The great battle at Liyue Harbor had come to an end.
But whether it was the Qianyan Army or the ordinary citizens, everyone wore an expression of dissatisfaction.
What was supposed to feel like a long, drawn-out war… was wiped clean in less than half an hour.
Most people hadn't even had their fill of the fight.
As for fatigue or injuries?
The beacons on the Jade Chamber were still active.
Even a broken arm could regrow if you waited a little.
On close inspection, this entire battle had ended with zero casualties on Liyue's side.
A one-sided slaughter.
A dimensional-crushing strike.
People from the other six nations stood in the distance, watching in utter disbelief.
Weren't they all humans born and raised in Teyvat?
How come even a Liyuean child could now chase down and slash powerful monsters like it was nothing?
The Jade Chamber continued to descend in height as Ningguang and the others stepped to its edge.
The moment the people of Liyue caught sight of them, their eyes burned with fervent admiration.
Only now did it occur to them—
that the Jade Chamber housed the Liyue Qixing… and the immortals.
And through the entire battle,
not one of them had needed to step in.
Ningguang had simply told them to "fight however you like."
Now the people of Liyue finally understood—
Their homeland had already become this powerful.
Even if the Geo Archon never returned, it wouldn't necessarily be a disaster.
Ningguang calmly surveyed the ruined harbor below and sighed.
"It wasn't destroyed by sea beasts or demon gods—
but by our own people, tearing it all down..."
Beside her, Ganyu smiled.
"Actually, it's acceptable. We were planning to reclaim land from the sea and rebuild here anyway.
This just saves us a lot of effort."
"Once we clear the rubble, we can rebuild everything with new materials. It was bound to happen sooner or later."
Keqing nodded slightly.
She was the most committed to the land reclamation project.
Now that the place was already half-demolished, it would actually make future construction more efficient.
Ningguang didn't say much more.
Using a gem imbued with Orbital power, her voice spread across all of Liyue:
"People of Liyue, you have done well.
In the face of a powerful enemy, you stood your ground and defended your home.
I saw this. The immortals saw this.
And the Geo Archon… will see this too."
The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.
Though… if you asked them what "powerful enemy" she was talking about—
To be honest…
One punch left them half-dead. Two punches? Dead on the spot.
What "strong enemy"?
An overwhelming pride and confidence now filled every citizen of Liyue.
Those who had participated in the battle were absolutely thrilled.
They had never imagined in their lives they'd get to experience this level of power.
But those who hadn't been close enough to the Jade Chamber, who hadn't received the beacon's buff, and couldn't join the fight…
They could only sigh with regret.
Who knew when Ningguang would activate the beacons again?
Miss this one, and you might miss your only chance.
"The war isn't over yet."
Ningguang didn't bother giving a rousing speech.
If the enemy were stronger—if things were evenly matched—then yes, she would've rallied them.
But now?
When even wild punches were enough to kill the enemy,
no battle cry was needed.
"Heavy cavalry and light infantry—clean up the battlefield and continue patrolling Liyue Harbor to prevent surprise attacks."
"Hot weapons unit—board the ships and set sail!"
"We do not allow enemies to rest beside our bed!"
"Today—we shall completely eliminate Osial!"
Ningguang's confidence lit a fire in everyone.
The people of Liyue raised their fists and shouted with excitement.
Today, they had made history alongside their homeland.
Even in old age, this would become the kind of story that lit up their eyes whenever they spoke of it.
Heavy cavalry and light infantry began cleaning the battlefield.
The hot weapons unit moved swiftly to the warships.
With pride and dignity, they boarded the ships under the admiring gazes of the crowd and set course for Osial.
No one thought Ningguang was boasting.
Yes, Osial was a demon god.
But Liyue could now make ordinary people into Genshin-level powerhouses.
Why wouldn't they be able to defeat Osial?
In the past, everyone had underestimated Liyue.
Now, they had no problem imagining that the true depth of Liyue's hidden strength was beyond their comprehension.
Ningguang took out the control gem of the Jade Chamber and glanced down at the massive crowd that refused to disperse.
After some thought, she whispered something to Baiwen.
Baiwen's face lit up with delight.
She nodded quickly and boarded a floating stone to descend from the Jade Chamber.
Only then did the Jade Chamber finally follow the warships out of the harbor.
Moments later, the beacon's enhancement effect faded.
The citizens of Liyue, who had moments ago been roaring like lions, now felt that old, familiar frailty return.
Immediately, they looked down in frustration.
"That's it? It's over already?
I didn't even get to enjoy myself...
Who would've thought that a humble cargo worker like me could swing a weapon like a Genshin powerhouse and chase down monsters?"
A burly man looked regretfully at a nearby tree—
That tree had just been his "weapon."
He'd originally intended to grab a hammer…
but the hammer shattered in his grip as soon as he picked it up.
Helpless, he went and yanked an entire tree from the ground and used that instead.
He swore—those few minutes were the highlight of his entire life.
Swinging a tree three times his size, laughing wildly as he crushed sea beasts.
The tree even broke in three places.
"How many sea beasts did you kill just now?"
From within the crowd, the storyteller Tian Tiezui elbowed his companion, Hanxue.
Who could've guessed?
This frail-looking scholar had just wielded two giant iron doors—one in each hand—
slamming sea beasts flat like pancakes.
Hanxue adjusted his glasses with a hint of pride.
"Not much—just thirteen.
