Candace hurriedly looked up to examine the scene.
Sure enough, the water that had poured out from a single iron bucket was now spreading downward from the wooden pillar in an eerie manner.
What was most absurd was this, although it had clearly been only one bucket of water, after being poured out, it continued to flow endlessly, expanding downward at a slow pace that completely defied common sense.
When it reached the ground, the water spread outward, covering an area several meters in radius.
Could that iron bucket be imbued with some kind of Adepti subspace art?
Candace instinctively came up with an explanation.
She knew that Liyue possessed Adepti arts of subspace and pocket realms.
Given Lumine's identity, attaching such an art to an iron bucket, though outrageous, was not entirely impossible.
Lumine spread her Wind Glider and landed lightly, clapping her hands together.
"All done! Achievement unlocked, Inexhaustible Water Supply!"
"It should be Desert Philanthropist instead," Paimon chimed in with a grin.
Lumine shot her a glare.
"Like you know so much!"
Ignoring Paimon, Lumine walked over to Candace.
"There you go. From now on, you won't lack water anymore."
Candace stared at Lumine in a daze, unable to fully process what was happening.
Water this clear was rare even across the entire desert.
The people of Aaru Village didn't dare approach right away. They stood at a distance, staring in astonishment.
If used sparingly, this amount of water alone could last the village an entire month.
And more than that, it was too clean.
The adults hurriedly pulled their children back, afraid they might contaminate this hard-won water source.
They all knew their own reality well. In the desert, even drinking water was difficult to come by.
Polluting a water source meant cutting off others' lifelines, an act that would earn universal hatred.
Candace steadied her thoughts and spoke softly,
"Thank you, Lumine. If everyone conserves it carefully, this water should last Aaru Village for a month."
"A month?"
Lumine laughed.
"I already said it, this water is endless. You could use it for ten thousand years and still not run out!"
"…?"
Candace was utterly confused.
Without further explanation, Lumine borrowed an iron bucket from a villager nearby.
She casually walked over to the flowing water, filled the bucket, and then poured it out to the side.
Instantly, the people of Aaru Village winced in pain.
That was water, the most precious thing in the desert, and she had just poured it away!
But since it was Lumine's gift, no one dared say anything.
Candace opened her mouth, unsure whether she should stop her.
Yet gradually… everyone fell silent.
Even Candace, usually so composed, stared at Lumine in disbelief.
In just a short while, Lumine had filled and poured out more than twenty buckets of water.
The ground around them was soaked.
And yet, the water source showed no sign of depletion at all.
It looked exactly the same as before.
After pouring another bucket, Lumine frowned slightly, feeling it wasn't ideal.
She noticed a large pit nearby, perhaps once a pool, now long dried up.
Her eyes lit up. Hugging the bucket, she trotted over and began pouring water into the pool.
The villagers stared blankly.
About half an hour later, the pool, tens of meters wide, was covered with a layer of water.
And still, the stream flowing down the pillar hadn't diminished in the slightest.
It was as if nothing had ever been taken from it.
Inexhaustible water…
It seemed to be real.
Candace's arms began to tremble.
What could an eternal, never-depleting water source mean for the desert?
It was the lifeline of every desert dweller.
Lumine returned the bucket to the woman she'd borrowed it from and said cheerfully,
"Believe it now? As long as this water source exists, you could irrigate the entire desert if you wanted."
"As long as that pillar doesn't break, your water will be endless. See? I didn't lie!"
"And also, "
Lumine blinked. Wind elemental power surged as she deliberately swept a large cloud of sand toward the water source.
Everyone's hearts clenched.
The inexhaustibility of the water had already been proven, it was their lifeline.
If it got polluted, that would be absolute despair.
But before Candace and the others could panic, they noticed something astonishing.
The sand that touched the water… vanished.
It didn't sink, didn't settle, it simply disappeared.
Lumine placed her hands on her hips, clearly pleased.
"This water source can never be polluted. Even poison wouldn't contaminate it."
"Even if sandstorms are common here, as long as that pillar stays intact, you don't need to worry about the water being tainted."
"Pure, infinite water, this gift is big enough, right?"
Candace suppressed the tremor in her heart, stepped forward, scooped up a handful of water, and drank it.
A clear, refreshing sensation flowed through her.
It was drinkable.
The taste wasn't exaggerated or strange, just very clean water, almost like mountain spring water.
Candace straightened and turned to look at Lumine, her expression complicated.
After a long moment, she bent deeply at the waist.
"Lumine, please accept the highest reverence of the desert people!"
"You have given all desert dwellers the hope to live on!"
Once Candace had confirmed the authenticity of the water source, the desert people could no longer contain themselves.
They were ecstatic, some even pinched themselves to make sure they weren't dreaming.
Then, with solemn expressions, they bowed deeply to Lumine as well.
No one understood better than they did how important inexhaustible, unpollutable water was here.
It was the continuation of their lives.
In other words, Lumine had allowed them all to live.
The sudden grandeur of the moment flustered Lumine.
"Ah, um, please don't…"
"It's just a small gift, really! No need to be so serious!"
Candace smiled warmly, her mood visibly uplifted.
