have once been an administrative district.
With a single slash, Su Han shattered it and entered.
All documents had long since been destroyed.
So he wanted to see whether any readable records remained nearby.
Unfortunately,
even the stone itself had been weathered away by Abyssal corruption.
Seeing this, Su Han commented,
"This is complete devastation. The world's fundamental laws have been almost entirely destroyed."
The little black coal ball nodded frantically.
"That's why I hate the Abyss. It doesn't care about reason at all. It crazily absorbs everything nutritious and leaves nothing behind. Just look at what the world has become. It's disgusting."
Su Han looked at it and said irritably,
"Aren't you an Abyssal creation too?"
"That's different!"
The little black coal ball shook its head confidently and even gave an example.
"Ancestor, think about it. Humans have traitors. Abyssal creations can also awaken self-awareness. I'm one of those beings who realized the beauty of life! Therefore, I'm an upright Abyssal creation."
"Heh."
Su Han curled his lips, completely unconvinced.
But the little black coal ball became anxious.
"Ancestor, I'm telling the truth! Your world definitely has Abyssal creations too. Have any of them regained their sanity and become your subordinates?"
"Please don't deceive me."
"I can sense a trace of Abyssal aura on you. You can't hide it."
Su Han looked at the little black coal ball in surprise.
This little fellow seemed more extraordinary than expected.
It had actually detected Halfdan's aura.
His interest was immediately piqued.
"There are indeed Abyss Knights around me. However, they weren't completely corrupted, so they could recover their sanity after accepting power. But there's a problem. Can you guarantee that your current consciousness is truly your own?"
The power of the Abyss could alter a person's mind.
It could even distort memories.
If the little black coal ball could prove that its self-awareness was genuine,
then perhaps it could be trusted.
At most, after returning to Teyvat,
he could simply have it sign a master-servant contract.
With Zhongli's power involved,
it wouldn't be able to cause trouble.
The little black coal ball blinked and immediately claimed there was absolutely no problem.
After thinking for a moment, Su Han ultimately shook his head.
"Although I'd like to test you, I don't have any suitable treasures for that right now. We'll talk about it later."
"Ancestor, I really do have self-awareness. At most, I just can't remember my past..."
"Then do you have any concept of your age?"
At the beginning,
it had referred to itself as "this old man."
Su Han had even thought it was the elder.
But everything that happened afterward proved otherwise.
The little black coal ball was not a Takamagahara elder.
It was some strange Abyssal lifeform.
The little black coal ball shook its head blankly.
"I really don't know. At least, I still can't remember how I was sealed into that book and turned into that form. I only know one thing. After that elder went insane, he eventually chose suicide."
"Then that settles it. Since you don't know, I'll remain cautious. Don't get any funny ideas. That's enough."
Su Han's answer was indeed the best option for now.
The little black coal ball stopped arguing.
After leaving the city,
Su Han originally intended to continue exploring.
But in the next moment,
he sensed countless corrupted presences rushing toward the area.
He grabbed the little black coal ball and immediately concealed their auras.
Soon afterward,
countless Abyss Mages arrived, leading large numbers of Rift Hounds.
Looking at the destroyed buildings,
they began cursing loudly.
"It's those damned knights again! They clearly know they can't harm us, yet they keep causing trouble!"
"Report it to His Highness the Prince. Those knights need another warning."
"I think we should just go directly to the Throne."
"Impudent! Why would the Divine Lord personally deal with such a trivial matter?"
Divine Lord?
What was that?
Was it the fallen being Lumine had once seen within the Abyss?
Su Han was extremely puzzled.
After watching them leave,
he immediately followed.
Their auras remained concealed.
At the same time, he used anti-gravity powers.
The two of them moved without making the slightest sound.
However, the enemy was extremely cunning.
After traveling a certain distance, they escaped through Abyssal pathways.
Even if Su Han wanted to pursue them,
he had no idea how to open an Abyssal gate.
"It seems this method won't work."
Su Han stopped, his eyes full of regret.
The little black coal ball beside him asked curiously,
"Ancestor, you don't know teleportation techniques?"
"Isn't that obvious? How would I understand Abyssal power?"
"Uh... I don't know either."
Bang!
A fist slammed onto the little black coal ball's head.
It immediately bared its teeth in pain and swore never to speak so much again.
It had no idea how this expert trained his fists.
They hurt unbelievably badly.
Over the following days,
Su Han continued moving through the Second World.
He found many portals and even forced others to reveal how they worked.
However, through the future visions shown by Observation Haki,
the power of the Abyss appeared bizarre and twisted.
Without power of the same origin,
entering carried enormous risk.
The instant Su Han stepped inside,
he would be attacked by Abyssal energy.
Therefore, he chose a second option.
Finding a gateway leading elsewhere.
Several days passed without any clues.
Just as he was reaching a dead end,
the system notification sounded.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. The manga Inuyasha has achieved tremendous sales. You have now unlocked Level 5 authority. Would you like to draw from the lottery?]
"Perfect timing. Start the draw!"
Su Han's eyes lit up.
The opportunity had arrived.
He had not drawn many times previously.
Now he had effectively accumulated three rewards.
Two low-tier draws and one high-tier draw.
The timing couldn't have been better.
"System, begin the lottery."
"Yes, Host."
Whoosh.
The wheel spun.
The lottery began.
Soon, the first reward arrived.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the treasure Kagura's Fan from the Inuyasha world.]
[Notice: The holder of this treasure can wield the power of wind and can also gain the ability to manipulate corpses.]
A rather straightforward magical artifact.
Overall, its effects were decent.
But it was useless to Su Han.
The second draw began.
Putting away Kagura's Fan, Su Han started drawing the second reward.
Whoosh.
The wheel spun again.
Countless treasures flashed past.
Soon, the second reward appeared.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Bloodline of the Azure Cloud Tengu Clan from the Inuyasha world.]
[Notice: This bloodline can increase physical strength and enhance demonic power.]
"Not bad, but useless for me."
Su Han possessed the superior Qilin bloodline.
A mere Tengu bloodline wasn't worth his attention at all.
Still,
it would make a good gift for Kujou Sara.
Then the third draw began.
As the wheel rotated,
all kinds of treasures appeared within the high-tier prize pool.
Finally,
the black pointer stopped on a sword.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the high-tier treasure Tessaiga from the Inuyasha world.]
[Notice: This weapon can purchase enchantment attributes from the manga using points.]
[Note: Points can increase this weapon's upper limit. In theory, it can be strengthened infinitely.]
"Looks like my luck is pretty good."
"System, purchase the Meido power and strengthen it to the maximum."
Su Han's command was quickly answered.
Although it consumed a large amount of points,
to him, this was a path to survival.
"Enhancement and enchantment will consume 200,000 points. Host possesses the required amount. Enhancement in progress."
Whoosh.
Streams of light flickered across the weapon.
Very quickly,
Tessaiga was strengthened to the level of a demi-divine weapon.
(In other words, inferior only to the Plane of Euthymia.)
Su Han was extremely satisfied.
Holding the weapon in his hand,
he felt a powerful pulse emanating from it.
Tessaiga instantly transformed from its rusted state into a massive blade.
A deep and silent aura of darkness appeared around it.
This was pure power over time and space.
It was also the power of the Meido.