"Master! Are you abandoning me?!" Lumine threw herself onto Orion, sobbing profusely. "I can't bear to leave you, Master!"
"Are you reluctant to leave me? Or are you reluctant to leave my Shota body?" Orion gently pushed Lumine away, preventing her from wiping snot on him.
As mentioned before, Noelle, Skirk, and Clara—these three white-haired individuals—rarely show their emotions outwardly. Thus, Lumine's extreme reaction was, in a sense, representative of their shared feelings.
Paimon and Xiangling, on the other hand, displayed their disappointment very directly.
Xiangling said gloomily, "I thought you could come to Wanmin Restaurant with me. I was thinking of making a huge table full of dishes for you all."
Paimon also grumbled, "Did you find Skirk and now you don't want to travel with us anymore?"
"I think traveling together is quite good." Skirk, for once, expressed that he was not against traveling together. Everyone turned their expectant gazes toward Orion, making him look utterly speechless.
"I said I have something I need to do; it's not like we're parting ways forever. Don't you all have passes to the Miliastra Wonderland? How could we not meet again?"
Everyone nodded repeatedly, except for one person—Xiangling, who looked utterly confused as she watched them: "Huh? What Miliastra Wonderland? What are you all talking about?"
...Orion gave Xiangling a Hairpin. This item had one advantage: it wouldn't break, just like prizes drawn from the System. So, Orion modified it. When Xiangling takes the Hairpin off during a battle in the wild, it can transform into a spear.
Haha! Go play with your Crescent Pike, Xiangling!
This is the pain of the Level 100 Physical Xiangling build from the game's launch.
After handing out the passes, Orion continued to explain, "I will be going to Liyue Harbor with you all. I really want to see the beautiful scenery of Liyue Harbor with my own eyes. However, once we arrive at Liyue Harbor, I might separate from the group first. I have something I need to do."
"If you leave the group, who will cover the healing I lack from the statue of the seven?"
"You truly are my good disciple. All you do is exploit your Master and exploit the statue of the seven. I really should go to Fontaine and borrow a streetlamp, seriously."
But what could be done? He took her as a disciple, so he had to spoil her.
So, Orion explained his purpose to everyone. With a wave of his hand, he pulled a large tree branch out of his pocket.
"Oh no!" Orion suddenly remembered that this branch was Greater Lord Rukkhadevata transformed, which was extremely impolite, so he stuffed it back.
[Name: Greater Lord Rukkhadevata
Status: Speechless, mortified, wants to bite you to death]
This time, Orion waved his hand, and a 1.5-meter long pristine white branch appeared directly on the table.
Everyone gathered around, but they couldn't see anything special, except for Xiangling, who had seen this item before.
"I know! This is the wooden stick you used that day to kill the wild boar. It's super hard~"
[Name: Greater Lord Rukkhadevata
Status: Furious, embarrassed, dares not imagine what would happen if she turned back into human form]
Orion smacked Paimon's small hand away as he reached out to play with it: "Don't touch it carelessly, this thing has self-awareness."
Yunli: Alert.
Orion continued speaking to the group: "This branch is a bough from Irminsul, and it is a living thing."
Yunli: Staring—
"Also, there are many legends of Adepti in the Liyue area; Xiangling should know about them. Many Adepti evolved from Elemental Creations or native Teyvat creatures. They inherently possess elemental affinity that surpasses humans, and with the blessing of a Vision, they possess power far exceeding humans and Divine Abilities far surpassing human intellect.
One of the lesser-known techniques among them is the Art of Transformation. This branch has currently lost its power to transform into human form, so I want to try using the transformation methods of the 'Three-Eyed and Five-Manifested Adepti' to see if I can restore her human form."
After Orion finished speaking, everyone nodded, seemingly understanding yet not fully grasping it. Clearly, the information density of that explanation was a bit high for them.
But one person reacted completely differently.
Yunli suddenly stood up with a "snap"! Everyone was startled by this motion and looked toward Yunli, only to see her staring solemnly at the branch.
Plant, immortal, capable of human form—it must be!
Yunli glared fiercely at Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, placing her jade foot on the stool, pointing a large hand at the big branch, and roaring, "Abundance Abomination, die!"
"Stop! Stop, stop, stop!!!"
Orion was so surprised that his voice almost sounded shrill In the end, he had to perform a Catch the Old Iron Bare-Handed move, preventing her from tearing down the inn.
"Yunli, calm down! This is a native Teyvat creature!"
After much persuading, Yunli finally understood that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was unrelated to the Abundance Ambrosial Arbor from honkai: star rail.
Paimon glanced at the big branch: Why does this thing feel like it's trembling?
After assuring the innkeeper that it was all a misunderstanding, Orion briefly explained the setting of the Xianzhou to everyone.
An omnipotent Longevity God in the universe bestowed a Miracle upon the Xianzhou people, who sought the Elixir of Immortality. This Miracle was called the Ambrosial Arbor. After consuming the Arbor's Fruit, the Xianzhou people gained long lifespans, but when they reached six to eight hundred years old or more, they would suffer mental breakdown and eventually become monsters covered in tree branches.
Furthermore, there are many other Abundance Abominations in the universe that constantly seek to plunder, invade, and only grant longevity to themselves. In short, the Xianzhou eventually embarked on the path of hunting Abundance Abominations.
It was normal for Yunli, being a Xianzhou Native, to have such an extreme reaction.
Yunli knew she had made a mistake and obediently apologized to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, although apologizing to a tree branch looked quite strange.
Now it was time to split into groups. First, Lumine definitely needed to go into the city to search for the whereabouts of the Geo Archon and see if she could find any information about her brother. Paimon would certainly follow Lumine.
Yunli thought for a moment and decided to follow Orion, while Noelle decided to follow Lumine to learn the Spirit of Chivalry.
Orion curled his lip. What Spirit of Chivalry does she have? In her eyes, I am knight.
As for Clara, Orion didn't want her to follow him because the Liyue area is very mountainous, and searching for Adepti would definitely require walking many mountain paths. Yunli was fine—she was tough—but Clara wouldn't do; she was too delicate, and Orion worried she couldn't handle it.
But following Lumine wasn't ideal either, because Lumine in the storyline was constantly being hunted.
"Then wouldn't it be better if I just stayed inside the Miliastra Wonderland?" Clara ended the argument herself.
Finally, everyone turned their attention to Skirk. Orion thought Skirk would most likely follow Lumine, as he still needed to train her.
Unexpectedly, Skirk pointed in Orion's direction.
Before Orion could ask a question, he continued, "Can you make this pass capable of communication?"
Orion's eyes were filled with confusion.
Skirk pursed his lips and organized his thoughts before speaking: "What I mean is, I want to make a ring. Then, while I stay in the Miliastra Wonderland, I can talk into something, and Lumine, who is wearing the ring, can hear what I say. It would be even better if I could possess and control her body."
Orion looked bewildered, but soon, he saw the Battle Through the Heavens clutched secretly in Skirk's hand.
Is that you, Yao Lao?
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