"No, this is deserved. Lumine, you don't understand how desperately desert people yearn for water."
"In the desert, water is above life itself, not just for today, but for our future, and for all generations of desert people to come."
With that, Candace raised her hand.
The stationed guards immediately understood and rushed forward, forming a tight perimeter around the water source, faces stern, as if defending their homeland.
Seeing this, Lumine felt a faint heaviness in her heart.
Having grown accustomed to Liyue's prosperity and peace, she had almost forgotten,
That somewhere in this world, people were still struggling just to survive.
"From this day onward," Candace declared loudly,
"this place shall be designated the Sacred Ground of Aaru Village!"
"Anyone who dares defile the sacred water shall become the enemy of all desert people!"
The shouts of Aaru Village echoed through the settlement.
With this water source, they could finally use water freely,
Even bathing every day would no longer be an impossible luxury.
Desert folk rarely bathed, not because they disliked it, but because they simply could not bear the cost.
In the desert, where could one find such extravagant amounts of water to waste?
But now… they had it.
This endlessly flowing source of water would become the beginning of everything.
Long ago, the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata had brought rainforests to the once-barren lands of Sumeru's desert.
Now, with this inexhaustible water placed before them, perhaps they too could begin transforming their homeland.
Candace quickly walked up to Lumine, her expression earnest and urgent.
"Lumine, could you explain in detail how this water source should be protected?"
"Protected?"
Lumine's expression grew complicated.
In the MC world, this bucket of water was something everyone carried around just to break a fall, losing it didn't matter in the slightest.
To be honest, the water itself was far less valuable than the iron bucket holding it.
It was nothing more than something she had casually scooped up from Ryen's garden before leaving.
But seeing the seriousness on Candace's face, Lumine chose not to say that. Instead, she explained patiently:
"This water source has a special property. As long as it's placed at a higher point, it will continue to spread endlessly."
"So as long as this wooden pillar isn't destroyed, the water will keep flowing forever."
Understanding dawned on Candace. She held her chin and said thoughtfully,
"In that case, we'll need to enclose this area. Wooden pillars are easy to damage…"
Lumine pressed her lips together, refraining from telling her that without tools from the MC world, this pillar wouldn't break even if someone hacked at it day and night.
After a moment's thought, Lumine said softly,
"I'll help you fence it in. I happen to have some fencing with me."
Candace froze, then hurriedly waved her hands.
"No, no! You've already helped us so much, we can't trouble you any further."
"It's fine! Just a small thing!"
Without giving Candace time to refuse again, Lumine took out wooden fences and casually placed them on the ground.
Before everyone's bewildered eyes, in less than a minute, a complete enclosure had formed.
At the end, Lumine even used elemental energy to kick it hard.
The wooden fence didn't budge an inch.
Satisfied, Lumine nodded, pulled out a fence gate, and installed it.
A complete enclosure, finished.
"This… is far too bizarre…"
Alhaitham murmured under his breath.
Years of academic study felt utterly shattered.
He had watched Lumine casually throw down fence pieces that rooted themselves into place, seamlessly connecting as if they had always been there, natural, effortless, unreasonable.
Lumine dusted off her hands and returned to Candace, smiling brightly.
"All done! You can handle the rest yourselves. Don't worry too much, if the water source ever disappears, just contact me and I'll place a few more."
"I only brought one bucket this time. Otherwise, I could've given you even more."
Candace studied Lumine's expression closely. Seeing how unconcerned she truly was, she guessed that within the Four-Nation Alliance, this might not be considered a precious item at all.
She felt a surge of emotion, but still nodded.
"Thank you, Lumine."
After that, Candace spoke briefly with the village chief, mostly about assigning guards and organizing how villagers would draw water.
By then, all the villagers had gathered, each holding various containers, staring eagerly in that direction.
Even though the water was endless, waste was still unthinkable.
In the desert, water had never come easily.
Once arrangements were settled, Candace led Lumine and the others back toward the village chief's house.
Along the way, they saw many villagers rushing excitedly toward the water source. Aaru Village had come alive.
Candace felt genuine joy in her heart.
It had been a long time since she had seen the villagers this happy.
With water now available, life would surely improve.
Candace didn't care how this miracle worked, she only cared that Aaru Village would be better.
Alhaitham, however, found the entire situation deeply unsettling. His mind was full of questions he wanted to ask Lumine.
But before they could even enter the house, brilliant lightning suddenly erupted outside the village.
Candace's heart tightened as she said in a low voice,
"You all go back first. I'll go take a look."
Lumine sensed that something interesting might be happening. After all, since arriving in Sumeru, she hadn't had a proper fight yet, her hands were itching.
Her eyes darted, and she grinned.
"I'll come too. I'm very strong, you know!"
Since Lumine was going, Alhaitham and Dehya naturally wouldn't let her go alone.
After all, Lumine was their guest, and regardless of her strength, if anything happened to her, they'd have no way to explain it to Ningguang and the others.
Candace thought it over. Having extra help didn't hurt.
Judging from the violent lightning outside, it was clearly stronger than her.
More people meant more security.
She nodded.
"All right. Let's go together."
With that, Candace led everyone out.