"Are you two cold?"
"If you take your hand away, I might get cold."
Hearing Orion's question, Mona glared fiercely at him.
Now, the group had already reached the mountainside of the snowy mountain.
Orion originally said he would go kill a few wild boars and told the two of them to stay put, but Xiangling was immediately unhappy when she heard this.
"I am a Gourmet Hunter! What kind of hunter retreats when food is right in front of them?"
Mona immediately followed up, saying, "I'm going too. Since I ate your ingredients, naturally, I should contribute!"
Ultimately, due to the insistence of the two women, even though Orion kept warning them that the snowy mountain was unusually cold, they insisted on coming along.
And then they were frozen stiff.
Orion watched speechlessly as the two women shivered like sieves, unable to speak properly due to the cold. He wanted to scold them but didn't know what to say.
"Y-y-you, why aren't you cold!" Mona's voice was mixed with the sound of chattering teeth, making it hard to bear.
Xiangling was even worse off. The fabric of her clothing was mostly concentrated on her torso. As for the rest... maybe her gloves and shoes provided some warmth for her hands and feet?
Sneeze? She couldn't even sneeze; her alveoli were shaking when she breathed.
Orion shrugged: "That's why I said I would come alone!"
Mona, somewhat unconvinced, walked over shakily and touched Orion's body. The moment she touched him, she immediately stopped shivering.
"Huh?" Startled, Mona pulled her hand back, then grabbed him again. After trying this several times, she looked at Orion in shock: "Xiangling! Hurry and grab him! He's a heat source!"
Xiangling didn't understand why, but she still came over and grabbed Orion. Sure enough, in that instant, she immediately stopped shivering completely.
Xiangling widened her eyes and looked at Orion in surprise: "What's going on? That doesn't make sense!"
Orion felt it slightly. So that was it—it was the Crystal Creek Valley again.
Because Orion was currently in human mimicry, the Crystal Creek Valley's effect was based on whether a human would feel cold. In truth, Orion wouldn't feel cold even if he stood there naked, but the Crystal Creek Valley still applied a buff to him—a "cannot be cold" buff.
[Crystal Creek Valley], an Ex-rank Anti-World Noble Phantasm. Its effect is to transform the surrounding environment into one conducive to the user's survival. Because he mimicked a human, the effect was weakened, turning into localized manipulation of physical laws.
When Mona and Xiangling grabbed Orion, they were also included by the Crystal Creek Valley as friendly units in the calculation. Or perhaps the system first counted them as teammates, and the Crystal Creek Valley thought, "If they're teammates, what else is there to say? I'll just apply the effect to them."
Thus, the scene from the beginning occurred: Orion was currently walking forward, his arms around the shoulders of the two women, dragging them along.
To be honest, if Mona and Xiangling hadn't followed, Orion would have just flown up to search. However, Orion wasn't sure if flying would suffocate them, so it was best not to randomly take others flying before experimenting with Lumine.
But the problem was that in reality, Dragonspine was too large, and walking step by step would make it very difficult to find what they were looking for.
"If only we had a guide."
But just as Orion finished speaking, a voice came from above.
"Pale yellow hair, red clothes, pointed ears. I see. You are my 'cousin,' correct?"
The three looked up at the sound and saw a young man standing high above, looking down.
He wore clean white clothes, had a meticulously sculpted face, and thick blonde hair.
"Albedo?" Orion spoke out. The young man above didn't answer, merely nodding affirmingly... Inside a cave—no, to be precise, Albedo's Alchemy Workshop that he had carved out for himself in Dragonspine—Orion and the two women were welcomed.
Albedo poured three cups of hot beverage for the trio. After drinking it, they felt a wave of comfort in their stomachs. It seemed this was no ordinary hot drink.
Seeing the three finish their hot drinks, Albedo asked Orion, "You are Orion, right? Klee's older brother, Aunt Alice's son. I received a message from Aunt Alice telling me to look after you if I met you."
Sucrose came by this morning. She spent the entire morning talking about your deeds: challenging Stormterror alone, the Human Transmutation Circle. Honestly, I don't understand what Aunt Alice wants me to look after you for."
"Haha." Orion scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Mona and Xiangling, standing nearby, were stunned. What Giant Wolf? What Human Transmutation?
