Nolan focused on the stream of notifications that popped up from his character panel, and eventually his attention landed on the Affection Skill that Ningguang had given him—"Moonveil Tianquan."
To put it simply, this Affection Skill allowed him to sense wealth and treasures within a certain range and then retrieve them directly, bypassing physical obstacles.
The actual range was determined by adding together his level and Ningguang's. Currently, Nolan was Level 94, and Ningguang was Level 88.
In other words, he could detect all sorts of valuables within a 182-meter radius centered on himself—
And collect them at will.
Of course, this skill wasn't without limits. Any form of "obstruction" would nullify the skill if its strength surpassed the combined total of their levels—
That is, if it exceeded a power level of 182, then the Affection Skill wouldn't activate.
But considering someone like Raiden Ei, one of the top Archons, was only Level 120—
By that logic, Nolan didn't think there was anything in all of Teyvat that could stop Moonveil Tianquan from working.
Heh… In future fights, I'll just snatch the opponent's weapon first. Let's see how they fight me then!
Nolan thought darkly, a sly smile creeping across his face.
"Hey! You creep, I can see those evil thoughts right on your face!"
Hu Tao put her hands on her hips, giving him a look of disdain. Clearly, even the dignified Tianquan Star had been charmed by this guy just like she had.
Otherwise, why would she have given him so many valuable items just to help expand his personal inventory space?
Ningguang stood calmly, her arms wrapped in black long sleeves folded gently across her lower chest, subtly lifting the qipao-wrapped curves beneath. She paid no attention to the suspicious looks from Keqing and Hu Tao.
A faint smile appeared on her fair face as she said,
"Go ahead and move everything into your personal storage space."
"Mhm, got it."
Nolan responded without hesitation and immediately opened a gateway to his third-tier warehouse.
Then, with his mental energy, he transferred all the items—shelves and all—inside. Right after, he sensed the Wonderland Space beginning to expand.
360 square meters… 370… 420 square meters!
All the antiques, artifacts, and a large batch of four-star artifacts had expanded the space by a full 60 square meters.
That was almost half the size of Musou Isshin. As expected of Ningguang, Liyue's top merchant—her generosity was no joke.
Too bad he didn't gain a new space trait, though. After all, high-quality treasures like these were rare to come by.
"How is it? Effective?" Ningguang asked.
"Not bad at all. Sixty square meters increase," Nolan replied with satisfaction.
"That's good." Ningguang gave a soft nod, then continued, "Oh, and I also managed to gather a few Primogems for you recently. I'll give those to you too."
As she spoke, she pulled out a beautifully embroidered silk pouch from her Vision space. Peonies were stitched onto the surface—it exuded an air of elegance and wealth.
"Oh?"
Nolan's eyes lit up as he took the pouch and checked inside. There were at least fifty Primogems.
That was another tens of thousands of Adventure EXP. Pretty solid income.
Thinking for a moment, he patted his chest and confidently said:
"With all these antiques, artifacts, and even Primogems—you've given me so much, even though I only helped a bit at the Chasm, I really don't feel like I deserve this."
"If there's anything you need in the future, just let me know. I'll be there."
"There's no need to act so formal between us," Ningguang replied with a gentle smile.
Even if she hadn't given him all this, if she ever ran into trouble, would he really refuse to help her?
"Ahem, yeah… You're right."
After all, Ningguang now had full Affection toward him, and she had already accepted his Waymark, confirming their romantic relationship.
So there was no need for him to feel undeserving of her generosity.
If he really wanted, he could probably store the Jade Chamber inside the Wonderland, and even if Ningguang was reluctant, as long as he insisted a little—
She'd probably have no way to win the argument,
And would end up agreeing with a sigh.
Of course, Nolan would never make such an unreasonable demand of Ningguang. Even if he wanted to, the Wonderland Space wouldn't be able to fit the Jade Chamber anyway.
"All right, I still have some things to take care of. You two can explore the Jade Chamber however you like—feel free to go anywhere. I'll inform Baiwen and Baixiao."
