I'm Coming In Now~?

Although she couldn't just abandon her work, if she completed her tasks far ahead of schedule and cleared all objectives quickly, then even if she requested leave, MEI and the others surely couldn't object.

And during this specially approved vacation, Miss Elysia unhesitatingly chose—to tour the scenery of another world.

After all, she had been thinking about that world called Teyvat for a long time.

fairy Ely described it so wonderfully; wouldn't it be a great pity if she couldn't see it for herself?

But—after some whimsical brainstorming, Elysia decided not to tell Jiang Qiao or even fairy Ely that she had arrived in Teyvat. To avoid attracting attention upon 'entering the world', she didn't seek out Jiang Qiao or Furina, opting instead for Hu Tao in Liyue.

This way, she could arrive in this world completely unbeknownst to Jiang Qiao, and then... Elysia had already decided: she was going to conduct a 'surprise inspection'! Both to see if that fairy Ely was doing her job diligently, and also to—give someone a fright!

Haha, didn't expect this, did you? Bad Jiang Qiao! Elysia is appearing right before you!

This kind of unpredictable, surprise 'attack' method undoubtedly fit Elysia's own fairy aesthetic perfectly.

"Scenery completely different from Liyue... Hmm, after finding bad Jiang Qiao, I should still visit Hu Tao's place~" Elysia rested her chin on her hand, standing on a hillside gazing at the Sumeru rainforest close at hand, with the Liyue border behind her, thinking thusly.

Liyue was undoubtedly a good place too. For her, it was also rare scenery. If it were any other time, in the past, she would definitely want to thoroughly explore all of Liyue's sights.

But traveling alone was perhaps a bit lonely.

It was fine when she was a child, but now, having grown into a beautiful young lady, Elysia hoped to add another figure to her journey.

A sweet, wonderful trip for two, that sounds really romantic, doesn't it?

"Such fragrant flowers~ Strange fruits..."

Everything in the rainforest captivated Elysia. Sights she had never seen before filled her vision, almost giving the illusion that her eyes couldn't take it all in.

She strolled through the rainforest, heading towards Sumeru City, the direction she got from Hu Tao.

Although some tactless Fungi beasts did try to cause trouble for Elysia along the way, their threat level compared to Honkai Beasts that could easily reach two stories high was simply negligible. But because many of them looked quite cute, Elysia chose not to eliminate them, merely scaring these little cuties away with her arrows.

"Ooh~ So this is Sumeru City? What a huge tree~"

Having gotten directions from a Forest Watcher named Tighnari when passing through Gandharva Ville, Elysia, relying on her superhuman speed, reached Sumeru City nestled deep within the rainforest. Gazing at this nation built upon a tree, a smile of wonder and delight appeared on her face.

"And this feeling... It's the aura of Origin. Bad Jiang Qiao is indeed here." Closing her eyes and sensing for a moment, Miss Pink Fat Woman revealed a hint of joy.

Because she had communicated with fairy Ely, she had 'subtly' learned that Jiang Qiao wasn't in Fontaine but in Sumeru. Otherwise, Elysia wouldn't have deliberately crossed the rainforest; going directly to Yilong Port and taking a ship to Fontaine would have been the correct and fastest route.

A moment later, gazing at Sumeru City close at hand, a mischievous curve appeared on Elysia's lips. Hehe, bad Jiang Qiao, I've found you~

She had already figured out how to give someone a big scare—by suddenly hugging them from behind!

Imagining the scene to come, Miss Elysia felt full of motivation.

Just then, a patrolling Eremite squad glanced at Elysia, muttered something to a companion, and then walked over. Elysia didn't find this particularly strange.

After all, the people of this nation seemed quite kind and enthusiastic.

She remembered when she first entered the rainforest and got a little lost, that Forest Watcher Tighnari in Gandharva Ville had been incredibly hospitable.

Oh my, I didn't expect the people of Sumeru City to be so hospitable too.

So eagerly offering help to foreign travelers...

"Miss, you are under arrest." Miss Pink Fat Woman, completely unprepared due to expecting Sumeru hospitality, stared at the shackles on her wrists as the Eremite's solemn declaration instantly pulled her back to reality.

"Wh-Why?!" Elysia was dumbfounded, utterly confused.

Could it be that this nation called Sumeru was actually very xenophobic, arresting anyone who came from another country?

...No, Hu Tao clearly said Sumeru was quite nice, just a bit arrogant and looking down on uncultured people—Elysia didn't feel that applied to her, but regardless, the term 'xenophobic' didn't fit Sumeru; it sounded more like Inazuma.

If they were really arresting people, there are so many other travelers around, why arrest me specifically?

"Hmph? Still daring to ask why! You violated the laws of Sumeru!"

"....."

Miss 55kg felt even more wronged.

Hold on, I literally just arrived in Sumeru, what law did I break?

Could Sumeru possibly have some weird rule like 'Entering Sumeru left foot first is illegal'? That would be too unreasonable!

