-Extra chapter today-
[Anomaly detected. New Attribute -Faith- has been-]
[Warning. Continued gathering of -Faith- leads to creation of -Barbatos-]
[Warning. Conflict with User's greatest wish detected. Conflict must be purged]
[...]
[Error. The System cannot harm the User]
[New solution created. Reintegrating-]
When I woke up, I felt…odd. Not bad, just weird. I could've sworn I was dreaming before I woke up. Something about floating in space, and being stared at by a…bow? Some weird centaur-like being? I wasn't quite sure, but all I was sure of was that this being was staring at me, and it felt as if I stood beneath the gaze of the universe itself.
…the universe? What is that-
What-
…
What was I thinking of again?
I scratched my head as I pushed myself off the bed. Whatever the case, I felt…good. Great, even. Normally, I'd be sore all over after a day of continually using two 5★ at the same time, but I felt none of that this time. Was it because I've only been using it in bursts throughout yesterday?
Hmm. That didn't feel right. Whatever the case, it was good that I felt so energized. Despite how cranky I felt by the end of yesterday, it didn't change the fact that there were still dozens of secluded villages under threat. And if some of the adepti that secretly protected those villages had become corrupted like that old man-
There was no time to waste!
…but I'm hungry. Maybe a quick breakfast was due.
After chomping down on a few apples I found, sharp winds spun around me as I soared into the skies.
And so onwards I went. Village to village, convincing the people to take refuge in my Personal World. At times I'd come to a village free of conflict, and I'd have to heavily rely on my [Charisma] to get my point through. At times I'd come to a village on the verge of being destroyed, and I'd tear the demons apart with my winds. Rarely I'd find an adepti that'd been corrupted, and it fell to me to put them down.
And sometimes I'd be too late, and the most I'd find is a field of corpses, their bodies unrecognizable due to the karma that'd befell them.
I didn't let it slow me. Morning turned to noon. Noon turned to the evenings. I glided from village to village like some shepherd, and I would do what I could to save those that needed it. Or if there was nothing left, then to at least liberate the lands so that their souls could rest in peace.
And once night came, I would find a place to rest. Sometimes it'd be in one of the abandoned houses. Other times I'd be outside, sleeping atop the branches of a tree. Sleeping on a tree felt strange, but it also felt oddly…familiar. When I tried, my body instinctively knew how to curl in, and I had little trouble finding comfort beneath a canopy of leaves.
Days went by like that. With me spending most of my time up in the air, flying village to village and saving those I can. It was the first time I spent so long outside the walls of a city, and it felt right. Being out here, high up in the skies, bringing people to safety and purging evil-
It felt like coming home.
My journey wasn't surprises though. One time, I came to a village deep in conflict. Not against the demons, but against their own adepti. It seemed they'd realized that their protector had changed, and now they armed themselves against a seemingly unkillable foe. "We might die, but our stories shall live on!" One man had said when I asked why they did so.
Their Determination pulled me, and so I discreetly aided them as a 'traveller'. And so they offered a surprising amount of resistance against the corrupted adepti. And it was ultimately the adepti's own disciple that slayed their master.
It was only when they were preparing to leave for Liyue Harbor that I revealed myself to the adepti's disciple. Told him of the circumstances of the outside world, and that it was paramount that they head to Liyue Harbor as quickly as they could. The disciple vowed to bring his people to safety, and I soon soared to the skies, returning to my task.
Another time, I'd found a village that'd been completely ruined. Or at least that was what it seemed at first. But my instincts told me otherwise, and after some exploring, I found that most of the village's previous inhabitants had found a complex series of caves to hide in.
But what surprised me more was the fact that they'd discovered another civilisation, hidden within the chasm they'd hid in. And it was in those ruins that the villagers began reconstructing their homes. And they were doing quite a good job on doing that as well. I was honestly impressed! Their Tenacity shone through, and they thrived even in an environment wholly different compared to what they were used to.
Seeing as the place was pretty safe and the people had just finished moving, I decided to just offer some materials I had in my Inventory before taking my leave.
My journey was filled with ups and downs. But it was undeniable that I had an impact. Hundreds of people I had saved, and certainly hundreds of demons I'd had felled. So perhaps it was no surprise that I would eventually find myself a target.
"Or maybe I should be honored instead?" I asked almost casually as I sat atop the roof of a house. My legs dangled playfully from the ledge, while the corpses of a hundred demons sat still around the house, none even managing to come close. Their blood pooled into a large puddle of vicious purple.
This time, I'd been approaching a village when I felt that something was wrong. And so instead of landing at the village outskirts, I instead stopped at one of the houses' roofs and used my [Windblume Festival: Resonance] to see what was happening.
It was revolting. The previous inhabitants of the village were still here, but they were all dead. Even more insulting, they'd all been stuffed into their houses, as if to try and recreate what the village used to look like. I imagine it was a trap to make someone believe that the village was still there.
I-, there was no way I was letting this insult remain. And as a result I blasted most of the village into nonexistence. The only thing that remained was this house I sat on, and hundreds of demon corpses I'd left in the wake of my typhoon.
I'd yet to leave the village though. Because I was still waiting for something.
Then, after minutes of silence, my [Hawk Eyes] caught something.
A cold smile graced my lips. "So you've finally appeared." I said as I hopped off the roof. A shock of wind shot out as my feet touched the ground, blasting all the demon corpses away. "I was getting a little bored!"
