-"We won."-Nobu walked out of the crowd of monsters and approached me.
~"Congratulations."
I waved my hand and made all monsters disappear, leaving space for all Generals and Herrschers to also approach.
-"So what is your opinion after all of this."
~"I asked Marshal Hua to trach me, gave myself an advantage by gathering the best what Cultivation world had to offer, even used my power rather freely, yet, in the end, I still underestimated you."
-"Heh, we might not be able to defeat you in a fight, but we won't allow you to beat us when it comes to leading the army."-Nobu was beaming with happiness.
~"I wasn't expecting you would use the artifact Heaphestus was working on. That move doomed our defense."
-"Yup. This was our trump card, and you fell for it perfectly. But even without it, we were rather sure of our chances."
~"We would easily last nine years if your espionage was unsuccessful, but to win overall, it would be hard. The biggest problem was the lack of capable and, most importantly, loyal subordinates. Otto, Riveria, and Tyrande had their hands full, while Baihen and Acheron were not fit to command, so I had to rely on the contestants."
-"Right, I can understand the pain of traitorous teammates."-Jing Yuan patted my shoulder.
~"At least you dealt with Borisin before they acted, not be destroyed by a hidden enemy."
-"Don't be so bitter, Yue. You can blow off some steam during our next operation."-Feixiao smiled while her aura showed how excited she was.
~"I'll certainly join you, but this still has to wait. First, I need to finish matters in Astraea's world, and I promised Elysia to take her and Flame Chasers to the next mortal world."
-"Right, I looked at the chosen world, and I must say it sounds fun."
~"Most importantly, I don't need some complicated identity there, and I can deal with almost everything that matters in two or three years, not sixteen or so."
-"Like time matters to you."
~"Being a child is awkward."~After hearing that, everyone present looked at me strangely.
-"Ehem."-Marshal Hua cleared her throat.-"If you'd like my opinion on this Trial, I can summarize it as follows: You are overreliant on the Divination. Your skills in leading an army are much lower than that of a General, and by making up for those inadequacies with Divination, you fell into the trap set by them."
~"Indeed. Divination should only be used to gather information and as confirmation of plans. Using it instead of strategic and tactical thinking is what led to my defeat."
-"Yes. Divination is a great tool, but a tool is worth only as much as the person wielding it. For the whole Trial, initiative was in their hands, yet you did nothing to change it, not to mention how lacking your control over the troops was. If you were my subordinate, you would be sacked."
~"I see. Well, it only proves that I still have much to learn."
-"I'll be sure to teach you thoroughly."
-"Hey! You better not forget about us."-Kiana, the Herrscher of Finality, Jumped in front of me.-"Didn't you promise us something?"
~"Don't worry, I will uphold my promises."
-"You better!"
Short banter later, everyone went their own way to rest and recover after this long Trial.
~"At last, I can rest."
-"Stop stretching and help us here."-Herta called out to me.
~"Calm down. It's not my part yet. You still need to stabilize everything before I can use Soul Seed."
-"According to my calculations, everything should be good this time."-Screwllum assured everyone.
-"You said exactly the same thing during our last five tries, and those weren't successful in the end."-Da Vinci cided the mechanical aristocrat.
-"It's important to keep the spirits up."
-"You guys, mind helping me?"-Black Swan called out to them as she had problems with stabilizing our test object.
-"Don't worry, I'm on it."-Herta started to manipulate the machine that held the object.-"And done! Stability is 99,8617% of what was predicted."
-"Within the margin of error, we can proceed. Please, Your Majesty."
~"Sure."
Stepping forward, I let my tails appear as my hands shatter into my Aeonic form. Mobilizing my Path of Ordination, I created a Soul Seed, a nascent form of Soul.
It was something that I researched heavily, as mysteries of the Soul were deeply connected to my Path, so by furthering my understanding, I could improve my own power.
Carefully, I put it into the test object and made it grow, merging into the test object. Slowly, the object whose Soul was erased by us was taken over by that Soul Seed, giving birth to a strange object that was alive yet inanimate.
-"Marvelous!"-Screwllum spoke uncharacteristically excited.-"First mechanical lifeform that is truly born with a Soul like other races. I wonder, if it was placed in a world where Reincarnation is real, would it be part of that cycle?"
