Ye Xi took Keqing and Cyno onto the helicopter, heading in the direction of Mt. Hulao in Liyue.
Sitting in this flying machine, Cyno looked left and right, appearing as if he had just entered the city from the countryside, finding everything astonishing.
The aircraft's speed was very fast, causing Keqing's already nervous heart to beat even faster.
Before long, they passed over Mawtiyima Forest and arrived not far from Mt. Hulao.
Looking out towards the mountain forest, one could see clouds and mist covering the hills and plains. Just a glance from afar gave the feeling of entering a fairyland.
"This is my first time seeing the Adepti's territory from such a height. It's so beautiful!"
Keqing couldn't help but utter a sigh of admiration.
As the aircraft began to penetrate the mist and lower its altitude, Keqing suddenly faintly made out several figures on the mountain!
There was a deer shape, and a crane shape!
She immediately realized the identities of those figures!
"Ye Xi, look!"
Keqing pointed at the shadows on the mountaintop ahead and introduced them triumphantly: "Those are the Adepti of our Liyue!"
"There is Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, and Moon Carver!"
"Eh? The figure standing next to that one..."
"It looks like... Rex Lapis?!"
Keqing widened her eyes, staring carefully out the window.
However, just at that moment, the mist suddenly diffused over, and those few shadows instantly became incredibly hazy. After passing through the mist, Keqing discovered with shock that the upright figure from a moment ago had actually vanished!
"Strange! Wasn't there just another person next to them?!"
Keqing furrowed her brows, her heart full of suspicion.
*
Meanwhile, on Mt. Hulao.
The Adepti had all received Ye Xi's sound transmission and were waiting on the mountain early on. From a long distance away, they heard the sound of the propeller.
"Rex Lapis, they are coming! Listening to the sound this mechanism makes, it feels quite interesting!"
"Hmm? Rex Lapis, what are you doing?"
"Are you playing the human game of hide-and-seek?"
The three True Monarchs suddenly discovered that Zhongli was hiding behind a tree and couldn't help but feel very strange.
Zhongli sighed, speaking thoughtfully: "I hadn't expected young friend Ye Xi to bring the Qixing along as well..."
"Under these circumstances, it is inconvenient for me to show my face. I will leave it to you all to deal with Azhdaha."
"If the situation spirals out of control, I will make a move."
As soon as these words came out, the Adepti were thrown into disarray.
"Will Rex Lapis not show himself?"
"If it is only us dealing with the Dragon King Azhdaha, it is absolutely impossible to match him!"
"This... what should we do!"
The Dragon King Azhdaha was an ancient Geo elemental creation; the three of them were simply no match for him!
The three Adepti were instantly in a bind, and Ganyu, standing to the side, was also at a loss. She hadn't expected that Ye Xi would actually bring the Qixing!
If she guessed correctly, it must be Keqing!
This made things tricky. If Keqing saw Rex Lapis, then Zhongli's identity would very likely be exposed!
That absolutely would not do!
*
On the aircraft.
Ye Xi looked around and found that the mountain terrain was extremely steep; the aircraft had no way to land at all.
Since that was the case, it would be better to store the helicopter in his portable space and then fly down.
Thinking of this, Ye Xi spoke up: "There is no place to land. Let's use Wind Gliders to go down!"
"Eh!? Wait a moment—!"
Before Keqing could react, the aircraft suddenly vanished into thin air.
Originally sitting in the cabin, she instantly lost her center of gravity and fell straight down toward the cliff.
"Eh——!"
"I—I didn't bring Wind Gliders!"
She thought that since she could take the aircraft, she wouldn't need to bring Wind Gliders. She hadn't expected that she would actually need to use them at a time like this!
Keqing was so frightened that tears were about to come out, her small face pale.
'It's over! It's too high——!'
Just as her mind went blank, a powerful hand hooked directly around her waist, pulling her in.
As if grabbing onto a life-saving straw, Keqing hugged Ye Xi tightly, like an octopus. She was deeply afraid that Ye Xi would let go and drop her.
Looking at the terrified Keqing in his arms, Ye Xi couldn't help but laugh heartily: "I say, Lady Yuheng, hasn't your work attitude become much more lax?"
"To actually go out without even bringing Wind Gliders?"
