As the gem disappeared into the clouds.
Two surging divine powers suddenly descended upon the Jade Chamber.
One was Venti, whom Jean and the others were familiar with; the other was Rex Lapis.
Green light and golden light condensed before everyone. At this moment, Venti was not in his usual cheeky demeanor.
With great archangel wings spread behind him, Venti wore a solemn expression.
This was his Archon form.
"I knew it, that guy was definitely acting before!"
Lumine pouted, grumbling.
Venti turned his head, blinked at Lumine.
"Ehe!"
Hmm...
Although his appearance was imposing, he was still that cheeky bard at heart.
"In the name of Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, my child, Lion of the South, Jean Gunnhildr."
"Do you wish to represent the myriad citizens of Mondstadt and sign the final contract that opens all futures with Liyue?"
Jean took a deep breath.
She couldn't sleep last night and had already talked with Lisa.
For now, since they had already signed a co-existence and co-prosperity agreement with Liyue, they could only go all the way.
At the very least, with Liyue's help, the lives of Mondstadt's citizens would also get better and better.
Jean stepped forward, her expression solemn, and placed one hand over her chest.
"By the guidance of the wind, Lion of the South, Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, Jean Gunnhildr, is willing to bear all consequences and requests Lord Barbatos to sign the agreement."
Venti looked at Jean with a complex gaze, but his eyes were not without relief.
"As you wish. In the name of Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, ruler of Mondstadt, and Morax, the Geo Archon, ruler of Liyue, let the final contract be signed."
Zhongli also said in a deep voice:
"Even if the heavens fall, the contract must be fulfilled!"
"Those who violate the contract shall suffer the Punishment of Stone Eating!"
The two each took a wisp of divine power, intertwining them in the air, slowly condensing into a radiant sheet of paper.
There was only one clause on the contract:
"Mondstadt and Liyue share life and death."
Signed by Morax and Barbatos.
Coupled with yesterday's detailed clauses, this final contract was completely formed.
As for the will of their respective citizens...
Ningguang was the head of the Qixing, representing the Liyue Qixing and its myriad citizens.
Although Jean was only the Acting Grand Master, a call to arms from her in Mondstadt would surely be met with a full response from the populace.
The two of them represented the will of the people.
With this contract, both sides felt the binding force of the agreement.
The contract was divided into two, one going to Venti and the other to Zhongli.
An unbreakable alliance was officially established.
Zhongli nodded to Venti. Seeing Lumine about to burst into questions, Zhongli vanished in a shimmer, disappearing without a trace.
"Old friend, abide by the contract..."
Venti dispelled his Archon form and pouted.
"I know, I know! It was just that one time! Do you have to keep reminding me?"
"Barbatos..."
Before Jean could finish, Venti chuckled:
"Just call me Venti. Being a divine being is only for occasionally."
Jean nodded slightly, looking at Venti with a hint of hesitation.
"Are you worried about this contract?"
Venti blinked, saying meaningfully:
"Don't worry, Mondstadt signing this contract is the most correct choice. In a while, you'll understand."
"It is a true, unimaginable opportunity."
Since Venti said so, Jean put aside her worries.
She turned to Ningguang and softly asked:
"Miss Ningguang, can we discuss trade now?"
"Trade?"
Ningguang laughed dryly and shook her head.
"Just call me Ningguang. Liyue and Mondstadt will be friends forever, and so will we."
"Furthermore... by signing this contract, you cannot trade precious items like alchemy potions with Liyue."
At this, Jean and the others grew anxious, about to say something, but Lisa quickly interjected:
"So, by signing this contract, we can meet Mr. Jiang Xuan?"
Ningguang chuckled softly.
"Lisa is indeed as the rumors say, a genius of Sumeru Akademiya, seen only once every two hundred years..."
"That's right, by signing this contract, you can follow me to meet Jiang Xuan."
"Everything done from yesterday until now has been to give you the opportunity to meet him, and the precondition for meeting Jiang Xuan is to be completely bound to Liyue."
"From now on, even if..."
Ningguang paused, taking a deep look at Jean and the others.
"Even if faced with the destruction of Khaenri'ah back then, even if faced with an attack from the Seven Archons, Mondstadt must bear this pressure together with Liyue."
With that, Ningguang rose cheerfully and walked towards the door.
"Let's go, this is the last step. I'll take you to meet Jiang Xuan."
"However, Jiang Xuan might not be in Teyvat right now."
Hearing this, Jean and the others' pupils constricted.
"Not in Teyvat?"
Lisa grew serious, looking sternly at Ningguang.
"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you."
Ascending a Floating Stone, they descended towards a secluded courtyard at the foot of Mount Tianheng.
Ningguang smiled radiantly.
"Jiang Xuan is the Lord of Worlds."
"As you might imagine, he presides over an entire world..."
Jiang Xuan knew and approved of Ningguang and the others wanting to bring Mondstadt into their alliance.
After all, the MC world was so vast that even throwing all of Liyue into it wouldn't make a ripple.
Later, there would be various mods, and relying on Liyue alone to develop them would take Jiang Xuan decades.
More people were fine with Jiang Xuan; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to the Jade Chamber with Ningguang and the others to see Jean last night.