~"Technically, but I would ask you to refrain from testing such a thing for now."
-"So now that the test is completed, we only need to create hundreds of those?"-Asked Black Swan.
-"Now that we have a functioning protocol, it will be much easier."-Herta started to operate the machine to release the test object.-"Now, only the last step is left."
-"Indeed, I believe that our leader should have this honor."-Da Vinci smiled.
~"Then Let's call those Origin Cubes in their current form and Wisdom Cubes after a sentience is born within them."~Reaching out, I picked up a bluish palm-sided cube and looked it over.~"After we make a thousand or so of them, we can start the simulation to allow them to grow."
-"Right, only the major vessels would require such powerful existence to control them. For minor ones, a degraded mass-produced version will be enough."
-"Then let's continue. With slight improvements and optimizations, we would be able to finish everything speedily."
Placing the cube down, I returned to the machine to help everyone. I noticed that my touch seemed to influence the cube somewhat, but after checking that it was still all right, I ignored it as this should be a resonance between my Path and the Soul inside.
My avatar that was in Sect returned to Hold after I gave Meng and Piaoyu some plans to pass to their people. Not having to control thousands of soldier commanders to control the army in Simulated Realm allowed me to finally relax, so I went to Moon Palace, and after finding a fine spot to sit in the garden, I took out my zither and started to play.
Under soft music, I quickly entered a deep meditation, ignoring the passage of time while focusing on everything that happened during the Trial. Looking back at everything that took place, I could find my mistakes and try to learn from them.
While I was doing revisions, a night began, then passed, and as the next morning rose, I woke from my meditation, having new ways where I could better myself. Looking to the side, I found someone waiting for me as I usually would after meditating.
~"I'm already used to someone waiting for me to finish my rest, but I would never expect that you would do so, Zhongli."
-"I wanted a quiet place to talk with you."
~"Hmm? What's the matter? You seem awfully serious."
-"I want to ask you for an enormous favor."-Zhongli took out an ancient-looking stone Luban lock covered with runes.-"This was a gift from a dear friend of mine. No, she was no mere friend. She was my closest family. Sadly, she has been lost to history."
~"I see."~I took it and looked it over, analyzing it carefully.~"From the Karma of this thing, I could get a gist of it. Let me be direct. I can revive her, but there will be serious restrictions placed on her if I do so."
-"Please, tell me more."
~"Guizhong's Soul was destroyed, meaning I can't use the method that I used on Makoto. I will have to perform a revival by breaking the Taboo of Time. As Aeon, I can achieve that without suffering severe repercussions or damaging Teyvat, but to do so, I need to make some concessions."
I poured myself some tea and drank it before continuing to speak.
~"I can avoid most troublesome consequences by hiding Guizhong from the world after her revival, but that would be effectively an exile from the world for her. She would only be able to live in my world, and any object from Teyvat could be harmful to her."
-"What about people?"
~"This is the true problem. While contact with her won't be harmful, she can't influence Teyvat in any direct or indirect form to not receive Karmatic Punishment."
-"..."
~"In the future, if I grow stronger, those limits will be less restrictive, but that is how it is right now."
-"Is there no other way?"
~"Fight the Punishment for breaking a Taboo."
-"How strong would it be?"
~"While the gods of Teyvat are not True Gods, they are still beings that transcended mortality, not to mention how much Karma she is burdened with. Due to her being one of your biggest motivations in becoming Morax, you can imagine how involved her death is in existing history."
-"Sigh. Despite that, I still ask you to bring her back."-Zhongli bowed to me.-"Please."
~"Don't lower your head to me. You are my friend."~I used my power to force him to a normal position.~"I need some quick preparations and a little assistance from Terminus and Fu Xuan."
-"Can I be present?"
~"I don't mind. Let's go to the Matrix of Timeless Divinity. I already notified everyone."
After finishing the tea, I teleported us to Hold's Omniscia, which Fu Xuan was already operating. The moment I appeared there, Terminus also appeared next to me.
~"Yue."
~"Thank you for coming, Terminus. I want to fool the [Myriad of Worlds], so I need your help to shield us from the [Time]."
~"Explain."
