In the end, the nearly-dead Snow Queen was taken out by Ganyu with an utterly ordinary Barrett sniper shot straight to the head.
Seeing this, everyone's urge to complain grew even stronger.
That last move — Holy Judgement — had such a grand name and over-the-top visuals that it looked like the creation of a new world.
Yet the result?
It didn't even deal as much damage as a casual bullet!
After all that effort, what was even the point?
Tartaglia felt that Ryen was either completely out of his mind or possessed some deeper meaning that normal people couldn't comprehend.
Perhaps...
He was testing the results of merging seven Delusions?
As the wielder of all seven elements, maybe Ryen had taken a groundbreaking step forward!
Yes, that must be it!
Tartaglia smacked his palm with a firm slap, looking as if he had suddenly reached enlightenment.
Right now, his expression mirrored that of Xiao and the other adepti when they looked at Zhongli.
Even if Zhongli were to bungee jump from the heavens without a rope and hold his own funeral mid-air,
they'd still say, "The Lord of Geo's actions must hold profound meaning!"
That's how it is — once your strength reaches a certain level, the number of people over-interpreting your actions multiplies exponentially!
But in truth, Ryen hadn't thought about any of that.
In Teyvat, maybe that move was incredibly strong —
but in this world, even the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles would be crushed into submission.
Ryen could, in all honesty, tell everyone this without the slightest guilt:
He did it purely to look cool.
Lisa, watching his pleased expression, couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.
"Sometimes, I really can't figure out what goes on in your head. You're already strong enough to split Teyvat in half, yet you still chase after flashy elemental power that doesn't even benefit you."
Ryen shrugged.
"Like I said before — strength fades, but style lasts a lifetime!
Never mind the damage — as long as you all admit that move looked awesome, that's all that matters!"
Ningguang chuckled softly, reaching out to gently stroke his cheek like she was coaxing a child.
"You're the most handsome of them all. I fell for you because of that flair, alright?"
Ryen gave a satisfied hum and sent Xiao off to call the others back.
He was very pleased with today's elemental experiment — regardless of the results, the amount of light pollution produced was definitely worth it.
After all, in a world filled with flashy effects, if he didn't join in with some special effects of his own,
that would be an absolute failure!
Adjusting his mood, Ryen walked toward the spot where the Snow Queen had fallen.
By now, the ground was scattered with all kinds of loot.
However, compared to other monsters' drops, the Snow Queen's looked rather disappointing.
Ice chunks, snowballs…
These things were everywhere — Ryen didn't even bother giving them a second glance.
Other than that, there was also the Snow Queen's trophy.
To Ryen, it was nothing more than a decorative trinket,
but perhaps it could be of use to Albedo.
After all, even the Naga's trophy had contained strong magical condensation —
so surely, the Snow Queen's trophy must be far more potent.
This kind of thing was best left for Albedo to tinker with.
The last somewhat worthwhile loot was a three-shot bow.
But honestly, that was something anyone could craft themselves. Plus, everyone had firearms — who still wanted such an ancient bow and arrow?
Lift the gun, aim, pull the trigger, and listen to the metallic storm of bullets — isn't that more satisfying than drawing a bow?
"Tch…"
Lisa shook her head, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Looks like the Snow Queen didn't drop anything truly useful."
Ryen shrugged softly.
"There are still unopened chests. Maybe there's something good inside?"
"Right now, the only thing worth caring about is the Arcane Workbench," Lisa said lazily, twirling a strand of her hair.
"Unless we find an Arcane Workbench, I'm not happy."
Ryen didn't respond. To be honest, even he couldn't guarantee that one was in these chests.
After all this exploration, nearly every area had been thoroughly searched — except for the Final Plateau.
They had encountered plenty of druid mages, collected almost all the spellbooks,
but the Arcane Workbench still hadn't appeared anywhere.
Ryen suspected it probably wasn't in the Twilight Forest.
Still, that wasn't too much of a problem.
After all, spells didn't need to be chased obsessively.
Even if there was an Arcane Workbench, the only one who could install master-level spells was Ryen himself.
And for him…
"Maybe your master-level staff spells are powerful, but what will you do when I unleash my Seven-Visions?"
Having elemental power had greatly lessened his desire for other things.
Right now, the only thing that still excited him were the various drawn-sword weapons.
Ryen planned to make a wall at home, collecting every type of drawn-sword in his arsenal.
The loot chest was right in front of him, but he didn't rush to open it.
Honestly, the drops from the Aurora Palace weren't much.
Without an Arcane Workbench, this Snow Queen hunt was no different in Ryen's eyes from the Naga hunt.
Of course, the sense of teamwork and seamless cooperation was still fun for the Cryo Archon.
"Ryen, the Snow Queen is dead. Next, we should head to the so-called Cloud Cottage to take down the giants, right?"
Ganyu asked curiously.
Ryen nodded slightly.
"Yes. Basically, only the giants remain. After dealing with them, the Twilight Forest will spawn new monsters.
If we follow this process and kill them again, a new module will activate."
Hearing this, Keqing immediately perked up.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's kill the giants and unlock the new module!"
"So eager? You look down on the Twilight Forest that much?" Ryen chuckled, slightly speechless.
Keqing shook her head.
"On the contrary. I value the Twilight Forest very highly, that's why I said it."
She paused, then explained slowly:
"I've thought it through.
The Twilight Forest is rich in resources, with many special minerals and monster drops.
If we send them out, we might discover even more — like steel leaves, living roots, armor fragments, and so on."
"Even the staves in here—we need to collect more of them.
Clear the Twilight Forest as quickly as possible, then we can activate the new module.
~~----------------------
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