Chapter 193.
Goodness gracious. Chongyun is actually participating?
Futsu Mitama was genuinely surprised to see the icy exorcist taking the stage.
It was crucial to understand that Chongyun was not a guy cursed with excessive free time. Between the bustling new era of Liyue and his endless daily exorcism duties, the poor guy was usually booked solid. Even with things relaxing a bit lately, a serious, disciplined guy like Chongyun wouldn't normally waste his afternoon playing around in a festival arena!
Puzzled, Mitama grabbed a random passerby.
"Excuse me, who exactly is organizing this tournament?"
"Huh? You don't know?"
The passerby gave him a surprised look before happily spilling the beans.
"This whole event is sponsored by the Second Young Master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild! Let me tell you, the Feiyun Guild went all out. They hired some seriously tough fighters. You wouldn't believe it, but that tenth gatekeeper up there?"
The man pointed at Chongyun.
"He might look like a kid, but his skills are absolutely monstrous! Rumor has it he's from a famous exorcist family. The first nine challengers couldn't even make him break a sweat! But man, that Inazuman Ronin on stage right now is something else. She's actually fighting him to a complete standstill!"
The spectator was clearly a Chongyun fanboy, fully expecting the young exorcist to win. The Inazuman woman was undeniably powerful, but Liyue was hardly lacking in its own homegrown prodigies.
Oh~ so it's the Feiyun Commerce Guild's doing, Mitama realized instantly. If it's the Second Young Master—then Xingqiu is behind this!
Mitama had crossed paths with Xingqiu before, though they were mostly just nodding acquaintances. Lumine and Paimon, on the other hand, were super close to him. While Mitama usually hung out around Liyue Harbor, adventurers like Lumine were always running into the wealthy, adventure-loving young master out in the wild.
As a funny side note, when Mitama had first met Xingqiu, he had spent a solid five minutes staring, genuinely trying to figure out if he was looking at a boy or a girl. Xingqiu's elegant looks were just that deceptive! Of course, the poor guy was completely used to the gender confusion by now, even if it always made him sigh helplessly.
Having gathered his intel, Mitama slipped quietly back through the crowd to Venti and Maha Rukkhadevata.
The two Archons were standing perfectly still, but their eyes were glued to the arena, practically vibrating with amused anticipation.
"What's going on? You two look like you're waiting for a punchline."
Mitama narrowed his eyes.
Venti and Rukkhadevata were clearly keeping a secret, and Mitama remained entirely in the dark.
"Ah, you're back! Tell me, did Beelzebul blow up the pavilion?"
Venti asked eagerly, prioritizing the most explosive gossip. After all, everyone in the Chat Group knew about Ei's legendary... talents in the kitchen.
Rukkhadevata also turned her head, looking very curious about the exact nature of the culinary disaster.
"Negative."
Mitama shook his head.
"Someone else caused the explosion. Ei actually got on stage and her prep work was flawless. Though, I strongly advise against having any hope for the final dish. You know her track record."
Yes, the entire pantheon knew. Whether Ei's cooking was actually safe for human (or divine) consumption was one of Teyvat's greatest unsolved mysteries.
"Hahahaha~"
Venti let out an awkward, deeply polite laugh.
Rukkhadevata gracefully covered her smile with her sleeve, her eyes sparkling with amusement. She internally noted that Ei's technical prep was apparently perfect.
Isn't that exactly how Zhongli described Hu Tao's cooking?
She mused. The process is flawless, yet the final product is a biological hazard. How does following the exact same steps yield such a terrifying result? It truly is a fascinating scientific paradox.
"Anyway... what did I miss here?"
Mitama looked back and forth between the two Archons.
"Something definitely happened."
"Oh, a very fun variable just entered the mix." Venti winked playfully. "But we're keeping it a secret! You'll see who's coming up next in just a second."
"Mm-hmm."
Rukkhadevata nodded in agreement, clearly enjoying the suspense.
Mitama felt a twitch of annoyance but decided just to watch the show.
Suddenly, a loud gasp rippled through the crowd!
"BANG—!!!"
Up on the arena, Raiden Makoto gracefully swung her wooden tachi, instantly shattering three massive, solid-ice broadswords out of the air!
Without missing a beat, Chongyun gripped his heavy claymore and charged at her, trying to catch her off guard through the icy mist.
But Makoto didn't even blink. She glided backward, her tachi suddenly crackling with a blinding, terrifying surge of pure Electro energy.
"CLANG—!!!"
The claymore and the tachi clashed, sending sparks of Superconduct flying across the stage!
"Ugh... ahhhh—!!!"
Chongyun gritted his teeth, pouring every ounce of his strength into the heavy blade, desperately trying to overpower her guard.
But suddenly, the young exorcist felt a sharp warning in his instincts.
A localized tear in space opened right beside him, and a highly compressed burst of Electro energy zipped out, striking his lead hand!
Thanks to his harsh exorcist training, Chongyun's pain tolerance was incredibly high, so he didn't drop his sword. But the sudden shock was enough to make his strength waver for just a split second.
Makoto seized the opening flawlessly. With a sudden surge of power, she parried his blade and completely shattered his momentum.
Chongyun skidded across the wooden floor, gasping heavily for breath. His core body temperature had skyrocketed, and thick white steam was physically radiating from his skin.
His unique genetic trait—the [Pure Yang Spirit]—had automatically activated! Whenever he got into a highly stressful, intense battle, his body would override his conscious control, flooding his system with hyper-aggressive Yang energy to help him fight.
While it was an absolute nightmare for evil spirits, against a normal (or divine) physical opponent, it mostly just burned through his stamina.
"Not bad at all."
Makoto lowered her sword and gave the steaming boy an approving nod.
