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[Genshin Impact] Chapter 456: Sumeru Citizens Don’t Dream (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2025-04-25 02:27:16 +0000 UTC"Alright, I’ve fulfilled your requests. As for proving their authenticity… that’s up to whether or not you choose to believe me."
Dottore shrugged.
As a scholar, he had his own sense of pride—faking results was something he'd never do.
But as for how to prove that his other “segments” had truly been erased… well, with how far apart they were, that was something he simply couldn’t do.
“I have my own ways of verifying it.”
Nahida nodded gently, not revealing her ability to read minds.
“Heh. Then that settles that. As for the compensation, personnel from the Northland Bank will handle the follow-up.”
After saying this with a serious expression, Dottore signaled to Scaramouche to begin their retreat.
Scaramouche barely managed to control the “God of Pure Mechanization,” flying at an extremely slow pace—just like a bird learning to fly for the first time.
Nolan and Nahida made no attempt to stop them.
Once the two had disappeared from sight, Nahida finally breathed a small sigh of relief. Turning to Nolan, she said:
“Phew… It’s thanks to you that we managed to make the Fatui suffer such a setback.”
【Nahida Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You. Obtained 300 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.4 (200/400)】
“Well, what can I say? I’ve always had a thing for helping others.”
Nolan smiled.
Then he thought for a moment and asked:
“The Fatui took a hit, sure—but they haven’t gotten their hands on the Dendro Gnosis yet. I’m pretty sure they’ll come back for another attempt. What’s your plan from here?”
“I plan to reorganize the Akademiya. I can’t allow the Grand Sage and the other sages to continue their reckless behavior. A divided Akademiya won’t stand a chance against the Fatui.”
Nahida, arms crossed, looked up at Nolan with determination.
“Good idea. The Grand Sage and some sages from the various schools all seem to be in cahoots. If we take them down too suddenly, the entire Akademiya could fall into chaos.
“Once we’re back, I’ll order the Grand Sage to cooperate with you. After the Akademiya is restructured, then we’ll deal with their crimes.”
Nolan spoke thoughtfully.
He actually had quite a few plans he wanted to discuss with Nahida—like converting the “Akasha” system into an internet-like network…
But he knew that Nahida would be extremely busy in the early days of taking over the Akademiya, so there was no rush. He could bring it up once she had some breathing room.
“Mhm. The reason the Grand Sage and others were so desperate to create an ‘omniscient and omnipotent’ god was mainly because the ‘World Tree’ has been deteriorating due to its contamination by forbidden knowledge.”
“I see.”
Nolan nodded—he could sense a new quest trigger in the air.
“That’s right.”
Nahida briefly explained the situation to him.
Naturally, she then asked him to accompany her in a few days to the World Tree to investigate its current state.
After all, the problem couldn’t be left unresolved.
And since Nolan was so powerful, he might actually be able to help.
“I’m familiar with forbidden knowledge to a certain extent… Hm. When the time comes, I’ll call in an ‘expert’ to assist you.”
Nolan nodded and agreed without hesitation. With Lumine on his side, solving the World Tree’s issue shouldn’t be too difficult.
…
Sumeru City – Akademiya
Upon returning, Nolan and Nahida immediately sought out the Grand Sage and ordered him to cooperate with Nahida’s efforts to reform the Akademiya.
The Grand Sage could only stew in anger internally—on the surface, he had no choice but to comply.
Once that was handled, the two of them visited the Akasha System—a construct very similar to the artifact that once imprisoned Nahida.
It too was a green, semi-transparent sphere. No doubt it was also the work of the Great Lord Rukkhadevata.
The only difference was that this sphere had several ring-like structures surrounding it, resembling planetary rings.
They sparkled with countless golden lights. According to Nahida, these lights represented the currently active Akasha Terminals linked to the system.
Looking at those glittering lights, Nolan felt like the number of terminals was as vast and countless as the stars in the sky.
“Please help keep watch around us—don’t let anyone interrupt. I need to transfer the highest access permissions of the Akasha System to myself.
“After that, I’ll disable the function that harvests everyone’s dreams through the Akasha Terminals.”
Nahida turned to Nolan and spoke firmly.
“Got it. I won’t let anyone disturb you.” Nolan gave a slight nod.
Realizing this process would likely take some time, he simply opened his Wonderland Space and pulled out a chair to sit on.
Nahida nodded back, then slowly floated up toward the Akasha System suspended in mid-air.
Upon reaching the proper altitude, she reached out her hand toward the system—and closed her eyes, as if feeling the flow of something deep and vast.
