Alice's sharp rebuke made Cloud Retainer and the others bristle with anger.
Since thfe day they'd first gained awareness, no one had ever dared speak to Zhongli like that.
They were about to snap back when Zhongli lifted his hand ever so slightly, signaling them to stay silent.
Alice's fury only escalated.
"Right now—this instant—put up a soundproof barrier! Alice-sama is about to properly scold you, you reckless fool!"
"Do you have any idea what you're saying?"
"Do you have any idea that the False Sky, the Hexenzirkel, and Celestia have been burning everything they have just to keep this knowledge from ever entering Teyvat?!"
"And you—blurting out 'the Tree and the Sea'—are you insane?! If you don't value your life, must you drag Liyue down with you?!"
"If the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles catches wind of this, do you believe me when I say Liyue will be the next Khaenri'ah?!"
"I know you're dissatisfied with Celestia—but no matter your grievances, you cannot tread the path of contacting the world beyond!"
"Teyvat is already teetering on the brink of destruction, and you insist on pouring oil on the fire?!"
"Listen, Morax—wherever you heard the truth about the Tree and the Sea, forget it. It's fake."
"You must believe it's fake. You have to. If you want to spare Liyue from destruction, then consider those words never spoken!"
"Otherwise, even the Hexenzirkel will treat you as an enemy!"
At the border, Alice's voice was venomous. Her mood surged like the strange, sea-yet-not-sea waves around her, each swell threatening to breach the invisible line between realms.
In the process, an unfortunate minor god wandered too close.
Alice slapped it into the horizon without so much as looking at it.
The raw strength of the Hexenzirkel's founder was plain to see—likely not far behind Zhongli's own.
Venting seemed to cool her temper slightly, though her tone was still like ice.
She knew trouble was brewing in Teyvat—Snezhnaya, the Abyss Order… trifles, all of them.
But the Tree and the Sea? That was true forbidden ground.
Celestia and the Hexenzirkel… One constructed the False Sky to block the Outside; the other stood watch at the border, sealing every breach.
All so Teyvat would never be exposed to the vast, alien cosmos of the Tree and the Sea.
And now Morax had the audacity to tear the lid off.
What was this? Years of fighting tooth and nail outside, only for someone back home to switch sides?
The only reason she didn't storm back to blow him up was that the Dark Sea was in a particularly nasty state, and she couldn't leave her post.
Zhongli, listening to her relentless tirade, felt a headache coming on.
Only after a long silence did he say slowly,
"Does the Tree and the Sea truly inspire such fear in you?"
"You're still saying it?!"
Alice's voice pitched higher still.
"Are you trying to make me come back and blast you?!"
Zhongli sighed.
"Calm yourself. I only want to know what the outside universe is truly like. This is important—to me, and to Teyvat."
"It's not important to you. And it's none of your concern," Alice shot back coldly. "Stay in Teyvat and behave yourself."
"In that case," Zhongli replied, "your answer is already clear to me—Teyvat truly is but a fragment within the greater multiverse."
Alice fell silent.
When she finally spoke, her voice was low and wary.
"How do you know about the multiverse? Who told you about the Tree and the Sea?"
"That's not important. And it's none of your concern," Zhongli answered—throwing her own words back at her.
Alice's teeth ground audibly over the link.
"Fine. Fine! Let me guess—there are others with you. Xiao, perhaps? Xiao—listen, back when I came to Liyue—"
"All right! I'll tell you!"
Zhongli cut her off in a rush, a cold sweat pricking his neck.
The madwoman had no filter—if she aired certain embarrassing stories, he'd never live it down.
"Speak, then," Alice said coolly, turning to gaze out over the endless Dark Sea.
For so many years, she hadn't left on her famed journeys—not while Klee was still growing, not while she was needed to guard Teyvat.
And now… something foul had dared to slip in under her nose?
Perhaps time away from the front lines had made the denizens of the Quantum Sea forget her name.
"Before I tell you," Zhongli said, pausing, "I want to ask you something. You've traveled countless worlds. Do you know… of cultivation?"
"…Hah?"
Alice rubbed her ear in disbelief.
"You, the ancestor of all adepti, are asking a witch if I know about cultivation?"
"No—not the kind in Teyvat," Zhongli corrected. "I mean a higher level of cultivation."
"Or better yet—have you heard of the Myriad Worlds?"
This time, Alice was silent.
The Myriad Worlds… that struck a gap in even her boundless knowledge.
Zhongli could guess as much—and found the thought amusing.
The all-knowing witch, stumped. It was oddly satisfying.
"It began a hundred days ago," Zhongli continued. "A man from beyond the heavens came to Teyvat…"
He then gave her a broad account of Jiang Yan's origins, the powers he had displayed, and even Jiang Yan's own tales of Mount Shu and the like.
The longer Alice listened, the more absurd it sounded—like something from a serialized story.
But Zhongli wasn't one to jest about such matters.
So…
There really was a cultivator?
And here in Teyvat?
Alice's heart quickened. The legendary path of cultivation—something she'd only ever read about for fun in other worlds—was real?
Essence Refinement into Qi, Essence Refinement into Qi… Tribulation and ascension…
The Myriad Worlds, Great Luo immortals, the Mount Shu Sword Sect…
Such grand, sweeping visions left her unsettled.
Whether this cultivator was boon or bane for Teyvat, she could not say.
But by Zhongli's account, Jiang Yan's current "Spirit-Refining and Returning to the Void" realm was already beyond what the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles or the Hexenzirkel could handle—
And he hadn't even reached the pinnacle of the human path, let alone ascended.
If that was so, perhaps he need not even become immortal—merely reaching Unity of Void and Dao might resolve Teyvat's plight.
He might even be able to uproot the Imaginary Tree itself.
A spark of hope flickered in Alice's heart.
"Alice, are you listening? Can you give me an answer?"
Zhongli's voice broke through her thoughts.
She returned to herself, speaking softly.
"When I traveled other worlds, I did hear of cultivation—but only as stories. I never thought cultivators truly existed."
"The Myriad Worlds… it seems my vision was far narrower than I believed."
Zhongli raised a brow.
"So you think Jiang Yan's so-called Myriad Worlds truly exist?"
Alice countered, "Many in Teyvat believe this world is the only one. Until now, I too thought the Tree and the Sea were the origin of all worlds."
"What do you think?"
Zhongli found no answer—and yet, in his heart, he was already eighty percent convinced of the Myriad Worlds' reality.
"And… the cultivation and Mount Shu he spoke of?"
"I don't know."
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