Hearing Draymond say that, Himeko froze for a moment.
Then realization dawned on her.
Ying'er was Ningguang's confidante, the person she had stationed in Shushan Village to oversee its affairs.
And who was Ningguang?
She was the wealthiest individual in Shushan aside from the Chief Elder herself.
Would someone like her really fail to give her people life-saving trump cards—especially in a place as dangerous as Shushan Village?
In her moment of urgency earlier, Himeko had overlooked something important.
The grand formation protecting Shushan Village required spirit stones to activate—so why had Draymond and Jiang Yan both insisted on leaving Ying'er behind?
Who held the spirit stones was already obvious.
And beyond spirit stones…
Did Ying'er truly have no other means?
Himeko quietly straightened, subtly observing Ying'er. Sure enough—
On Ying'er's slender right index finger was an unassuming ring.
Only by staring carefully could one catch a fleeting glimmer of light. Try to look any closer, and all that followed was a chilling sense of danger.
That thing…
It probably wasn't a full-fledged artifact, but it was very close.
Noticing Himeko's gaze, Ying'er pressed her lips together in a smile and casually hid her hand.
"Just some little trinkets," she said lightly.
"How could Lady Ningguang possibly give me that many treasures?"
"And Draymond," she added teasingly,
"exposing a lady's trump cards like that is terribly impolite, you know."
Draymond merely smiled without comment.
Himeko, however, felt a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry."
By now, she had fully realized something—
The two Grandmasters and the Land Immortal of Shushan Village were all, without exception, remarkable people.
Jiang Yan—favored junior brother of Moon Carver, someone destined for the inner sect.
Ying'er—Ningguang's trusted aide, temporarily managing Shushan Village, with more than a few powerful items hidden on her person.
Even the most "ordinary" one, Draymond, was Kaeya's deputy from the inner sect, working under Jean.
Well then.
Himeko reached enlightenment.
So everyone here had backing, huh?
That said, she wasn't exactly in a position to complain.
After all, she was the biggest beneficiary of connections of them all—
Standing behind her was Alice.
The group tacitly let the topic drop and turned to discussing the distribution of the ferocious beast and the reconstruction work in Shushan Village.
And yet, all this turmoil had not affected Shushan itself in the slightest.
After dealing with the demonic beast, Yunqing hurried back to the mountain.
The duty-bound outer sect elder who had been waiting rushed forward.
"Grand Elder—"
His eyes were full of anticipation. Though the incident stemmed from insufficient oversight by disciples, he was the elder on duty this week.
If something had gone wrong, he would have shared responsibility.
"No one died," Yunqing said flatly, glancing at him.
The elder immediately relaxed, gratitude flooding his face.
"Thank you, Grand Elder."
"I didn't step in," Yunqing added casually.
"They handled it themselves."
The elder froze, then exclaimed in shock,
"A group of martial artists… defeated an early Essence-Refining ferocious beast?"
"And what's wrong with martial artists?" Yunqing snorted.
"They were created by Seat Holder Zhongli himself. Are you looking down on them?"
"I wouldn't dare!"
The outer sect elder hurriedly lowered his head.
"Hmph."
Yunqing continued,
"Seat Holder Venti already knows about this matter. Though the incident stemmed from lax disciple oversight, as the elder on duty, you bear responsibility as well."
"Think of how you'll deal with it."
The elder's face fell.
"I understand. I'll take the initiative to accept punishment."
"Go."
Yunqing waved his hand, then added,
"Summon the Second Elder to see me."
"The Second Elder? But… she's in seclusion."
The outer sect elder hesitated.
Yunqing said calmly,
"Seat Holder Venti has passed down the sect master's decree. Even if she's at a critical point in her cultivation, she must come out to receive it."
The elder stiffened, then immediately clasped his hands and bowed.
"Yes!"
He hurried off toward Yunhua's cave dwelling.
In Shushan, Jiang Yan's will was law.
If he summoned someone and they didn't come, they were courting death.
Jiang Yan himself might not bother saying anything—but the Law Enforcement Hall would certainly uphold the sect master's authority.
Anyone who disobeyed would be dealt with.
Watching the elder leave, Yunqing chuckled.
Joking aside—he was the Outer Sect Grand Elder.
It was only right that Yunhua came to him.
Why should he be the one running around delivering messages?
After thinking for a moment, Yunqing sat cross-legged on the jade platform, excitement filling his eyes.
After waiting so long, his chance to soar had finally arrived.
At the upcoming Nine Nether Secret Realm Exploration Assembly, no one was allowed to hold him back.
Even if he disliked Yunhua—felt that she had stolen too much of Jiang Yan's attention—he would still have to work with her.
This was his one and only opportunity.
The Nine Nether Secret Realm was not a place where he could act recklessly.
Handle it poorly, and death was guaranteed.
Inazuma.
At the Kamisato Estate.
Kamisato Ayato had finally set aside his mountain of work and returned home.
He already knew most of what had happened regarding Shushan and the resurgence of spiritual energy.
Originally, their plan had been to proceed step by step—resolve internal high-level issues first, then deal with Ei's situation.
But the recent upheaval in the Dark Sea had thrown everything into chaos.
