Forbidden knowledge—given that it is called forbidden—was obviously not something ordinary people could touch.
The Scarlet King, the Flower God, and the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata all fell because of it. Just from that alone, one could see how terrifying forbidden knowledge truly was.
Even gods could not study it lightly.
Paimon glanced at Gu Chen in fear.
"You want to see it?"
Gu Chen grinned. "Do you want me to get you some to study?"
Paimon instantly reacted as if she had seen some horror. Her head shook like a rattle drum, and she waved her hands frantically.
"No! Absolutely not! I haven't enjoyed life enough of life yet!"
Her daily life was wonderfully comfortable—Paimon had no intention of dying early.
Terrified, the little creature quickly floated farther away from Gu Chen.
[Apep]: I didn't pay attention to every detail, but that's roughly what happened.
[Venti]: Forbidden knowledge really is too terrifying. Three gods fell because of it. (Paimon shocked)
[Kaeya]: The Scarlet King is greatly at fault. He courted death by insisting on studying forbidden knowledge—causing the Flower God's death, then his own… and in the end, the Greater Lord had no choice but to clean up the mess to save Sumeru, which led to her fall too… Hard to judge. (Paimon shocked)
[Keqing]: The Flower God actually supported him. She wanted humanity to enter its human-governed era that early? (Paimon shocked)
[Heizou]: The things Liloupar did while the Scarlet King was away… completely shattered my worldview. I can't understand it! (Qiqi faint)
[Kaeya]: Indeed. Killing her lover, seducing his son—my evaluation: speechless.
[Kokomi]: At least we can relax knowing that in the video's timeline, Mr. Gu Chen is there. Whatever he does, he always comes prepared. I believe he'll handle forbidden knowledge well.
[Collei]: Ah… (Collei unresponsive)
[Collei]: So Eleazar came from forbidden knowledge… meaning as long as forbidden knowledge isn't eradicated, Eleazar will always exist?! (Collei unresponsive)
[Tighnari]: @Collei Don't think too much. Eradicating forbidden knowledge is unimaginably difficult. Even Celestia seems powerless… (Tighnari shocked)
[Cyno]: Indeed. If Celestia could deal with it properly, it wouldn't have resorted to blunt force suppression—it would've removed it entirely.
[Venti]: Celestia is useless! I think we need a new, capable ruler—someone who can lead everyone to a better world! Charge!
[Kaeya]: Support! And that person is here in the group!!
[Sustainer of Heavenly Principles]:
Wonderful. Not only the Seven Archons, now even the ordinary group members are turning rebellious?
Forbidden knowledge… who could possibly eradicate it?!
Wait…
If it's Gu Chen…
The Sustainer paused. It seemed… possible.
After all these video episodes, she'd noticed that Gu Chen's means were increasing—diverse, powerful, unpredictable.
Maybe he could solve it.
Her lips twitched.
From a practical standpoint… perhaps Gu Chen really was more suitable?
After so many years, for the first time, the Sustainer felt tired.
Thus—
[Sustainer]: You're offering me that kind of good deal?
[Zhongli]: (…)
[Raiden Ei]: ?
[Furina]: Wait—why is the Sustainer turning into Venti?! (Paimon shocked)
[Venti]: Oh? Caught another one trying to retire and slack off! (surprised)
[Jean]: So you admit it yourself, Venti… (bitter smile)
[Venti]: What? This is freedom! Work when I want to, and when I don't—I lie flat! (relaxed)
[Nahida]: So this is the real reason the Greater Lord fell… (deep thought)
[Paimon]: Come to think of it, the Greater Lord is really pitiful… She was doing fine in the rainforest, yet had to clean up the Scarlet King's mess—and not only clean it up, but sacrifice herself too. (facepalm)
[Nilou]: The reward for this episode must be a "Single-Timeline History Integration"! Please!! (Klee begging)
[Collei]: It has to be!! (Klee begging)
[Kaeya]: I agree. A god that good shouldn't just fall like that.
[Zhongli]: Judging from the ideals of the Scarlet King and the Flower God, the three ancient gods of Sumeru all had good intentions—their starting points were noble. Unfortunately, the more they meddled, the more humanity regressed. Instead of studying forbidden knowledge, perhaps leaving humanity alone would have allowed it to shine on its own.
