"Whoosh!" A metal can suddenly shot out from a steep mountain. This was Yu Jin, who had traveled thousands of miles to find the Hydro Eidolon.
He still hadn't forgotten the Hydro Eidolon's miraculous abilities. So, after settling Xiao Jiu Jiu, Yu Jin asked Ruoxin for directions and came here.
Yu Jin stood on the mountain peak, looking down. Amidst the towering mountains, a vast lake reflected the Sky, appearing clear and serene.
This lake was surrounded by mountains, with only a narrow path leading out. If no one guided the way, it would be very difficult to find.
Yu Jin could sense a special power dormant within this lake, a power that permeated the entire lake and the surrounding water system. It seemed she was Rhodeia, whom Qingquan had mentioned.
The strongest Hydro Eidolon? Yu Jin sensed her power, and she truly lived up to her reputation. From his perspective, defeating her wouldn't be difficult, but completely killing her would be a bit troublesome.
The only methods Yu Jin could think of were to dry up the nearby water systems or pollute all the water in Qingce Village. Both of these would be extremely difficult to accomplish.
But soon, Yu Jin tapped his own head. He wasn't here to fight, so why was he thinking about how to fight to the death as soon as he saw her?
He was here to make friends, okay? If he could get a small blessing, that would be even better.
Thinking this, Yu Jin directly jumped onto the nearby grand waterfall and, following the current, plunged into the lake below.
"Bang!" But Yu Jin hadn't expected there to be a platform built beneath the lake. Unprepared, he crashed right into it.
"Are you kidding me? Building a platform in a lake? For convenient fishing, I suppose." Yu Jin rubbed his head, grumbling as he stood up.
Then Yu Jin began to stare intently at a blue glowing spot on the platform, because he sensed that the energy in this place was the most abundant, most likely where Rhodeia rested.
As if stared at for too long by Yu Jin, a wondrous creature with a fish tail, two wings, and a glowing head flew out from the blue light and appeared before Yu Jin.
Yu Jin's eyes widened as he looked at Rhodeia. She was quite different from Qingquan. The first time he saw Qingquan, she was just a ball of water with two Wind Slime wings.
But this Rhodeia before him, her size of over ten meters, the ripples surging on her body, and the aura within her similar to that inside the Raiden Shogun's sword at that time. It could only be said that Rhodeia was worthy of the title of the strongest Hydro Eidolon.
"Are you an Assassin from my homeland, or someone attempting to disturb the waters of Qingce?" A soft yet grand female voice emanated from Rhodeia, and her entire body swam like a fish to a higher position.
"Wait!" Yu Jin saw Rhodeia flying into the Sky and felt that if he didn't explain quickly, they might start fighting.
"I am an Adventurer, not an Assassin. And I haven't disturbed Qingce Village; on the contrary, I saved someone." Yu Jin shouted loudly to Rhodeia in the Sky.
"Huh?" Rhodeia's body stiffened. Every time someone had disturbed her before, it had always been some ill-intentioned fellow. Now, seeing Yu Jin, a normal visitor, she felt a bit unaccustomed.
However, Rhodeia quickly reacted. She swam slowly down from the Sky and came before Yu Jin, saying:
"Traveler from a foreign land, why have you come here? If you are lost, then please rest for a while; the water will guide you home."
"Don't tell me, all you Hydro Eidolons speak with such personality?" Yu Jin couldn't help but feel a bit strained after hearing Rhodeia's words. He didn't want to converse in such a tone.
The words he had spoken when he blessed Qingquan had been thought about for a long time.
"Not really, it's just that our creator used to like speaking that way." Rhodeia was silent for a moment, then responded.
"Then your creator truly had a lot of personality." Yu Jin muttered to himself.
"How did you know I was here?" Rhodeia saw that Yu Jin had clearly come specifically to find her, so she asked.
Her whereabouts were very hidden; why would he know? Rhodeia looked at Yu Jin before her, wondering if she should... "I have many friends." Yu Jin heard Rhodeia's words, rubbed the back of his head, and laughed proudly.