"Hmph, what's there to say to a wanted criminal like this? Take her away quickly."

"Huh? Wan... Wanted criminal?!"

Hearing the words 'wanted criminal', Elysia felt even more unjustly accused, protesting indignantly and unhappily: "You must have mistaken me for someone else... I just came to Sumeru from Liyue."

"No, you definitely arrested the wrong person!"

She was quite certain.

After all, how could a beautiful girl as radiant as a flower like herself possibly be some wanted criminal?

"No mistake. Here, look—"

An Eremite member directly presented the wanted poster to Elysia, who then saw an 'abstract' style 'wanted poster'.

Although incredibly crude, so crude it made Elysia frown just looking at it, what made her lose her composure even more was that this wanted poster really was of her.

Both the hair color and clothing were exactly like hers, and there was even a pink floating pixie next to her.

"Alright, nothing more to say, right? Take her away!"

Hearing the guard's words, Miss Elysia, frozen on the spot, finally understood what had happened.

This was definitely the work of a certain bad guy who used her appearance while doing bad things.

Figuring this out, Elysia instantly entered teeth-grinding mode.

Ahhhhh, bad Jiang Qiao!!! You did bad things and made Elysia take the blame!!!

Just you wait for Elysia! Don't let me find you—!!!

.....

"Achoo—"

The blue-and-white-haired girl walking through the desert suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose, puzzled:

"Strange, is the weather too cold?"

That couldn't be right. This body was a genuine Archon's body; a small temperature change shouldn't matter.

Oh well, it wasn't anything important anyway.

The urgent matter was dealing with the thing before him—

[Furina] gazed at the enormous sandstorm in the distance, murmuring:

"The Dendro Dragon."

Apep, the Dragon King of Dendro, 'sick' from eating something unclean—as for what that unclean thing was, perhaps only 'Master Red' (King Deshret) could answer.

Honestly, leaving Apep untreated wouldn't be a major issue. Unlike Neuvillette, Apep, as one of the original elemental dragons, held deep hostility towards the gods and had a poor attitude towards Nahida.

If they had no relationship, letting her be would, at worst, just mean the desert dwellers eating a bit more sand—anyway, there was already so much sand around King Deshret's Mausoleum, it wasn't a new problem.

Sumeru's rainforest had the Varuna Contraption left by Rukkhadevata, so it wouldn't be affected.

But after careful consideration, and seeking the opinions of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and even Focalors, Jiang Qiao thought, since he was already here, and it was just a small effort, he might as well lend a hand.

After all, letting this dragon remain sick here was also troublesome.

If she went berserk, a Dendro Dragon, even one whose authority had been usurped, would still be a huge problem if she lost control.

Besides, if he didn't help, Fluffball would definitely intervene once she discovered the situation later.

From Fontaine's perspective, Apep was too close, plus Neuvillette was also an elemental dragon. Consider it doing Mr. Hydro Dragon a favor. If he could potentially turn Apep to their side later, she would be a valuable asset in the future war.

Natlan supposedly had both Pyro and Electro elemental dragons.

As for the divine seat itself, Jiang Qiao didn't plan to touch it.

He had already shattered one divine throne in a short period. If he broke two in succession, he wasn't sure if the folks on Celestia could restrain themselves from acting.

Jiang Qiao certainly wasn't afraid of a fight. Never mind the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, even Phanes at his peak wouldn't intimidate him if he made proper preparations.

But the cost of triggering another war like the one that brought down the previous civilization was extremely painful.

That war caused Teyvat's civilization to practically reset, with some regions regressing to a primitive state.

Countless people died.

Even the world of Teyvat itself developed problems. For Jiang Qiao to simultaneously ensure the world wasn't destroyed and beat down certain tactless individuals would require quite a bit of skill.

Since Snezhnaya wanted to be the one to stick its neck out, why should Fontaine step forward first?

The swirling sand made progress difficult, but such methods that hindered ordinary people couldn't impede [Furina]'s steps much.

The power of an Archon flowed; formless water possessed ultimate plasticity—just like how Oceanids could change their forms.

"...Using this might be more suitable?"

The water curtain covering [Furina] dissipated, revealing a graceful figure clad in 'new clothes'. Silky white hair cascaded down to her waist, swaying gently in the wind. She raised a hand, flexing fingers that were noticeably longer yet still fair as jade. Vibrant green, full of life, replaced the Hydro Archon's heterochromatic eyes.

The unique attire of a god—on her exposed shoulders, faint green markings could be seen.

This was a form not unfamiliar to the people of Sumeru.

Its name—Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.

"You changed my body into another woman's form again!" Focalors complained, somewhat dissatisfied.

Am I not beautiful? Is my divine attire not beautiful?!

However, alongside the dissatisfaction, she also felt a sense of novelty.

After all, this body was hers. When Jiang Qiao used it, Focalors also experienced the sensations.