[Gu Chen]: Why does this sound like Emperor Chongzhen behavior? (smirk)
[Venti]: Who's Chongzhen? (Keqing confused)
[Gu Chen]: A ruler who worked harder, the faster his empire collapsed. His intentions were good, he was diligent—but lacked ability and vision. (shrug)
[Zhongli]: In that case, the Scarlet King truly does resemble him. (facepalm)
[Dehya]: Can we share Apep's explanation with others? I want the desert folk to wake up a little.
[Apep]: Do as you like.
[Dehya]: Thank you! (flowers)
[Collei]: Many desert people still worship the Scarlet King and are sure the Greater Lord killed him. The Wall of Samiel separates desert and rainforest, fueling their prejudice. No one would've guessed the truth was like this!! (Paimon shocked)
[Dehya]: But to be fair, the Akademiya did some terrible things. (sweat)
[Tighnari]: That… is true. (shocked)
[Kaveh]: The plot has begun!
In the video.
The scene shifted to the boundless desert.
A woman of breathtaking beauty—her veil unable to conceal it—wandered through the endless sands.
She had wandered for seventy-two nights.
Her magnificent, noble body was battered. The sand had torn open the skin at her heels—yet from the wounds flowed clear spring water, forming streams.
Just as Apep said, the streams watered the ground, creating green garden patches from which blue lotus flowers bloomed like the night sky.
These lotuses birthed the Jinn, born from intoxicating dreams and bitter lost memories.
[Kaeya]: It's exactly as she said.
[Heizou]: But I can't shake the feeling—given the title and keywords—that something is going to go very wrong. (Tighnari shocked)
[Collei]: Please don't say that… (Amber: Nooo!)
Gu Residence.
As she watched the Flower God wander, Ying took off her shoes and stared at her own feet.
"How come when her feet get torn open, it's not blood but spring water?"
Gu Chen shrugged. "Is it not possible that due to racial differences, what you think is 'spring water' is actually her blood?"
"Oh… that makes sense."
Ying blinked in realization. Then she kicked off her shoes, placed her feet onto Gu Chen, and said with a strange expression:
"The Flower God has such beautiful jade-like feet… and she's injured… she looks so pitiful."
Gu Chen blinked, then laughed.
"The me in the video has a lot on his plate. I don't even know she's wandering out there. Even if I knew, I'm not sure what I would've done."
"You'd better stick to that story." Ying rolled her eyes.
Sharing a bed long enough—Ying understood exactly what kind of man Gu Chen was.
"Her screen time is really short."
Paimon rubbed her round chin.
The Flower God only had a minute or two of footage, played at fast-forward speed.
"She's not the main heroine," Gu Chen said. "A video only has so much time; the side characters must be compressed."
The image shifted again—this time to the Scarlet King.
He wore attire similar to Cyno's, but far more solemn and divine.
(Didn't find the official image, so here's Cyno's—Desert jackal head smirk)
As the descendant of the skies, the Scarlet King was devoting himself to building his kingdom.
Then the scene changed again—to the Greater Lord's domain.
Under Gu Chen's suggestion, she led her people out of the forest and began building a city around a giant tree.
At the same time, following his advice, the Akademiya was founded early.
"Your wisdom far surpasses theirs… Would you be willing to become my first Grand Sage?" Buer asked.
"Of course."
Gu Chen accepted happily.
From that day on, Gu Chen became the Grand Sage of the Akademiya. All matters concerning humanity passed through his hands, and the spreading of knowledge fell upon his shoulders.
The Greater Lord was not a hands-off ruler.
Entrusting these matters to Gu Chen was a sign of her trust—so she could free her time for more important tasks.
She unleashed her divine power.
She was the master of vegetation.
Her power flowed across the barren lands like water.
Tender green shoots sprouted wherever her power passed.
Before long, the entire region would be full of vitality.
Gu Chen selected many clever mortals and began teaching them knowledge, slowly guiding them into research.
"I believe a world must be diverse in its species. A world too monotone would be like a painting with only one or two colors—maybe artistic, but not beautiful to most people."
