"What, feeling out of place here?" Ningguang chuckled softly, lifting her eyes to Su Bai.
"Others would jump at the chance to be here, yet you're in a hurry to leave."
"Heheh, I'm afraid if I stay any longer, I'll end up paying through the nose." Su Bai covered his teacup with his hand, stopping Baishi from refilling it.
"The general store still needs me to restock. I can't afford to delay too long. Lady Tianquan, however, might consider my previous proposal. If the 'Guili Plains Lease Agreement' passes, I'll certainly visit again."
"Boss Su, your words are quite cutting, making it sound as if I'm solely focused on profit." Ningguang frowned slightly, as if displeased, set down her smoking pipe, and raised her hand to signal.
Beside her, Baishi turned and left, returning shortly with a tray which she presented to Su Bai.
"This is from before. Regarding that agreement, the Qixing still need to discuss it further."
"Thank you. I take my leave." Su Bai lifted the brocade cover, picked up the jade pendant beneath it, and casually hung it at his waist.
This was the item agreed upon in his prior correspondence with Ningguang—an object formed from the Geo Archon's divine power. The condition was that if he won this trade war, he would guarantee an unlimited supply of grain to Liyue for two years at a price not exceeding 420 mora.
Now that Su Bai had succeeded, he naturally claimed what was his.
An item formed from the Geo Archon's divine power—such a treasure wasn't something just anyone could obtain. Among the mortals of Liyue Harbor, Ningguang was likely the only one who could acquire it. Even the information about it had cost Su Bai over a hundred thousand mora.
Now, there was no need to verify its authenticity. The pendant radiated a palpable divine power—a manifestation of authority and energy even more concentrated than that emitted by ten thousand stacks of 10,000-mora coins.
Keeping it in the Jade Chamber would merely serve as a decorative piece. When Su Bai proposed the trade, Ningguang hadn't resisted. After all, it wasn't exactly part of her personal collection.
As for its purpose, she didn't ask.
If she had, he would have just brushed it off with a laugh, revealing nothing.
Watching Su Bai open a portal and leave without the slightest hesitation, Ningguang grew even more convinced.
---
In the Minecraft world,
Carrying the jade pendant, Su Bai rode the Nether rail line far into the distance.
When he returned to the Overworld, his surroundings were a desolate landscape. At the foot of a towering mountain streaked with coal ore, dense trees and jungle pressed together, their shadows concealing the faint outlines of zombies, skeletons, and creepers.
This was an unexplored area—and the gateway to the world's end.
In short, the Stronghold lay deep beneath the ground.
Since Su Bai had headed directly for Teyvat after clearing the End, the development and cleanup of the surrounding area had been put on hold. Even the Nether rail had been built years prior.
"Where was the entrance again?" Su Bai muttered to himself, weaving through the jungle, casually clearing obstructing weeds and leaves as he searched his memory from a few days before.
An occasional clueless creeper would wander too close, only to be swiftly turned into gunpowder with a single swing of his axe. Finally, after looping around, he found the concealed vertical entrance.
"This should do for now. I'll need to clear this area regularly from now on. A few days away, and the trees have nearly overgrown it completely."
Working quickly, Su Bai erected a tall pillar by the entrance and placed a cluster of Sea Lanterns on top as a temporary marker. Then, he leaped alone into the passage.
Arriving beside the End Portal, Su Bai didn't jump in immediately. Instead, he stood on the steps, took the jade pendant from his person—the manifestation of the Geo Archon Morax's divine power and authority—and held it in his hand.
"Let's see how much more effective this is compared to mora. Don't disappoint me now."
Muttering to himself, Su Bai tossed the jade pendant into the End Portal. Instantly, the portal's surface rippled like water, and spatial turbulence surged violently.
"Whoa, I threw in five hundred million mora and it didn't cause nearly this much commotion. This is a steal!"
As the turbulence surged, Su Bai's face lit up with joy, his heart swelling with excitement.
As for how this came to be, we must turn back to the night of the conversation at Mt. Tianheng.
After parting ways with Muhui, Su Bai returned to the Minecraft world. His original plan was to continue constructing the planned Ender farm, but the moment he jumped into the End Portal, he noticed something unusual.
The self-operated portal in his consciousness had grown larger.
To put it simply, the portal Su Bai controlled—the one that allowed travel between Teyvat and the Minecraft world—was previously a smaller version, two blocks high and one block wide, with a total area of just two square meters. It also had only three spatial buffer nodes at each end.
But that day, after careful comparison, he realized the portal had expanded.
The disappearance of five hundred million mora had doubled the portal's size, making it 2x2 blocks.
This discovery initially puzzled Su Bai, but after some thought, he roughly understood the reasoning behind it.
The Minecraft Overworld connects to two dimensions: one is the Nether, also known as Hell; the other is the End, the world's final realm.
In the entire Minecraft world, only the End can nurture the dragon species known as the Ender Dragon and the Endermen, who possess the ability of spatial teleportation. Su Bai's interpretation is that this place is formed from the foundation of the world itself.
Based on this, he drew a conclusion:
Mora, as the manifested object of the Geo Archon's divine power and authority in Teyvat, is also used there as a medium in alchemy. When brought to the End—the foundational realm of the Minecraft world—and dissipates, the divine power and authority within it do not vanish.
Instead, they integrate into the foundation of the Minecraft world and, in turn, nourish Su Bai himself.
To test this hypothesis, Su Bai gathered various native materials from Teyvat, as well as mora from the general store's accounts.
In the end, he found that only mora—items imbued with the Geo Archon's divine power and authority—would merge into the world's foundation when thrown into the End. Other materials remained unchanged.
--
100 powerstones = 1 chapter
200 powerstones = 3 chapters
300 powerstones = 5 chapters