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The "Lumine's Authority" was a skill that touched upon the domain of the gods, and the summoned "Lumine's Sword God" was naturally far stronger than before.
Under the even more formidable trait of "Sharp Intent," no matter how tough the Ruin Serpent was, it was destined to be sliced apart!
However, the Ruin Serpent was not so easily defeated.
It raised its head, the gears within its skull spinning rapidly, as if letting out a silent roar to the heavens.
Then, countless streams of black sludge spread upward along its tail, forming eerie black patterns that forcibly glued its severed steel body back together.
"You've got to be kidding me! Black sludge can do that?!" Nolan exclaimed in surprise.
"Compared to that Ruin Serpent, I feel like you're the real anomaly here."
Watching Nolan effortlessly wield his sword energy avatar to slash out an arc of sword aura, severely injuring a formidable enemy that even she would need reinforcements to handle, Yelan couldn't help but feel conflicted.
After all, it had only been a little over half a year since she first encountered this guy—back then, he was nothing more than a weak adventurer, completely at her mercy.
Could it be that people from another world were simply this outrageously talented?
"Haha, it's nothing special."
Nolan chuckled, then continued,
"Alright, hurry up and help me restrain this Ruin Serpent. Let's cut it a few more times and see if it can still stick itself back together!"
"Alright, got it."
Ganyu was momentarily stunned.
It felt like they didn't even need to step in—Nolan alone could probably handle the Ruin Serpent.
Of course, with all of them working together, things would be much easier, allowing them to finish the fight quickly.
She raised her longbow, lifting her arm until it was level with her shoulder.
Her form-fitting black silk bodysuit and short qipao left her shoulders exposed, revealing a glimpse of snow-white skin beneath her armpit.
With slender fingers, Ganyu gently drew the bowstring.
A beautifully crafted arrow, entirely composed of condensed Cryo energy, formed at her fingertips.
She took aim at the Ruin Serpent on the other side of the dark canyon and released her fingers.
With a sharp "whoosh," the arrow streaked through the air.
The powerful Cryo energy froze the air itself, leaving a shimmering frost trail in its wake.
Meanwhile, Nolan controlled the "Lumine's Sword Gods" to pin down the Ruin Serpent, preventing it from escaping.
Smack!
The frost-colored meteor hit its mark, striking the Ruin Serpent's body without fail, causing Cryo energy to spread rapidly across its metallic surface.
"Miss Yelan!" Ganyu turned her fair face toward the tall woman beside her.
"On it!"
Yelan also drew her bow and took aim at the Ruin Serpent.
From behind her, one could see the curve of her side chest wrapped tightly in blue leather as she raised her arm.
Then, her arm moved, momentarily blocking the view—an arrow formed of condensed Hydro energy sat on the bowstring, and the next second, she let it fly.
In less than a second, Yelan's arrow also struck the Ruin Serpent.
The creature was powerful, and its steel body had high resistance to elemental forces.
If it had been someone weaker, freezing it would have been nearly impossible.
But Ganyu was stronger than the Ruin Serpent, and Yelan was no slouch either.
As their elemental energies combined, a Freeze reaction was triggered.
The Ruin Serpent was completely encased in ice, rendering it powerless—even the black sludge's influence was useless now.
Still, even though it was frozen, it likely wouldn't stay that way for long.
Nolan didn't waste the opportunity.
He loosed an Anemo-infused arrow, spreading the elemental forces, prolonging the reaction between Cryo and Hydro.
At the same time, he commanded two "Lumine's Sword Gods" to unleash a barrage of golden sword qi at the Ruin Serpent's head.
In that instant, both the ice and the steel body beneath it were severed, the attack striking directly at its energy core!
Boom!
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the canyon, followed by a deafening explosion.
Just as the freezing effect dissipated, golden lightning erupted chaotically across the Ruin Serpent's body, flickering erratically.
It was clear—it had entered a paralyzed state.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Nolan saw the Ruin Serpent crash to the ground.
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Obtained 134,512 Adventure EXP.]
A system notification popped up on his character interface, confirming that the Ruin Serpent had been vanquished and could no longer resist.
"Phew, it's finally over. That wasn't easy!" Nolan put away his bow and sighed with slight relief.