Gu Chen suggested.
The Greater Lord agreed with his view.
Under her divine power, not only grass and trees grew—numerous varieties of plants appeared.
[Collei]: So the rainforest's countless mushrooms came from this!! (Paimon shocked)
[Tighnari]: And the great diversity of flora—also due to Mr. Gu Chen's suggestion. (Paimon shocked)
[Gu Chen]: By common reason—tell me, does it not make sense?
[Kaeya]: Almost thought Zhongli said that. But yes, it makes sense. Biodiversity is essential.
[Paimon]: If the plants are flourishing—what about animals? This land has so few animals!
[Alhaitham]: No need to rush. They'll evolve over time, or humans will introduce them, or other factors will fill the ecosystem.
[Kaveh]: Watching this feels like… building a nation from scratch! (Kaveh: help!)
[Gu Chen]: I feel that too. Therefore, Sumeru is mine now! (Zhongli Dragon King smirk)
[Kaeya]: Huh? We're playing like this?
[Venti]: Brothers share equally! Let me see the map… I want the Avidya Forest!
[Zhongli]: The Lokapala Jungle borders The Chasm. I'll take that.
[Furina]: Then the Gavireh Lajavard and the Asipattravana Swamp belong to Fontaine! (Paimon: hmph!)
[Raiden Ei]: Ardravi Valley has Port Ormos. I'll take Ardravi. (gentle smile)
[Nahida]: Why do I feel like I lost Sumeru while watching a video… (Ayaka stunned)
[Gu Chen]: Nahida… you don't want Sumeru divided up by foreign nations, right? (Hu Tao evil grin)
[Yae Miko]: Brother-in-law, are you sure you weren't born in Inazuma? The Inazuma flavor is strong. (mischievous)
[Nahida]: I don't want it! Help me! High Priest!! (Hydro Fungus crying)
[Gu Chen]: All right, all right—I love helping the weak. I now declare that everything you all said is nonsense. Therefore—Sumeru shall be governed by me alone! (smirk)
[Venti]: The hidden dagger shows itself! (smirk)
[Kaeya]: High Priest, you're thinking too small! (Hu Tao evil grin)
[Gu Chen]: Oh? Enlighten me. (listening)
[Kaeya]: Sumeru is tiny—a speck. With your ambition, it's beneath you… so! I propose you take the throne of the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles! (Zhongli Dragon King smirk)
So it comes back to rebellion, huh?
The Sustainer simply lay down.
[Sustainer]: Fine. Take the seat. (photo of empty throne)
[Venti]: Good lord—sitting on the throne while cuddling the previous Sustainer? Even I can't imagine that.
[Sustainer]: What do you mean?! I gave up the seat—why do I have to give up myself too?! (Qiqi faint)
Does justice still exist?!
Does law still exist?!
[Gu Chen]: Follow Brother Gu—three meals a day, and we march together toward a happy future~ (certain)
[Furina]: (smirk)
[Navia]: This is so abstract!! (Paimon shocked)
[Kaeya]: Remember—everything is for Teyvat. (smirk)
[Sustainer]: …
[Sustainer]: Instead of discussing such meaningless things, why not watch the video and catch the details? For example—the Flower God has now met the Scarlet King, and upon hearing that there is an all-knowing, all-powerful deity in the rainforest, she intends to visit the Greater Lord.
[Gu Chen]: Your topic shift is way too blunt. (smirk)
[Sustainer]: Then what does a natural shift look like?!
[Gu Chen]: The Greater Lord is so beautiful.
[Nilou]: Yes yes! Mr. Gu Chen is half a head taller than her—they look perfect together!! (Venti throws flowers)
[Collei]: Ship! Ship everything! A balanced diet! Mr. Gu Chen, please make the first move and win the Tree Queen's heart!! Charge!! (Klee charge)
[Gu Chen]: Learned it now? (smirk)
[Sustainer]: …
The Sustainer had to admit:
That really was a skill.
She immediately dove underwater and focused fully on the video.
The three gods were about to meet—she also wanted to know, with Gu Chen's influence, how far this Sumeru would go.
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