Kokomi, Kujou Sara, and the others all looked anxiously at Lumine, who had her eyes closed, communicating with Shushan.
A moment later, the disciple token returned to Lumine's waist.
She slowly opened her eyes.
"Well?" Ayaka asked softly.
"Any news, Lumine?"
"Good news and bad news," Lumine said with a sigh.
"Which do you want first?"
Ayaka pressed her lips together.
"The good news."
"The good news is… yesterday, Elder Alice went to the Dark Sea and set things up."
"From now on, the threat from the Dark Sea is gone. Since Inazuma is the region closest to it, your overall security has increased significantly."
After a pause, Lumine continued,
"Venti also mentioned that Elder Alice brought back a foreigner with extraordinary talent and plans to introduce her once the sect master returns."
The room erupted in joy.
Inazuma's proximity to the Dark Sea meant that, even with the Hexenzirkel before, only Archons were suppressed—lesser threats were ignored.
As a result, powerful monsters had frequently assaulted Inazuma.
Now, that danger was gone—for good.
A once-and-for-all solution.
Just as everyone was about to celebrate, Ayato noticed the strange look on Lumine's face and felt his heart sink.
"And the bad news?"
"The bad news…"
Lumine smacked her lips.
"Elder Alice went a little too hard and punched a hole through the world barrier near the Dark Sea."
"Miss Himeko came through that breach."
"And… massive amounts of spiritual energy are pouring in from the other side."
"While gods and monsters are no longer a concern, spiritual energy seeps into everything."
"It's already accelerating its spread across Teyvat."
"The spiritual energy surging in from the Dark Sea will reach Inazuma very soon."
"When that happens, Inazuma will enter a full spiritual energy resurgence almost immediately…"
"That's also why you've been seeing more sea beasts on the verge of evolution today."
Silence fell over the room.
If this were Liyue, Mondstadt, or even Snezhnaya, they'd be thrilled at a faster resurgence.
But this was Inazuma.
Inazuma had no martial arts tradition.
As for cultivators—there was only the Guuji.
And she couldn't return yet.
This was practically a death sentence.
Today it was evolving sea beasts.
Tomorrow, it would be ferocious beasts.
Once those spread, with no martial artists, no cultivators, and the Shogun still dormant—
They might as well lie down and wait for death.
Compared to the good news, this was pure despair.
Seeing their expressions, Lumine hesitated, then spoke again,
"There's actually… even worse news."
Kujou Sara's heart sank, but she forced a smile.
"Go ahead, Lumine. We can handle it."
"…The sect master and Seat Holder Zhongli have gone into seclusion at the Demon Suppression Pagoda."
"All inner sect disciples have sealed themselves in their cave dwellings in preparation for the Nine Nether Secret Realm."
"Senior Sister Guuji was forcibly detained in her cave by Senior Sister Ganyu to cultivate."
"The outer sect has also entered a period of seclusion."
"In other words…"
"Other than a handful of elders rotating out to maintain operations—Shushan has sealed the mountain."
Even Kujou Sara nearly blacked out.
That was it.
Their final hope of aid was gone.
With Shushan sealed, Liyue itself would soon be dealing with spiritual resurgence.
They had no capacity to help, and Inazuma didn't even have ferocious beasts valuable enough to attract attention.
No one would cross the sea for such a thankless task.
More importantly—
Shushan would remain sealed for at least ten days.
Who knew how far Inazuma's spiritual resurgence would progress in that time?
One peak Foundation Establishment ferocious beast would be enough to spell doom.
Even if Ei were awakened and her issues resolved—
Inazuma's core problem would still remain.
Inazuma needed cultivators and martial arts.
But with the sect master absent, there would be no Opening Ceremony.
No outer sect recruitment.
Inner sect disciples required the sect master's approval.
Cultivation was off the table.
Martial arts?
Liyue and the other nations had them—but would they give them to Inazuma?
Transmitting martial arts to a nation required exchanging merits at Shushan's Merit Hall.
Those were the rules.
And martial arts were created by Zhongli himself.
Passing them around freely would be a direct insult.
Zhongli was a Shushan Seat Holder—no one would dare.
Both paths were blocked.
Inazuma would have to face spiritual resurgence head-on.
This was unwinnable.
Even with confidence in the Inazuman army, Kujou Sara dared not believe they could win against ferocious beasts.
And even if Ei awakened—
Could she protect all of Inazuma?
Could anyone ask her to?
Even if she did—
She wouldn't have time to go cultivate at Shushan.
The cycle would repeat.
A dead end.
"…Is Inazuma really going to be destroyed?"
Ayaka collapsed onto the table in despair.
"No. Inazuma will not fall."
Ayato cut her off firmly.
"The situation is clear. Spiritual resurgence will sweep Inazuma very soon."
"There is only one path left to us."
"Decisive action."
He spoke slowly, with absolute resolve.
"We have no choice."
"Even if forcibly awakening Her Excellency leads to a bloody purge among the upper ranks…"
"To preserve Inazuma, we must do it."
"We can't delay any longer."
"Paying the price of temporary turmoil is better than annihilation by spiritual resurgence."
He raised his head, voice unwavering.
"The Shogun must be awakened—immediately."
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