"Master, this Summoning Incantation spell that the First Seat used…"
Ganyu looked at Jiang Yan with some doubt.
Jiang Yan explained softly:
"This is the Clear Source Divine Manifestation Mantra, a special dharma to invite the Clear Source True Monarch of the Upper Realm."
"But what he summons is only a faint projection of Clear Source True Monarch's power."
Cloud Retainer asked again:
"Clear Source True Monarch… who is that?"
"He's a genuine immortal, and among immortals, the one most skilled in battle."
Jiang Yan smiled slightly and continued:
"Clear Source True Monarch, also called True Lord Pure Source Miao Dao, is a bona fide Golden Immortal."
"He belongs to the strongest force of the Upper Realm, the Heavenly Court. He is honored as the God of War of the Heavenly Court, a main battle Golden Immortal, his power reaching the heavens and piercing the earth."
"Among Golden Immortals, he is one of the most formidable."
"Not only is his strength terrifying, but his background is equally frightening. The ruler of Heaven, the Jade Emperor, is his uncle."
"The Jade Emperor is the incarnation of the Great God Haotian — and Haotian is a Great Luo."
"Clear Source True Monarch resides at Guanjiangkou, commanding countless grass-roots deities. He also has a loyal divine hound named Xiaotian."
"Xiaotian the Divine Hound is an ancient beast, capable of swallowing the sun and moon — a Heavenly Immortal beast."
"In the Heavenly Court full of mighty beings, Clear Source True Monarch enjoys the authority to 'hear orders but not take commands'."
"He is, without question, a true Great Deity."
"But, judging from the First Seat Zhongli's display, he clearly hasn't cultivated this art to a high level."
"It's all form without the true essence."
"Even so, in the late stage of Qi-Refining and Spirit-Transformation, with this dharma, he's practically invincible."
"For any non-cultivator, at this stage of Spirit-Transformation, not one would last a single exchange against him."
Everyone clicked their tongues inwardly, watching the proud Zhongli with some envy.
Though the idea of the Geo Archon "summoning gods" felt a little odd, this ability… was too enviable.
Yet as they listened to the deeds of Clear Source True Monarch, Cloud Retainer and the others suddenly felt awkward about calling themselves "True Lords."
On the field, Venti and Alice raised their heads to look at Zhongli. After a while, Venti felt the increasingly terrifying pressure of his battle intent.
He gritted his teeth.
"No good — I have to act. If I don't move, the old man's battle aura will crush me."
Alice nodded, and powerful equipment manifested all over her body.
Crown, earrings, cloak, belt, rings…
She had pulled out all her treasured possessions.
Venti stared, dumbfounded.
"Where do you get all these strange things?"
"Traveler's privilege! That's just how it is."
Alice brushed it off casually. Venti took a deep breath and transformed completely into formless azure wind.
Within that wind flowed the faint aura of time itself.
This was a power he hadn't even used during the Archon War.
The spirit of a thousand winds must always have a hidden trump card.
Moreover, this Thousand Winds was named — The Thousand Winds of Time.
"I'm going in."
Venti's voice came from within the formless gale. The next moment, a raging vortex surged toward Zhongli.
The obscure aura of time flowed within it, making Venti's movements seem paradoxical.
Jiang Yan's eyes lit up, and he sighed inwardly.
So the world of Teyvat truly wasn't that high-level, but…
Time and space authorities actually existed here.
This world's value was not as low as he had thought.
If one could borrow this world's time-space authority to explore the mysteries of spacetime — even a trace of gain would be terrifying.
True spacetime power — even an Earth Immortal had only the qualification to cautiously glimpse it.
A pleasant surprise indeed.
But clearly, Venti's temporal state wasn't under his control.
It was only an unconscious flow.
And against Zhongli's current state, it was no match.
Especially since…
Venti had actually chosen to fight Zhongli — in melee — while he had manifested Erlang Shen!
Among all beings below Golden Immortal, only Sun Wukong of old had dared such a thing.
Zhongli ignored the storm of wind bearing down on him.
When it came close, a flash of silver suddenly appeared in Venti's eyes.
Before he could even react, he was sent flying by a spear thrust.
Venti still didn't know what had happened when a fiercer spear-technique followed relentlessly.
His storm instantly collapsed, his body returning to its divine form.
Meanwhile, Zhongli had already taken up the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Halberd, sweeping out a silver lunar storm.
Xiao abruptly stood, staring at Zhongli in disbelief.
"This… this kind of martial dao! No — this isn't martial dao!"
"This is a pure combat style, so pure it borders on Dao itself."
"Even First Seat's martial dao pales before this — this isn't a martial dao that mortal life can grasp!"
Jiang Yan nodded with a smile, speaking softly:
"Clear Source True Monarch never polished martial dao deliberately. He doesn't even have a specific martial dao cultivation method."
"All this is simply a battle style honed through countless ages."
"He is a peerless prodigy. In terms of combat technique alone, among innumerable immortals, only one can compare."
"Sun Wukong, the Victorious Fighting Buddha."
"Watch closely, Xiao. From Zhongli now, you may learn how to wield the Cloud-Piercing Overlord Spear."
Xiao's expression turned solemn.
