"Clang—"
A tingling sensation ran through Shenhe's arm, and she suddenly snapped back to reality. She looked behind her and saw the giant boulder she had thrown down was only a few steps away from her back.
Unconsciously, Dain had forced her into a corner with no retreat.
Shenhe pursed her lips and turned to look at Dain, whose expressionless face showed no signs of emotion.
Only then did Shenhe understand the gap between herself and Dain. Her calmness was because she had no emotions; nothing could stir her inner world.
Dain's expressionlessness, however, was due to his extensive experiences, having seen through many things.
"Your strength is considerable, but to use a Liyue saying, your temperament still needs refining!" Dain transformed his palm into a fist and directly swung it at Shenhe.
Judging by the fierce wind his fist tore through, he had no intention of showing any mercy.
"Ice Spirit Manifestation!"
In an instant, Shenhe completed the hand seals. With the flow of her adeptal and element power, a phantom figure detached from Shenhe and blocked his path in front of her.
The figure was almost identical to Shenhe, but its face was somewhat blurry. Not only that, but a white talisman, large enough to cover its entire face, was affixed to its forehead.
"Hmm? Liyue's adeptal arts?" Dain felt the resistance from his arm, slightly surprised.
He had long heard that Liyue's adeptal arts were unpredictable and possessed immense power. Seeing them today, it was indeed not an exaggeration.
"Ice Puppet Follow, Manifestation Art!" Chongyun, from a distance, pointed at the frosty white manifestation and exclaimed excitedly. He was even more excited than Xingqiu had been earlier.
This was partly because Chongyun's passion for adeptal arts was no less than Xingqiu's passion for martial arts, and partly because his old Pure Yang Body ailment had flared up again.
"Xingqiu!"
"Hah, Guhua Sword Art, Qingxin Incantation!"
Just as Chongyun was a bit confused by Ember and Xingqiu's words, he saw a pool of clear water flying towards him.
"Splash!"
The clear water poured over Chongyun's head, and it worked well; the small flame on Chongyun's head was extinguished.
But soon, an even larger flame shot up again.
Chongyun, with yellow flames dancing on his head, roared, "What are you two doing?! Even if I have a Pure Yang Body, I can still catch a cold!"
As he spoke, Chongyun wiped the water from his face.
"I wanted you to calm down, but it seems to have failed," Xingqiu said dejectedly, retracting his Sword.
"If you get any angrier, the battle will be over!" Ember's voice came, and he pointed into the distance, where the situation had changed again.
After the manifestation blocked Dain with its arms, Shenhe charged forward again.
Dain's expression finally showed a hint of change; his brows furrowed slightly, and he felt a sense of trouble.
Although this manifestation had no consciousness, its strength was in no way inferior to Shenhe's. His fist could not advance an inch against its block.
Seeing Shenhe attack from the side, Dain knew he couldn't delay. His other arm, which had been still, now moved.
Dain again turned his fist into a palm, firmly grasping the manifestation's crossed arms. Then, his other arm swung a fist, and the fist, carrying immense power, directly struck the manifestation's face.
Although the manifestation appeared ethereal, its toughness was even greater than that of an ordinary martial artist's body.
Dain's punch did not directly shatter it but instead drove the manifestation straight towards the ground.
"Boom!"
The immense force, encountering an obstruction, immediately unleashed itself without reservation. The loose earth on the ground was instantly shaken up by this force, followed closely by flying chunks of earth.
"Bang!" The manifestation could no longer withstand it and dissolved into thin air amidst the flying dirt.
Dain stood up, ready to meet the possible arrival of Shenhe, but unexpectedly, the ground tremor did not stop for a long time.
"Hmm? What's going on?" Dain took a few steps back, a sense of doubt rising in his heart.
He was extremely precise in his control of force. That punch just now, striking the manifestation, should have been just enough to shatter it.
Striking Shenhe, it should have been just enough to keep her in bed for a few weeks, and absolutely could not have caused such extensive damage to the ground.
"The earth is cracking." Shenhe saw the spreading cracks on the ground and immediately abandoned the idea of bothering Dain.
She sprinted to the side of the giant boulder and lifted it again—at this critical moment, she still couldn't forget her big rock.
"Rumble!"
As the giant boulder was lifted, the extent of the ground's cracking did not diminish; instead, it grew larger.
Where the cracks intersected, a large section of the ground fell away. This area of land seemed to be hollow, and now the ground was about to sink.
"Underground? Never mind, I'll just consider it a return to rest." Dain saw the chunks of earth falling into the darkness and showed no excessive panic.
Falling underground, for him, was akin to going home.
However, Shenhe, who was in the distance, was not as calm as Dain. She held the massive rock with both hands, constantly leaping, trying to jump out of the collapsing area.
Seeing this, Dain couldn't help but shake his head. He watched Shenhe's movements and snapped his fingers.
"Fall!"
"Whoosh—"
As Dain expected, no sooner had he snapped his fingers than Shenhe, along with her big rock, vanished.
As Dain had said, the ground beneath Shenhe's feet collapsed, and she, standing on it, fell down as well.
Amidst the continuously collapsing ground, Dain nonchalantly tidied his clothes.
"Hope she's alright."
Dain finished speaking and then fell himself. However, his movements were much more elegant, as if he had been prepared all along.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I declare Dain the number one poker face in Teyvat! Who agrees? Who disagrees?"
In front of the deep pit, Ember spoke with an impassioned tone.
"I agree!"
"I agree too!"
Xingqiu and Chongyun both nodded. The reason was simple: in the final moments, Dain had been far too elegant.
Someone could calmly tidy his clothes while the earth collapsed, without any panic. One had to admire that.
Chongyun, at least, felt that his aunt could not compare to that man named "Dain" in terms of poker face.
Terrifying, truly terrifying.
"What should we do next?" Xingqiu threw a pebble into the dark, deep pit, and when he heard no echo for a long time, he quietly retreated a few steps.
If he fell down, he didn't know about the others, but Xingqiu felt he definitely wouldn't fare well.
Even if he didn't die, he'd probably be bedridden for the rest of his life.
"What else can we do? Can you just watch a friend's aunt venture into danger and do nothing?" Ember retorted, then also peered into the deep pit.
There seemed to be a familiar aura in there.
"Alright then, Senior, you tell us, how should we get down?" Xingqiu clenched his fists and asked Ember.
Neither he nor Chongyun could fly; the only one they could count on was Ember.
"Do you have Wind Gliders?" Ember slapped his head and asked the two.
"No."
"No."
Xingqiu and Chongyun shook their heads in unison. While Wind Gliders were convenient, they required certain conditions.
For example, the wind had to be strong when using them, otherwise, they couldn't fly. That's why Wind Gliders were most common in Mondstadt, where the wind blew constantly; other nations had far fewer.
"Don't you have one, Senior? I remember you saying you were an Adventurer, right?" Chongyun scratched his head in confusion.
The reason Wind Gliders still had some popularity in Liyue was that the main users of Wind Gliders were the Adventurers' Guild.
Adventurers generally wouldn't reject anything that could help with an Adventure.
"I don't have one either. Looks like I'll just have to use my 'Lightness Skill'!" Ember lifted his foot. To him, the lightness skill from wuxia novels was practically like flying.
It was a pity he hadn't seen it in Liyue, otherwise, he would have really wanted to learn it.
"Light... lightness skill?" Chongyun looked at Ember with some suspicion.
Then, he caught sight of a Wind Slime bouncing in the distance from the corner of his eye, and immediately felt that it was far more reliable than Ember's "lightness skill."
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