"Hmm?"
Not only Ei let out a soft sound of doubt.
Every gaze directed at Lin Mo was filled with confusion.
"Why do you say that?"
Ei couldn't help but frown in puzzlement. "Was the war back then... initiated by the Heavenly Principles?"
"Well... to be precise... it was a transaction between Orobashi and the Heavenly Principles..."
Lin Mo said with a bitter smile.
As he spoke, he also looked toward Kokomi, adding, "The main reason is that Orobashi's people all came from beyond this world and wielded power from beyond this world, which earned them the Heavenly Principles' disdain."
"Beyond this world? Power from beyond this world?" Ei was even more perplexed.
At that moment, Lin Mo led the group to land on a certain cliff on Watatsumi Island.
Lin Mo looked down at the land below and asked calmly, "Ei, tell me... how much of this world does the Heavenly Principles truly govern?"
"Hmm..."
Ei didn't hesitate much before replying, "The lands and seas governed by the Seven Archons are all under the Heavenly Principles' dominion."
"Then let me ask you, which areas are *not* governed by the Heavenly Principles?" Lin Mo asked with a smile.
"This..."
Ei pondered briefly before answering with certainty, "The Dark Sea and the Abyss."
"Exactly."
Lin Mo nodded with a smile. "These forces are collectively referred to as 'beyond this world.'"
He then turned the question back to her: "Regarding forces from beyond this world, or those associated with power from beyond, how does the Heavenly Principles typically act?"
Ei fell into thought, not immediately responding to Lin Mo's question.
Instead, Lin Mo smiled and provided the answer himself:
"In Mondstadt's Dragonspine, there once was a godless nation called Sal Vindagnyr."
"That nation once combined the power bestowed by the Heavenly Principles with the power of the ley lines."
"It enjoyed a brief period of glorious history."
"Similarly, there was another godless nation called Khaenri'ah."
"That country combined bio-alchemy with ley line power, also experiencing a period of brilliant history."
As Lin Mo spoke to this point,
his gaze swept over everyone as he smiled and said, "The fates of these two nations that once wielded power from beyond this world... I believe you've all heard of them."
"Sal Vindagnyr... Khaenri'ah..."
Ei and Makoto both frowned slightly.
Not just them.
Sasayuri, Yae Miko, and Kitsune Saiguu, who had lived through that era,
couldn't help but recall these two nations that were once at the peak of their power.
But... the final outcome was this:
The Heavenly Principles descended the Skyfrost Nail from Celestia.
The once-flourishing Sal Vindagnyr was instantly obliterated under the Heavenly Principles' wrath, becoming nothing but a glorious page in history.
Without the protection of a deity,
even those citizens who survived by chance,
under the erosion of the cursed ley line power, gradually transformed into twisted, monstrous beings.
For example, the Frostarm Lawachurl, one of the strongest creatures on Dragonspine, and the Hilichurls,
were transformed from the people of Sal Vindagnyr.
With the precedent of Sal Vindagnyr,
Khaenri'ah, the most glorious empire in history,
was extremely cautious in its initial development.
To avoid drawing the gaze of the gods, Khaenri'ah's ancestors did not use the power bestowed by the gods to develop their nation.
Instead, they fused alchemy with ley line power, creating bio-alchemy.
The speed of Khaenri'ah's development exceeded all the gods' expectations.
When Khaenri'ah revealed its full strength to the continent of Teyvat,
the Heavenly Principles realized that
overthrowing this nation by their own power alone was already very difficult.
Thus, five hundred years ago, the Heavenly Principles summoned the Seven Archons to jointly launch a siege against Khaenri'ah.
The once-prosperous Khaenri'ah,
its fate, like Sal Vindagnyr's, turned to dust in the annals of history.
Its people, also for using ley line power, were cursed.
Some became Hilichurls.
Others became Abyss Mages and Abyss Heralds who serve the Abyss Order.
As Ei reorganized these memories,
she couldn't help but ask Lin Mo, "These two nations used power from beyond this world, ley line power, but what direct connection does this have with Watatsumi Island?"
"Of course there's a connection."
Lin Mo smiled, putting an arm around Sangonomiya Kokomi's shoulders as he addressed the group. "Kokomi, tell everyone, how is the lineage of the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi Island different from ordinary people?"
"I..."
Kokomi, with Lin Mo's arm around her shoulders, felt somewhat nervous.
But everyone, from the flicker in Kokomi's eyes, vaguely noticed something unusual.
Kokomi...
had no pupils.
Moreover, the feeling Kokomi gave off... truly seemed different from others.
"Sasayuri..."
At this moment, Yae Miko frowned slightly. "Now that you mention it... I sense it. The feeling Kokomi gives me... doesn't seem like that of a normal person."
"Hmm, what else do you sense?" Lin Mo asked with a smile.
"It just feels... I've encountered this unique type of being more than once..." Yae Miko still spoke uncertainly.
"She has a similar aura to Kunikuzushi."
Then, Ei directly revealed Sangonomiya Kokomi's origins: "Kokomi, you are a homunculus, created by a god, correct?"
Kokomi felt the many eyes upon her.
Nestled in Lin Mo's embrace, she nodded cautiously. "Yes... the Divine Priestess clan... was created by Lord Orobashi using coral from the depths of the sea..."
"Coral from the sea depths... a created homunculus..."
Ei frowned slightly.
This gave her an ominous premonition.
"Oh~ no wonder it felt so familiar~"
Yae Miko suddenly realized something. "Kokomi's aura is quite similar to Albedo's~."
"Of course~"
Lin Mo smiled slightly. "Because they are both beings created using ley line power."
"However, Albedo is a homunculus created by Rhinedottir."
"But the Divine Priestess clan was originally created by Orobashi as god-made homunculi."
As Lin Mo spoke to this point,
his gaze turned to Ei as he smiled and said, "The people of the ancient Byakuyakoku lived deep beneath the sea, at the border between this world and the world beyond."
"Why were the people of Byakuyakoku all ordinary humans, able to survive the erosion of the deep sea without forming curses?"
"Because... they used ley line power, the power most despised by the Heavenly Principles."
"The artificial sun of Enkanomiya was created by Byakuyakoku utilizing ley line power."
"Only, the manifestation of ley line power differs."
"On land, it is through ley line branches and sprouts that the pure ley line power beneath the earth coalesces."
"But in the sea, coral serves as the medium that gathers ley line power."
At this moment,
Ei finally understood.
She understood why Lin Mo said that if Watatsumi Island's Divine Priestess clan submitted to Inazuma, it would draw the Heavenly Principles' hostility.
Because...
the current leader of Watatsumi Island is the Divine Priestess descended from the ancient Byakuyakoku.
The unique topography of Watatsumi Island, different from all other islands in the world,
is precisely influenced by that enormous coral.
"Then why didn't the Heavenly Principles destroy Byakuyakoku, nor exterminate the Divine Priestess lineage?" Ei couldn't help but ask.
"Because... that was the transaction between Orobashi and the Heavenly Principles back then."
When Lin Mo mentioned this, his gaze couldn't help but grow somber. "In that battle, Orobashi told me all the reasons."
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T/N:
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