After setting aside the matter of Nahida for now, Lin Feng could finally begin carrying out his plan.
Back in the Ashvattha Forest, he had noticed something strange—after absorbing a massive amount of elemental energy, he hadn't felt hungry for several days straight.
It was then he realized: compared to ordinary humans, his existence was closer to an elemental lifeform—a being that fed on pure energy.
And in Teyvat, the stronger an elemental creature was, the more "physical" and tangible its manifestation tended to be.
In a way, his current state fit that pattern perfectly.
Connecting this with the extraordinary control he exhibited over elemental forces, Lin Feng, after careful thought, finally made a decision:
He would use a Statue of The Seven—deeply tied to the Ley Lines—to reach underground and draw elemental power from a far broader region.
After all, even when "farming wool," one shouldn't shear the same sheep bald.
With how much energy he needed, directly draining only his immediate surroundings would be disastrous for the local ecosystem.
Drawing evenly from a wide area would cause far less harm.
And aside from concerns about the environment, the efficiency of channeling the entire Sumeru region's power was obviously superior.
With his ability to compress and store elemental energy, he planned to refine the gathered power into divinity, temporarily awakening the Dendro Authority within himself.
Then—
with a complete, full-body "Archon form," he would crush the Withering Avatar head-on.
This was his backup plan's backup plan.
After reminding Xiao Bai not to wander too far, to hide if it rained, and to eat the elemental crystals in the pack if it got hungry, Lin Feng placed his hand on the nearby Statue of The Seven and linked his consciousness to it.
He closed his eyes.
With vision out of the way, his perception of drifting elemental forces sharpened to an almost painful clarity.
As he had done once before, he reached out to resonate with the Statue.
The familiar wide-view perspective bloomed in his mind—but this time, instead of simply looking down from above, Lin Feng forced this borrowed sense deep underground with his own will.
Since he wasn't remotely worried about angering the Archon this time, his use of the statue was far more unrestrained.
And so, aided by the sprouting Dendro Authority in his body and the Statue's divine structure, Lin Feng quickly sensed the countless layered, intertwined ley conduits beneath the earth.
—Massive and delicate, thick and fine, a network of elemental pathways spread beneath the world like a vast root system.
The complexity and density reminded Lin Feng of a yarn ball he'd once tangled as a child.
Feeling the immense power and memories flowing through the Ley Lines, Lin Feng was stunned.
Compared to what the surface of Teyvat displayed, the energy within the Ley Lines was not even a hundred times stronger—
It wasn't even comparable.
The difference was like heaven and earth.
Buried deep within rock strata, unnoticed by most living beings, the Ley Lines were likely the true heart of the continent.
Awed by the roaring river of power, Lin Feng reinforced his consciousness with the Dendro Authority to avoid being swept away.
He tentatively attempted to draw a thread of Ley energy.
—As expected, it was unusable.
Raw Ley energy was wild and unrefined, significantly different from ordinary elemental power.
Moreover, it was saturated with memories, preventing any living entity from directly absorbing or converting it.
With a sigh, he abandoned his little fantasy of "becoming a god in one bite."
Instead, Lin Feng honestly merged a portion of his consciousness into the Ley Lines.
Under the endless flood of memories and information, the fully awakened sprout of the Dendro Authority protected his mind steadily.
Relaxing slightly, he began acting like a miner in a gold rush—
Using the Ley Lines as tunnels, he pulled bits of Dendro energy from every elemental-rich zone across Sumeru, gathering them into himself.
Sensing just how vast Sumeru's land truly was, Lin Feng couldn't help sighing at the amount of work ahead.
He focused, sinking into the task completely.
Gandharva Ville — Five days after Lin Feng fell asleep
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
A boy with a pair of green fox ears hammered wooden stakes into the ground.
Thump!
With the last fence post planted around the Statue of The Seven, Tighnari let out a long breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and hung a sign on the new fence:
"Danger Ahead — Keep Out."
"Whew… finally done. My ears are about to fall off.
Lin Feng, you little troublemaker, always finding new ways to keep me busy…"
Tighnari's expression was visibly conflicted.
Last time Lin Feng touched a statue, he had caused absolute chaos.
And though things seemed to be good this time, Tighnari still decided it was safest to keep pedestrians and Rangers from approaching the area while Lin Feng slept beneath it.
This place was remote, but the sheer vitality overflowing from around the Statue made Tighnari's tail bristle instinctively.
He could tell Lin Feng had done something outrageous again.
Suppressing his urge to linger, Tighnari headed back.
Walking along the narrow forest paths, his nimble steps resembled a sleek forest fox weaving through the trees.
Unlike before—when he had to stay vigilant for hidden threats—Tighnari walked in complete ease.
Ever since Lin Feng told him he would dig a hole under the Statue and sleep there for a while…
the rainforest around Gandharva Ville had become inexplicably, unbelievably safe.
All monsters and predators had vanished without a trace.
The forest was so peaceful it felt like someone's backyard.
Occasionally, a traveler who suffered food poisoning and fainted in the forest would simply wake up on their own—
with no aftereffects—
and even healthier than before.
But the anomalies didn't stop at that.
From other Rangers' reports, Tighnari had gathered several more strange changes:
—
First, the rainforest had begun producing unusually high-quality plants—
giant, sweet Sumeru peaches, crimson spice fruit with intoxicating fragrance, and massive, delicious mushrooms of rare varieties.
—
Second, travelers who got lost in the forest would somehow wander out on their own, directly emerging near the settlement.
But when asked how they found their way, none could recall.
They all described the experience as a blur, as though they simply drifted out unconsciously.
—
Third, and most shocking of all—
the scholars who were cultivating their perception of the Archon's consciousness deep in the forest.
Those in the midst of Lunatic Ascent—
including Haypasia herself—
all reported sudden breakthroughs.
Haypasia even claimed she was only a hair's breadth from achieving communion with the God of Wisdom.
—
Every anomaly…
Every change…
They had all begun after Lin Feng arrived.
Tighnari's curiosity about Lin Feng's identity only grew stronger.
No matter how he imagined it, such large-scale, miracle-like phenomena were far beyond what any ordinary human could achieve.
—Perhaps Lin Feng was truly a descendant of some ancient adeptus from Liyue…
Tighnari shoved this overly absurd thought deep down but still ended up massively overestimating Lin Feng's origins.
"Sigh—"
Tighnari let out a long breath.
Though Ranger duties had become absurdly easy thanks to a certain someone—
so easy that he had granted nearly the entire Ranger team a long holiday—
The other consequences brought by Lin Feng were already giving him enough headaches that he had no energy left to feel grateful.
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