"Stelle, don't get bogged down in the fight! We're retreating to Master Gongshu's position!"
Wende shouted at Stelle, who was still contending with the Abundance's Mystic Deer. He didn't know where the girl got so much strength, but she was able to go toe-to-toe with the divinely empowered deer for several rounds, switching between her lance and baseball bat. For a moment, she was actually locked in a stalemate with it.
Hearing Wende's call, Stelle immediately reacted. She planted a firm kick on the Mystic Deer's face, using the reactive force to flip backward in a graceful arc.
"Freeze! Don't you move!"
Seeing her chance, March immediately froze the Mystic Deer's four limbs with ice, then sealed the escape route with a thick ice wall, allowing everyone to safely disengaging from the battlefield.
Wende let out a sigh of relief, seeing that the Mystic Deer wasn't pursuing them from behind.
If it had been truly bent on chasing them, Wende would have had no choice but to bear the karmic consequences and reverse its Yin and Yang. But… the power connected to this Mystic Deer was simply too immense. If he were to forcibly reverse its Yin and Yang, setting aside the massive "price" he himself would have to pay, it was impossible to know what form the power of Abundance would take after being reversed.
Perhaps…
Wende glanced at the Ambrosial Arbor nearby.
If all of this deer's power came from the Arbor, could the "blessing of Abundance" instantly turn into its opposite?
He didn't know.
"Phew… it's exactly like I said. After meeting the boss, we still have to go weaken the boss!"
March had a little "See, wasn't I right?" look on her face. For a moment, no one could refute her, because she was, in fact, correct. They had run into this exact sequence of events yet again.
Thinking back to Belobog and the Herta Space Station, and now this time… a full three times! Three times!
"Sigh… there must be a connection between that demon deer and the Arbor sprite! Oh, what~ ever~ shall~ we do~~ah!"
Master Gongshu sighed, slapping the back of his hand and breaking into a theatrical chant.
"Hmm… let me guess. Your next idea is to eradicate the Ambrosial Arbor's root system so that the deer can't heal, right?"
March looked at Welt, who was just about to say something, and spoke prophetically.
"Err… that is indeed the case."
Welt nodded, his eyes full of astonishment as he looked at March. When did she suddenly get so smart?
"Hehe… don't look at me like that, Uncle Yang! I'm not a kid anymore!"
March proudly puffed out her chest.
"Mm… you're certainly not."
Wende shook his head, looking at the proud March.
But you're definitely not an adult either.
"Alright then, let's go burn those branches and then make some roast venison out of that deer!"
"Err… can we actually eat that thing?"
Wende was skeptical. If they ate it, would they suddenly contract the Mara?
But on second thought, the deer seemed to be a physical form manifested from the power of Abundance. It would probably dissolve into a free state of energy after being defeated.
"Aiya, anyway… we have to hurry up and get rid of that demon deer and the Arbor sprite's branches, or the Creation Furnace will be in danger!"
Master Gongshu said anxiously. If something really happened to the Creation Furnace, the lightest consequence would be the annihilation of this pocket dimension! The heaviest… he didn't even dare to think about it!
"Don't worry, we'll set out at once!"
"Why can Wende and the Trailblazer just burn the branches in the story, while we have to use this stupid thing like it's a puzzle?"
Sister Guoguo grumbled with resentment as she fiddled with the device known as the Lightflow in a Box. She had been quite happy to see the achievement referencing the other game, but what was the deal with not being allowed to use the mechanic now?
[Is it possible that it was just an Easter egg, and Star Rail doesn't actually have elemental reactions?!]
[For real, I failed my Elemental Reaction Theory class!]
[Hello, I also failed, but I'm now taking Introduction to Star Rail Weaknesses, and this stuff is much simpler!]
[Hello, may I ask if you have taken the course "Speed Theory"?]
[AHHH! Don't you come near me!]
[You there? Time to speed tune your characters.]
[Holy crap, you can even speed tune for this?!]
[Not only do you have to speed tune, but you also have to consider hidden enmity values!]
[Wende: You're right about all of that, but I have a built-in taunt.]
[Damn, my Wende is always the first one to die.]
[Your investment is too low, baby.]
[Tingyun: Then I shall follow my lord~]
[Two characters with higher aggro than Clara…]
[You're right about all that, but what if I put on an Iron Guard Wende? How would you counter that, my good sir?]
[Just say it, whose gear did you get this from as a failed off-piece?]
"Sigh, if only Star Rail had elemental reactions, my General Himeko wouldn't be in this state…"
Sister Guoguo's eyes filled with tears as she watched Himeko scraping away in her team.
[PC: Are you polite?]
[Kakaya: Are you polite?]
[Himeko: Are you polite?]
"Phew… this should be the last one, right? We don't have anything else to clean up, do we?"
March wiped the non-existent sweat from her brow and asked Wende.
"March, Stelle and I were the ones doing the cleaning. Why do you look so tired?"
Wende looked at March's adorable expression and couldn't help but tease her with a smile.
"I was running all over the place with you guys too!"
March scratched her head with a grin, her big, lively eyes darting around. Then, as if she had spotted something, she quickly dodged Wende's teasing gaze and ran off to the side.
"Hey! Look, look! There are a bunch of gatehouse-looking robots here!"
March pointed at the golden automatons sealed in the warehouse.
"What gatehouse! Those are the golden automatons we use to protect the Artisanship Commission!"
Master Gongshu immediately corrected her.
"Err… Master, have the Artisanship Commission's golden automatons actually done anything to protect the Artisanship Commission?"
Even Tingyun couldn't help but interject.
"Err… well…"
Master Gongshu scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, recalling the corrupted automatons they had encountered on the way, including a few that had been corrupted together and nearly vaporized him.
"Ah, this… this was an unforeseen circumstance! That! Young man! This old master will come lend you a hand!"
With that, Master Gongshu grabbed a Lightflow in a Box from somewhere and ran over to Wende and Stelle, joining them in clearing the Ambrosial Arbor's roots.
With the three of them working together, the roots around the Artisanship Commission were soon mostly cleared.
Wende looked up. The Yang energy gathered in the Artisanship Commission had indeed diminished by more than half. It was time to go back and find that deer!