The Rite of Descension had ended. Lumine and Paimon found Zhongli.
At this moment, Guizhong and Cloud Retainer were beside him, listening to his excuses, while Jun Bai watched the show from the side.
"Aren't you going to join them?" Lumine asked with a smile.
"If I went over, when Guizhong and Cloud Retainer start lecturing, they'd drag me in too—because I knew and didn't report it." Jun Bai said with great self-awareness.
"Then I'll head over later." Lumine was also tactful.
"If you still can't get any news about your brother from the Lord of Geo, where do you plan to go next?" Jun Bai asked.
"We discussed it. Although Sumeru is closer, we ultimately decided to go to Inazuma." Paimon answered.
"After all, if we go to another nation first, we'd have to circle back to Liyue to take a ship to Inazuma anyway." Lumine explained.
"Inazuma, huh?" Jun Bai pondered. "Actually, speaking personally, I don't recommend you go to Inazuma right now."
Paimon widened her eyes: "Eh? Jun Bai, why do you say that? Is Inazuma really that dangerous?"
"How could it be more dangerous than Osial?" Lumine rolled her eyes at Paimon. "One listen and you can tell there's another reason."
The Raiden Shogun really does seem more dangerous than Osial…
"After the battle with Osial, Liyue Harbor is now in ruins and needs rebuilding. Even the Guili Assembly has quite a few buildings damaged that require repair."
"In this situation, it will be difficult for you to find a ship leaving Liyue, because Liyue's focus won't shift outward in the short term."
"My suggestion is actually for you to stay in Liyue a while longer—wait until Liyue recovers its vitality before setting out."
"And besides, Liyue needs to recover, and so do you two."
Jun Bai smiled gently.
"You really are a prophetic Marshal—even knowing I haven't rested well lately." Lumine laughed. "Then we'll follow your suggestion."
"Before you leave, remember to come find me at Fengdeng Lou. I'll give you a gift—one that will be useful in Inazuma."
With that, Jun Bai walked toward the outside of Yujing Terrace: "I have something to attend to back at Fengdeng Lou. If Zhongli and the others ask, just tell them I went back to recover from injury."
"You're not actually injured, right?" Paimon asked worriedly.
Jun Bai turned around, shrugged: "If I said no, you probably wouldn't believe me anyway, would you?"
Of course they wouldn't. After all, Lumine and Paimon had been watching the battle from the Jade Chamber the whole time. Jun Bai had fought Osial far longer than the God of Destruction had.
Even one hit from Osial could crack the God of Destruction's outer plating—Jun Bai had taken far more than one.
Jun Bai gave a slight smile, then walked out of Yujing Terrace.
Fengdeng Lou.
Jun Bai lay in his private room and called out to the system: "System, the Liyue main storyline has been fully completed, right?"
[Yes, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see me right now, Host.]
"Same as always—check popularity points first."
[Popularity Points: 420,000]
"A bit less than before, but as expected."
Previously there had been a huge sum of 500,000, yet after completing the entire Liyue storyline, only 420,000 remained.
But this was actually within Jun Bai's expectations.
This version of the Liyue storyline had been high-energy from start to finish. While he had performed very handsomely, he wasn't the only one with famous scenes in this story.
The united and determined Millelith, Keqing who demonstrated humanity's potential, Ningguang who sacrificed the Jade Chamber in pursuit of human governance…
And even at the very end, the ultimate fantasy that no man could resist—mecha.
With all that, Jun Bai still managing 420,000 popularity points already showed his fanbase foundation was solid enough that no one else had stolen the spotlight.
[So you actually knew doing this would reduce the popularity points you gained.]
"You don't understand." Jun Bai said mysteriously.
[Yes, I don't understand—so why call me out?]
"Background completion."
[Just click this section and invest popularity points.]
"Same as before."
[Yes, same as the last task—the system will seal your memories.]
"Got it."
A semi-transparent interface appeared in front of Jun Bai.
Jun Bai took a deep breath.
According to his background setting, the next completion task would most likely involve that Qingce Sword Immortal.
Qingce Sword Immortal… Strictly speaking, this wasn't an original character created by Jun Bai, but his fantasy.
With slightly excited feelings, Jun Bai invested the popularity points, lay back on the bed, and closed his eyes.
[Background Completion · Second Phase, initiating…]
——Consciousness Transfer
Qingce Village, beside the waterfall.
