"Little one, looking at you, I don't think you can handle the corruption within Irminsul."
"So, just watch! See how a God's power can perform miracles!"
As Yu Jin's voice faded, the white ocean beneath Irminsul surged even more violently. Nahida knew that those waves were not stirred by Irminsul, but by something moving within it.
A familiar sensation of suffocation returned, and Nahida clutched her throat, collapsing onto a branch of Irminsul.
She was a part of Irminsul, and Irminsul's changes would manifest in her.
"Hehe, it'll be over soon. It's surgery time now, some pain is normal!"
Beneath the ocean, out of Nahida's sight, countless roots of the Golden Tree intertwined with Irminsul's roots.
Among these intertwined Golden Tree roots, a few were exceptionally thick. These were the main roots, meant to go directly to the source of the forbidden knowledge.
The massive main roots did not entwine with Irminsul's finer roots like the others; they grew until they reached Irminsul's dark main trunk.
"Boom!" The fluctuations of the Ley Line ocean seemed to transmit to Irminsul. Under the impact of the giant golden roots, the entire Irminsul trembled.
"Ah!" This time, in addition to the suffocating sensation, a sharp pain shot through Nahida's chest.
Her body was shaking, as if some invisible force wanted to break through her chest and burrow inside.
In fact, that was exactly what was happening. The golden surface of the Golden Tree's giant roots became incredibly solid, unlike its previous transparency.
If the Golden Tree's golden color before was the bright glow emitted by a gilded lamp, then now this color had become the true color of gold, reflected by the gold itself.
Though not as bright as a lamp, it was substantial enough to be impossible to ignore.
The colossal gold impacted Irminsul's main trunk. Around the previously silent Irminsul, the sound of wood cracking constantly echoed.
Nahida's chest hurt more and more. This pain grew more intense with each passing second.
When this pain reached its peak, it suddenly vanished.
"Wh-… what's going on?" Nahida's forehead still had fine beads of sweat from the recent pain, but now the pain had disappeared.
The suffocating sensation had also vanished.
Nahida's hand was still on her chest, where a large hole seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. All the pain and discomfort had flowed out of her body through this hole.
Beneath Irminsul, the Golden Tree finally broke through Irminsul's outer skin. Massive golden root systems extended into Irminsul.
There was no flow of information inside, only endless darkness. Or perhaps it should be said there was information, but it was all useless, meaningless roars and whispers.
It was these that had corroded the pure white Irminsul.
But they could not corrode the Golden Tree. A faint golden light bloomed through the darkness.
The giant root extending into Irminsul became a source. More slender roots branched out from this large giant root, gradually filling the darkness.
Then they released their restrictions and began to actively devour this forbidden knowledge.
"So disgusting…" the Golden Tree quietly said to Yu Jin. Compared to Yu Jin's blood, these things were like foul mud, making it hate them.
Yu Jin, far above on the ground, heard the Golden Tree's words and slapped its main trunk hard.
"Children shouldn't be picky eaters; eating more helps you grow up faster!"
"I'm already very big now."
"How old are you to be talking back already? No wonder the Greater Will didn't care about your mom; she must have talked back to the Greater Will every day too."
"…"
After a series of meaningless exchanges, the Golden Tree ultimately endured everything in silence.
Actually, it wasn't that bad. It hadn't finished absorbing Yu Jin's blood yet, so eating a lump of forbidden knowledge with a bit of Yu Jin's blood wasn't so bad.
"You… what did you do?" Nahida automatically filtered out Yu Jin and the Golden Tree's conversation.
She looked at the golden patterns entwined around her calves, something she had never had before.
"Nothing much, just putting a purifier inside Irminsul." Yu Jin's tone was incredibly relaxed and casual as he said this, as if he had just done something insignificant.
"A purifier?" Nahida fell into thought, but she wasn't thinking about what this purifier was, but rather who Yu Jin truly was.
Among the Seven Gods, was there such a powerful yet unreliable person?
Nahida was unsure. Perhaps the Anemo Archon fit this description, but what about that large Golden Tree?
She had never heard of such a powerful tree in Teyvat. When it extended from the ground, Irminsul even thought it had come to replace it.
"Can you tell me who you are?" Nahida pondered for a while, but found no clues.
She looked at the white ocean below, which had long since calmed, hoping for a response.
"Who am I?" Yu Jin repeated Nahida's words softly. Then there was no more movement.
Subsequently, Nahida saw the calm ocean surge again. The Golden Tree roots that had disappeared reappeared from below.
However, this time the Golden Tree roots intertwined into a flower bud shape.
The golden flower bud bloomed, and from it sprang a figure entirely enveloped in knight's armor.
"Adventurers' Guild, Yu Jin makes his entrance!" Yu Jin leaped from the flower bud to Nahida's side.
Strangely, his body landed on the Irminsul branch, covered in pinkish-white fuzz, without causing any ripples.
"You're a conscious entity?" Nahida looked at the somewhat ethereal Yu Jin before her and immediately discerned his current state.
"Smart." Yu Jin nodded, admitting it openly. It was a good thing that a conscious entity could reach here; if Yu Jin had to dig through the ground to get here, he wouldn't have been willing.
"Yu Jin…" Nahida looked at Yu Jin, who was glancing around, and countless true names of Gods flashed through her mind, but none matched the person before her.
"Hehe, no need to search, you won't find it." Yu Jin touched Irminsul's pure white skin, then looked up at this massive tree, roughly the same size as Xiao Huang.
A storage device for all memories? It seemed it could also modify various information stored within it?
Yu Jin stroked his chin, wondering about the purpose of setting up such a thing. Making Irminsul a database would be great, but why add a modification function?
Simply modifying data doesn't seem to truly change history, does it? At most, it would only cover up history, and there are plenty of ways to circumvent that.
To truly change history, one would need to manipulate the river of time. But that's too difficult for people of average strength.
Perhaps… it's for taking shortcuts? Yu Jin suddenly realized, feeling like he had discovered some secret.
"Are you thinking something disrespectful?" Nahida asked with a suspicious look, watching Yu Jin scratching at Irminsul.
Was that powerful force from just now really this guy's?
"How did you… no! How can you falsely accuse me?" Yu Jin was startled. Could this little guy read minds?
"Oh, by the way, I still don't know your name?" Yu Jin suddenly realized he hadn't asked her name.
Although he had already guessed who this little one in front of him was.
"Nahida, you can also call me Buer." Generally, a God's name should not be easily revealed, but for the person in front of her… Nahida glanced at Yu Jin, who was trying to peel off a piece of Irminsul's bark, and her eye twitched. For this guy, it didn't really matter.
"Buer? Couldn't you just say Dendro Archon?" Yu Jin tilted his head, thought for a while, but couldn't find the name "Buer" in his mind.
He didn't remember the names of Gods at all.
The Seven Gods were too distinctive; such a large accumulation of elemental power made it hard not to recognize them.
As for whether it was a God or a Dragon King, that depended on its appearance.
"I heard you're also the God of wisdom?" Yu Jin looked at Nahida before him, remembering what Collei and the others had said.
So he got the idea to test this little God.
"Then what do you think this is?"
Saying that, Yu Jin lifted his armguard.
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