~"Sure. Fu Xuan, you should also listen."
I explained what I wanted to do, and after receiving some feedback from Terminus, we divided tasks between the three of us to achieve it.
First, Fu Xuan used her power as Emanator of Ordination and, with the assistance of the Omniscia, she began reading as much of the Karma of Guizhong as she could.
Meanwhile, I entered my Aeon form and manifested the Helheim to remove us from the Axis of Time. Terminus also used her power of Finality to help me, and after we were fully isolated, I left control of the manifested realm to her.
I then traced the moment when Guizhong's Soul was destroyed, and as carefully as I could, I grabbed it the moment it was to dissipate.
While this sounds easy, I needed to create an illusion powerful enough to fool the entire [Myriad of Worlds] that Guizhong's Soul had indeed been destroyed while not leaving any traces in the process.
Now that the Soul was in my hands, I needed to prevent its dissipation.
⌊ Lamb.⌉
⌊ Don't worry, Dear Fox. She will shine once more.~⌉
Instantly, Lamb's Respite runes appeared under me, disallowing anything to End.
Under Lamb's protection, I then began healing Guizhong's Soul, but rather than restoring Karmatic connections that were lost during the Soul dissipation, I closed them in a way that severed any connection to the outside world while keeping the Soul unchanged.
As I was bussing myself with the precise job, Fu Xuan finished reading the Karma and gathered everything into memory stones that she passed to me. In the end, I needed a few days to fully heal and separate Guizhong's Soul from the [Myriad of Worlds].
When this was done, I took the memory stones Fu Xuan prepared and, using the Paths of Permanence and Remembrance, created the pseudo-spirit from which Guizhong's spirit could recover.
Next was the body, and this was the easiest part as I only needed Path of Abundance to create it.
After that was done, I began combining the three parts to revive Guizhong. I was already experienced in doing that, so in fifteen minutes, she was breathing once again, and her eyes were slowly opening.
~"Don't move. You should remember that you were at the death's door before."~I started speaking in a way to not alarm and stress Guizhong.~"Because your injuries were severe, I needed to use a special method of healing that put a heavy strain on your spirit, so any extensive stress might be fatal to you right now."
-"Ugh."
~"See? Try to meditate while you listen to me. You might have slight amnesia right now, but don't try to remember things, as those will slowly return to you, and foring yourself will only strain you more. After you stabilize a little more, Zhongli will explain everything to you. Now focus on meditation."
As I was holding her head on my knees, I felt that Guizhong had nodded slightly, so I stopped speaking and focused on helping her adapt to the current situation.
After over an hour of using Paths Permanence and Remembrance, Guizhong's spirit recovered enough to allow her to function normally, so I called Zhongli over.
~"Now, before I leave you two to talk, quick thing you must remember. Your spirit is now barely keeping you alive, so don't strain it. You can't use any power nor try to remember things that are foggy in your memory until I say so. I'll teach you a Cultivation method later so that you can recover."
-"I see. Thank you. May I know your name?"-Guizhong opened her eyes and looked at me, who was still in Aeon form, with interest.
~"Yue."
-"Yue..."
Leaving those two alone, I moved to Terminus' side and took over the control over the manifested Helheim.
~"Thank you for helping me."
~"I don't mind."~Terminus shook her head before taking something out and giving it to me.~"Take this. It might be helpful to you."
~"This is?"
~"Coordiantes of words I visited. Most of them are dead, but you can use them as resources to develop your world."
~"Thank you."
Terminus nodded and disappeared from here.
-"Why do you always do such absurd things?"-Fu Xuan approached me.-"Also, can you call me for something other than work for once?"
~"I do that sometimes, but you are always busy with work. You, Keqing, and Mobius are always the same. There is always something more to work on."
-"And you dare to say that to us? You yourself are no better in that aspect."
~"At least I can find some free time to relax."
Fu Xuan rolled her eyes at me before leaning on me and resting her head on my side.
-"You better pay me for this overtime later."
~"Of course. What do you wish for?"
-"Just take me out somewhere."
~"Sure, I already have a place in mind where we can go."
-"Mhmm."
After Zhongli finished explaining what had happened to Guizhong, I reconnected us to Time Axis, and we returned to Hold.