The summit of Dragonspine had changed drastically from before. If anyone could climb to the top, they would find that most of the mountain peak had been taken over by the main trunk of the Golden Tree.
Perhaps due to lack of space, many of the Golden Tree's massive roots had even risen from beneath the earth, exposed to the outside.
"Come, come, Lisa! Over here for a moment." Faint human voices could be heard from above the great tree.
On a thick branch of the Golden Tree, Lisa looked at Yu Jin, who was pointing at her waist, with a speechless expression.
She looked at the pulsating purple lightning in her hand, then at Yu Jin's armor, which hadn't changed at all, and silently extinguished her lightning.
Sadly, her lightning struck Yu Jin without even a spark. She had intended to vent her anger, but now it was as if she was just giving Yu Jin a massage.
"Eh? Why did you stop electrocuting me?" Yu Jin pointed at his waist for a long time, only to find that the familiar tingling sensation did not come.
He turned his head and saw Lisa with her arms crossed and a serious expression, as well as the others exclaiming in wonder.
"Let's think about how to explain the Golden Tree issue to Acting Grand Master Jean!" Lisa rolled her eyes at Yu Jin's words.
With such a massive tree suddenly growing on Dragonspine, she could already imagine the chaos within Mondstadt.
"Explain? Explain what? Don't you think such a big tree is magnificent?" Yu Jin said, making a circle with his hands.
To be honest, he hadn't expected his blood to make the Golden Tree grow wildly like it was on steroids.
But being bigger wasn't a problem; at least they wouldn't need umbrellas when it rained on Dragonspine.
"Yeah, yeah! Lisa, look at this magnificent sight here; lots of people will definitely come to play."
"Then, if we sell some delicious food below, Mora will come in heaps!" Paimon also flew over, excitedly saying.
Perhaps it was due to seeing such a magnificent creature as the Golden Tree, or perhaps she was proud of thinking of such a brilliant idea; in any case, Paimon's face showed uncontrollable excitement.
"Paimon, I think you'd be fine staying here alone. You go earn money, and I'll go traveling, how about that?" Lumine looked at Paimon fluttering about and felt like teasing her.
"No! We are the best partners; we can't be separated!" As expected, Paimon immediately flew back from a distance and began arguing with Lumine.
However, their topic quickly shifted from the meaning of travel to which snacks would be better to sell next.
"Sigh! Forget it, forget it. Dragonspine is a barren land anyway; no matter how much we mess with it, it won't get any worse." Lisa looked at Lumine, Paimon, and Yu Jin's carefree expressions, covering her forehead helplessly.
Anyway, the Golden Tree had already grown; the die was cast. Regardless of the impact, Mondstadt could only accept it.
Lisa looked around, her eyes filled with golden hues, and the Golden Tree's branches under her feet felt like real ground.
If not for the faint white clouds around her, Lisa might have truly forgotten that she was high in the sky.
Lumine and Paimon were discussing what snacks to make, Yu Jin had run off to the main trunk of the Golden Tree in the distance, doing who knows what, and Lanssangx and Albedo... they seemed to be prying off bark?
"Hey! What are you two doing!" Lisa quickly ran over. She didn't know about Albedo, but Lanssangx was just as troublesome as Yu Jin.
"So... so hard!" Lanssangx squatted on the ground, her fair, slender fingers embedded in the crevices of the Golden Tree's bark texture.
She exerted force with both hands, as if trying to tear off a piece of bark from the Golden Tree. However, no matter how hard she tried, the Golden Tree's bark remained motionless.
Immutability was the most important characteristic of the Golden Order, and this was fully reflected in the Golden Tree.
If the Order had not changed, trying to make the Golden Tree change would be as difficult as ascending to heaven. This applied whether the change was external or internal.
"Collecting research materials." Albedo glanced at Lisa, then continued to take out a small chisel and pry at the bark with Lanssangx.
But it was clear that in front of the Golden Tree, which Lanssangx's strength couldn't even harm in the slightest, Albedo's small chisel left no mark on it.
"Heh, I don't believe it!" Lanssangx rubbed her fingertips, which were red from overexertion. She was going to get serious.
"Move! Move!" Lanssangx pushed away Lisa and Albedo, who had gathered around. Then a streak of light flashed, and Lanssangx's arm transformed into a massive dragon claw.
And her whole body also flew up, supported by the dragon claw.
"Tear!" Just as Lanssangx was about to swing her claw with force, the bark beneath her suddenly cracked and flew off.
"Bang!" The bark landed next to Lanssangx's dragon claw, shaking slightly, leaving Lanssangx in silence.
"Where's your dignity as one of the Golden Race?!" Lanssangx looked at the Golden Tree's bark, which glowed golden next to her dragon claw, and loudly complained.
The Golden Tree indicated it didn't want to talk, and casually flung a few more "small dead skins" at Lanssangx.
These "small dead skins" were tiny to the current Golden Tree, but not so for Lanssangx.
"Ah!" After revealing her dragon claw, Lanssangx's body and dragon claw were very disproportionate. She was currently supporting her body solely with the dragon claw, like walking on stilts, but the stilts were replaced by dragon claws.
Now, Lanssangx was hit by the bark ejected by the Golden Tree, immediately lost her balance, and after a scream, fell straight down.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Xiao Huang, you're good. You've grown up and started retaliating against me, huh?" Lanssangx returned to her human form and jumped out from a pile of huge bark. She spat out the wood chips in her mouth, saying somewhat angrily.
After speaking, she stomped her foot hard. However, it was a pity that Lanssangx's stomp, which was enough to split mountains and crack rocks on the ground, didn't even leave a footprint on the Golden Tree.
Just as Lanssangx was stomping her foot, Yu Jin walked over. He lightly patted Lanssangx's head and said, "Alright, alright, stop bothering Xiao Huang. Next, we need it to maintain its mental focus!"
"Mental focus? Does this tree really have its own consciousness?" Paimon, who was nearby, heard Yu Jin's words and immediately exclaimed.
"Didn't I show you guys before? How could you forget so quickly?" Lanssangx rubbed her head. Could Paimon be that forgetful?
"That could be called having consciousness? I thought it was like a cat or a dog!" Paimon spread her hands and said.
Perhaps in her eyes, what Lanssangx had shown her before was more like an animal show, only the performer had changed from an animal to a plant.
But soon, Paimon regretted her thoughts. Because a slender vine had unknowingly wrapped around her.
"Ah--" After a scream, Paimon began to move erratically in the air.
"Quick... quick, stop! So... sorry!" Paimon flew in the air at a speed she could never achieve, with apologies occasionally coming from her.
However, the Golden Tree only swung Paimon for a while before stopping. It wasn't really angry; it was just playing a joke on Paimon.
"Uh..., so... so many people." Paimon's two eyes turned into mosquito coils, and she was completely dazed, unable to distinguish who was who.
"Tsk, Lanssangx stopped bothering you, and now you're starting to bother others?" Although Yu Jin said this, there was no hint of blame in his tone.
Seeing the Golden Tree so energetic, Yu Jin was also happy. It seemed his blood hadn't been shed in vain.
After speaking, Yu Jin lowered his head. His gaze pierced through the Golden Tree's branches and the high sky, seeing the Golden Tree's raised root system on the ground.
"Look at your roots; they're like a ball of yarn. Listen to me, send your roots down along that white Frostbearing Tree!"
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