"Arcane Workbench?!"
Hearing this, Lumine immediately perked up.
"Is that the thing that lets you swap the spells bound to a staff?"
Ryen nodded, chuckling softly:
"That's right. We originally planned to explore all the way to the Final Plateau, grab the Magic Bean first, and then come back."
"But once we got the Arcane Workbench, our plans changed."
"This time, we didn't bring any spellbooks into the Twilight Forest, and the Workbench needs to be installed somewhere safe."
"By coincidence, I also felt you were back, so I decided to return first."
With that, Ryen finally lifted his gaze to examine Yae Miko behind Lumine.
Truly a rare beauty, no doubt—but compared to her appearance…
Ryen was actually more captivated by her furry ears!
Authentic fox ears!
Once in a millennium!
If she could transform into her original pink-haired fox form, he could hold her in his arms and give her a good cuddle.
That would be pure bliss!
Ryen already had a daughter—Paimon, the flying little cutie.
Adding a fluffy little fox to raise…
Perfect!
Of course, Yae Miko didn't know that Ryen was looking at her like that, imagining giving her a cat-like cuddle.
She only smiled lightly and nodded:
"Hello, Mr. Ryen. I am the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine in Inazuma, Yae Miko."
Ryen replied softly:
"Just call me Ryen. I know of you—my Ganyu has often mentioned you to me."
Miko turned to Ganyu beside her, her gaze softening, tinged with affection, and stepped forward to embrace her:
"Long time no see, Sister Ganyu. I've missed you so much!"
Ganyu gently patted Miko's head:
"I heard things in Inazuma have been a little chaotic lately. How have you been, Miko?"
"Just so-so," Miko said with a helpless shake of her head.
"Ei is stubborn, as you know."
Zhongli nearby nodded slightly:
"During the Seven Archons' Conference back then, I noticed when I sparred with her."
"Although Beelzebul's strength was formidable, she seemed overly protected by him and personally pursued ultimate eternity."
"Back then, I already felt that with her personality, something would go wrong in the future."
"I didn't expect Baal's death to affect her so profoundly…"
Zhongli sighed, then spoke solemnly:
"But regardless, as a deity, no matter how many grievances you carry, your people should not suffer. That is her dereliction of duty."
Miko gave a wry smile. If anyone else had criticized Ei like that, she would have immediately defended her to maintain her dignity.
But Zhongli was the Geo Archon. For him, in this world, any demigods who could be his peers—or even seniors—had already been killed during the Archon War.
Those left were all juniors.
She had the right to do so.
Don't underestimate Ei—she may have been one of the original Archons, but in terms of age, she was still just a young girl in Zhongli's eyes.
Even Venti, who had lived longer, had only experienced half the years Zhongli had.
And Ei?
Miko bypassed Zhongli's topic and spoke softly:
"This time I came to Liyue mainly to address the current chaos in Inazuma."
"I heard that this world possesses the power of resurrection."
"Ei's inner turmoil stems from the loss of her friends, the erosion of time, and the 'True One.'"
"Makoto is the catalyst that makes Ei completely fearful of the outside world."
"As long as the Makoto can be resurrected, Inazuma's disorder can be easily eradicated."
"Afterward, we also hope to collaborate with Liyue, just as Mondstadt and Snezhnaya have, working with this world to jointly resist Celestia."
"I believe that once Makoto is resurrected, Ei can become the vanguard of the resistance against Celestia."
Hearing this, Zhongli's expression softened, and he sighed:
"Baal… indeed, no one is more suited to be the Electro Archon than she is."
Miko gave a wry smile. Even Zhongli thought the same way—looks like…
"The resurrection issue can be handled. The resurrection totem is with me. Although Liyue has many deities it wants to revive, it would take time to locate the consciousness fragments of other deities."
"There are still points left on the resurrection totem, so we can help you resurrect Makoto."
Hearing Zhongli say this, Miko finally relaxed:
"Thank you… I've already brought Makoto's consciousness fragment."
Ryen waved his hand gently:
"No rush on resurrection. Since the consciousness fragment has already entered this world, resurrection is just a thought away."
"What matters most right now is the Arcane Workbench!"
Ryen cheerfully ushered everyone into the villa.
In the living room, he set up the Arcane Workbench.
"Ningguang, bring out the spellbooks we got earlier. I want to load all my Master-level staffs with Master-level spells!"
"A proper Master-level staff having only one Master-level spell? That's just embarrassing!"
Ningguang chuckled silently, then nodded and, with Keqing, headed to the basement.
Lisa looked at the Arcane Workbench in front of her. For a moment, she couldn't figure out what made it special—just thought the appearance looked a bit different.
After a moment of pondering, she said softly:
"Feels like it's just a change of appearance."
Ryen shook his head:
"The Arcane Workbench is normally made of gold particles, a purple carpet, lapis lazuli blocks, stone, and mana crystals."
"In fact, if it weren't for the mana crystal requirement, we could already have gathered enough resources."
Lisa nodded thoughtfully:
"Lapis lazuli blocks… looks like these have a more mysterious purpose. We'll need to study this again."
"And the mana crystals… these are resources from the study of sorcery, right? Seems like they might be more effective for us."
Ryen chuckled lightly:
"Leave these for Albedo to study."
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