Nolan watched with curiosity for a while.
Suddenly, the entire Akasha System flickered with a bright light. The glowing points on its “planetary rings” began disconnecting one by one, dimming into darkness.
At that moment, anyone wearing an Akasha Terminal who happened to be using it would see a notification pop up:
“System under maintenance. Temporarily unavailable.”
Although this situation wasn’t common, it wasn’t unheard of either. The only difference this time was that there hadn’t been any prior system-wide announcement.
Except for a few detail-oriented individuals, most people wouldn’t give it much thought.
Even if someone did notice, they’d probably just assume it was an emergency maintenance.
As the lights on the rings continued to go out, the core of the Akasha System itself also dimmed.
Before long, a green Gnosis slowly emerged from within it.
This was the core of the Akasha System—the Dendro Gnosis.
Without its divine power, the Akasha System couldn’t function. Even replacing it with another Gnosis wouldn’t work.
For example, the Electro Gnosis holds dominion over electricity, which is why it could provide boundless energy to the “God of Pure Mechanization.”
But it wouldn’t work for the Akasha System.
That’s because the Akasha System’s ability to maintain real-time, long-distance connections with Akasha Terminals—completely ignoring spatial limits—was something only the Dendro Gnosis could achieve.
And since Nahida wanted to modify the Akasha System’s permissions, she had to start with the Dendro Gnosis.
After all, it was the system’s core.
Fortunately, as the current Dendro Archon and spiritual successor to the Great Lord Rukkhadevata, Nahida had a natural affinity with it.
Even though the Grand Sage and his faction had encrypted the system and the Gnosis, it didn’t pose much of an obstacle to her.
Plus, she had just gotten the necessary passwords from the Grand Sage, so it didn’t take long at all.
Nolan watched as the green Gnosis suddenly pulsed with a ring of golden light, which faded away after a few seconds.
Nahida opened her eyes, floated forward slightly, and gently reinserted the Dendro Gnosis back into the Akasha System.
At the same time, the translucent green sphere lit up again and began to slowly rotate, like a planet spinning on its axis.
Then the planetary rings lit up one by one, speckled with starlike points of light—beautiful and mesmerizing.
Nahida hovered in midair for a while longer, making adjustments to the system itself, before finally descending to the ground.
With a small breath of relief, she said:
“It’s done. Now, even if someone wears an Akasha Terminal, their brain’s cognitive abilities won’t be hijacked anymore.
“The people of Sumeru can finally enjoy beautiful dreams during their sleep.”
Nolan stood up, casually stored the chair back into his pocket realm, and asked with a bit of concern:
“The fact that ‘Sumeru citizens don’t dream’ has been recorded as far back as Liyue. If everyone suddenly starts dreaming again, won’t that raise suspicions?”
He was worried that people might start connecting the dots, realize the Akasha Terminals were to blame, and develop resentment toward the Akademiya—possibly triggering unrest.
“I’ve thought about that too,” Nahida said, gently pressing a finger to her lips in thought. “I plan to attribute it, for now, to the corruption of the ‘World Tree.’
“The people of Sumeru live very close to the World Tree, so its condition would naturally affect them in various ways.
“It’s the same with that painful illness, ‘Eleazar’—it’s caused by the World Tree being tainted with forbidden knowledge.”
Nolan understood immediately. Pinning the cause of Sumeru’s dreamless state on the World Tree made a lot of sense.
If they told the public it was the Grand Sage and his faction who were to blame, they’d face immediate outrage and demands for justice.
But the Akademiya hadn’t been reorganized yet. If chaos broke out now, it could severely impact its stability and result in massive losses.
At the very least, they’d need to wait until suitable replacements were found for the Grand Sage and the other offending sages in their respective schools.
Only then could the truth be revealed.
While it might feel a bit like deceiving the public, a wise ruler had to think rationally and long-term.
They couldn’t act rashly and end up causing even more serious consequences.
“Hmm, since you’ve already thought this through, I won’t interfere with your work.
“Once you’ve finished reorganizing the Akademiya, I’ll bring some people with me and we can visit the World Tree together.
“Or if anything comes up that you can’t handle, feel free to reach out. Lately, my team and I have been exploring the rainforest near Gandharva Ville, clearing out areas of the Withering.”
Nolan smiled as he spoke.
“I know—and thank you all for your hard work!” Nahida replied warmly, clearly touched.
【Nahida Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You. Obtained 220 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.5 (20/500)】
---
Sumeru – Gandharva Ville
After wrapping things up with Nahida and seeing there was nothing else he was needed for, Nolan returned to the forest region near Gandharva Ville.
