"How do you know that Master's Gold is imperfect?"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Oh my! What's happening? So noisy, are you going to fight?"
…Lisa and Albedo both lost their composure. Their shocked exclamations immediately pulled Lanssangx, who was daydreaming on the sofa, back to reality.
However, neither Lisa nor Albedo paid attention to her, as their minds were already captivated by Yu Jin's recent words.
"If your Master had truly reached the 'Gold' level you spoke of, then the traces of creation on your body wouldn't be so obvious, not to mention your risk of losing control." Yu Jin first answered Albedo's most agitated question.
Then he turned to look at a solemn Lisa. She noticed Yu Jin's gaze, raised her head, and waited for his answer.
Lisa didn't remember being an artificial human; her memories of her parents were very vivid.
If she truly was an alchemical creation, as Yu Jin claimed, then she would have a lot of work to do.
"Haha, no need to be so serious." Yu Jin knew what Lisa was thinking the moment he saw her expression—she was simply afraid that everything in her past was pre-arranged.
But she was clearly overthinking it. Yu Jin further explained, "Lisa, you don't need to worry about being someone's alchemical creation; your parents created you."
"As for why I say that, that depends on the abilities of you two Scholars. If it's really impossible, you can always come and ask me." Yu Jin ended with a tease.
"How about it? The direction of exploring the truth and meaning of the world is too broad, so let's start with people! Who knows, you might make a big discovery?"
Watching Lisa and Albedo fall into thought, Yu Jin said with a hint of encouragement. He was also curious to what extent the Scholars of this world could explore the world.
His words were meant to guide Albedo in a direction; saying too much would deviate from his original intention. He couldn't just spill all of Albedo's research topics, could he?
"Not an alchemical creation?" Lisa lowered her head in thought, pondering the meaning of Yu Jin's words. She wanted to know why Yu Jin said that.
Albedo, seeing Lisa deep in thought, couldn't help but look up at Yu Jin.
He only saw a knight's helmet, and beneath the helmet's gap, there was an all-consuming darkness; he saw nothing.
"How… how do you know these things?" Albedo asked with difficulty. He had never heard these things from his Master; how did Yu Jin know them?
Moreover, only his Master had reached the Gold level. So why did Yu Jin still say her Gold was imperfect?
Albedo's doubts did not diminish; instead, they grew.
"Didn't you just say it?" Yu Jin spread his hands. The method of creation was the Crystalize of human wisdom, but compared to the method of natural evolution, Yu Jin still felt the latter was more complex.
If the former was about how to pursue and create "perfection," then the latter was about striving to build a world that allowed "perfection" to emerge.
Therefore, for Yu Jin, the method of creation could be understood by analogy. After all, Yu Jin also had worlds within his body.
Those worlds were all molded by him, little by little.
"Did I… just say it?" Albedo stiffly pointed to his mouth. Yes, he had just said it; these things were all in alchemy, he just hadn't seen them.
Albedo shook his head, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts. Lisa had told him that Yu Jin was a god from another world.
At first, Albedo didn't care. Things outside of Teyvat were not uncommon for Albedo, who had followed Rhinedottir in his early years.
Many of Rhinedottir's creations were summoned from the universe outside of Teyvat. And a so-called god, in Albedo's eyes, was merely a powerful life form.
So, previously, Yu Jin, in Albedo's eyes, was just a "monster" powerful enough to actively wander the universe.
Compared to Rhinedottir's other creations, he was simply stronger and smarter.
But now, Yu Jin's words completely shattered Albedo's ideas. He had to rethink the meaning of "god."
"Then, for this body of mine, do you have any solutions?" Unbeknownst to him, Albedo's address to Yu Jin had changed.
"Tsk, just treat me like a Scholar like yourself. You're not that lazy dragon over there!" Yu Jin said, looking at Lanssangx, who was chewing on something unknown.
If he had bestowed favors upon this world, he would accept honorifics. But the key was that he hadn't, so hearing people use honorifics for him always felt a bit awkward.
Under Lanssangx's draconic gaze, Yu Jin continued, "Of course there's a perfect method, here!"
With that, Yu Jin's head gestured towards the Golden Tree Sapling nearby.
The Golden Tree had the function of carving souls and reshaping flesh. Remolding or slightly modifying Albedo was also possible.
"This tree?" Albedo followed Yu Jin's gaze and saw the Golden Tree Sapling still swaying, seemingly very content.
"Yes, it can reshape your flesh and carve your soul." Yu Jin nodded at Albedo. Then he continued:
"Your problem isn't that serious yet. 'Red completion' represents the refinement of emotions, and your red color has already appeared. If all goes well, you will soon achieve 'Red completion.'"
"And for the body's flaws, it can help. It's very good at modifying flesh." Yu Jin said, then dropped a few drops of Dragon Tears into the Golden Tree, which was tinged with blue and white.
Albedo, hearing this, began to ponder again. He wondered what Yu Jin meant by his red color having already appeared.
Then, a bouncing, fiery red figure appeared in his mind—that was his unrelated younger sister, Klee.
Subsequently, more figures began to appear in his mind. The diligent and inquisitive Timaeus, the shy and hardworking Sucrose… all these, together, formed the slight smile on Albedo's lips.
Indeed, as Yu Jin said, Albedo's red color had already appeared, and it would expand with time, deeply permeating Albedo's soul.
At that time, it would be the day of Calx's Red Completion!
"It seems this tree must be planted," Lisa said with a smile, coming to stand beside them. Albedo's major flaw was also something she worried about.
Ever since Lisa discovered Albedo was an alchemical creation, she had worried about the risk of him losing control. Because only imperfect alchemical creations would show artificial traces.
Once Albedo lost control, what would Mondstadt use to stop this only Calx creation in Teyvat?
In a way, Lisa's concerns were valid. After all, Durin, who attacked Mondstadt five hundred years ago, was merely a Black Earth creation.
"When will it be planted?" Yu Jin asked. Planting the Golden Tree was a big deal, and he needed to oversee it to prevent any accidents.
"After the Dragon Scourge, I suppose. Dvalin is still entrenched in Mondstadt right now, and a storm in Dragonspine Mountain wouldn't be good." Lisa thought for a moment, deciding that with Dvalin not yet recovered, planting the tree carried some risk.
Lisa's words reminded Yu Jin; he had chatted for so long that he almost forgot he had brought Lanssangx out to find Dvalin!
"I almost forgot about the main business!" Yu Jin slapped his head and looked at Lanssangx.
"I'm pulling!" Lanssangx wasn't eating anymore; she was playing with the Golden Tree instead.
She pulled the green leaves at the top of the Golden Tree Sapling, bending the trunk far down, then released it!
The Golden Tree Sapling shook wildly like a spring, and by the time its stored energy was released, its leaves drooped.
"Hehe!" Lanssangx found it amusing to see the Golden Tree Sapling's main trunk bending backward, looking like it wanted to hide from her but couldn't.
So the Golden Tree was this fun when it was young?
"Thwack!" Yu Jin saw Lanssangx looking at the Golden Tree Sapling with a doting expression, and couldn't help but hit her on the head.
"King, what was that for?!" Lanssangx rubbed the top of her head and stood up.
"Let's go! Time to get to work!" With that, Yu Jin dragged Lanssangx out of Lisa's office.
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