Chapter 231: Climbing Mt. Aozang

Liyue, Nantianmen.

On the right side of the valley's cliff, Nolan and Lumine used wind elements to create a large wind field, effortlessly lifting everyone up.

The sky had darkened slightly, and as they looked ahead, a golden mist appeared before them.

"So this is the Blossom of Wealth? It's my first time seeing it," Nolan remarked with a hint of awe.

Under the night sky, the slopes of the mountain, covered in grass, were shrouded in a haze of golden mist. The scene had a certain beauty to it.

"Yeah," Lumine nodded in agreement as the cool evening breeze brushed against her fair cheeks, causing the hem of her skirt and her ribbons to sway gently.

"You said there were monsters, right? Why don't Paimon see any?" Paimon's serious gaze scanned the golden mist, but she didn't detect any movement. Confused, she turned to look at Xingqiu and Chongyun.

"Look more carefully. They're hidden in the mist. Without sharp insight, they're not easy to spot," Xingqiu said with a light chuckle, folding his arms.

Hearing this, not only Paimon, but also Nolan and Lumine began to carefully search for the monsters concealed in the distant golden fog.

Nolan searched for a few seconds without success, so he directly activated his "Golden Eye of Judgment"

Instantly, two bright points representing "weak spots" and glowing level indicators emerged from the darkness.

Guided by these markers, Nolan clearly saw the appearance of the two monsters.

They resembled pangolins clad in rock-like armor, both crouched with their claws forward, and their tails lying motionless as if waiting for prey to approach.

No wonder no one had noticed them at first—they had skillfully used the terrain to stay hidden.

If Nolan recalled correctly, these two monsters should be Geovishap Hatchling. In the game, while exploring the open world, he had often been pestered by them.

They were troublesome foes, burrowing underground and rolling around, making them extremely mobile and difficult to hit.

These two Geovishap Hatchlings were only at levels 35 and 38—not too powerful.

"Well? Did you spot them?" Xingqiu asked, unfolding a white paper fan with a "whoosh" and turning to Paimon.

"Ah, Paimon see them! They seem to be crouching," Paimon said, her face lighting up with excitement as she flew higher—about ten meters—finally spotting the two Geovishap Hatchlings.

"They're called—" Xingqiu was about to introduce the creatures to the group when—

Perhaps Paimon had flown too high, alerting the Geovishaps. Suddenly, both Geovishap Hatchling leaped into the air, somersaulted, and then plunged into the ground as if diving.

"Uh-oh, they're coming!" Chongyun warned.

"Quick, freeze the ground!"

Xingqiu frowned and swiftly snapped his fan shut with a "whip" sound.

Water-blue ripples spread out from his feet, and a large amount of Hydro energy rapidly flowed outward like an avalanche.

Chongyun, always in sync with his good friend, immediately summoned a large Cryo claymore and held it in his hands. Without moving his feet, he stabbed the claymore into the ground.

Cold air surged from the sword, combining with Xingqiu's Hydro energy to form a layer of ice over ten centimeters thick across the ground.

At the same time, they heard the sound of ice cracking beneath their feet, and fractures began to spread across the surface.

Xingqiu realized that the two Geovishap Hatchlings had burrowed underneath and were about to burst through.

He immediately accelerated his Hydro elemental flow, assisting Chongyun in repairing the already cracked ice surface.

As a result, the ground where they stood was continuously raised by the ice blocks, creating a small hill entirely made of ice.

The thick layer of ice was too much for the two Geovishaps to break through. With no other option, they had to emerge from the ground in areas that weren't covered by ice.

They tilted their heads curiously, staring at the ice blocks beneath the humans' feet, seemingly puzzled as to why they couldn't burrow through the ground.

"Heh, getting hit by a Geovishap Hatchling isn't pleasant. Let's avoid close combat with them if possible. Nolan, show us that remarkable archery of yours," Xingqiu said with a light chuckle, glancing at Nolan.

"Haha, I wouldn't dare call it remarkable—just a small bit of insight," Nolan replied modestly, smiling. To prevent the monsters from escaping, he quickly pulled out his adventurer's hunting bow.

Even though his weapon wasn't anything special, against Geovishap Hatchlings that were significantly lower in level, Nolan was confident that one arrow would be enough.

