"Huff... huff... huff... You are... a demon\!"
Azar, awakened by the lightning, took a long moment to recover before he could clearly see the person standing before him. He finally saw the sunlight he had yearned for.
Lin Tian waved his hand dismissively. Whether he was a demon or not wasn't for Azar to decide. Besides, so what if he was? As long as it disgusted Azar, it was fine.
"Azar, I am well aware of your crimes. You were once a Grand Sage of Sumeru, yet you have fallen to this state. Do you feel any regret?" Nahida put on a serious little face, trying her best to look stern.
"Heh, regret? I have never regretted it\!" Seeing Nahida, Azar didn't question why she was here, nor did he care why she was being held so contentedly by Lin Tian. Instead, he spoke with a calm expression.
"If not for the appearance of this demon, my plan never would have been exposed, and you would never have seen the light of day again\!" Azar knew he couldn't survive Lin Tian, so he laid all his cards on the table.
"You do not possess the power of Greater Lord Kusanali to lead us. Under your guidance, Sumeru will only grow weaker\! Everything I did, I did for Sumeru\! And you, colluding with an outsider to treat a Grand Sage this way—are you even worthy of being called a god\!"
Azar grew more agitated as he spoke, completely failing to notice the darkening expression on the face of Lin Tian, who was holding Nahida. He continued to berate Nahida, as if she were the true culprit for Sumeru's decline.
"If Greater Lord Kusanali were still here, she would definitely... Ahhhhhhh\!\!\!"
Before Azar could finish, Lin Tian directly summoned the lightning again, giving Azar a lightning bath to clear his head.
"Nahida, don't listen to him. This thing has lost its mind and is just spouting nonsense," Lin Tian comforted Nahida, afraid she might believe Azar's words. Although they had already helped Nahida understand her importance to Sumeru, her personality was still inherently unconfident.
Compared to the authority of Greater Lord Kusanali, she was indeed a bit weak. But she was still young; there was much knowledge and many paths she needed to explore herself. This wasn't something she could learn in a short time. She needed to truly understand the sentiments of Sumeru's people to find the right answers.
"I'm fine, really. Stop treating me like a kid\!" Nahida hadn't been crushed by Azar's words. She knew she couldn't compare to Greater Lord Kusanali, but she would learn. One day, she would reach that level\!
However, Lin Tian's actions made her blush a little. Comforting was fine, but why was he rocking her like a baby? She was already 500 years old\!
"Alright, alright, I won't treat you like a kid. I was just worried you'd be frightened\!"
Nahida glared at Lin Tian, but seeing Azar still "dancing" in the lightning, she could only look to Lin Tian for help.
With a wave of Lin Tian's hand, the sky-filling lightning vanished, leaving only a nearly-charred humanoid creature on the ground, emitting the aroma of roasted meat.
Lin Tian kicked Azar into the pool. A large amount of life energy began to repair Azar's body. In just a moment, Azar was restored to his original state.
"A potion of life?" Seeing this miraculous scene, Nahida's eyes widened. She stared in shock at the pool of pink water. If she wasn't mistaken, a lot of it should have spilled out when Azar just fell in, and that burst of life energy must have consumed a significant amount, so why didn't the pool's water level seem to drop at all?
Suddenly, a possibility entered her mind. She looked at Lin Tian in shock.
Lin Tian smiled, gently rubbing Nahida's head. He didn't say anything, but simply nodded, confirming her guess was correct.
Having her answer, Nahida's expression returned to calm, but her heart was reeling. A pool of water that never runs out\! Does such a thing really exist in this world? Is it the water, or is there something special about the pit that was dug? Why would there be an infinite water source?
Nahida wasn't sure, but she leaned more toward it being Lin Tian's doing. Unparalleled strength, omniscient wisdom, an abnormally sturdy obsidian fortress, an infinite water source, the ability to summon heavenly lightning—all these things astonished Nahida\!
What exactly was this man's identity? He knew she was possessing Katheryne the first time he saw her, he was furious about the Grand Sage imprisoning her, and he showed clear joy upon meeting her. All this made Nahida develop an immense curiosity about the man named Lin Tian.
....
"Damn it, I'm the one who rescued Nahida, so why does she like Lin Tian more\! Why\!"
Off to the side, Lumine watched the atmosphere between Lin Tian and Nahida, which was practically bubbling with pink hearts. She enviously chewed on a handkerchief she'd pulled from who-knows-where. 'I was here first\!'
"Galactic Bat Hero: I want to cuddle with Nahida too\! I'm so jealous\!"
"Wandering the Mortal Realm: Look at Buer's expression. She likely has a small realization about Lin Tian's identity now. It seems I'll have to make a trip to Sumeru later."
"Shinobu Who Loves Her Sister: I didn't expect Lin Tian to like kids so much."
"Super True Newbie: That Grand Sage is so tough\! He's fine even after being struck by lightning for so long. That's amazing\!"
"Crash Specialist: That life-recovery potion is really good stuff, restoring health in such a short time. I'm realizing more and more how useful this chat group is."
"God's Tongue: Ash Ketchum, do you really need to be impressed by others? You get hit with 100,000-volt shocks all the time and you're fine. You're already a hundred times stronger than Azar\!"
"I Am Just a Passerby: Speaking of which, Daigu, did you use that lapis lazuli you got earlier? Does it work in your world?"
"Galactic Bat Hero: The golden apples are great too. They even cured Liuying's Entropy Loss Syndrome."
"Silly Girl: You've gotta love Minecraft bugs. Everything from that game is super overpowered."
"Crash Specialist: My Sparklence absorbed the lapis lazuli I drew before. I don't know what happened, but it seems I can fight longer and I'm stronger."
"I Am Just a Passerby: Automatic enchantment?"
"Crash Specialist: Earlier, I managed to one-punch a Kyrieloid while just in my Multi-Type form. I don't know if it's because of the lapis lazuli."
"Mad Love for Hashirama: What? One-punching a Kyrieloid? In Multi-Type?\!"
"Fallen Angel: Daigu, do you hear how 'dark' you sound right now?"
"Hellish Blizzard: Lapis lazuli gives that big of a boost?"
"Silly Girl: Gabi, why are you still here? This is out of character for you. Shouldn't you be playing games?"
"Crash Specialist: I didn't know the Sparklence would absorb the lapis on its own\! I thought I'd need an enchanting table."
"God's Tongue: I can't even imagine how strong an enchanted Sparklence would be\!"
"Emperor Through the Ages: It seems lapis lazuli and enchanting are the biggest trends for development."
"Fallen Angel: You think I want to be here? Vinette drags me to class every day. My gaming time has been drastically reduced, and my sister even confiscated my game console\! Do you know how much pain I'm in\!"
"Lord of the World: An enchanted Sparklence? I can't believe I just heard something so explosive right after logging in. Good thing I checked, or I would have missed it."
"Silly Girl: Why did Zelel take your game console? Everything was fine before, wasn't it?"
"Her Highness Ai: I'm guessing that when you get back, I'll have a new friend who's the same size as me? @Lord of the World"
"God's Tongue: So your console got taken. I thought Gabi had turned over a new leaf and wasn't secretly playing in class anymore. Turns out I was overthinking it."
"Lord of the World: It... probably... won't... happen."