The Resurgence of Azhdaha!

A/N:

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A single Morax was already enough to make Venti avoid stepping into Liyue lightly, for fear of being beaten by Zhongli again.

Now, Zhongli had just stepped down from his position as the Geo Archon, and Liyue had gained another dragon.

"Ying-ying-ying."

Sensing that Venti was observing him, Lin Yuan let out a baby dragon's roar.

As for this irresponsible drunkard, Barbatos, Lin Yuan didn't really have any sense of reverence.

Lottia dutifully translated:

"Lin Yuan means: Bard, can you sing another song?"

Venti chuckled as he walked over and said, "My name is Venti. I'm a traveling bard. Apologies, but my previous performance was only for those fated to hear it."

At the same time, Venti began scrutinizing Lin Yuan and Lottia.

As for Lottia, he recognized her as the pure water spirit from the border between Liyue and Mondstadt.

However, it was a bit odd for this pure water spirit to be following this little divine dragon around.

A combination of a little dragon and a pure water spirit—what an unusual pair.

Lin Yuan said, "Don't worry, I have fine wine gifted to me by the Liyue Qixing. If you perform again, I'll give you some to drink."

The supplies sent earlier by the Qixing covered all kinds of things, including their cherished, fine wines.

Before Lottia could even translate, Venti eagerly said, "Really? Do you really have wine from the Qixing?"

Venti's heart was moved. Since the wine was sent by the Qixing, it must be of the highest quality in all of Teyvat.

"You can understand what I'm saying?" Lin Yuan's eyes flashed with surprise. Today, he had unexpectedly met two beings who could understand his baby dragon language.

But after thinking it through, he realized it wasn't that strange. Venti was a wisp of the thousand winds that had turned into a wind spirit, and was also one of the Seven Archons. Being able to understand his baby dragon language made sense.

"Yep, yep. Now tell me, do you really have that wine?" Venti nodded eagerly, suddenly acting very enthusiastic towards Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan assured him that he had plenty of wine, as long as Venti was willing to perform again like before.

He wanted to hear more of Venti's music, to experience that mysterious power hidden within it.

Once Venti understood this, he immediately agreed, "No problem! As long as there's wine, I can perform as many times as you want!"

Hu Tao, who was standing nearby, just like before when they encountered Lottia, could only hear Venti talking to himself.

However, since Venti had miraculously dealt with Xiao's karmic debt when he first appeared, the fact that Venti could understand Lin Yuan's words wasn't all that difficult for Hu Tao to accept.

Once Venti agreed to perform for wine, he picked up his lyre and started playing once again.

Everyone listened to the beautiful melody and enjoyed it once more.

Lin Yuan could sense that there was some kind of power hidden within the music, though he couldn't quite grasp it.

When the song ended, besides everyone feeling an unprecedented sense of well-being, they didn't notice anything else.

Lin Yuan vaguely understood that Venti's music was essentially providing them with a buff.

Hu Tao exclaimed in amazement, "Wow, Venti! Who exactly are you?"

"I'm just a passing bard, nothing more," Venti responded casually.

Just as Hu Tao was about to admire Venti's free-spirited aura, thinking him to be the perfect example of a wandering bard, Venti eagerly turned to Lin Yuan and said, "Hey, friend! You promised to give me a bottle of that wine afterward."

Once Lin Yuan affirmed this, Venti happily nodded, "Alright, I'll remember this. One day, when I'm craving a drink, I'll come to collect it."

For Venti, who lived by the philosophy of "drink when you have wine," he cared only for the wine and had no interest in investigating Lin Yuan's identity. Since Lin Yuan was willing to offer him wine, he must be a good person—that was good enough for Venti.

Hu Tao commented dryly, "So he's just a drunkard."

Xiao, who had been silently observing this whole time, spoke up, "If you've nothing else to say, I'll be on my way."

Of course, these words were directed at Venti.

When Venti heard this, he snapped out of his excitement over getting wine and smiled as he said, "Don't be in such a hurry. I know you want to go cleanse other areas of evil spirits, but the demonic forces in Liyue are already stirring."

He pointed to the ground, "Relying solely on you won't be enough to protect all of Liyue."

As one of the Seven Archons, Venti was clearly privy to more information.

And judging by his words, it was apparent that he had already met with the old man Zhongli.

Xiao knew that what Venti said was probably true. After all, such large-scale black fog appearing couldn't be a mere coincidence.

However, Xiao still wanted to go deal with the evil spirits in other areas. He believed that the Geo Archon would definitely resolve everything behind the scenes.

Venti chuckled, "You're still putting your hopes in that old man, aren't you?"

Xiao's thoughts were laid bare by Venti's words.

Xiao remained silent, which was basically an admission of the truth.

Venti looked into the distance and said calmly, "That old man… right now, I doubt he has the time."

Xiao followed Venti's gaze, his expression tightening as he muttered, "Fuao Vale?"

The direction Venti was looking toward was precisely where Fuao Vale was located.

Xiao knew exactly what resided in Fuao Vale.

But what surprised him was that the Geo Archon had gone there to deal with it.

Xiao's heart sank. If that was the case, then the Geo Archon truly couldn't spare the time right now.

When Lin Yuan heard the name Fuao Vale, it felt somewhat familiar. After a moment, it came to him—wasn't that where Azhdaha was sealed?

Venti was implying that Azhdaha was now breaking free from its seal?

Lin Yuan's heart tightened. He hadn't expected that only a few days after his birth, he would encounter the resurgence of Azhdaha.

And to make matters worse, Liyue's demonic forces were also stirring at this exact moment.

These events couldn't be left to Zhongli alone to handle.

Just as everyone was looking toward Fuao Vale, a surge of power spread through Liyue's solid earth.

And at the source of this power, deep within a cavern in Fuao Vale, Zhongli stood calmly with his hands behind his back, gazing at a colossal elemental creature resembling a dragon.

This elemental being was entirely composed of rock and lay sprawled on the ground, glaring at Zhongli with its massive eyes.

This was Azhdaha, the dragon Zhongli himself had created.

At that moment, enormous stone spines stood around Azhdaha's massive body, connecting to pale golden seals.

These were the seals that Zhongli had personally set in place long ago.

And now, Zhongli knew with certainty that the seals were barely holding.

"Morax!"

Azhdaha roared, shaking its enormous body.

It had been born from a strange stone deep within the earth, connected to the land itself.

Every movement it made affected the entire earth of Liyue.

The stone spines forming the seal grew fainter and fainter.

Finally, the spines shattered, and Azhdaha's mountain-sized form rose up.

The ancient Dragon King had returned, filled with rage!

Zhongli watched everything unfold calmly, letting out a quiet sigh.

In the end, it seemed he would have to confront this old friend once more.