Ten minutes later, everything had already calmed down.
Tartaglia lay floating on the sea surface, staring blankly at the sky.
There had been clouds in the sky earlier, but they had long since been scattered by the terrifying clash of forces.
He had been utterly crushed in terms of stats!
Was this fair?
Of course, it was absolutely fair!
This was a complete pay-to-win domination!
A direct and overwhelming advantage in raw numbers!
After all, Diluc was no ordinary person—he had rich combat experience and had once been a prodigious young talent.
Compared to Tartaglia, the only thing he lacked was the fortuitous encounter Tartaglia had after falling into the Abyss, where he was taken in and taught martial arts.
Now, Tartaglia wasn't so arrogant anymore.
Diluc was genuinely strong.
At the same time, Diluc wasn't feeling too great either.
The "Uncrowned King" possessed annihilation power that did not belong to Teyvat.
This power was extremely potent, and combined with Tartaglia's earlier self-immolation to trigger Against All Odds,
It could be said that Diluc's victory wasn't exactly effortless.
Mountain's Might Seal and Against All Odds were both enhancement cards, but their amplification rates were different.
Mountain's Might Seal had no side effects, so its amplification rate naturally couldn't compare to Against All Odds, which came with drawbacks.
The other guy had burned everything he had to boost his power—might as well cut him some slack.
Venti flew over, glanced at Tartaglia, then looked at Diluc.
After assessing the situation, he concluded that Tartaglia was severely injured, while Diluc's injuries weren't as bad but still left him somewhat weakened.
"Tsk, I told you harmony brings wealth," Venti clicked his tongue.
After some thought, he figured it didn't matter—they were both still alive anyway.
Immediately, Venti summoned a gentle breeze.
His equipment wasn't high-tier, so his 4-star purple card Reviving Wind couldn't produce much of an effect.
But he was, after all, the God of Breezes and Hope. Healing with wind was child's play for him.
"Let's go!"
Venti swirled the wind around, lifting both of them and carrying them to the summit of Guyun Stone Forest.
Zhongli took a look at Diluc's condition.
The annihilation power had invaded his body, much like a toxin. If not treated promptly, it would linger and continue to torment him.
Fortunately, for Diluc, the annihilation power inside him was equivalent to a debuff—it could be purified.
Similarly, for Tartaglia, the residual golden lightning inside him could also be purified.
"Leave it to Klee!"
Klee was relieved to see that both of them were still alive.
The little girl hugged her Boom-Boom Launcher and got to work.
After taking a Holy Light Bullet, Diluc's lips twitched.
Honestly, this method of healing was… abstract.
If not for Venti's repeated assurances, even Diluc would have had a hard time believing that being bombed could actually heal and purify.
Of course, for Diluc, the healing Klee provided was actually quite minimal—the purification was the key!
As for actual healing…
Blessing of the Goddess of Life—
Activate!
Tartaglia was designated as an ally.
Within a radius of ten kilometers, a faintly visible magic circle formed, centered around Diluc.
An endless stream of life force began to emerge.
The injuries on both of them visibly healed at a rapid pace.
"This is really handy!" Venti remarked, watching with interest.
Zhongli, however, was genuinely envious.
If only he'd had this skill during the Archon War.
Tartaglia climbed up from the ground.
His moment of existential contemplation was over.
If Diluc could spend, why couldn't he?
He just hoped the Fatui envoys delivering funds from Snezhnaya would hurry up—he was ready to go all-in on the next banner!
Meanwhile, Diluc was busy eating Holy Light Bullets while calling Head Maid Adelinde.
Adelinde was highly capable, which was why Diluc had entrusted the entire Dawn Winery to her management when he left on his journey.
The Card Shop had no immediate plans to open a branch in Mondstadt, so Diluc wasn't in a hurry to return. But the winery still needed someone to manage it.
Thus, he instructed her to head back.
A 4-star equipment set plus nine purple cards!
By Diluc's estimates, even pre-card Tartaglia wouldn't have been a match for Adelinde.
Of course, this was purely in terms of stats—Adelinde had little combat experience.
But given Mondstadt's peaceful environment… Adelinde was more than enough to guard the Dawn Winery!
Court of Fontaine.