So Albedo patiently explained everything in detail to the two women, completely dumbfounding them.
Mona pointed at Orion in disbelief, her hand still trembling: "Are you saying that this guy is actually a single entity capable of destroying a nation?"
Orion chuckled. Be more confident, he could destroy a planet.
Afterward, Albedo began to explain the theoretical success rate and difficulty of achieving Human Transmutation, especially the difficulty without prior preparation. It was so technical that even Orion couldn't follow it.
Albedo, the young man before them, was not a true human, but the ultimate creation of the Khaenri'ah alchemist, Rhinedottir the Gold, an Artificial Human known as the Kreideprinz.
In Terrestrial Alchemy, the four stages of the art are divided into Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and crimson completion. Simply put, these are raw material, purification, refinement, and finally, the creation of the crimson Philosopher's Stone.
However, Khaenri'ah's alchemy is ordered as Black Soil, Calx, crimson completion, and Gold. Looking at this, Albedo, as the Kreideprinz, is only at the second stage.
However, Durin the Evil Dragon, who challenged Dvalin five hundred years ago and corrupted him by making him drink poisoned blood; and Elynas, the Giant Beast of the Fontaine region, a Hydro Magical Beast whose corpse alone formed land after its suicide—both were creations of the Black Soil layer. Even if these magical beasts were kind-hearted, they would still do things detrimental to the world due to the corrosion of the Abyss.
Take Durin, for example. Who would have thought that its arrival in Mondstadt was merely due to a childlike mindset? It fought Dvalin because it thought Dvalin was beautiful and believed Dvalin was playing with it. Only moments before Dvalin bit its neck off did it realize it might have done something bad. Elynas was similar; it committed suicide because it realized its very existence was evil.
And Albedo belongs to the higher Calx layer, an excellent child created by Rhinedottir.
For Khaenri'ah, creating life, or even Human Transmutation, was not difficult. Rhinedottir, even before becoming a god, could spontaneously create magical beasts like Bakunawa, which possessed the ability to devour time and were immortal (though disobedient). Simply creating life was not something they were proud of, so they pursued something more advanced and spiritual.
Durin, who only knows destruction, is a bad child, unacceptable. Albedo, powerful, a genius, and obedient, is a good child, acceptable. The layer above that, crimson completion, was understood by them to possess emotion, and the highest layer, Gold, possessed its own pursuit.
In other words, for the alchemists of Khaenri'ah, creating a being that was "human" inside and out was their ultimate pursuit.
To use an analogy: for the people of Khaenri'ah, creating an AI Robot was simple. But for that robot to be a good robot, it qualified as the Calx layer. If that good robot gained joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, it qualified as the crimson completion layer.
And when, while being a kind-hearted robot, it proactively told you: "Mother, I want to learn painting. I believe becoming a painter recognized by humans is my life's pursuit. I want to start by taking the Gaokao and entering an Art Academy, continuing until my chip malfunctions and my body is rusty. I want to see my work hung in the Louvre before I cease functioning." Only then would it be considered the Gold layer.
Currently, Albedo is probably just "the Kreideprinz who has reached the crimson completion layer."
Returning to the present, Mona and Xiangling had introduced themselves, and the group had gotten acquainted through mutual exchange.
Of course, everyone only introduced their names and didn't provide too much detail, such as mentioning who their Masters were.
If they had introduced themselves fully, everyone would realize that no one in the room had a simple background.
Albedo's mother, a member of the Hexenzirkel, one of the Five Great Sinners, who spontaneously created countless magical beasts.
Mona's Master, a member of the Hexenzirkel, the Thrice-Great Astrologer.
Orion's nominal mother, a member of the Hexenzirkel, a Super Adventurer who can travel across worlds and knows everything.
Xiangling's Master, an Adeptus of Liyue.
Not a single one of them was an ordinary person.
Since no one proactively revealed the truth, Orion didn't explain it for them either. He simply stated that their purpose for this trip was to find the Snow Mountain Boar King.
Albedo listened briefly and immediately offered to help: "I know where it is. Follow me. Oh, and next time you come to Dragonspine, remember to dress warmly."
Mona quickly shook her head and waved her hands: "I'm not coming back! Absolutely never again!"