Ningguang lowered her arms from her chest and turned to leave.
"Okay, see you later." Nolan waved.
As soon as Ningguang left, both Keqing and Hu Tao shifted their gazes to him, their expressions filled with suspicion.
"You—don't tell me you secretly got together with Ningguang?"
Keqing swayed her perfectly proportioned legs wrapped in black stockings as she walked up to Nolan, frowning.
"Everyone knows the thing Ningguang values most is her Jade Chamber, followed by Mora. I've never once heard she liked anyone."
Looking at Keqing standing before him questioning him like that, Nolan paused for a moment and said:
"I think… it must be that I'm just too outstanding—too charming. Not even someone as obsessed with Mora as Ningguang could resist me."
After all, if he could easily raise someone's Affection level, wasn't that pretty much the same as having high charisma—making it easier for people to like him?
That's what Nolan thought. He then turned to Keqing and said with a grin:
"Don't you think so too? Otherwise, why are you so concerned about me and Ningguang?"
"Who's concerned about you? I'm concerned about Ningguang!" Keqing put her hands on her hips, her face slightly flushed as she tried to deny it with an awkward expression. "As one of the Liyue Qixing like her, it's only natural for me to be wary of people around her with questionable intentions."
"And yes, you're very capable—but not to the point where I'd be attracted to you!"
"Well, you've got a point."
Nolan laughed dryly, then threw out another question:
"But from what I know, you didn't really agree with Ningguang's political philosophy before. Why the sudden concern for her?"
Keqing's Affection level toward him had already reached a solid Level 7. From his experience, once it got to that point, there were usually budding feelings involved.
She might not have noticed it herself yet—or maybe she had but just didn't want to admit it.
Generally speaking, a girl having high Affection doesn't necessarily mean love—it could just be deep friendship.
But based on human behavior, that chance is low.
After all, pure friendship usually peaks at around Level 5 or 6. That's already about as good as it gets.
Anything beyond that tends to shift toward deeper intimacy—like romantic love or familial bonds.
This is why when Affection toward the opposite sex gets high enough, it almost always trends toward romance:
Because love is more intimate than friendship.
Unless Affection stops rising, it'll naturally move past the "just friends" stage.
And other people didn't have Nolan's unique talent—"Entangling Affection"—which made it much easier for him to gain Affection from girls.
That's why, for him, breaking past Level 5 or 6—the friendship threshold—was relatively simple.
So when a girl's Affection reached Level 7 or above, unless something unusual happened, it generally meant the early stages of love had begun.
Take Keqing for example—she was a young woman not much different from Nolan in age. Physically and emotionally, the two were well-matched.
Their values and worldviews didn't clash either.
So once she liked him enough, it was natural she'd start paying more attention to him.
Even if she didn't realize it yet.
Whenever something involving Nolan came up, she wouldn't be able to ignore it like nothing had happened.
The feelings in her heart would slowly rise to the surface.
Driven by this internal motivation, if the chance presented itself, she would definitely try to understand him better.
Just like now—because Ningguang had been showing him too much attention, and Keqing wasn't dumb—of course she would think the two of them might be in a romantic relationship.
Otherwise, why would she give him so much? It was way too excessive.
And since Keqing's Affection had already surpassed the friendship stage, there was no way she could remain indifferent after seeing something like that.
So she started asking questions—instinctively wanting to know the truth.
"That's a separate matter! Just because I don't agree with her policies doesn't mean I don't care about Ningguang as a colleague!"
Keqing's fair face flushed a little for some reason when she heard Nolan's comment, but she quickly gave a completely reasonable rebuttal.
"Uh…"
Nolan found himself briefly speechless. He sighed and said, "Sigh… I guess my level of excellence does have its limits."
"As long as you understand."
Keqing crossed her arms and stared him down, reiterating, "So I'm only asking because I'm worried Ningguang was deceived into dating you.
"If that's really the case, as Yuheng of the Qixing… hmph—I'd be entirely within my rights to teach you a lesson!"