Furina sat elegantly in the distance, reading a novel.
The book was produced by a certain item card—reading it nourished the spirit, and the content was quite engaging.
Meanwhile, Focalors had gone back to her room for a nap.
Perhaps she hadn't slept well last night, or maybe she was preparing to stay up late.
Lu Heng sipped his tea while scrolling through his phone.
No matter the era, one should never underestimate human ingenuity.
There would always be highly intelligent individuals among humanity.
Case in point—short videos had already taken off in the Court of Fontaine.
Thanks to the power of the Civilization Core, creating software was incredibly simple. Just describe the requirements to the AI, and it would produce the desired program in no time.
But after browsing for a while, Lu Heng found it rather dull.
No eye-catching content—what was the point of scrolling?
Lu Heng switched to his social feed.
He had many friends.
Before Focalors confessed her feelings, she had been the one who messaged him the most.
Aside from her, it was usually the "Street Roamers Crew" inviting him to eat.
The others rarely sent messages—probably because they weren't close enough to bother him?
[Wriothesley]: Arm-wrestling tournament at the Fortress of Meropide. Honored to have won the championship.
[Likes]: [Neuvillette], [Clorinde], [Navia], [Charlotte]
[Comments]:
— [Charlotte]: Can I interview the Duke about how he feels?
— [Wriothesley] replies [Charlotte]: Feeling pretty good.
Scrolling down.
[Focalors]: Kinda handsome. [Image]
The picture showed Lu Heng sitting behind the counter after appraising someone's cards, leaning against the counter with a teacup in hand.
Without hesitation, Lu Heng hit the like button. The photo was well-taken, capturing his handsomeness perfectly.
The number of likes wasn't worth mentioning—any mutual friends of Lu Heng and Focalors could see he'd liked it.
[Comments]:
— [Navia]: Boss Lu is as handsome as ever! (Like)
— [Charlotte]: Lady Furina took such a great photo! It could be used for an ad! (Like)
— [Venti]: Gotta say, Boss Lu's looks are kinda threatening my status.
— [Focalors] replies [Venti]: How many enhancement cards did you use on your face?
Lu Heng chuckled.
This was way more entertaining.
Continuing to scroll.
[Beidou]: The new Crux—cool or what? Setting sail for Inazuma soon! Let me know if you want anything brought back! (Sunglasses emoji) [Image of the new Crux]
[Xingqiu]: Chongyun can eat spicy food now. Sigh, no more funny reactions. What a shame.
[Comments]:
— [Chongyun]: Be a decent human being!
[Klee]: Klee's bombs heal people now! Acting Grand Master Jean will definitely praise me! (Grin) [Image of a Jumpy Dumpty]
[Ganyu]: For documents that do not require physical copies, please submit digital versions. For documents requiring physical copies, please first send a digital version, then mail the physical copies to the Yuehai Pavilion for archiving. Thank you for your cooperation.
"???"
Everyone else's posts were about sharing their recent experiences or daily lives.
Ganyu! Why was yours different?!
Lu Heng suddenly felt like he'd returned to Earth, where his feed was full of:
Friend #1 posting supermarket discounts.Friend #2 complaining about overtime.Friend #3 ranting about their boss.
Lu Heng exited the feed and searched for Ganyu.
Then—
[Lu Heng]: Surprise check—what are you doing during lunch break?
Yuehai Pavilion.
Ganyu had a strong biological clock—she usually napped during lunch breaks without fail.
But!
She knew the Geo Archon was about to retire, so work would be especially busy lately.
Thus, she fought back her drowsiness, even skipping lunch to handle documents.
As everyone knew, resisting sleepiness was one of the hardest things to do.
Ganyu sat at her desk, her head nodding forward repeatedly.
She was on the verge of dozing off.
Suddenly, her phone lit up beside her.
Ganyu picked it up and shuddered—her drowsiness vanished instantly.
Though the name displayed was "Lu Heng," in Ganyu's eyes, it might as well have read: The Abyss Herald Tempting Her Into Sin.
She was wide awake now.
Her face twisted with conflict—should she reply or not?
She was terrified that if she replied, Lu Heng would ask: "Did you eat that succulent yet?"
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T/N:
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