Still, with Orion's arms around the two women's shoulders and Albedo leading the way, the group walked for a stretch until they finally reached a slightly spacious platform.
The moment they arrived, Xiangling's eyes immediately lit up: "Wow! There's so much Frozen Boar Meat here!"
Just as Xiangling said, Dragonspine had many frozen Snow Mountain Wild Boars, whose fur was whiter than that of ordinary wild boars.
Orion knew Xiangling hadn't brought Guoba, so he simply helped her Melt a few wild boars. The instant they thawed, he gave a boar a slap. A loud whooshing sound echoed in the cold wind, and before the boar could open its eyes, its brains were scrambled.
Finally, after two or three boars were thawed, the entire platform began to shake. Then, a Gigantic Wild Boar, the size of an elephant, descended from the sky!
This was none other than the Snow Mountain Boar King!
Mona and Xiangling stared dumbfounded at the Massive Creature before them. This... this was too big, right?
Albedo activated a Heating Device nearby. Orion told Mona and Xiangling to go wait for him there.
"What about you?" Xiangling asked worriedly.
Orion smiled, then silently pulled a Large Tree Branch Fork from his trousers. Albedo, standing far away, immediately noticed the unusual nature of the branch—it looked remarkably like part of the Ley Line!
At that moment, seeing several of its subjects dead, the enraged Boar King charged toward Orion. Orion didn't indulge it; he immediately performed a Staff Twirl with the branch fork and then struck the Boar King directly on the head!
The strike first hit the Boar King's tusks. Those tusks, capable of prying apart rock, shattered instantly upon contact with the seemingly soft branch. The branch then slammed heavily into the Boar King's face, and with a dull thud, the four-meter-tall massive body was instantly sent flying, smashing into the mountain rock!
Mona and Xiangling, who had been worried, were completely stunned.
What kind of strength was that?
And that branch fork wasn't simple either; it didn't break?
The Boar King stood up, shook its head, and charged again!
Without a word, Orion struck out with another blow, and the Boar King was once again sent flying like a bowling ball.
Just like that, after several exchanges, the Boar King completely departed this world under the stunned gaze of the two women.
Xiangling came over and touched the dead Boar King, then looked at Orion in shock: "You tenderized the meat for me?"
"Its hide was thick, wouldn't it be hard to cut? What, is it difficult to prepare? It's okay, we still have the smaller ones."
"It's not about the size!"
Xiangling was thoroughly convinced.
Jumping hundreds of meters, shattering the Boar King with a single hand strike, and possessing an unbreakable branch—Orion's reputation in Mondstadt was definitely going to become strange.
Afterward, the group discussed how to package and take away the Boar King and the small wild boars. Having no choice, Orion demonstrated his Storage Ability, shocking the two women yet again.
Finally, everything was packed up, and Xiangling could return to participate in the Cooking Competition.
Just then, Albedo walked up to Orion and asked, "How much do you know about the Hexenzirkel?"
Orion shook his head: "I only know Aunt Alice and Aunt Barbeloth, and your mother is one, too, right?"
Albedo nodded: "Alright. Then, do you know about Witch O?"
"I've only heard of her," Orion answered truthfully.
Albedo thought for a moment, searched his person, and finally pulled out a Crystal Orb and handed it to Orion.
"This is a Magical Item created by Witch O. Aunt Alice insisted that I place this into your hands."
Orion took the item and was immediately startled.
For no other reason than that this was an item Orion was quite familiar with.
A blue Crystal Orb with a massive Yellow Star encased in the center.
It was the Miliastra Wonderland.
Orion quickly looked up: "It's just given to me?"
"Actually, it's fine for either you or the Traveler to have it, but it must be handed to one of you two," Albedo said.
Orion looked dearly at the Crystal Orb in his hand. Suddenly, a System Panel appeared.
[Name: Splendid and Mysterious Gift
Effect: Can be opened and entered into the Realm of a Thousand Stars Space anytime, anywhere.]
Orion was suddenly shocked. Wait, didn't only people have System Panels?
Huh? Does that mean he could check the panel for the branch fork?
Without hesitation, Orion put away the Crystal Orb and looked toward the branch fork. He wanted to see what exactly Zhenyu had forged for him, if not the Great Thunder.
System Panel, activate!
[Name: Greater Lord Rukkhadevata]
Orion:???
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