Chapter 37: Dragon Ruins

Entering through the entrance opened by Venti, the group proceeded forward and came upon a massive suspended stone bridge.

Upon reaching the stone bridge and looking around, they saw many Hilichurls gathering in the ruins, along with numerous ruin guards patrolling. In some of the larger Hilichurl tribes, traces of Abyss Mages could also be seen.

"It seems that this place has already been invaded by the Abyss Order, and those Hilichurls are the vanguard of the Abyss Order."

Diluc casually glanced around and came to a conclusion.

The others nodded in agreement. Every time the Abyss Order appeared, Hilichurls were always involved.

However, aside from the Hilichurls and ruin guards, what caught everyone's attention the most was the massive tower on the opposite side of the stone bridge.

That huge tower shrouded in a green Wind Wall emitted violent air currents, making it look difficult to ascend.

"It seems that this tower is the lair of the Anemo Dragon!"

Wang Daoyi sensed the raging Wind Wall and reached a conclusion. The presence of this raging Wind Wall indicated the existence of another Archon-level powerhouse.

Paimon, hovering above Lumine's head, looked at the Wind Wall shrouding the tower.

"Hey, bard, can your music still open this barrier?"

Looking at the tower enveloped in endless violent air currents, Paimon clung tightly to Lumine's golden hair, fearing being blown away at any moment.

"No, unfortunately not. This barrier seems to have been created by combining the residual power of the Stormterror with the winds of Teyvat. And the Skyward Harp is currently damaged, so it's unable to open such a barrier."

Venti waved his hand and entered his idle state.

Venti's words disappointed everyone, but they didn't lose heart. If both barriers were the same, then the entity that set up the barriers was somewhat foolish.

"So how do we get in?"

Holding the trembling Paimon, Lumine asked.

"Well, there's still a way. Since Teyvat can pass through the Wind Wall, it means there's a passage through this barrier."

Venti replied, then looked towards the top of the tower.

"According to Teyvat's habits, the entrance to the Wind Wall should be at the top!"

Everyone looked at the massive tower and gave Venti a silent glance.

"If the entrance is so high, how do we get up there?"

Wang Daoyi asked the question on everyone's mind. "Among us, only Paimon can fly up there, right? Are we supposed to have Paimon pull us up one by one?"

Paimon's face turned pale with fear. "I can't do it! No matter how I think about it, I can't do it!!"

Ignoring the trembling Paimon, Diluc looked around and pointed not far away. "Look over there."

Everyone was drawn to Diluc's words and looked towards the circular bridge surrounding the tower.

There sat a seven-tiered statue, and beside the statue, strong winds surged, howling upwards, forming a wind field.

"Oh~, you can fly into the tower using the wind field!"

Paimon exclaimed in admiration, perhaps celebrating that she didn't have to carry people up anymore.

Wang Daoyi nodded slightly, agreeing. Although he had only obtained the glider for three days, he had practiced a lot with Xiangling during these three days. Simply flying with the wind field wouldn't be difficult for him.

Grabbing Xiangling's hand, he said, "Follow me when we fly later, don't veer off course!"

Holding Xiangling's small hand, Wang Daoyi saw that she didn't resist, just nodded with a blush on her face.

With the plan to ascend the tower confirmed, everyone stepped onto the circular staircase and climbed to the vicinity of the wind field.

Along the way, there were many Hilichurls, but they were all easily dispatched by Wang Daoyi's Rock Spear, mere cannon fodder.

With the wild wind roaring beside them and feeling the continuous updrafts under their feet, Wang Dao Yi felt a sense of ascension even before opening the gliders, as if he could soar into the sky with just a gentle push.

Entering the wind field one by one, controlling the gliders, everyone rose with the wind field towards the entrance at the top of the tower.

Wang Dao Yi controlled the ascending speed, watching Xiangling carefully control her glider. When he saw that she had become familiar with the wind field, he relaxed and flew towards the gap in the tower.

Folding up the glider behind him, Wang Daoyi landed steadily on the floor of the tower.

After safely entering the tower, everyone gathered together.

"So, what's next? There doesn't seem to be any presence of the Dragon here?"

Diluc looked around and found no trace of the Dragon, asking.

Wang Daoyi also observed the surroundings, finding it similar to the game.

The mottled high walls, cracked ground, and collapsed stairs.

And the ruin guard that had been paralyzed here for some time—the earliest farming machine in the world.

Despite having some impressions from the game, Wang Daoyi still felt a strong ancient atmosphere here.

"It seems there's a seal here!"

Venti looked at the strange patterns spreading on the ground and smiled.

His words drew everyone's attention, and they looked down to see strange patterns spiraling along the walls of the staircase.

"These are... Light Guide Mechanisms!"

After observing for a while, Lumine seemed to recognize these patterns.

"Before coming here, Lisa investigated the information about the Dragon Ruins, and the existence of Light Guide Mechanisms was mentioned."

Lumine explained to everyone.

Diluc nodded. "Indeed, these are Light Guide Mechanisms. Look, that blue device is the switch."

Then he looked at the scattered crystals around. "As long as those scattered crystal components are put back, this mechanism can be unlocked. It's a very simple ancient mechanism."

At his words, Lumine walked over, picked up the glowing crystal components scattered on the ground one by one, and placed them on the blue device.

In an instant, the blue device emitted a brilliant light.

The dazzling light made Wang Daoyi unable to open his eyes.

Then, the light gradually dissipated, and the tower emitted a cracking sound, as if something had been lifted.

"Hmm, it seems this is the right method. One layer of the seal has been lifted!"

Looking through the light layer on the ground, everyone could see that a seal that had originally blocked the corridor had disappeared.

This indicated that the Light Guide Mechanism was indeed the controller to unlock the seal.

"With so many seals at home, was it really done by Teyvat?"

Paimon scoffed.

"Maybe it was the Abyss Order!"

"Alright, look at the number of seals. There are probably three more Light Guide Mechanisms. Let's find them quickly!"

Diluc interrupted Paimon and Lumine's banter.

"Down there, look."

Wang Daoyi stood by the railing and looked through the cracks in the wall towards the bottom of the tower.

Everyone looked down and clearly saw three Light Guide Mechanisms surrounding the tower.

"Let's go quickly then. As long as we complete these three mechanisms, we can open Teyvat's gate!"

"Then let's move

 quickly."

Diluc's expression remained cold, urging everyone to act quickly.

(End of Chapter)