Yelan shot him a glare, unwilling to acknowledge his words. Instead, she turned to Ganyu,
"Let's go check that Ruin Serpent and see if we can find anything unusual."
A Ruin Serpent capable of controlling black sludge? That was far too strange—none of the Ruin Serpents she had encountered before had displayed such an ability.
"Right, let's go!" Ganyu nodded, summoning her Wind Glider before soaring across the canyon alongside Yelan.
"..."
Nolan sighed in exasperation and could only summon his own Wind Glider to catch up.
As he watched their snow-white backs, their boot-clad legs wrapped in black silk stockings lightly swaying in midair, he suddenly didn't feel the need to rush after them.
Taking it slow and appreciating the beautiful scenery wasn't a bad idea.
Though the environment was a bit too dim, making it hard to clearly see the details beneath their fluttering skirts in that hazy area.
After a dozen seconds, they landed one after another on the platform across the canyon.
"From a distance, it didn't seem that big, but now that we're up close... This Ruin Serpent's head alone is the size of a house, isn't it?"
Nolan shifted his gaze toward the Ruin Serpent as he spoke.
He had never seen such a massive steel construct before. Designed by Khaenri'ah as a drilling machine, its massive gear-like head was likely meant to tear through solid rock.
Its primary purpose seemed to be digging underground tunnels, possibly for transporting troops.
If they could bring this Ruin Serpent back, have Ningguang order the scholars to reverse-engineer it, and extract its technology, it could potentially become a valuable product for the "Sweet Flower Merchant Association."
It would likely be highly efficient for mining operations.
As for whether researching Khaenri'ah's technology would attract the ire of "Celestia" and provoke retaliation—
Nolan found that highly unlikely. Khaenri'ah's downfall had never been due to its advanced technology.
Rather, it was their attempt to harness powers from beyond this world—the Abyss.
By seeking control over Abyssal forces, they had essentially invited the Abyss itself to Teyvat, triggering a catastrophe of darkness that spread across the continent—something no one could tolerate.
Thus, Khaenri'ah was destroyed, and most of its surviving people were afflicted with the "curse of immortality," turning into Hilichurls—monstrous beings.
Only a select few individuals of great strength managed to retain their sanity despite the curse, avoiding transformation into monsters.
Even then, those who remained unaffected still suffered the torment of the "curse of immortality."
So as long as he didn't recklessly follow Khaenri'ah's path by delving into Abyssal powers and endangering the world, there shouldn't be any real problems.
That was Nolan's reasoning.
"Indeed, it's quite large. Are you thinking of something?" Yelan crossed her arms under her chest, glancing curiously at Nolan as he pondered.
He didn't hide his thoughts and explained his idea.
"Oh, it's an interesting plan," Yelan said with a slight shake of her head, the deep blue strands of her hair brushing against her cheek. "But do you think no one has tried researching Khaenri'ah's machines before?
"Any nation can copy the outer shell of these machines.
"But what truly matters is the runic inscriptions and energy cores that allow a body composed purely of steel and gears to function with logical precision—even obey commands.
"That is where the real value lies, and no one has been able to fully decipher it yet."
Yelan didn't think Nolan's idea was so easily achievable, considering all the previous failures.
"That's true," Nolan sighed.
Khaenri'ah's technology was certainly not something that could be replicated so easily. He had underestimated its complexity.
To truly recreate Khaenri'ah's technology, he might need to locate some of their surviving research documents.
That would have to wait for another opportunity.
"Normally, Ruin Serpents don't have the ability to manipulate Oozing Miasma. Since this one displayed such a power—"
"There's a high chance its energy core has been corrupted. We should open it up and examine it," Yelan suggested after some thought.
Investigating whether this Ruin Serpent was connected to the black sludge overflowing from the mining zone was their top priority.
"Alright, let me do it," Nolan nodded and directed the "Lumine Sword Gods" to slice open the Ruin Serpent's steel body with ease.
Eventually, they discovered three additional energy cores distributed throughout its body, aside from the one in its head.
Like those found in Ruin Guards, these energy cores should have been a bright golden yellow.
However, upon closer inspection, Nolan and the others noticed that while the surface remained yellow, the centers of these cores had been tainted with the same ominous hue as the Oozing Miasma.