"It is truly rare to see someone your age possess such refined skills. However, you are holding yourself back. You aggressively suppress your own core trait. But the harder you compress this energy, the more uncontrollably it detonates when your suppression fails. You must learn to synchronize with this power, rather than fight it."
"As it stands, you've hit your limit for today."
Chongyun technically still had the willpower to fight, but his stamina gauge was completely empty. Makoto actually felt a little bad for him. The kid had exceptional raw strength and combat awareness, but his endurance was terrible strictly because he was constantly fighting his own internal energy!
As an Archon, she could easily see the massive reservoir of untapped power inside him. If he just learned to embrace it, he would be unstoppable.
"I... I yield."
Chongyun lowered his claymore. He wasn't going to stubbornly drag this out. He could feel it in his bones: this Inazuman Ronin was operating on a completely different level of reality. She had only used her Electro powers at the very end! For the rest of the match, she had completely suffocated his attacks using nothing but pure swordplay.
It was humbling.
In his entire life, Chongyun had only ever felt this kind of overwhelming pressure from legendary Adeptus. He had never met a foreign wanderer with this kind of power.
But losing today gave him a refreshing wake-up call: The martial horizon is infinite. There is always a higher peak to conquer.
Bowing deeply and respectfully, Chongyun sighed.
"Thank you for the lesson. But... no matter what I try, I am truly incapable of safely using this power."
Chongyun wanted to master his Pure Yang Spirit more than anyone else in the world!
But he had tried everything.
His elders had even begged the Conqueror of Demons for a consultation, but Xiao had just taken one look and declared it was tied to his destiny and impossible to fix.
It was depressing.
Other young exorcists envied his constitution, but they didn't know the absolute nightmare it caused him!
If he ate spicy food, took a hot bath, drank alcohol, or even listened to Xinyan's rock music, he would lose his mind and do the most embarrassing things imaginable!
His best friend constantly teased him about it, and being the shy guy he was, he had basically given up and resorted to eating popsicles all day to keep it suppressed.
But just like Makoto said... the more he suppressed it, the stronger it got!
When he was a kid, he could still see minor spirits, but now? He was basically walking radioactive bleach for ghosts. They vaporized before he even saw them. Even Wuwang Hill turned into a sunny paradise the second he stepped foot in it!
"True power is governed by the mind."
Makoto said gently, her voice carrying a hypnotic, divine resonance.
"It is a part of you, just like your Cryo Vision. If you can learn to wield an external element, why do you assume you cannot decode your own body?"
"Remember this: Do not fear the anomalies hidden within you. Learn to perceive them, and accept their existence. Everything in this world exists for a logical reason."
Makoto's words struck Chongyun like a lightning bolt. A crazy, revolutionary thought popped into his head.
Yeah... why am I so paralyzed by the fear of these triggers? Is it really an absolute fact that I can't eat spicy food or listen to loud music?!
Feeling a sudden burst of inspiration, Chongyun nodded with absolute seriousness.
"I deeply appreciate the guidance. May I request your name?"
"My name?" Makoto blinked, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. "There is no need for it. The next time we meet, I expect you to have grown."
She couldn't exactly announce herself as 'Raiden Makoto' or 'Baal' in the middle of a crowded Liyue plaza without causing an international incident!
"Understood."
Chongyun nodded respectfully, completely understanding that masters often liked to keep their identities hidden.
Without another word, he vaulted gracefully off the stage and dashed into the crowd to meditate on his newfound revelation.
As soon as he was clear, the elegant female host practically sprinted back onto the stage, clapping enthusiastically.
"What a spectacular, breathtaking display of martial mastery!"
"Miss Ronin! You have successfully survived all ten mandatory rounds!" She announced to the cheering crowd. "Therefore, you have unlocked the baseline reward: 400,000 Mora, and a custom-forged, high-grade weapon! Do you wish to place your weapon order?"
"If your current weapon is fine, we can convert the weapon prize into another 400,000 Mora! Or, if you don't need cash, we can pool all the Mora into forging you an absolute masterpiece!"
"Hmm." Makoto paused, quickly doing the math. "Just transfer the total Mora equivalent. I have no need for external weapons."
As the rightful owner of the Musou Isshin, picking up a mortal sword was mathematically pointless. Plus, if she actually needed a new blade forged, she would just ask Ei to do it. Ei might be a total disaster at politics and cooking, but when it came to blacksmithing, there probably wasn't a single person in Teyvat who could beat her.
"Understood." the host nodded professionally. "Do you wish to continue defending the arena? You will earn 500,000 Mora for every hour you remain undefeated, up to a maximum of 5,000,000 Mora!"
Makoto offered an elegant nod. She had entered the tournament to get a good workout, and she wasn't about to quit now!
Seeing her agree, the host turned to the massive crowd and shouted into her megaphone.
"Of course! If there are any martial artists in the audience who think they have what it takes, you are officially authorized to challenge our reigning champion! Just pay the 10,000 Mora registration fee! If you win, you get 200,000 Mora and become the new defender!"
Having broadcast the rules, the host quickly whispered something to Makoto and flawlessly retreated from the stage.
Less than thirty seconds later, a highly familiar, blonde-haired figure vaulted aggressively onto the arena floor!
"EH?!?!?!?!!!!"
Futsu Mitama stared at the incredibly familiar girl, his brain completely short-circuiting in pure, unadulterated shock.
Isn't that Lumine?! The exact same Lumine who is supposed to be running a highly classified, deep-cover stakeout on the Fatui right now?!
Why the heck is she playing gladiator at a carnival?!
Good! Excellent! Outstanding!!! Skipping work to grind for Mora, are we?!!!