A young boy dressed in a black horse coat held a wooden sword and practiced swordplay beside the waterfall. His ink-black long hair was tied back, with gradient white highlights at the tips.
Judging by his appearance, the boy had just reached the age of wearing his hair in a topknot, yet his swordsmanship already looked quite polished.
His movements were agile, sword shadows following along. A dim Vision hung at his waist, swaying with the wooden sword's dance.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, a pebble flew toward the boy.
The boy's eyes shifted. He swung his wooden sword and split the pebble in midair.
"Oh—Mo Li, your swordsmanship seems to have improved again!" An admiring voice sounded as a crimson figure appeared.
The newcomer was a boy about the same age as Jun Mo Li, with dark red medium-length hair loose behind him, wearing a crimson short-sleeved shirt and shorts.
His tanned skin formed a stark contrast with Jun Mo Li's fair complexion, and his body looked very sturdy.
"Not bad, but there's still a long way to go before becoming the greatest swordsman in the world."
Hearing praise from a peer, Jun Mo Li felt quite pleased with himself but still responded modestly.
Immediately after, Jun Mo Li's expression turned unpleasant: "Speaking of which, Li Tonghui, you're here disturbing my practice again. If you don't get beaten for a day, you're planning to climb the roof and tear off tiles, huh?"
"No way—my fist technique has improved even more since yesterday. Today I will definitely defeat you."
Li Tonghui assumed a punching stance, extended his palm toward Jun Mo Li, and beckoned with four fingers: "I'm about to go berserk! Try to stop me if you can!"
"Then prepare yourself for your 1,156th consecutive loss."
The corners of Jun Mo Li's mouth rose. Practicing swordplay had felt a little boring anyway—beating up a sandbag sounded like a good idea.
Neither had prepared, but with perfect tacit understanding, both attacked at the same time.
"You started early again!" ×2
Both boys shouted simultaneously, then shut their mouths at the same time and began experiencing each other's growth for the day.
Soon enough, Li Tonghui—who had refined his fist technique—welcomed his 1,156th consecutive defeat.
"As expected, I still can't beat you."
Li Tonghui lay sprawled on the ground without any dignity.
"You still need more practice!" Jun Mo Li proudly rubbed his nose, then tilted his head back smugly.
The next moment, Jun Mo Li noticed something coming from the waterfall—it seemed… to be a person?
Realizing this, Jun Mo Li didn't hesitate at all. Under Li Tonghui's puzzled gaze, he jumped into the water and swam toward the waterfall.
(No matter whether you can swim or not, please do not imitate this.)
The person upstream fell into the pool along with the waterfall's current. Seeing this, Jun Mo Li sped up, swam to their side, picked them up, and struggled to swim toward the shore.
A thick, long tree branch landed in front of Jun Mo Li.
He looked up—it was Li Tonghui.
"Hurry!" Li Tonghui shouted.
Jun Mo Li held the person who had fallen into the water and grasped the branch Li Tonghui had found.
Li Tonghui practiced fist techniques and usually did farm work often, plus he ate meat with every meal. Though he was still half-grown, his strength was considerable.
After some effort, the two boys—who together weren't even 24 years old—finally managed to pull the drowning person ashore.
Only then did Jun Mo Li have time to look at the unfortunate person properly.
The child was delicately carved and jade-like—both cute and beautiful, with snow-white hair as smooth as silk. The clothes on their body were extremely tattered, but even without close inspection, one could tell the garments had originally been beautiful and luxurious.
Clearly someone from a wealthy family.
What caught Jun Mo Li's attention most was the belt wrapped around the person's waist. It looked like gold yet like silk—its material unclear—but it held an inexplicable attraction for Jun Mo Li.
Li Tonghui walked over, leaned down to look, and exclaimed: "What a pretty little sister."
Then he said regretfully: "If her family knew about this, they would surely be heartbroken."
"Don't be so pessimistic here—she's still alive."
Li Tonghui looked closely. The little girl, who appeared to be about four years old, really did still have breath.
Though he couldn't understand how such a small child could fall from the waterfall and be unharmed, since she was still alive, they couldn't just ignore her.
"Mo Li, you take care of this little sister. I'll go back to the village and call the adults!"
—note
Next chapter: Cross-dressing little Jun Bai makes a limited-time appearance.