Chapter 80 Heading to the Wind Dragon Ruins

"Alright, we're all set!"

After staying in Mondstadt for another week, Kujo Tsumugi was ready for another long journey.

Today, Tsumugi Kujo would accompany Grandmaster Jean and the others to the Wind Dragon Ruins to purify Dvalin.

The group consisted of Tsumugi Kujo, Jean, Venti, Diluc, the Traveler, and a certain floating emergency food.

Originally, Tsumugi Kujo wanted to invite Noelle to join them, but she had been busy assisting others and seemed to be out of Mondstadt at the time, so they had to proceed without her.

During the past week, Kujo Tsumugi also initiated a conversation with Ningguang. After a series of friendly exchanges, they both agreed to a settlement, albeit at a reduced price. Initially, Tsumugi Kujo intended to demand 1 billion Mora, but due to her urgency to confront Dvalin with Jean and the others, she settled for 600 million Mora, essentially "selling" Yelan at a discount.

Meanwhile, the Cryo Archon had sent a letter, stating that Snezhnaya would compensate Mondstadt for all the economic losses it had suffered. It seemed she intended to pay her way out of trouble. After all, with the Anemo Archon's Gnosis already in hand, Mondstadt no longer held any value to her. Instead of wasting time there, she preferred to focus on securing the Geo Archon's Gnosis in Liyue. The 2 billion Mora compensation could be seen as a "breakup fee."

Thanks to Kujo Tsumugi's personal contribution of 300 million Mora, the new bank of Mondstadt was quickly established. However, when the people of Mondstadt heard that the new bank had taken over all accounts from the Northland Bank, a run on the bank occurred. Just five days after its establishment, nearly half of the 2 billion Mora initially prepared had been withdrawn, and yet, many residents still lined up day and night to withdraw their savings.

After this, it was likely that the people of Mondstadt wouldn't trust banks for a long time. Figuring out how to convince them to deposit their money again would be a challenge Kujo Tsumugi would face in the future.

In addition, Rosalyne had left Mondstadt a day earlier, needing to escort the Anemo Archon's Gnosis back to Snezhnaya and receive her next orders from the Cryo Archon. The next encounter with her would likely be in Liyue.

Rosaria had also been busy these days. The mass withdrawals from the bank had attracted many treasure hoarders to Mondstadt, and Kujo Tsumugi had occupied some of Rosaria's time as well, leading her to frequently complain about being tired from work.

Despite meeting up with Rosaria a week ago, Kujo Tsumugi and she hadn't progressed their relationship. Rosaria often hinted at wanting to take things further, but Kujo Tsumugi consistently turned her down.

The reason was simple: she was still recovering from earlier exertions.

But after the dragon-hunting mission, Kujo Tsumugi figured she should be back to full strength.

After instructing Thomas and the others to take good care of Yelan, Kujo Tsumugi rushed to the main gate of Mondstadt to meet up with Jean and the rest.

The five of them rode in a carriage, passing through Springvale and Dawn Winery before heading toward the Windwail Highland. It would take about ten days to travel from Mondstadt to the outskirts of the Wind Dragon Ruins by carriage.

"It seems I'm late."

When Kujo Tsumugi arrived at Mondstadt's main gate, everyone else was already gathered. She noticed that a bard in green was staring at her intently.

"Are you Miss Kujo Tsumugi from Inazuma? I'm curious how you knew my identity," Venti said with a curious grin.

It seemed that Jean and the others had informed Venti of how they had discovered his true identity.

"Haha, take a guess," Tsumugi Kujo shrugged with a smirk.

"Alright, enough with the small talk, let's get going," Diluc interjected from the side, clearly eager to get on with their mission.

And so, the group left Mondstadt and headed for the Wind Dragon Ruins.

On the way, they exchanged crucial information. Kujo Tsumugi knew about the storm barrier outside the Wind Dragon Ruins, so she mentioned that they'd need to defeat an Abyss Mage on the way to analyze its power before they could breach the barrier.

As the others discussed their plans, Tsumugi Kujo leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and feigning rest. In reality, she was secretly accessing the system interface.

That's right, it was finally time to begin her fourth simulation.

Before facing Dvalin, Tsumugi Kujo wanted to enhance her strength further through the simulation system.

She recalled that after the third simulation, a message had appeared, stating that the novice protection period had ended. Kujo Tsumugi had found the relevant explanation on the system interface.

Simply put, in subsequent simulations, Kujo Tsumugi would have to invest at least 1 million Mora each time, with no upper limit. The more Mora she invested, the higher her status in the simulation and the more options she could trigger.

In these simulations, Kujo Tsumugi could enter an immersive mode at any time. In this mode, she could use various items she possessed in reality, such as Calamity Queller, Doll Tsumugi, and the Bloodstained suit. However, her strength would still be limited by her in-game abilities.

After seeing this, Kujo Tsumugi felt validated in her decision to choose the Doll Tsumugi as a reward. This way, she could control Doll Tsumugi to fight others in immersive mode in the future.

However, there was a downside: Kujo Tsumugi lost the ability to view side quests.

From now on, there will be no prompts for side quests. She would only learn how many tasks she had completed and the rewards she had earned at the final simulation settlement. This left Kujo Tsumugi somewhat dissatisfied, but she had no choice but to look on the bright side.

Based on her previous experiences, Tsumugi Kujo had a rough idea that side quests often involved unexpected events or requests from others. As long as she did her best to complete these events, she should be able to complete most of the side quests.

With this understanding, Tsumugi Kujo quickly moved on from the issue.

[Character's Place of Birth: Mondstadt.]

When she saw the character purpose section, Tsumugi Kujo furrowed her brow. The last simulation had deviated too much from the purpose she had set, leaving her unsure of what to fill in this time.

After some thought, Kujo Tsumugi filled in the character's purpose section with the goal of "encouraging oneself, working hard, and gaining the power to protect others." Naturally, she chose the code of conduct to be lawful.

[Code of Conduct: Lawful.]

[Investment: 5 million Mora.]

[Simulation begins!]