Hearing Jiang Yan's answer, Zhongli and the others weren't particularly surprised. If they were in his position, they would have thought the same.
Still, there was a trace of regret in their hearts. It would have been ideal if they could bind Jiang Yan to Liyue's cause.
A genuine cultivator, capable of infinite growth, already standing at the Spirit-Refining Spirit-Refining and Returning to the Void Realm, strong enough to utterly crush even the Will of Heaven itself… what a pity.
Then again, Liyue already had a solid relationship with him. There would be opportunities later.
Besides, Jiang Yan was determined to rebuild Mount Shu. That wasn't something he could do alone.
Reopening the sect's gates would be a necessity, and when that time came…
Perhaps they, too, could witness firsthand the power of a true immortal cultivator.
Thinking this far, Zhongli found himself looking forward to it.
"Speaking of which… have you never thought of revenge?"
Unexpectedly, Cloud Retainer asked a question that felt rather out of place.
Zhongli's expression darkened, and he shot her a glare.
Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned.
How could she dare to say something so brazen?
Never mind that his entire tale was fabricated—even if it had been true—
How could he possibly dare to speak of revenge?
Against a Great Luo?
What qualifications did he have to even hold such a thought?
Jiang Yan could only shake his head with a bitter smile.
"Revenge… I've never thought about it. I dare not think about it. I cannot think about it.
"Yes, Mount Shu was indeed destroyed at the hands of a Great Luo—but what qualifications do I have to speak of revenge against such an existence?
"I do not even dare to harbor hatred toward them.
"In that war, countless worlds across the Myriad Realms were obliterated. I was merely one unremarkable victim among them.
"Even if there were other Grand Unity cultivators who survived… do you think they would dare resent the Great Luo?"
"What a Great Luo does is always correct.
"What a Great Luo says is always the truth.
"If a Great Luo destroys you, it's because you weren't strong enough.
"It's because you deserved it.
"Everything a Great Luo does is right.
"This is the shared understanding of everyone who truly knows what a Great Luo is.
"If you are destroyed by a Great Luo, the fault lies only with the destroyed."
Cloud Retainer bristled instantly at such words.
"How can you say something so cowardly?
"If it's as you say, then you bear the blood-deep hatred of countless Mount Shu brothers-in-arms.
"Your Patriarch and Master risked their lives to send you out alive, yet you would shrink before a Great Luo and speak such weak words?
"I truly misjudged you!"
Perhaps her own memories were stirring—of the Archon War, and countless comrades who had died holding the line for Liyue.
How they had fought for vengeance afterward.
To her, Jiang Yan's resignation was unacceptable.
Ganyu tugged gently at Cloud Retainer's sleeve, trying to dissuade her from saying more.
"I know my words must sound to you like the speech of a craven coward," Jiang Yan said quietly.
"But what choice do I have?"
He looked at them all, his gaze steady.
"Do you know what a Great Luo truly is?
"Teyvat belongs to the universe of the Tree and the Sea—and yet the Tree and the Sea is but a middling world among the countless realms of the Myriad Worlds.
"Worlds like Teyvat are as numerous as grains of sand in a riverbed.
"And the Great Luo?
"Forget the Great Luo—even a single Golden Immortal can, with a mere thought, create innumerable minor worlds.
"A Great Luo is born at the dawn of the Dao, and endures to its very end.
"To them, the entirety of the Myriad Realms is nothing more than a tiny sandbox for amusement.
"They have no interest in the Myriad Realms.
"To speak to a Great Luo, you must be a Great Luo.
"And the war of the Great Luo? It has been ages since it ended. Yet in all the myths and stories I've encountered, I have never once seen the image of any Great Luo vanish.
"Do you understand what that means?
"It means a Great Luo cannot die.
"Even another Great Luo cannot kill them.
"They can reset all of reality in the Myriad Realms at will, as easily as their mood changes.
"A Great Luo has no past and no future—only the eternal present.
"To attain the Dao once is to hold it forever, existing in total freedom through all of time and space.
"Tell me—how should I take revenge against such a foe?
"What use is my hatred?
"The Great Luo would not even notice.
"No matter how I rage, I am no more than an insect unworthy of their gaze.
"A Great Luo cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be conceived, cannot be invoked.
"We cultivators seek the Dao, but in the end, who among us truly attains it?
"And the Great Luo?
"They are born having already attained it.
"All I can do is abandon the past, and strive to live.
"Only by living can I hope to rebuild Mount Shu—and ensure its legacy is not cut off forever.
"I have no other choice…"
It was the first time Zhongli and the others had heard Jiang Yan describe a Great Luo so vividly.
Just hearing it, they felt an inescapable despair rise from the depths of their hearts.
As Jiang Yan said—when faced with such an enemy, all you could do was consider yourself unlucky.
Revenge? To put it bluntly, even if all of Mount Shu acted together, in a Great Luo's eyes they would not even be worth mentioning.
A single drop of spittle could drown them all.
Cloud Retainer fell silent.
After a long pause, she spoke in a low voice.
"…Forgive me. I—"
"It's fine."
Jiang Yan waved it off calmly.
"You cannot be blamed. You do not yet understand what the existence of a Great Luo truly means.
"But I would ask that in the future, you do not speak their name again.
"In all the Myriad Realms, should their name be uttered, a Great Luo will feel it."
Zhongli froze, pupils contracting. For the first time, a trace of genuine fear flickered in his heart.
"You mean… when we spoke of them just now…"
Jiang Yan nodded.
"They all heard it."
A shiver crept over everyone present.
For a moment, it felt as if the very air around them had solidified—
As if, in the next breath, a world-shrouding hand might descend to casually crush Teyvat.
"Do not be afraid."
Jiang Yan chuckled softly, shaking his head.
"I told you—Great Luo care nothing for those below them, whether people or worlds.
"Their legends are spoken throughout the Myriad Realms, and countless voices are chanting their names at every moment.
"If they truly took offense every time, the Myriad Realms would have long since been obliterated.
"Just… refrain from speaking too often in the future."
Zhongli and the others exchanged glances, then nodded silently, tacitly ending the topic.
Jiang Yan continued,
"The past is gone.
"As perhaps the last living shred of Mount Shu's bloodline, the only thing I must think about—
is how to see Mount Shu's glory restored."