Pity, though. The front lines were too heavily guarded by the Qianyan Army.
I couldn't get close enough to snatch more."
It sounded like bragging, but Tian Tiezui nodded seriously.
"Thirteen, huh? That's not bad— but my seven-year-old son killed fifteen!"
"…"
Hanxue fell silent.
He snorted and mumbled:
"So what? Killing too many is uncultured!"
Tian Tiezui rolled his eyes.
Uncultured?
Just now, this guy had been on a rooftop, tearing down houses and hurling boulders taller than a man.
Where's the culture in that?
Still, Tian Tiezui couldn't help laughing out loud.
"Who would've thought we'd live to see a day like this?
I never imagined Liyue had grown this strong!"
"Hmph!"
Hanxue raised his chin proudly, gazing down with disdain in all directions.
"Liyue has always stood proud, with the Geo Archon watching over us, immortals gathered in force, shaking the world with our might.
Now, with economic prosperity and wealth flowing in from all corners of the land, and with such deep-rooted heritage—
Is strength not our rightful title?"
His words were quite cocky, but the Liyue citizens around him all nodded in firm agreement.
"Doctor Hanxue makes a good point! We've always been strong—so what if we get even stronger?"
"Tian Tiezui, you'd better write up today's events into a full-length story!
If you don't, we're not coming to listen to your storytelling anymore!"
"Yes, yes! And make sure you highlight my part! I chased seven sea beasts just now—iron fists unstoppable! Smashed them all to the ground!"
"Only seven? I was surrounded by more than a dozen sea beasts.
Fought my way out bathed in blood—kicked every one of them into pieces!"
"Oh, quit bragging! If the Qianyan soldier hadn't pulled you back, you'd have fallen into the sea!
You call that defending your homeland? You were tearing down the harbor!"
"Like you're one to talk! I saw you tear down an entire house and use the load-bearing pillar to bash sea beasts!"
"Er… You think Lady Ningguang will make us pay for the damages?"
"You think the Ministry of Civil Affairs cares about your pocket change?
One trade fair nets them hundreds of billions of Mora!"
"Didn't Lady Keqing say ages ago we were going to reclaim land from the sea?
I think we actually saved them the trouble of sending people to demolish this place."
"That's right! If Lady Ningguang turns on the beacons again, I'll sign up to join the demolition team for free!"
"Sigh… it was such a rare opportunity, and I still didn't get enough of it.
Who knows when the beacons will be activated again…"
"Doesn't really matter—didn't the Ministry say they'd be selling alchemy potions soon?
We can just buy those instead."
The crowd chattered away noisily, not at all like a city that had just finished a massive war.
In fact, it felt more like a bustling Lantern Rite festival, lively and full of joy.
Not far away, visitors from the other seven nations looked on with envy in their eyes.
After what they'd seen today, the gap between Liyue and the rest of the world suddenly felt as wide as the heavens.
Liyue…
had become a divine kingdom on earth.
Though the battle was over, the citizens didn't disperse.
Even though they were sure the Ministry of Civil Affairs wouldn't make them pay for the damages—
deep down, they knew:
the wrecked harbor was their own doing.
Feeling a bit guilty, they joined the Qianyan soldiers in cleaning up the battlefield.
Before long, Baiwen returned with another group of people.
She began organizing everyone to assemble a massive screen on the spot.
Liu Su spotted it and quickly came over.
He had to write today's battle into a storybook and start telling it tomorrow.
Otherwise, someone else would steal all his customers.
He figured no one would want to hear his old tales anymore after this.
"Secretary Baiwen, what are these for?"
Liu Su asked curiously.
The other Liyue citizens also gathered around.
Baiwen turned with a warm smile and said softly:
"These will allow you all to watch from afar as the Lords suppress Osial.
Lady Ningguang personally instructed me to set this up."
"She hopes that every citizen of Liyue can witness the depth of our strength—
and from now on, carry the pride and confidence to stand tall in Teyvat!"
Liu Su quickly bowed and replied:
"Lady Ningguang's care knows no bounds.
We're deeply grateful…
But may I ask—how do the Lords plan to deal with Osial?"
"From what I've heard, isn't that a demon god whom even the Geo Archon only sealed away?"
Upon hearing this, several Liyue citizens began to worry.
But Baiwen simply smiled knowingly.
"That's only because the Geo Archon didn't bother to deal with Osial."
"Just watch and see for yourselves.
You must understand—Liyue hasn't even revealed all its trump cards yet."
"Our dragons… haven't even attacked yet!"
That line stunned everyone again.
In the heat of battle earlier, most of them had forgotten—
The ones who fought the sea beasts were just the Qianyan Army and the people themselves.
The dragons Ningguang mentioned…
The Redstone Tech she talked about…
None of it had even been used.
Who knew how powerful those things truly were?
Strangely, no one was worried anymore about whether Ningguang's team could defeat Osial.
To be honest, with how deep Liyue's power ran now…
The real question was:
How would Liyue choose to defeat Osial?
At last, when the final Qianyan soldier secured the massive screen in place, it powered up and flickered to life.
On-screen, the image from the Jade Chamber came into sharp focus—
though it wasn't showing the inside.
After all, Ryen was inside the Jade Chamber.
He didn't like to be in the spotlight, and Ningguang respected that.
Instead, the image showed the raging sea, the snarling form of Osial, and — from within the countless whirlpools across the ocean's surface, occasional flashes of enormous dark silhouettes.
Beisht.
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