Yuto nodded, and his Mangekyo Sharingan immediately appeared, revealing a distorted space. Inside this space, a mass of sea-blue substance could be clearly seen constantly swirling, emitting a powerful aura and the scent of the ocean.
Yuto: "How did Mister Zhongli know this thing was in my hands?"
Zhongli said indifferently: "That day, Mountain Shaper and Moon Carver, uneasy about Osial's remains, went together to investigate the situation, but ultimately found nothing. They then informed me of this matter.
After I personally investigated the scene, based on universal rationality, there were only two possible outcomes: either Osial was severely wounded and fled to the deep sea, biding his time to return, or Osial, like Marchosius, lost a great deal of his power and fell from his divine realm.
According to the description Moon Carver and the others sent back, my deduction was the latter. Although I don't know how you managed to strip Osial of his clearance, this is indeed a good thing for Liyue. Put it away. Since this item is yours by right, it should belong to you."
Yuto closed his Kamui Dimension, and his Sharingan returned to normal. He seized the opportunity to ask Lord Rex Lapis: "Mister Zhongli, could you please enlighten me, what exactly is clearance?"
Zhongli fell silent for a moment, seemingly pondering how to explain it more simply. "Why do you think Gods are called Gods?"
Yuto: "Powerful strength, unparalleled majesty and presence, and the unique divine resentment that belongs to them after death."
Zhongli: "Haha, is that all? What about the Adepti of Liyue? Why is no one calling them Gods? You should know that there are also strong and weak among Gods. Just like Havria, the God of Salt, whom you mentioned earlier, there are Adepti whose combat power is stronger than Havria's.
As for lifespan, many of Liyue's Adepti have even longer lifespans than Lord Barbatos, the Anemo Archon."
Yuto fell into silence. Havria, as the shame of the Gods, overturned many seemingly normal logics. If Gods were only distinguished by strength, there were indeed many beings on Teyvat who were stronger than Havria but were not Gods.
If it's not distinguished by strength, nor by lifespan, then what else can distinguish whether someone is a God?
Yuto recalled the strange mass he had obtained, as if he had thought of something: "Only those with clearance can be called Gods? Is it because the Adepti of Liyue lack this thing that they couldn't become Gods?"
Zhongli smiled slightly upon hearing this answer: "You're very close. All Gods in the world have one common trait, which is the duty to 'love people.' However, there are many ways to love, and many kinds of people. 'People' here doesn't just refer to humans, but all living beings in Teyvat.
After all, Andrius, the King of the North Wind, loved the wolf packs as his people, and Osial, the Vortex Vanquisher, and a series of other Sea Gods loved sea beasts as their people. Apart from these few Gods, the remaining Gods all loved true humans as their people.
The reason is simple: Gods who obtain clearance can gain power from humans who worship them, thereby generating the power of faith, which in turn significantly boosts their strength. This increase in strength is terrifyingly potent, allowing them to easily catch up to Adepti who have cultivated for thousands of years.
Even if Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, and Moon Carver cultivated for twice as long, their strength would not be enough to single-handedly contend with Osial who had just broken free from his seal. This is the difference between them, an unbridgeable chasm.
As for Havria, whom you just mentioned, why her strength was weaker than the Adepti, it's simply because her way of loving went astray.
She was overly accommodating, overly gentle. To protect her beloved people from the ravages of the Archon War, she chose to flee.
She believed that as long as she gave up before a conflict occurred, the war would never affect her and her people.
Thus, through endless concessions, Havria lost all her land, and the people who followed her became fewer and fewer, until in the end, only the final refuge known as the Salt Terra remained.
In her final moments, she didn't even have a weapon to raise to protect her people. In this state, the combat power boost from her clearance was negligible. With her own strength alone, she could no longer protect anyone.
The rest of the story is that some of her people finally realized that this benevolent but weak God could not protect anyone in the war.
The Archon War was very cruel. Rather than letting her suffer the torment of defeat, it was better to grant her a relatively peaceful release. Ultimately, she died at the hands of the people she protected."
This was the first time Shenhe had heard Lord Rex Lapis recount this story, and her heart was filled with mixed emotions. A deity who protected her people ultimately died at the hands of the people she protected—how ironic.
Upon hearing this story, Yuto recalled a saying from Old Qian in his previous life: Having no sword in hand and having a sword but not using it are two different things. We research and build atomic bombs so that other countries won't use atomic bombs against us.
Shenhe couldn't help but ask: "Lord Rex Lapis, why didn't she choose to rely on you? I once heard my master say that you once allied with Guizhong, the God of Dust, to jointly resist the incursions of other Gods."
Zhongli shook his head: "The cruelty of the Archon War lies in the fact that only when there is only one God remaining in a region does the Archon War in that area end.
To be frank, back then, I not only allied with Guizhong, but also with Marchosius, the God of the Stove…"
Yuto quietly added to Shenhe from the side: "That's the Guoba next to Xiangling."
Shenhe was immediately shocked: "Gu... Guoba? It's a God?"
In Shenhe's impression, Guoba seemed to be a strange creature, neither fully human nor fully bear. She never expected this adorable little creature to be a God.
Zhongli: "That's right. Back then, the three of us each protected a peaceful human settlement, and eventually chose to establish a new alliance in what is now the Guili Plains. Unfortunately, in the early stages of the Archon War, Guizhong was overwhelmed by the siege of other Gods and met her demise.
And in the later stages of the Archon War, the Gods of the sea wreaked havoc in Guili Assembly, and a flood destroyed Guili Assembly. The people were forced to move south back to Liyue Harbor, and at this time, the remnants of the deceased Gods had begun to rage, constantly causing disasters and diseases on the land.
Marchosius, the God of the Stove, poured all his power into the land to quell these various calamities. It was during that time that Marchosius lost his clearance, fell from his divine realm, and by chance, became Xiangling's Guoba at Wanmin Restaurant."
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