After hearing Su Yuan's explanation, Zhongli nodded and said:
"Su Yuan, that's true… Although I escaped by feigning death and am no longer the Geo Archon in name… I am not truly dead, the Geo Archon's throne still exists, and I have always cared deeply about Liyue… I cannot completely abandon the name Morax and become just Zhongli."
Tartaglia also nodded and said:
"But Su Yuan, the rules set by Celestia aren't so easy to shake. Focalors used Fontaine's judgement and accumulated centuries of compensatory Indemnitium to destroy the Hydro Archon's throne…"
"Where would Liyue find such overwhelming power now?"
In response to Tartaglia's question, Su Yuan answered:
"Perhaps, we can try to make use of the eerie power…"
"This overpowering and tyrannical force known as Eerie power was easily able to break through the seal Zhongli placed on Azhdaha…"
"So I believe… it should be capable of dealing significant damage to a throne of one of the Seven Archons as well!"
"But now, the key issue lies in how we find someone capable of stably controlling the power of eerie state—someone who can use it to destroy the Geo Archon's throne…"
As Su Yuan spoke, it was as if something occurred to him.
He turned to Tartaglia and asked:
"Tartaglia, just now during our fight with the eerie-transformed Zhongli, we were clearly both suppressed and rendered immobile by his eerie power. So how were you able to break free from his restraints?"
In Su Yuan's mind, even with Skirk's special training, Tartaglia should have been completely overpowered by a transformed Zhongli of that strength…
"Now that you mention it, even I was surprised by what happened back then…"
Tartaglia replied:
"At that moment, when I saw that brother and sister, I couldn't help but think of myself, and my younger siblings…"
"My thoughts then were very pure, very simple—I just wanted to protect them, the same way I would protect my own family, my own little brother and sister…"
"I ended up breaking free of Zhongli's restraints just like that…"
"But what's the point in saying all this now? That pair of siblings… in the end, they still passed away…"
"Simple… pure emotions, huh…" Su Yuan murmured thoughtfully.
He recalled the methods used in the past to resist incomplete eerie transformations—either by exhausting the incomplete eerie power, or through a surge of intense emotion…
While the simple method of using eerie power to invade the body and suppress movement wasn't quite the same situation, could simple and pure emotions still be effective to some extent?
After all, the majority of eerie power originates from the negative emotions within the human heart…
And if it's negative emotions that fuel it, then surely some positive emotions could also serve to counteract or weaken it…
As Su Yuan continued to think, a sudden pain shot through his head.
It felt like he was beginning to recall some vague, fragmented memories…
Something about escaping the control of eerie power… the options were either to surpass the eerie—be more deranged, more insane than it is… or to possess a pure emotion, completely untainted by even a trace of impurity…
"Su Yuan, are you okay? Your expression looks a bit pained and strange…" Tartaglia asked with concern, gently patting Su Yuan on the shoulder.
"I'm fine. It's nothing—just an old issue. My head acts up from time to time…" Su Yuan waved his hand and smiled, signaling that he was alright.
"By the way, Tartaglia, why did you suddenly come to Liyue?" Su Yuan asked.
"Because after I survived Master's hellish training, she said it was time to kick me out…"
"She asked me where I wanted to go, and said she could send me there."
"I told her I wanted to go wherever you were, and after she sent me to your side—she vanished without a trace."
Huh? Su Yuan had originally thought Tartaglia had come to Liyue for some kind of mission, but it turned out he'd come just to see him?
"So, why did you want to come to my side?" Su Yuan asked again.
"Simple! Because you're always fighting against the eerie, which means you're always at the center of chaos and conflict…"
"As long as I stay by your side, I'll constantly run into powerful enemies and endless battles. That'll help me temper my will and strength, and make me even stronger!" Tartaglia said, fired up and completely matter-of-fact.
"…Alright then."
Su Yuan was at a loss for words—Tartaglia really was a battle maniac…
While everyone else steered clear of danger, he did the opposite—sniffing it out and charging straight toward it.
"By the way, Zhongli, I just had a thought..."
Tartaglia turned to Zhongli and suddenly spoke up:
"Right now, your condition for becoming Eerie is someone breaking a contract in front of Morax, right?"
"Then here's the question: what if you yourself make a contract with someone, and you are the one who breaks it? What happens then?"
Hearing that, Su Yuan thought for a moment before speaking:
"The Eerie version of Zhongli would carry out the Judgement of Warth of the Rock on the one who broke the contract..."
"If he were the one to break the contract, wouldn't that mean he'd carry out the Judgement on himself? In other words, it'd be suicide, wouldn't it?"
"Now that I think about it like that... it does sound kind of dangerous…"
"If someone were to exploit that loophole to target Zhongli, it'd be a real problem…"
Su Yuan looked at Zhongli and said, "Zhongli, make sure you don't go around forming contracts lightly—and definitely don't break any. If someone catches on to that weakness, it could get messy…"
"Don't worry," Zhongli replied calmly.
"No matter what, I am still the God of Contracts. I would never casually sign contracts with others—and even if I do, I would never violate them."
"Then our next step," Su Yuan said thoughtfully, "is to find a stable and controllable Eerie combatant, and have them destroy the Geo Archon's throne…"
As he pondered, something seemed to click in his mind, and he continued:
"Now that I think about it, it would be great if we could invite Raiden Ei and Kujou Sara to Liyue…"
"Kujou Sara's condition for Eerie state is failing to complete a mission assigned to her by the Shogun…"
"Once in Eerie state, she will wield the power of the Eerie to fulfill the task given to her…"
"So if Raiden Ei were to give her the order to use the Eerie power to destroy the Geo Archon's throne… it might solve everything in one go…"
"That is indeed a possible method," Zhongli said with a serious expression, lost in thought.
"But we have yet to test whether the power of the Eerie can truly destroy one of the Seven Archons' thrones…"
"Although the events in Fontaine have proven that the Heavenly Principles are dormant, and destroying the Hydro Archon's throne did not draw their attention…"
"If two of the Seven Archons' thrones are destroyed, however, whether that will trigger other consequences—remains entirely unknown…"
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