Although having the form of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata—another woman—superimposed on her own was irritating, the increased height and the indecent ██-volume were entirely new experiences for Focalors.

"It's just that this form is better for using this ability. Hmm—and for Apep, this form is also more familiar," [Furina], now appearing as Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, smiled nonchalantly while turning her hand over.

Apep was the most stubborn dragon. Look how she treated Nahida, a cute loli of the same element, poorly. If it were a god from another nation, it would be even worse.

But using Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's form was very effective.

Because Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had cultivated excellent

relationships in the past. As the God of Wisdom, even Archons had days when they sought wisdom. As the World Tree, the Archons also had needs. Coupled with her generous approach to sharing knowledge, who would refuse such a convenient resource?

From Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's memories, Jiang Qiao saw that during the Archon War, the gods of the Sumeru region, including Remus, almost all had good relationships with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. Sharing territory equally with the Tree Lord wasn't a decision unique to King Deshret; any Archon would have been willing to coexist peacefully with her.

Apep was the same. Although she wasn't fond of Rukkhadevata's status as a usurper, she held no ill will towards Rukkhadevata herself. Nahida, to some extent, inherited this favorable impression; otherwise, the Dendro Dragon wouldn't have been so polite.

The same bare feet, delicate jade feet stepping lightly on the yellow sand, brought about a different effect compared to 'Focalors'. This was a 'technique' Jiang Qiao learned from Rukkhadevata's long memories after 'absorbing' her.

Even though the authorities of Wisdom and Plants had been transferred to Nahida, assuming Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was no longer a powerful god without them would be a grave misunderstanding.

And what Jiang Qiao was using now was Rukkhadevata's specialty: connecting to Irminsul and manipulating ley line energy. Originally, this kind of operation should have been exclusive to the Tree Lord and Dendro Archon.

But having delved into Irminsul and consumed 'Rukkhadevata', Jiang Qiao could now, to some extent, 'disguise' himself to deceive Irminsul, accessing the power originally only usable by Rukkhadevata.

Of course, for Jiang Qiao—this was like a mouse entering a granary. *Since you've opened the door, how much I take isn't up to you.*

Miss Tree Lord felt quite conflicted about this. *Did I just... lead a thief into my house?* *No, if Irminsul was her body, a more accurate analogy would be—leading a thief into my cave!*

But she couldn't be bothered to dwell on this anymore. Worrying about it while she was alive was one thing, but fretting over it five hundred years after death was just asking for trouble. *Use it if you want; I've already been separated. I can't control my old body anymore.*

Rukkhadevata, grumbling internally while observing this 'herself' from the outside, decisively chose to give up worrying. *Learning from Egeria's successor isn't so bad. Casually taking a sip—it's a taste I've never experienced before~*

Using 'Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's' form, he walked directly into the heart of the sandstorm, arriving at the domain of the Dendro Dragon Apep.

Amidst the swirling yellow sand, a massive, serpentine figure was faintly visible, along with ferocious eyes radiating hostility.

"Who dares trespass on my territory...?"

"...?!"

"Tree Lord—?!" The terrible 'food poisoning' forced Apep to rely on rest to barely resist. Waking up with a throbbing head, just as she was about to angrily teach the tactless trespasser a lesson, she froze upon seeing 'Greater Lord Rukkhadevata', utterly incredulous.

"...Aren't you already dead?"

Her hostility diminished significantly, replaced by suspicion and confusion. But Jiang Qiao was quite satisfied with this outcome and gently touched his 'disguise'—*Mm, it's really effective.*

"It's a long story, Apep. I came here primarily for you." Just like the Tree Lord in her memories, 'Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's' beautiful face was full of compassion and gentleness.

This familiar demeanor made Apep feel a sense of nostalgia. "After all these years, you haven't changed at all."

"Neither have you."

"Because of King Deshret's recklessness, we've both suffered quite a bit."

"That guy..." Apep couldn't help but complain. Although the matter wasn't anyone else's fault; it was her own weakness. But having been tormented by Forbidden Knowledge for so many years, she still harbored considerable resentment towards King Deshret.

"Alright, relax your body, Apep. I'll use my power to cleanse the Forbidden Knowledge within you," 'Greater Lord Rukkhadevata' smiled. Apep didn't suspect anything amiss, yet she felt a strange sense of dissonance.

*Would the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata of the past have shown such a 'fairy-like' smile?*

Perhaps too much time had passed, and her perception was skewed. Or perhaps the Tree Lord had changed?

She didn't think too much about it.

If it were anyone else, Apep naturally wouldn't have believed a single word. *Asking her to relax her body... Laughable. Others couldn't even get close to her.*

But if it was Greater Lord Rukkhadevata...

Then she could barely accept it.

Besides their good relationship and her trustworthiness, the Dendro Archon was practically the only one who could save the Dendro Dragon.

The yellow sand subsided slightly as Apep lowered her massive body, her voice muffled.

"Go ahead."

"Then, I'm coming in now~?"