Chapter 21: Uncle Tian
Time passed, and before long, a month had gone by.
Though Aiden rarely ventured out for direct combat experience, his strength had increased tremendously.
Morax, Xiao, and Madame Ping were all highly skilled in battle, earning tens of thousands of points almost daily.
Especially Morax—he alone brought Aiden over 50,000 points per day.
And that was only because Aiden's strength limited how efficiently he could purify the Abyssal corruption. If his abilities were stronger, Morax could easily be providing hundreds of thousands of points each day.
This made Aiden increasingly eager to obtain another Gnosis. Even Zhongli himself seemed impatient, urging Aiden to claim the next Gnosis sooner.
The logic was simple:
If Aiden had greater power, he could purify the Abyssal corruption more efficiently. But because his strength wasn't enough, the purification rate was bottlenecked.
Zhongli found this frustrating.
And with Madame Ping and the others now assisting, the purification speed had slowed down even further.
At that point, Zhongli dismissed the idea of involving more Adepti.
"Better to wait until Aiden gets stronger."
Aiden hadn't expected this issue, but after some thought, he understood.
It was like internet bandwidth—if the connection was fast, multiple devices could run smoothly. But if the speed was limited, adding more users would only slow everything down.
In short, his strength was still lacking.
Even with a team of powerful allies, there were limits to how much he could grow until he became stronger himself.
Still, thanks to the efforts of Morax and the others, Aiden's strength had increased rapidly.
Based on his estimates, he had grown five or six times stronger in just this one month.
Previously, his strength was only at the level of a weak Demon God. Now, he had reached the average power level of a Demon God.
Of course, the power gap between Demon Gods varied wildly.
Even so, according to Morax, Aiden was now stronger than the Salt God, Havria.
And with his continuous training in Zhongli's martial arts, his rate of improvement was only accelerating.
---
Keqing & Ningguang's Developments
During this time, Keqing and Ningguang had been very active.
After recovering from her injury, Keqing dedicated herself to hunting monsters daily.
She was especially active along the Liyue Harbor–Guili Plains route, where her presence became a common sight.
Thanks to the points she earned, Keqing not only acquired knowledge for herself and Ningguang but also enhanced her own abilities.
In addition to cultivating internal energy, she focused on improving:
Physical strength
Elemental recharge efficiency
Speed
Her progress was astonishing.
Aiden speculated that if Tartaglia were to fight her now, the outcome would be completely unpredictable.
Meanwhile, Ningguang was making preparations for infrastructure development.
After Qingce Village's expansion, she set her sights on road construction and town development.
She had already begun researching cement formulas to improve construction efficiency.
Additionally, she and Keqing co-founded a merchant guild, with Ningguang managing its operations.
The majority of its profits would go toward developing Liyue.
Keqing agreed to this immediately—after all, it was for the city's benefit. And there was no one more skilled at generating wealth than Ningguang.
At first, Keqing had wanted to establish a state-run bank, but after discussing the matter, she and Ningguang decided to wait.
Tianxuan and Tianji, the other members of the Liyue Qixing, would certainly oppose the idea.
It was an open secret that both had financial ties to the Northland Bank.
They would undoubtedly try to block the plan.
Rather than rushing, Keqing and Ningguang decided to strategically remove them from power first.
They made no effort to hide their intentions.
Even Ganyu, the secretary of the Qixing, turned a blind eye to their discussions.
Her silence spoke volumes.
If they could legitimately force the two out, then so be it.
Her stance was clear—she wouldn't stop them.
After realizing this, both Keqing and Ningguang threw themselves even deeper into their work.
Meanwhile, Aiden spent his time training and occasionally strolling through Liyue Harbor.
He often ran into Tartaglia by chance, and their interactions became increasingly friendly.
It was an amusing development.
---
Meeting Uncle Tian
One morning, Keqing urgently called for Aiden and led him to a modest house about ten minutes from their residence.
The house was simple—around 300 to 400 square meters, with no signs of excessive wealth or decoration.
Aiden had already learned from Keqing that the owner of this house was Uncle Tian.
As a Qixing member, he lived in such humble conditions—something Aiden found unexpected.
After welcoming them inside, Uncle Tian got straight to the point.
"Keqing, you brought Ningguang's advisor here. Do you have something important to discuss?"
He had received a formal letter from Keqing the previous day, which puzzled him.
Such formality wasn't her style—it was more of a Ningguang move.
And now, she had arrived with Ningguang's trusted strategist.
It was clear this was no ordinary visit.
Over the past month, it had become obvious that Keqing and Ningguang were working closely together.
"Are they trying to recruit me?"
Uncle Tian was no fool. He had risen to the rank of Tianshu despite coming from a commoner background.
However, he disliked political alliances and factionalism.
That said—if something truly benefited Liyue, he wouldn't oppose it.
Keqing spoke directly.
"Yes. This is extremely important."
She paused before continuing.
"Ningguang and I are preparing to introduce a martial arts system that will significantly strengthen Liyue's military power."
She locked eyes with Uncle Tian.
"I hope you will support us in implementing this within the Millelith."
Then, as if anticipating his concerns, she added:
"This martial art has already been recognized by the Adepti."
Uncle Tian frowned slightly.
"A martial art that has the Adepti's approval?"
His expression turned serious.
"If that's the case, then the Geo Archon must also be aware of this.
Have you consulted with the Lord of Geo?"
As one of the Qixing, Uncle Tian had the means to directly report matters to Morax if necessary.
If Rex Lapis himself approved of this, Keqing wouldn't need his support.
Keqing's expression turned slightly awkward.
"We tried to contact the Lord of Geo… but we couldn't reach him."
Uncle Tian's brow furrowed.
Keqing quickly continued.
"According to the Adepti, the Lord of Geo is currently engaged in an important matter and cannot intervene at the moment."
She exhaled, then spoke firmly.
"He has left this decision to us."
She wasn't lying.
Both Ganyu and Madame Ping had confirmed this information.
And that was more than enough to prove that the Adepti—and likely Morax himself—approved of their plan.
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