"Thank you, Master, for your instruction."
He fixed his gaze entirely on Zhongli's every move.
Yet he couldn't comprehend them at all — only relying on instinct and perception to faintly grasp their essence.
Even so, Xiao felt his own martial dao rising rapidly, like sword-flight soaring skyward.
Suddenly he understood the saying: If one hears the Dao at dawn, one may die content at dusk.
Zhongli…
The martial way of Erlang Shen could indeed become Dao itself.
But Xiao's progress came at the cost of Venti being thrashed.
At this moment, Venti couldn't even resist, nor decide where he was being flung.
Even his posture while being struck was dictated by Zhongli.
Like a puppet on strings, wholly at Zhongli's mercy.
And Zhongli wasn't even trying to end it quickly — clearly suppressing himself.
Otherwise, that first spear could have killed him outright.
With a cultivator's tyrannical true essence, one thrust would leave him unable to heal.
This martial way was not Zhongli's own — Venti knew it well.
It was utterly beyond the comprehension of mortal life.
Zhongli…
He had summoned something truly extraordinary.
Venti had already given up resisting, his body swaying helplessly with Zhongli's strikes.
Fortunately, though Zhongli still remembered his betrayal of contracts long ago, he wasn't being ruthless.
The blows didn't really hurt — just humiliating.
If it had been another god, they might have been furious.
But Venti…
Come on, when had he ever cared about face?
Alice looked at Venti's sorry state and shook her head.
They had told him already — Erlang Shen was the best fighter among immortals.
Why insist on going up close?
There's no sense in offering up your head like this!
She calculated quickly, and her many divine artifacts — even beyond divine artifacts — began to resonate.
Golden flames on her body turned into tiny pure-white sparks.
Yet faintly, even space crackled and burned.
Once the power was ready, Alice hurled the little flames at Zhongli.
On Teyvat, such things could easily consume an entire nation.
But in front of this Zhongli, they were only good for a campfire.
While subduing Venti with his halberd, Zhongli just glanced sideways.
His Heavenly Eye at his brow opened a slit, a radiant beam engulfing the sparks.
In an instant, Alice's proud flames vanished without trace.
Zhongli formed a hand seal, and the earth split open, surging like a tide before crashing together toward Alice.
This was one of Erlang Shen's most trivial spells, one he used before becoming immortal.
But right now, it was all Zhongli could employ.
Even so, Alice felt a mortal crisis and dared not meet it head-on.
A straw-doll talisman in her bosom silently turned to ash, and Alice slipped through space, flickering aside.
She exhaled in relief at the upheaved land.
"Thank goodness for my substitute dolls… is this guy actually trying to kill me?"
Before her words finished, space rippled behind Zhongli.
Countless flying blades shot forth, all aiming for Alice.
With Erlang Shen's ties to Mount Shu, his Mount Shu Sword-Manipulation Art were masterful.
"Multitasking like this so easily — really infuriating!"
Alice swung her staff, commanding fire-dragons to intercept the swords.
Zhongli's Heavenly Eye flashed again, and the fire-dragon froze.
In the next instant, the white flames Alice had painstakingly refined erupted all over it.
The dragon turned, eyes now brimming with domineering battle intent, glaring at Alice.
"He even enlightened my summon! This is ridiculous!"
Alice stared, half-crazed, at the menacing fire-dragon.
She instinctively wanted to summon again, but recalling Zhongli's unreasonable power to seize control, she gave up.
Facing the gaping maw of the fire-dragon, Alice quickly raised her hand.
"I surrender!"
A stream of light whisked her away.
She had only wanted to test how strong Cultivator Zhongli was — not seek abuse.
But with Alice gone, the fire-dragon naturally turned toward Venti.
At once, Venti nearly exploded with anger.
Already miserable under Zhongli's beating, and now Alice had provided him another helper!
He felt closer than ever to death.
Another spear sent him flying, and Venti quickly raised his hand.
"Wait! Wait! Stop! I surrender!"
Zhongli's offensive halted slightly, the fire-dragon circling around him instead.
Panting, Venti looked up at Zhongli in the sky and forced a laugh.
"Old man, enough. I can't beat you anyway. Surely you've vented your anger by now?"
Zhongli's gaze was calm, but in his heart there was some helplessness.
Truthfully…
He had only used thirty percent of his strength.
And many of Erlang Shen's arts hadn't even been shown.
But Venti didn't seem like he could endure much more.
This duel wasn't all that satisfying.
Continuing would be meaningless.
So Zhongli slowly let go of the Summoning Incantation state.
He checked his true essence inwardly. Thankfully, though the fight had seemed long — from summoning to now, it had been only a few minutes.
And he had fought holding back, so the consumption wasn't large.
As for gains… merely using some of Erlang Shen's martial and spell arts.
But true harvest? Not really.
It hadn't been life-and-death, and Venti and Alice together hadn't forced even half his strength.
Sighing, Zhongli descended slowly to the ground.
He looked calmly at Venti.
"From now on, the matter of old is wiped clean. If there's a next time, don't blame me for coming to 'chat' with you."
Venti chuckled awkwardly.
"Of course! Trust me, old man, I won't be that unreliable again."
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