"Haha, no worries there. Ningguang's far too sharp to be tricked by me. Our relationship came naturally—it was something that grew out of genuine feelings.
"Same with Hu Tao and me."
Nolan suddenly reached out and pulled Hu Tao—who was standing nearby—into his arms as he spoke.
"…Fair enough."
Keqing nodded at his explanation, mostly convinced.
After all, in this world, who could possibly deceive someone like Ningguang?
Just as she was feeling a strange sense of disappointment in her heart, she suddenly saw Nolan pull Hu Tao into his arms, showing a very intimate gesture.
Unable to hold back her anger, she blurted out:
"Wait a minute! What do you think you're doing? Aren't you already in a relationship with Ningguang? Why are you being so close with another girl!"
Nolan didn't reply. Instead, he reached out his other arm and swiftly pulled Keqing—who was standing in front of him—into his embrace as well.
"Ah! What are you doing?!"
Keqing cried out in a mix of shame and frustration, instinctively pressing her hands against his arms to try and break free.
She had never imagined Nolan would suddenly hug her.
This was clearly an inappropriate act.
Yet, for some reason, the sense of loss she had just started to feel in her heart seemed to vanish without a trace.
Could it be… she really cared about him? Was that why she had questioned him so insistently about Ningguang—was it because she was jealous?
No. No way. That couldn't be it…
Realizing something, Keqing's face turned even redder.
To hide her feelings, she struggled harder in his arms.
[Keqing Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You. Obtained 320 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.7 (550/700)]
"Sigh~"
Hu Tao let out a helpless sigh. Just looking at Keqing like this, she could tell—the girl had already fallen for him too.
Nolan, that two-timing scoundrel—he really had a knack for charming women. But using her, the great Hall Master, to pull something like this?
Was it because her "fangs" weren't sharp enough?
That thought flashed across Hu Tao's mind, and with a slight turn, she bit down on Nolan's neck!
Nolan didn't pay much attention to Hu Tao's little outburst. He was focused on the Affection notification on his character panel.
He knew that this slightly bold move had paid off—it had successfully made Keqing realize her feelings for him.
With this, their relationship had taken a big step forward, and the development between them would progress more smoothly in the future.
As for why he did this—
It was mainly to prevent Keqing from losing interest in him after learning he was already with Ningguang, letting her budding affection fade away.
If she had thoughts of backing off, that would be very unhelpful to his grand endeavor of gaining Affection points.
So instead, he chose to be direct and break the illusion—sending a clear message: he didn't mind having multiple lovers, and neither did the other girls around him.
That way, Keqing wouldn't hesitate to consider a relationship with him, even knowing about Ningguang.
"You bastard! Let go of me right now!"
After several failed attempts to break free, Keqing realized that Nolan's strength was far beyond hers. She stopped wasting energy trying to escape.
But the shame and frustration in her mind still dominated, making it impossible for her to just stay quietly in his embrace. So she kept insisting:
"Let go! Let go of me!"
But deep down… a faint voice didn't really want him to.
Her feelings were tangled and complex—completely contradictory.
"Nope. I just want to hold you."
Nolan knew Keqing was only being stubborn with her words. If he let go now, it would feel like undoing all his progress.
He just had to wait for her emotions to settle and for her to gradually accept him.
Once that happened, they'd be well on their way to becoming a couple.
"Shameless scoundrel! Absolutely shameless!"
Keqing gritted her teeth and cursed him, then tried once again to pry his arms apart.
But it was no use.
As time slowly passed, to avoid being seen by others in such an indecent situation, Nolan activated his Invisibility Domain, enveloping them all in a concealed space.
While waiting for Keqing to calm down, he opened his character panel and glanced over it:
***
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]
- [Blessing of the World Tree]
Adventure EXP: 705,625
***
Just over 200,000 more and he could level up. Coincidentally, the "Lumine's Sword God" had detected monsters near the Beast Realm again…
(End of Chapter)
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