Lumine shot him a disdainful glance, huffing at how he was once again showing off.

He fired two arrows infused with abundant Anemo energy simultaneously at the Geovishap Hatchlings. This time, Nolan used the "Divine Generation Archery." Although it couldn't teleport through space, at such a close range, the speed of the arrows was more than sufficient.

With two arrows attacking simultaneously, it ensured that neither of the Geovishap Hatchlings could burrow underground and escape.

Whoosh!

The "Divine Generation Archery," being an arcane-level skill, had much greater power than a secret art technique. The moment the two Geovishap Hatchlings failed to escape immediately, their fate was sealed. They would never again have the chance to attack humans.

[Defeated Powerful Enemies x2, Obtained 1,623 Adventure EXP.]

The Anemo-infused arrows pierced the weak spots Nolan had identified with his Golden Eyes of Judgment, and the Geovishap Hatchlings were easily defeated without even a chance to struggle. Their low levels contributed to their quick defeat.

"Impressive! If I had archery skills like that, I wouldn't need to scare off demons from a distance anymore," Chongyun said enviously.

"Haha, if you're interested, I can teach you," Nolan offered politely.

"I'll pass. I haven't even mastered swordsmanship yet. Learning something else would only distract me further," Chongyun replied, rubbing his ice-blue hair in embarrassment.

"With the monsters dealt with, let's go open the Blossom of Wealth," Paimon said eagerly, now that the danger had passed, flying excitedly toward the golden mist.

The others quickly followed.

As Nolan passed by the corpses of the Geovishap Hatchlings, he used the Moonlight Greatsword on his back to cut off one of their arms and stored it in the Delusion. He intended to give it to Sucrose later.

These creatures were quite rare in Mondstadt.

Knowing Sucrose's great interest in Hilichurl bones, Nolan figured she'd be thrilled to study the bones of a Geovishap Hatchling.

After collecting the arm, Nolan hurried to catch up with Lumine and the others at the Blossom of Wealth. Aside from its color, it was no different from the Blossom of Revelation.

"Does anyone have Original Resin?" Chongyun asked, checking his Vision, only to find that he hadn't brought any.

"Nope," Nolan, Lumine, and Paimon all shook their heads in response.

Original Resin regenerates over time in the game, but in the real world of Teyvat, it's actually a type of special energy crystal.

It's rumored to be related to the World Tree, with some speculating that Original Resin is, in fact, the resin of the World Tree(Irminsul) itself.

However, since ordinary people rarely get a chance to see the World Tree, there's no evidence to confirm this theory.

Typically, Original Resin can be obtained from treasure chests or by interacting with ley lines, secret realms, or ruins. Its rarity falls somewhere between two-star and three-star artifacts.

With a bit of luck, it's still possible to come across some.

Even though Nolan had been in Teyvat for quite some time, the number of treasure chests he had found was limited, and none of them had yielded any Original Resin. It seemed his luck was just average.

"I have some. Let me open this Blossom of Wealth," Xingqiu said. As the second young master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, he wasn't lacking in such items.

From his Vision, Xingqiu retrieved a pale moon-colored, oval-shaped gem-like item: Condensed Resin.

This is synthesized Original Resin, created at an alchemy bench, and using it on a Blossom of Wealth stimulates it to release more treasure.

Typical of Xingqiu, when he acts, he uses only the best.

With a light touch, the golden mist surrounding the Blossom of Wealth began to recede into the ground, as if time was rewinding. Then, a green bud—identical to the one they had seen in Mondstadt—emerged from the earth.

Without hesitation, Xingqiu placed the Condensed Resin onto the green bud. The resin transformed into energy, which was quickly absorbed by the Blossom of Wealth.

The next moment, the bud bloomed, and countless sparkling Mora coins burst forth from the Blossom of Wealth, cascading to the ground like a waterfall of gold, forming a small mound of Mora.

Once the Mora had finished flowing, the Blossom of Wealth completed its task and slowly dissipated.

"So... so much Mora!" Paimon was stunned by the sight and felt an overwhelming urge to dive right in.

"It seems they're all single-denomination Mora. Though the quantity is large, it's not as much as it looks. The real issue now is how to carry it all," Nolan remarked with some concern, picking up a Mora coin to inspect it.