Ningguang's thoughts were also discussed openly.
Liyue couldn't monopolize things for too long.
Otherwise, Liyue would face the same fate as Khaenri'ah.
While the Heavenly Principles slept, Ningguang intended to strip away everything the Heavenly Principles controlled, one by one.
When the Heavenly Principles awoke in the future.
They would be isolated.
If they dared to move against Liyue, the entire Seven Nations and Seven Archons would swarm them and beat the Heavenly Principles.
Liyue...
Would become the invisible Third Throne!
Last night, Venti was taken by Zhongli to discuss many things about the MC world.
Venti also understood what Zhongli was doing.
Honestly, Venti was very happy.
Originally, the plan had less than a thirty percent chance of success.
But now, as long as they followed the plan, it was one hundred percent successful.
It was obvious what to do.
Although Venti didn't want to interfere with Mondstadt's freedom, sometimes survival was more important than freedom.
The incident with Khaenri'ah was still a stark reminder. Did Venti truly not care or fear it at all?
If he truly didn't care, why would he put on such a grand show and give his Gnosis to the Cryo Archon?
But now, none of that mattered.
A miraculous world, a world with unimaginable potential.
Enough to solve all of Mondstadt's problems and all of Venti's worries.
Worst case scenario, they'd fight!
If they couldn't win, they still had a place to retreat to!
They would recuperate and develop for a while, then return to fight again!
Why wouldn't they do such a thing?
With all concerns eliminated, Venti wished they had signed all the contracts last night.
In the brief minute of the Floating Stone's descent.
Jean and the others remained silent.
They passed through a divine power blockade barrier and then through the Adepti's aura detection.
Finally, they landed a thousand meters away......
The first layer encountered hundreds of heavy cavalry patrols, and the second layer consisted of three hundred light infantry, just like yesterday.
Finally, they crossed through the blockade of dozens of wolf packs.
Those wolves had bubbles floating all over their bodies, as if they had drunk alchemy potions.
These were wolves that Jiang Xuan had taught people to breed, born with the effects of alchemy potions.
Any single one thrown out could easily tear apart high-level monsters.
Even a shielded Abyss Mage would be bitten to pieces in one go.
These were defensive measures redesigned in just seven days.
The reason was...
The last time a Fatui Pyro Agent descended from the sky.
Madame Ping warned Tartaglia and then informed Ningguang to redeploy defenses.
This place could be said to be Liyue's true underlying military factory.
Finally, after passing through the main gate, Ningguang led everyone to Jiang Xuan's courtyard.
It looked very peaceful, completely like an ordinary farmhouse courtyard.
Beside it stood several square trees.
Below the trees was a large patch of farmland.
Qingxin, Glaze Lily, Jueyun Chili, and other medicinal herbs found throughout Liyue were visible everywhere in the fields.
Even more incredibly, Jean and the others saw Mondstadt specialties: Dandelions, Small Lamp Grass, Cecilias...
They were all flourishing like the other crops.
"This... what is this?"
Jean looked at Ningguang in shock.
Different crops require different regions and environments to grow.
But here, it seemed that any crop from Teyvat could grow vigorously.
It completely defied the rules.
"This is one of the special features of that world, but it's just a small, insignificant characteristic."
Ningguang smiled proudly.
"Half of Guili Plains' land has already been replaced by Keqing. In the future, it will be like this place, filled with all sorts of medicinal herbs from across Teyvat."
Saying this, Ningguang went to check the room but didn't find Jiang Xuan, sighing slightly.
"Not here after all? Never mind..."
With that, she turned around and invited everyone to sit at a table in the courtyard.
"Amazing... these furnishings seem to be made of square blocks stacked together."
Lisa looked at the tables and chairs before her with some surprise.
Even after studying in the Sumeru Akademiya for so long, she had never seen such perfectly regular blocks.
"Are these all features of that world?"
"Indeed."
Ningguang chuckled softly and slowly began:
"Half a year ago, Jiang Xuan descended upon Teyvat. Perhaps to observe Liyue, he became acquainted with Keqing and Ganyu. It was only about a month ago that we officially began our cooperation."
"All the changes you see began just over a month ago."
"In other words, in just over a month, Liyue underwent a qualitative transformation."
"Countless resources, unimaginable treasures, an boundless world..."
"Everything you saw in Liyue Harbor is insignificant."
"Even for the most sought-after Lapis Lazuli, we have tens of thousands of tons in stock."
"Liyue doesn't need Mora. Otherwise, it could easily collapse Teyvat's entire financial system."
"Do you know how Golden Apples are made?"
Ningguang smiled at Lisa.
The latter looked somewhat incredulous.
"Is it... Gold?"
"Exactly."
Ningguang nodded.
"To make a Golden Apple, you need about sixteen tons of gold."
"Above that, there are even more effective Enchanted Golden Apples. One Enchanted Golden Apple requires over one hundred sixty tons of gold."
"And gold..."
Ningguang paused, and facing everyone's astonished gazes, she softly said:
"During this period, Liyue Harbor's total gold harvest in that world was..."
"Eighty-one thousand nine hundred tons!"
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