" Please, do not mention Her in the diary," Raiden Ei said with utmost sincerity, her attitude utterly solemn.
As Su Xuan had pointed out, Raiden Ei had witnessed the desperate flight of Khaenri'ah and its ultimate fate.
Just as Raiden Makoto had said, [they could chase after it if they wished], but the price of that [pursuit] was the enjoyment of the fleeting [moment] it brought.
A price so devastating it led to utter annihilation.
And the one responsible for that catastrophic end was the being seated high above in the heavens.
With a single thought, She could bring irreversible destruction upon all living beings on the earth.
Yet Su Xuan was boldly discussing Her in the diary. Raiden Ei didn't dare imagine what Her reaction would be if She found out.
If She dropped a nail on Su Xuan...
Then Inazuma would be gone.
Su Xuan: "..."
[Look how scared the kid is. I just mentioned the Heavenly Principles right in front of her, is that really necessary...?]
[But I have to say, Ei on her knees like that is pretty alluring. Gonna save this one.]
[Raiden Ei in seiza position.jpg]
The women: "....."
Su Xuan glanced quietly at Raiden Ei, who was still frozen in seiza position. The diary replica hovered before her, but she was too frightened to even turn the page.
With a sigh, Su Xuan gently patted Raiden Ei's head. "You've already eaten food from beyond this world, and you're still worried about me mentioning the Heavenly Principles?"
"That's different," Raiden Ei replied respectfully. "I only ate ordinary food. I didn't accept any products you brought from beyond this world."
"Nor did I study or create anything from them."
"Moreover, you're in Inazuma, and you mentioned Her in passing while talking about me... That kind of thing..."
"Relax," Su Xuan reassured her. "The Heavenly Principles has fallen into slumber and won't awaken anytime soon."
"The Heavenly Principles' maintainers lost most of their power after the great war five hundred years ago. The only one still active on the Teyvat Continent now is the Archon of Death."
"But these days, Istaroth isn't all that invested in the affairs of the Teyvat Continent."
"I even suspect Istaroth harbors some grudge against the Heavenly Principles. You might not know this, but when she helped Shibarac establish Natlan's laws, she drew the Heavenly Principles' ire."
"The gall of her—she told Shibarac that if the Heavenly Principles came asking, just say he'd stolen her power."
"Isn't that straight-up throwing your boss under the bus?"
"After that, Istaroth just checked out."
Listening to Su Xuan's detailed explanation, Raiden Ei was filled with regret.
She shouldn't have begged him to stop.
It was one thing for him to record all this in the diary, but now he was discussing the Heavenly Principles and the Archon of Death right in front of her.
Wasn't that putting her, Raiden Ei, on a spit over the fire?
The stories between those two weren't something a mere Archon of the mortal world like her could touch.
The more you knew, the closer you came to destruction.
Su Xuan tapped his finger lightly, and a glow shimmered over Raiden Ei's body. Under the power of telekinesis, she involuntarily stood up.
"I'm just some guy from beyond this world, and I'm not scared. What do you have to be afraid of?" Su Xuan chuckled.
Raiden Ei was speechless.
Of course you aren't scared. When things go south, you'll just pat your butt and leave Teyvat. But what about her? What about her Inazuma?
"You're only half-understanding the Heavenly Principles, which is why you're doing all these ridiculous, laughable things."
"Don't interrupt me. I still need to record the answers in the diary. But I can guarantee you this: relax and don't worry. There won't be any problems."
[Back to the main topic. Let me continue on Raiden Ei's idea of eternity, and the Vision Hunt Decree and Sakoku Decree.]
[Precisely because Raiden Ei has lost so much along the way, she understands the pain of loss all too well.]
[So after witnessing Khaenri'ah's frantic pursuit end in instant annihilation, she decided that Raiden Makoto's pursuit of fleeting light was a mistake.]
[After succeeding Raiden Makoto as the Raiden Shogun, Raiden Ei's top priority was ensuring Inazuma's people endured forever.]
[At the very least, they couldn't follow in Khaenri'ah's footsteps.]
[Thus, she secluded herself in the Plane of Euthymia, battling erosion while devoting herself to studying the path of eternity.]
[As long as her actions aligned more closely with the Heavenly Principles' ideals, Inazuma's existence would persist indefinitely.]
[The Heavenly Principles forbids the people of Teyvat from touching things from beyond the world, so Raiden Ei forbade Inazuma's people from anything outside Inazuma.]
[And to prevent her native subjects from even dreaming of pursuit, she had to stifle their imaginations at the root.]
[Thus, the Vision Hunt Decree was born.]
[Start with those whose desires burned strongest, suppress the wishes in their hearts. As long as the people harbored no excessive ambitions, Inazuma would be stable...]
[But I just can't wrap my head around it. Raiden Ei has been pondering eternity for centuries—why implement the Vision Hunt Decree and Sakoku Decree only in recent years?]
[These two decrees were proposed to the Raiden Shogun by the Fatui in collusion with the Tenryou Commission and Kanjou Commission.]
[Did that mean the Raiden Ei, holed up in the Plane of Euthymia for centuries, never found a concrete plan to lead Inazuma into eternity?]
[And it was ultimately the Fatui who inspired her?]
[Though, thinking about it, that's normal. Ei might be maxed out in tech and combat prowess, but her IQ in governing people and running a nation is basically zero.]
[Still, my point stands: it's because she's only half-understanding the Heavenly Principles that she's come up with these absurd measures.]
[Raiden Ei was terrified by Khaenri'ah's downfall. She knew its destruction was horrifying, but she didn't understand the real reason the Heavenly Principles judged it.]
[Speaking of which, the Heavenly Principles was actually quite merciful toward Khaenri'ah.]
[Under the new world order led by the Seven Archons, allowing a godless nation like Khaenri'ah to exist was already an exception.]
[But what did those people do?]
[Their so-called pride and glory were built on wantonly mining ley lines and tampering with Abyss power.]
[That pride and glory inflicted irreversible damage on the Teyvat Continent.]
[They even dug tunnels to other nations, preparing for future invasions.]
[As Khaenri'ah's leader, the greedy Ilmin deceived the Yellow Hair Aunt's blood kin into helping him endlessly siphon Abyss power.]
[In the end, he couldn't control it. The Abyss power went berserk, nearly destroying the entire continent.]
[That's what brought divine punishment upon Khaenri'ah's people.]
[So, as long as a nation on Teyvat doesn't harm the ley lines or touch the Abyss, the Heavenly Principles couldn't care less.]
[The people of Fontaine invented Star Rail and Star Rail Energy to replace elemental power—they have airships, powered ships, clockwork meka, and I haven't seen the Heavenly Principles drop a single nail on them.]
[I think Ei really ought to take a trip to Natlan. Mavuika races across the skies on her badass motorcycle, and the Heavenly Principles hasn't sniped her from above.]
[Not to mention all the ancient dragon tech relics that feel like they belong in a different movie altogether.]
[No Firmament Nail has come crashing down to wipe them out.]
[Sigh...]
[I really want to roast this: Inazuma's situation is already such a mess, and she's still fretting over whether it can eternally endure into the future...]
[Yeah... a backward fishing village worrying about annihilation...]
[Worrying over nothing.]
Yae Miko: "..."
Fishing village!?