Lisa's body finally stilled. The violent, life-draining power within her had been caged. She lay on the chaise lounge, pale and drenched in sweat, but for the first time in years, her breathing was steady.
"It's suppressed," Su Han said, his voice low. He withdrew his hand, the last wisp of purple Purification Power fading from his palm. "But it's not a cure. It's a cage. And it won't hold forever."
Lisa opened her eyes. The haze of pain was gone, replaced by a sharp, desperate clarity. "Then what is the cure?"
"The cultivation method we just redeemed," Su Han said. "Senjutsu. I've read the text."
He didn't need to explain the thousand-word manual. He had grasped the core concept instantly. "The Senjutsu in the Naruto world was a temporary 'mode.' A gamble that could turn you to stone. But this," he tapped the group chat interface, "this is different. The system optimized it. It's not a 'mode' you enter; it's a process you undergo. It's a way to permanently reform the body from the ground up."
He leaned in, his voice dropping. "Lisa, your Vision… it's an external 'magic organ.' It's a crutch. It's also a filter. It only allows you to process Electro, but it blocks all other natural energies. That's why your own power is killing you. There's no balance. This Senjutsu… it's the path to building your own core. An internal one."
An epiphany. Lisa's eyes, which had been dull with exhaustion, now flashed with a brilliant, terrifying light. As a Sumeru Akademiya genius, she didn't just understand—she leapt ahead.
"An internal core," she whispered, the idea taking her breath away. "To render the Vision… obsolete."
"Exactly," Su Han said. "Archons don't need a Gnosis to use their power. Dvalin doesn't have a Vision. Their power is innate. This is the path to that. But you have to take the first step."
Lisa didn't hesitate. She reached up and, with a decisive tug, unclipped the purple Vision from her dress. She tossed it onto the table, where it landed with a heavy clack.
"Guide me," she commanded.
Su Han placed his hand on her abdomen. "Close your eyes. Empty your mind. Feel the world outside your own power."
As Su Han's Pure Yang energy guided her, Lisa began to cultivate. The rampaging Electro within her, no longer channeled by the Vision, fought back, but it was now an island in a vast, new ocean of natural energy. She felt the coolness of the stone floor, the Anemo energy in the wine on the table, the faint Dendro from the wooden beams above.
Her body, for the first time, was finding its own equilibrium. It was agonizing, but it was working.
She lasted only five minutes before her body began to tremble violently. "I can't… it's too much," she gasped.
"Your body can't absorb this much, this fast," Su Han said, pulling back. "You've been hollowed out by your own power for too long. You need to rest and digest."
Lisa, frustrated but alive with a new hope, nodded.
Su Han left Lisa to her rest and went to find Shenhe. The grotto-heaven was quiet, but he found her on the training field, sitting cross-legged, her Calamity Queller laid across her knees. Her Vision was on the ground beside her.
The air around her was humming with natural energy.
"You already started?" Su Han asked, surprised.
Shenhe opened her eyes, a faint, rare smile on her lips. "The concept is simple. Master taught me to be one with the mountains. This is no different. It is just… listening to a larger world."
She had already grasped the basics on her own.
"It feels... right," Shenhe continued, her voice soft. "When I wear my Vision, the cultivation is faster, but the Cryo energy is overwhelming. It's… cold. But like this," she gestured to the air, "it feels balanced. My body feels strong, and my mind is clear."
Su Han marveled at her. Of course. A girl raised by adepti, a girl who grew up in the heart of nature itself—she was the perfect vessel for Senjutsu. Her progress was already twice as fast as Lisa's.
"I am glad you have returned," Shenhe said, her calm eyes meeting his. "I did not like sleeping alone."
Su Han's heart softened. He had been so focused on his plans, on Jean, on the crisis, that he had forgotten the simple needs of the woman who had tied her fate to his. He went to her, knelt down, and kissed her gently. "I'm not going anywhere tonight."
Later, he contacted Zhongli. He had to know the truth.
Su Han:Mr. Zhongli. Archons and adepti. They don't use Visions. How do they channel the elements?
The reply was almost instantaneous.
Zhongli:Your guess is correct. Teyvat lacks a true cultivation method. Archons and ancient adeptibeasts, over millennia, instinctively learned to draw in and store vast amounts of elemental power, condensing it within their own bodies to form a 'core'.
Zhongli:When a being no longer needs a Vision to wield the elements, they are, in essence, a true 'allogene.' A Vision, a Gnosis… they are just tools. For the strong, they are unnecessary.
Zhongli:I did not expect that this 'Senjutsu' you found would have such a wondrous effect. It seems your friends are about to take a great leap forward. Congratulations. I await the day you find the treasure that can restore Azhdaha's mind.
Su Han closed the chat, his mind reeling.
This was the path. This was how they would win. This was how they could all shed their "crutches" and ascend.
That night, he found Jean in her office, her face buried in her hands. He didn't knock. He simply walked in, dismissed her guards, and locked the door.
He began to guide her, and her sister Barbara, in the art of Senjutsu.
Jean, as expected, was a fast learner. But Barbara, lacking all confidence, struggled. She couldn't quiet her mind, couldn't feel the energy, and quickly dissolved into tears.
"I'm sorry, brother-in-law! I'm just too stupid!"
Su Han sighed, then knelt in front of her, his voice gentle but firm. "You're not stupid, Barbara. You're just afraid. Stop trying so hard. Close your eyes. Just follow my power. Feel its path. Let it loop once. That's all. We'll do it again and again until you remember."
He spent until midnight, patiently guiding her, until she could finally complete the first cycle on her own.
When he left her room, Jean was waiting in the hall with a towel.
"You worked so hard," she whispered.
"We're family, aren't we?" Su Han replied, pulling her into his arms. "Besides, she's not a fool. She just needs someone to believe in her."
The passion from the night before rekindled instantly. Jean, no longer the "Acting Grand Master" but simply a woman who had found a pillar to lean on, led him back to her room.
But at dawn, Su Han was ripped from his sleep.
It wasn't a sound. It was a feeling.
A massive, violent surge of Anemo energy.
He wasn't the only one. Across Mondstadt, every Haki user and every Senjutsu cultivator (Jean, Shenhe, Lisa) all woke at the same instant.
Su Han was on the balcony in a second, his eyes turned to the north.
He saw it. A colossal, dark vortex of wind, raging over Stormterror's Lair. But it wasn't Dvalin. It was something… new.
His face turned to stone.
"Sound the alarm," he roared, his voice thundering with Conqueror's Haki. "An enemy is here! All citizens, stay indoors! Knights and Church, to your posts! NOW!"
The city sirens wailed.
A new dragon disaster had just begun.
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