Rhodeia visibly froze for a moment. She had thought of many answers, such as Yu Jin having some special ability. But she never expected Yu Jin to give the reason "I have many friends."
Friends? She once had them too, but after the former Hydro Archon died, everyone went their separate ways, and she didn't know how they were doing now.
"Then why do you want to find me?" Rhodeia asked curiously. She wondered why Yu Jin would want to find her, an outsider.
"You're the strongest Hydro Eidolon, is it strange to come and see? Besides, what I like most is making friends."
Just as the Hydro Eidolon was moved by Yu Jin's pure heart, she saw Yu Jin rub his hands together like a fly and whisper:
"Of course, if you could give me a small blessing, that would be even better."
"..."
Yu Jin saw Rhodeia's silence and immediately became anxious. He hastily said, "It's okay if you don't want to; I can trade something for it, right?"
"I guarantee you won't lose out!" Saying this, Yu Jin confidently patted his chest.
"I can't."
"What?"
"I can't. I'm only good at fighting." Rhodeia spun in a circle in the Sky, her eye-like spots on her head looking at the petrified Yu Jin as she spoke.
"No way—" Yu Jin covered his face with both hands. The image of himself with maxed-out life skills that he had envisioned had vanished into thin air.
Then Yu Jin lay flat on the platform, his entire body sinking into the water.
"What are you doing?" Rhodeia found Yu Jin very erratic. She didn't understand why Yu Jin was doing this.
"Didn't you say you'd send me back with water? Hurry up, I live in Mondstadt." Yu Jin said weakly in the water.
Rhodeia was speechless again, but she still nodded and said to Yu Jin, "Then lie down properly. However, I can only send you as far as the Dawn Winery in Mondstadt."
After she finished speaking, Yu Jin felt the water around him begin to flow. Under the power of the current, his body also floated to the surface and began to move.
"Hey! We're friends, right?!" Yu Jin lay on the water, raising one hand and asking loudly.
Rhodeia watched Yu Jin, who was gradually moving away, was silent for a moment, then responded, "Barely."
"Heh, not bad, not a wasted trip." Yu Jin smiled when he heard Rhodeia's answer from behind him. This Adventure was a complete success!
..."Thump!" After an unknown amount of time, Yu Jin, carried by the water, finally stopped, and he stopped by crashing into a reef on the shore.
Yu Jin rubbed his head and stood up from the water. He felt that Rhodeia had definitely done that on purpose!
But before he could react, a kneeling shadow suddenly appeared before Yu Jin.
"King!" Wu saw Yu Jin's figure and excitedly knelt on one knee. She hadn't expected to see Yu Jin so easily.
"Tinae?!" Yu Jin hastily punched himself. He was checking if he had been tricked by that guy.
How could the Black Knife appear in this world!
Wu became even more excited after hearing this. Tinae was the name the King had given her, and only those within the Black Knife and Yu Jin knew it.
"Get up, get up, didn't I say not to do this?" Although Yu Jin's head was buzzing, he still helped Tinae up.
"How did you get here? No one did anything foolish, right?" Yu Jin looked at Tinae, who was much taller than him, and asked worriedly.
He had only burned a large hole by Burning everything. He didn't want The Lands Between to sacrifice others to open another hole.
"The King need not worry, all is well." Tinae looked down at Yu Jin, and for the first time, there was a slight tremor in her silver-bell-like voice.
Tinae leaned slightly towards Yu Jin. Her small movement naturally didn't escape Yu Jin's eyes. Yu Jin looked at Tinae and felt something was amiss.
"Hey, hey, hey, Tinae, what are you trying to do?"
Just as Yu Jin was about to run away, Tinae's arm, longer than his leg, slipped under Yu Jin's armpit.
Then Yu Jin's feet left the ground, and he was tightly embraced by Tinae.
"The King's aura!" Tinae rubbed her face against Yu Jin's, saying infatuatedly.
And Yu Jin at this moment also had a lifeless expression. He had once said that when interacting with the Black Knives, he was very passive.
Just like he was now, passive.