At this moment, the sun was already setting, casting a golden hue over the forest.
Earlier, the three “Sword Gods Of Lumine” had already cleared out all recorded areas of the Withering.
Now, only one of the “Sword Gods” remained in Avidya Forest, continuing to eliminate dangerous monsters while also searching for any undiscovered Withering Zones.
Thanks to the Sword Gods’ high mobility, even though Nolan had recalled most of his attention during the battle with the Doctor, he still gained a lot.
Although no new Withering Zones were found, he encountered plenty of monsters in the rainforest, including hilichurls, fungi beasts, and various serpent-like creatures.
By the time he returned, he had already accumulated over 100,000 EXP Points.
Adding that to the 100,000 Adventure EXP he already had, his total came to around 230,000 Adventure EXP.
That was just enough to max out the “Flowing Sky Shot” he had learned from Ganyu and awaken its ultimate technique.
Looking at his character panel, Nolan noticed that this was the only skill not yet at max level. He didn’t have enough Adventure EXP left to boost his level, so spending it on maxing out Flowing Sky Shot seemed like a worthy choice.
> Adventure EXP -224,999
> Flowing Sky Shot – Arcane Level Lv.1 (1/5000) → Flowing Sky Shot – Arcane Level Lv.10 (Frostglow Arrow)
A flood of knowledge about Flowing Sky Shot surged through his mind.
He saw himself standing atop a lofty mountain, bow in hand, loosing arrow after arrow into the clouds. Over years of persistence, he came to understand the true essence of the art.
He loosed an arrow infused with an immense amount of Hydro energy, flying like a sapphire comet, soaring across mountains and seas.
From one side of the world, it flew to the other—eventually striking its target. Then, a vast burst of Hydro energy exploded forth—
Like a tsunami, it engulfed everything in its path.
Once the memory faded, Nolan fully grasped the true nature of the awakened Flowing Sky Shot.
Just as its awakened form “Frostglow Arrow” suggested, it resembled Ganyu’s charged attack in the game.
One shot would deal a large-scale burst of Cryo elemental damage.
However, using Cryo wasn’t required. Since Nolan didn’t possess Cryo power, the memory had displayed it using Hydro instead.
If he wanted, he could also use Anemo or Electro to fuel the arrow.
What’s more, this ultimate technique allowed the arrows to travel incredible distances—true to the name Sky Shot.
At max level, the archery skill allowed Nolan’s arrows to soar through the skies like falling stars, crossing from one end of the world to the other.
He didn’t have the tools to measure the exact range, but judging from the memories he saw...
It felt comparable to an intercontinental missile—easily spanning thousands of kilometers.
He had to admit, this was one truly broken ability. It even made him wonder—
If he found a way to tie Baron Bunny to the arrow, could it actually become an ICBM?
That thought made Nolan suddenly reluctant to merge the skill into “Lumine's Authority.” After all, a skill with such absurd range was incredibly rare.
If he fused it into Lumine's Authority and had it fire via sword intent instead of real arrows, then sure—he could probably still fire thousands of kilometers away.
But he wouldn’t be able to attach Baron Bunny to a sword intent. After all, sword intent isn’t a physical entity.
With that in mind, he decided to keep the skill separate, and checked out his newly updated character panel:
---
*Name*: Nolan Walker
*Level*: Lv94 (0 / 940,000)
*Race*: Human
*Titles*: Honorary Knight, Outstanding Citizen of Liyue, Legendary Adventurer, Honorary General of Watatsumi Island
*Innate Talent:* Entangling Affection
*Skills*:
- Lumine’s Authority: Divine Level Lv.10 (Starsea Manifestation, Boundless)
- Musou no Hitotachi: Divine Level Lv.10 (Musou State)
- Abysswalker: Arcane Level Lv.10 (Deep Space Warp)
- Flowing Sky Shot: Awakening Lv.10 (Frostglow Arrow)
- Anemo Manipulation Lv.10 (Max Level)
- Martial Arts Lv.10 (Subtle Mastery)
*Specialties*:
- 【Descender】
- 【Maiden Savior】
- 【Monster Slayer】
- 【Abundant Life】
- 【The Gospel of the Sky】
- 【North Wind】
- 【Harmony】
- 【Spiritual Threads】
- 【Millennium Body】
- 【Blue Vortex】
- 【Battery Body】
- 【Elemental Immunity】
- 【Command Seal】
- 【Spiritual Core】
- 【Thoughtless Thunder】
*Adventure EXP*: 6,523
---
(End of Chapter)
