With Zhongli stepping in, things in Liyue went surprisingly smoothly. After all, the Qixing still held deep trust in their Archon.
Within two days, Nahida had already finished adapting the Electro Gnosis. Now, the Akasha could be extended to Liyue at any time.
Once the coverage was established, it needed to be put to use.
That was where the Sweet Flower Merchant Association came in—responsible for bringing in the Akasha Terminals. This had been agreed upon beforehand.
Whichever nation developed technology worthy of promotion, the Association would handle the investment, mass production, and cross-nation sales.
Those who produced the technology only had to sit back and collect payment.
This way, each country could focus on research, while the business operations fell to the Association. Division of labor meant efficiency would rise greatly.
And this framework itself laid the foundation for a future alliance of the Seven Nations.
Each time a new nation joined, it could be seamlessly slotted into this structure—no transition period required.
Without delay, Nolan used the Waymark to notify Nahida that the Akasha could now cover Liyue.
Ningguang had already received the schematics for the Akasha Terminals from Nahida. Production preparations were long in place, and manufacturing could begin within days—commercial release expected in about a month.
In the meantime, terminals could be shipped in from Sumeru for sale, so there was no need to sit idle.
The "reinforced highway project" connecting Liyue, Sumeru, and Mondstadt had also just been completed. Since it used Geo energy to lay stone roads, each finished section was usable immediately. Now, with the full route finished, travel across the three nations officially opened.
The automobiles sold by the Sweet Flower Merchant Association could now run smoothly across the nations, cutting travel times drastically compared to horse-drawn carriages or pack beasts.
A carriage normally traveled 20–30 kilometers per hour at best, slower with pack animals.
But Liyue's most advanced mass-produced steam cars could reach speeds of 200 kilometers per hour.
Even if capped at 80–100 km/h for safety and durability, that was still four to five times faster than traditional transport.
This meant travel time between the three nations was slashed to a fraction—an enormous boost for economic growth.
Meanwhile, guided by knowledge from Nolan and Lumine's otherworldly experience, research into electrical power had also advanced.
Major cities like Liyue Harbor, Mondstadt, Inazuma City, and Sumeru City now had electric streetlights.
Most households already used electric lighting, and expansion to smaller cities and rural villages was underway.
This was a massive joint project led by the Sweet Flower Merchant Association, alongside local guilds and construction teams.
The Association alone couldn't possibly handle such a colossal project in such a short time—broad cooperation was necessary.
And this also boosted local employment, driving overall social development.
In another year or so, once the Association had grown enough, it could begin acquiring larger local guilds in each nation—further expanding its reach.
With multiple nations backing it, no guild in Teyvat could possibly compete.
They lacked otherworldly technology—competition was pointless.
Rather than waste resources in fruitless rivalry, better to monopolize, integrate resources, cut costs, and accelerate development.
After all, the Association didn't exist for profit—it existed to serve the people and society.
Earnings were simply to sustain operations, fund research, and pay wages.
Theoretically, electricity was superior to steam power in almost every way, and safer too.
But in Teyvat, both electricity and steam came from elemental energy—clean, renewable sources.
Thus, developing both in tandem allowed for complementary stability.
Outside of energy and infrastructure, new inventions were surfacing across nations.
In Mondstadt, aside from Sucrose's growth-promoting healing salves and Lisa's elemental storage devices—
Sucrose had also developed triple-sized dwarf wheat, tree-like Valberries, and Sweet Flowers with five times the luminosity.
The most valuable, of course, was the dwarf wheat. Already planted in the Riftbeast Realm, it ensured Teyvat would never suffer food shortages again.
Recently, Lisa had also created a super-nutrient potion using cosmic behemoth blood. A stronger version was supplied to soldiers through the Association, while a diluted version was sold commercially.
Other Mondstadt scholars developed a wind-powered irrigation system, capable of switching to steam power during calms. It drastically improved crop irrigation efficiency.
Liyue, meanwhile, had progressed with railroads, steam farm equipment, and ironclad ships.
In Inazuma, under Yae Miko's direction, early research into propeller-driven aircraft had begun.
And Sumeru—as the land of scholars—covered every field. More theory-heavy, but recently a superconductive material functioning at –120°C had been discovered.
At present, it had little practical use, but its future potential was immense. With elemental energy, creating such ultra-low temperatures was far easier than on Earth.
Thus, all four nations had entered a phase of rapid, comprehensive development.
Once the Akasha fully covered them, and scholars everywhere could collaborate in real time, progress would accelerate even more.
According to Nahida, even collecting all seven Gnoses would not be enough to power full continental coverage.
The most ideal core was Fontaine's Oratrice Mécanique d'Analyse Cardinale, which endlessly gathered the faith of justice and converted it into energy.
Nolan was already looking forward to visiting Fontaine, planning to build affection with the Hydro Archon. Once her affection was high enough, borrowing the Oratrice would be simple.
For now, Lumine was still assisting Nahida in perfecting the Akasha Network. That would take about another week.
By then, everyone would be able to set off together for Fontaine!
--Inazuma City--
The bustling streets were crowded with people and carriages. Recently, Inazuma had taken on many large-scale infrastructure projects, and naturally, the demand for manpower was huge.
Because the pay was high and the benefits generous, many were eager to apply for jobs.
Once wages were paid and people's purses felt fuller, the urge to spend came naturally. As a result, shops throughout the city were entering a boom in sales.