"My inventory space has about twenty kilograms left," Lumine said as she brushed a strand of golden hair from her face.

With her current strength, Lumine's inventory could hold up to forty-two kilograms of items. However, the various necessities of living in the wild, such as food and other supplies, had already taken up more than half of that capacity.

The remaining space certainly wouldn't be enough to carry all of this Mora.

According to Teyvat's measurements, each Mora coin weighs exactly two grams. It seems that, due to some special force, they aren't very heavy.

But here, the pile of Mora was like a small mountain, weighing at least several hundred kilograms. Even if they combined everyone's inventory space, it still wouldn't be enough to carry all of it.

"It's a shame that the technique to fuse smaller-denomination Mora into larger ones, the 'Mora Refining Technique,' is only known by those at the 'Golden House.' If we had that, we could condense the Mora into larger denominations without increasing the weight," Xingqiu said with a touch of regret, feeling like a treasure was in front of them but out of reach.

Although the weight remains the same, Mora also possesses a special energy used for alchemy, enhancement, and other purposes, and this energy increases with the denomination size.

"In truth, this pile of Mora isn't that much. Why don't we dig a pit here and bury it for now? We can come back for it later," Lumine suggested.

She estimated that this pile of single-denomination Mora added up to only a few hundred thousand, which wasn't enough to worry about too much.

"Hmm, that makes sense," Nolan agreed after a moment of thought. For Xingqiu and Chongyun, who weren't lacking in Mora, it wasn't a big deal either.

Nolan then activated the "Sword Intent of Lumine," summoning a magnified version of Lumine's form behind him, standing about three or four meters tall, like a small building. Using the golden sword energy that could cut through steel, he effortlessly dug a hole in the ground large enough to store all the Mora.

Chongyun created a massive ice slab, and together, they pushed all the Mora into the pit. After spending some time covering it with dirt and grass to camouflage it, they finally left the area.

Since this place was in the wild and sparsely populated, it was unlikely that anyone would discover it.

"Alright, let's head back and rest," Nolan said with a smile.

At that moment, he felt an even stronger desire for the "Inner Vision" technique. The experience of having so much Mora in front of him but being unable to take it all made him itch with longing.

Aside from Paimon, the group took turns keeping watch, and the night passed quickly.

The next day, they continued along the small river running through the Nantianmen Valley, following it as it wound its way forward. According to the Liyue map, if they kept following the river, they would eventually reach Mt. Aozang.

Over the next few days, Nolan and his companions spent their time traveling, sometimes flying, sometimes running.

Along the way, they encountered some monsters—mostly weak slimes and hilichurls. Defeating them earned Nolan only around 5,000 Adventure EXP in total.

Finally, today, the group arrived at the foot of Mt. Aozang.

Looking up, they saw an impossibly tall peak that disappeared into the clouds, its summit completely out of sight.

"Wow, it's so high. How long is it going to take to climb this?" Paimon exclaimed, clutching her head in frustration.

"It really is too high and steep. Using wind gliders won't work here. We'll have to climb it step by step," Nolan noted. Neither he nor Lumine could create a wind current strong enough to lift them several hundred meters into the air.

"Well then, no time to waste. Let's start looking for a path that's easier to climb," Xingqiu said with a sigh as he stared up at the towering Mt. Aozang. He wasn't thrilled about climbing such a tall mountain—it already felt exhausting just looking at it.

Nolan nodded, and the group began searching the area for a more manageable route.

Both the method to train one's spiritual power and the "Inner Vision" technique of the Adepti were within their grasp—they couldn't afford to give up so easily.

Soon, Nolan and his companions found a path leading up the mountain.

Though overgrown with weeds, it seemed to have been used by others before them. After all, they weren't the only ones seeking the Adepti.

Many people in Liyue were enthusiastic about searching for the Adepti, and the high mountains were where their traces were most often found.

Over time, as more people came here on similar quests, a path had naturally formed.

Nolan and his group spent half the day climbing, and by noon, they reached a relatively open area on Mt. Aozang.

Ahead of them, they saw a small archway, and behind it was a winding stone staircase that seemed to lead all the way to the summit.

(End of Chapter)

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