Or rather, the Oozing Miasma had invaded its energy cores. That was likely the reason why it had been able to wield its power.
"Should we destroy them? If we break these cores, could it stop the spread of the black sludge in the mining zone?"
Ganyu pondered for a moment before voicing her thoughts.
"It wouldn't hurt to try. They're useless to us anyway," Nolan nodded slightly before adding, "Actually, I think I may have a theory about where this Oozing Miasma is coming from."
"You do?"
Yelan lowered the hand she had been resting against her chin, looking at him in surprise. Beside her, Ganyu also turned to him with curiosity.
"It's just a sudden hypothesis—I'm not sure if it's correct."
Nolan prepared to share the information he had learned from the game. He turned his gaze toward the lingering patches of black sludge that the Ruin Serpent had summoned earlier.
"All along the way, I've been thinking—this black sludge usually seeps up from the ground. And during our battle with the Ruin Serpent, I noticed that it was summoning the sludge from underground as well."
He paused for a moment before continuing:
"If it's always emerging from below, then it's likely not the Ruin Serpent's own power.
"It might just be that its energy cores have absorbed the sludge's power, allowing it to freely summon the sludge from underground.
"And if there's anything underground that can contain black sludge, I'd say it has to be the ley lines. After all, the underground environment in the mining zone was perfectly normal before.
"Other than the ley lines, I can't think of anything else that would cause the black sludge to appear so randomly in different locations."
Yelan and Ganyu carefully considered his words and found his reasoning quite logical.
They, too, now felt that the Ruin Serpent—something they had defeated with relative ease—was unlikely to be the true source of the sludge.
"Your theory makes sense. Let's destroy these contaminated energy cores and observe whether the black sludge changes. That should give us our answer."
Even though she already leaned toward believing Nolan's theory, Yelan preferred to verify things before drawing a conclusion.
"Alright."
Nolan nodded in agreement.
He gestured for the two to step back, then controlled the "Lumine's Sword Gods" to slice all four energy cores in half with a single strike.
With a crackling surge of golden electricity, the cores fell silent.
The black sludge within them leaked out.
Nolan swiftly engulfed the sludge with a surge of elemental power, causing it to be mutually annihilated.
Deprived of further reinforcement, the black sludge was completely wiped out.
In terms of how it could be neutralized by elemental energy, the sludge bore a striking resemblance to Abyssal power.
Perhaps it was, in fact, another form of Abyssal energy...
Nolan speculated in his mind.
"As expected, no change?"
While Nolan had been destroying the energy cores, Yelan had been closely observing the remaining black sludge summoned by the Ruin Serpent.
Seeing that it showed no sign of change, she was now almost certain—the Ruin Serpent was not the root cause of the black sludge.
"If we want to confirm whether it's the ley lines causing this, we'll probably need professional scholars to investigate."
Nolan suggested.
"Agreed. Let's return and report this to Ningguang. She can arrange for experts in the field to conduct an analysis."
Yelan uncrossed her arms, letting out a small breath of relief.
Liyue's academia wasn't as advanced as Sumeru's, but it was more than capable of finding at least one scholar well-versed in ley lines.
"Thank you both for your help today. Without you, we wouldn't have made progress this quickly."
She smiled warmly at Nolan and Ganyu.
[Yelan Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 260 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.3 (180/300)]
"N-no need to thank me! I didn't do much—it was mainly Nolan's achievement."
Ganyu waved her hands modestly before glancing toward the young adventurer beside her.
[Ganyu Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 200 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.4 (200/400)]
Seeing two consecutive affection notifications pop up on his character panel, Nolan smiled as well.
"Although we haven't found a complete solution to the black sludge yet, we now have a direction to follow. It shouldn't take much longer.
"By the way, before we leave, I plan to leave behind two sword intent avatars to help 'cleanse' the main mining area—eliminating the black sludge and any monsters.
"That way, the mines might be able to resume operations sooner."
In truth, he wasn't keen on missing out on the monsters that had been strengthened by the black sludge. The Adventure EXP they provided were quite valuable.
Hearing this, Yelan and Ganyu exchanged glances. After thinking it over, they saw no issue with the idea and nodded in agreement.
"That's up to you."
(End of Chapter)
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