Not only Inazuma—Mondstadt, Liyue, and Sumeru were the same.
During these days, aside from keeping track of each nation's development, Nolan also directed his Sword God of Lumine avatar in the Riftbeast Realm. Apart from the ones he kept for crafting disguise suits, all the remaining monsters in the wild had been wiped out, while some of the strongest from different species were bound under his Command Seals.
The reason was simple—they had high research value. Letting them go extinct would be a waste.
It was just like tigers and lions: once fierce enemies of humanity in ancient times, yet now endangered species under protection.
Slaying so many monsters brought him far more Adventure EXP than expected—over three million in total:
[Adventure EXP: 12,069,685]
Without even counting the 1.2 million EXP he had gained these two days from training with the girls, it was more than enough for a level-up.
Without hesitation, walking down the street, he poured his vast Adventure EXP into leveling:
> Adventure EXP –9,775,714
> Lv.101 (1,224,286/11,000,000) → Lv.102 (0/12,000,000)
An unprecedented surge of energy erupted within his body, reinforcing every cell and every thread of his soul.
Soon, the advancement was complete.
Nolan carefully felt out his condition—his strength, defense, and resistances had all increased substantially.
His mental power seemed more than doubled, able to extend outward nearly six hundred kilometers around him.
Even the energy within his cells had nearly doubled.
This meant he now had more balanced energy to help the girls grow stronger. Before, at Lv.101, he could push them up to Lv.92.
With this leap, perhaps they could reach Lv.93.
After all, above Lv.90 was already the level of adeptis—it wasn't so easy to advance further. Of course, with his harmonizing energy, he could force the process along, if needed.
Even for Ei, a peak-level Archon at Lv.120, his harmonizing energy was effective—sometimes even faster than her own cultivation.
But compared to the near "one snuggle = one level up" speed, it was far slower.
---
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: Lv.102 (0/12,000,000)
Race: Human
Titles: Honorary Knight, Distinguished 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)
- Element Manipulation Lv.10 (Max Level)
- Martial Arts Lv.10 (Subtle Mastery)
Specialties:
- Beloved by Maidens (Exclusive)
- Unmoving Gospel of the World Tree (Exclusive)
- Threads of the Northern Wind (Exclusive)
- Spiritual Core (Exclusive)
Adventure EXP: 2,293,971
---
After the advancement, only about two million points remained. To climb another level, he'd need nearly ten million more.
That probably meant looking for opportunities in outer space—Teyvat simply didn't have enough monsters left to farm.
So there was no rush.
His plan now was to learn new swordsmanship techniques, fuse them into a divine-level sword skill, and then merge it with Lumine's Authority and Musou no Hitotachi.
If luck was on his side, he might create a skill beyond divine level.
He had asked Ei and Makoto, Nahida, and the other gods—they had never developed anything beyond divine-level. Clearly, transcending that was no easy feat.
But Nolan was different. As long as he gathered more Divine Level sword arts, he could attempt fusion.
It required luck, yes, but was still far simpler than starting from nothing.
Today, he was headed to the Arataki Gang. Not only because Yanfei and her junior Kuki Shinobu's case had officially closed—he also had to fulfill his promise to escort Yanfei back to Liyue Harbor.
At the same time, he wanted to exchange swordsmanship with Shinobu and Itto. He recalled that Itto used a claymore, while Shinobu wielded a one-handed blade.
Perfect for broadening his collection of techniques.
After all, fusing a Divine Level sword skill required many different forms of swordsmanship.
With his current comprehension, Nolan could easily invent his own techniques.
But "new" arts created from his existing skills were just variants—branches of what he already possessed.
They would not register on his character panel, since they were essentially duplicates.
Thus, to obtain new sword skills, he had to learn from others—only foreign techniques counted.
Soon, he arrived at the Arataki Gang's hideout once again.
Since he'd accepted Yanfei's primogems as a fee for escorting her, he had practically become a daily guest.
"Yo, you're here again?"
Inside, Arataki Itto, with his red oni horns, and his underlings sprawled weakly across the sofas, looking utterly drained.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Nolan asked curiously.
"Inazuma's been flooded with construction projects lately. Our Arataki Gang got roped in too. Boss makes the bricks with his Geo power, and we lug them around. Ugh… it's killing us," said Akira weakly.
"Uh, that does sound exhausting," Nolan chuckled, summoning golden Windwheel Asters that blossomed across the floor. Within moments, the whole room was filled with their energy.
(T/N: In case you forgot, it was Nolan's Elemental Brust before fused with Lumine's Sword God, but he can still use it differently.)
Instantly, Itto and his gang—Akira, Genta, Mamoru, and the rest—felt their fatigue vanish, leaping back to full strength.
"Wooo! That's the stuff!"
Itto sprang up from the couch, dashing to Nolan like a storm, throwing an arm around his shoulder.
"Didn't think you had this kind of power! Hey, how about joining the Arataki Gang? Come haul bricks with us! With you around, we'd never get tired—it'd be like printing money!"
On construction sites, pay was usually calculated by workload, to motivate workers.
So, technically, Itto wasn't wrong.
Still, with power this incredible, the first thing he thought of was… hauling bricks?
Nolan sighed, brushing Itto's arm off with mild annoyance. He wasn't about to get dragged into such lofty debates with Itto. Glancing at the almost empty room, he asked:
"By the way, where are Yanfei and Shinobu? Haven't they come back yet?"
(End of Chapter)
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