The man that'd approached the ruined village gave no words, but he didn't need to. Even from afar, I could smell the stench of karma that radiated from him. Even this blood-soaked ground emanated less darkness than the man-shaped being that stood before me.
Well, since he wasn't saying anything-
In a near instant, I had my [Hamayumi] in hand, and an arrow of condensed Anemo notched on its strings. And a sharp hiss left my lips as I shoved as much power as I could into the arrow, before letting it fly forward with so much speed that the debris behind me was blown away.
The man's eyes shot wide as the arrow appeared before him in moments, and he quickly formed a barrier of energy to shield himself. But to his horror, the arrow practically tore right through his defense, and he cried out as the resulting whirlwind drilled through the right-half of his face.
But I knew it wasn't enough, and I was already preparing another Anemo arrow. Because it was clear that the being before me was some sort of demonic god—an adepti that thrived within the corruption instead. And as I predicted, once the winds cleared, I could already see flesh reknitting across his wounded face.
My eyes blazed blue. I didn't mind being so Ruthless against a being that so callously toyed with human lives.
[Prerequisites have been met. Building new Path-]
I let loose arrow after arrow, all fired at the man with no hesitation. He defended, and even attempted to retaliate at times, but he quickly became overwhelmed as the arrows slammed into him. Before long, he was forced to divert most of his energy to regenerate the flesh he lost.
But even that wasn't enough. He expended more and more karma with every wound he healed, and yet it seemed his opponent wasn't even tiring.
It was impossible! The other gods told him that an adepti was interfering with their plans and told him to take care of it. He'd wanted nothing more than to finally show his talents off, but now he wished nothing more than to go to the past and beg for them to reconsider.
Clearly, their information was faulty. No, not just faulty. They were outright misled! And it'd be so obvious as well!
For what reason did Venti stay within Liyue Harbor, so bravely showing her face to her people? For what reason did Guizhong so brazenly dared to show their companionship, despite the tumultuous times? For what reason did Morax so readily favored her, despite how it may look to others?
Venti was no mere adepti. She was a god!
And looking upon her now, her eyes blazing with such light that it rivaled the sun, standing within the eye of a storm, her Anemo arrows blurring forward almost like spears of light—he found himself convinced. Liyue Harbor had intentionally hid the truth regarding who Venti truly was.
No. No!
He had to run. He had to at least inform the rest that they were being misled. That Venti was no mere adepti. The strength she carried was not one that could be fought against by him. They needed someone stronger; someone that could rend mountains and-!
The rest of his thoughts ended when a particularly powerful Anemo arrow slammed him down into the ground, before the resulting tornado tore him into tiny fragments.
[Detected defeat of Boss Monster, -Demon God Bubai-. Rewards have been moved to the Inventory]
I stared at what remained of my enemy, before I sighed. My Genshin System told me that I'd just killed a demon god, but I somehow knew the one I faced was on the lower end of their ranks. More of a footsoldier compared to the true big dogs that Morax had to go fight every week or so.
I smiled tiredly. "Haiyah..." I held my head. Ooh, I'd done it. Now that most of my anger had drained away, I realized how precarious things had gotten. If I became such a nuisance that even the demon gods were starting to pay attention, then it wouldn't be long before I'd get into some serious trouble.
…but that won't stop me. There's still a few unnamed villages I need to visit according to the map Guizhong gave me. I can't stop yet.
Putting that aside, I opened my Inventory to see what Reward I'd gotten from killing Bubai, and a wide smile came to my lips as I saw the item.
[Philosophies of Diligence 4★
Diligence is having the bravery and strength to conquer mountains and seas and to pursue gold and prosperity through honest, hard work.
Upgrades any 3★ Combat-related Talent to 4★]
A Talent-upgrade item! I've been trying to find one of these! I had a lot of items that upgraded my Talents up to 3★ just from all the exploring I've done, but this was the first time I've found one that'd push a Talent to 4★. And good timing too, considering things were about to get even harder from here.
Without hesitation, I used the item on my [Guili Hunting Archery]. A surge of knowledge appeared in my mind when I did that, and I took a small breath as I took it all in.
[Guili Hunting Archery 4★
The apex of Guili Archery, meant for hunting and battle. It was said that any those skilled with this archery could take down even dragons with but a single arrow.
Increases Arrow damage by 80%. Reduces the effect of environmental interference by 50%. Arrows ignore 35% of target's Body. Arrows inflict a Slowness-Debuff, reducing target's speed by 25%]
I whistled. Those were some good upgrades I got just from upgrading to 4★. But what caught my eye was the fact that the System called this the 'apex' of this type of archery. And if that was the case, if I used my [Crown of Insight] to push it up to 5★, what'd happen to the Talent then?
I was kinda tempted to use the crown here and now, but I resisted. It was better I save it for when I truly needed an edge.
After all, this day wasn't over yet.
Fluorescent wings stretched out from my back as I leapt to the skies.
.
.
.
Unknown to me, some survivors from the destroyed village had seen my ascent. Some managed to gather their confidence and return to their home, only to be shocked to find their village gone, and the mountain of demon corpses left behind. It was as if a powerful gale had swept through the village and cleansed it of any corruption. And taking into account what they'd seen-
Days later, once the disparate tales of my actions finally made their way back to Liyue Harbor, the people crafted a new title for me.
Venti, the Ascending Gale. Lord of Winds and Liberation.