The voice by her ear calmed Keqing down a bit. She discovered with surprise that the sensation of weightlessness was actually gone.
"You! You can fly?!"
Keqing's beautiful eyes were full of disbelief!
Even with Wind Gliders, it was impossible to remain stationary in the sky; one would definitely drift downwards continuously.
But at this very moment, Ye Xi was actually standing in the sky.
Ye Xi nodded and said as a matter of course: "Who among those who can use Anemo Elemental Power can't fly?"
"Is it strange that I can fly?"
"But you don't have an Eye of God..."
Halfway through her words, Keqing suddenly remembered that using the standards of an Eye of God to limit Ye Xi seemed very unreasonable. Otherwise, how could those mechanism techniques be explained?
That pitch-black cube, and the released black power, didn't look like Elemental Power at all!
"You haven't answered my question. As a dignified member of the Liyue Qixing, how can you be a burden?"
"How about I go find Ningguang to change partners?"
"Eh!?"
Keqing's heart went cold, feeling very disappointed.
But seeing the playfulness in Ye Xi's gaze, she instantly realized that Ye Xi was teasing her!
This made her feel so ashamed she wanted to die.
"Woo woo woo... Bastard! Who told you not to say it in advance!"
She angrily gave Ye Xi a light punch on the chest, her face full of shame: "Hurry and put me down, it's quite embarrassing..."
"Oh?"
"You said it yourself."
Ye Xi loosened the hand holding Keqing's willow-like small waist.
Keqing froze. Without that supporting force, she would fall! She hurriedly threw herself into Ye Xi's arms, pressing tightly against him.
"I didn't mean for you to let go now! Woo woo woo..."
Ye Xi couldn't help but want to laugh, but he didn't plan to tease Keqing anymore. There was serious business ahead.
So he held Keqing and headed towards Mt. Hulao.
Keqing buried her head in Ye Xi's chest, her heart thumping wildly. When that powerful hand circled her waist once again, that sense of security made her instantly heave a sigh of relief.
She hadn't expected that the first time she hugged a man, it would be in such a manner.
Even so, this feeling was truly wonderful.
Very reassuring.
It made one want to hug for a little longer.
"Keqing, how long are you going to keep hugging?"
"Eh?"
Keqing raised her head and looked around.
She discovered that at some point, they had already landed on the summit of Mt. Hulao.
And at this moment, Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, and Moon Carver were all looking over here, whispering something.
"Tsk tsk tsk, young people these days."
"Being so affectionate early in the morning, truly young."
"Hmph, humans are humans after all; they have not yet reached this Adeptus's state of detachment from emotions."
Hearing the discussion of the three Adepti, Keqing's face turned completely red!
"Ah——!"
She really wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into!
It was too shameful!
"E-Everyone, Adepti, it isn't what you think!"
Before Keqing could explain further, Moon Carver chuckled and said: "Yuheng Star, you need not explain. It is precisely having seven emotions and six desires that makes one human; we can understand."
"Woo woo woo... Listen to my explanation! Ganyu..."
Hearing Keqing call her name, Ganyu turned her head to the side, her pretty face slightly flushed.
Having worked with Ganyu for so many years, Keqing could see the words 'Too Embarrassing to Watch' written all over Ganyu's face!
It was over!
Completely over!
Keqing really felt that she wouldn't be able to get married now!
"This must be young friend Ye Xi. We are here by the order of the Emp... er, here to help you suppress the Dragon King Azhdaha."
Ye Xi nodded: "Leave it to me; you all don't need to act."
"Cyno, you just stay here quietly."
Since he brought Cyno along, he had to make arrangements. He didn't want Azhdaha to come out in a moment and have this guy wearing a dog-head mask go up and tickle the enemy, only to need rescuing later.
Cyno nodded, silently sizing up the few Adepti.
He had long heard that Liyue was guarded by Adepti; this time was truly an eye-opener. If the Adepti hadn't just spoken human language, he would have almost mistaken them for chicken drumsticks and beast meat.
Hearing Ye Xi's words, the Adepti were instantly very worried.
"Young friend Ye Xi, this Dragon King Azhdaha possesses infinite strength. Do not underestimate the enemy."
"Rest assured."
Ye Xi looked toward the Dragon-Queller Tree at the foot of the mountain.
That tree's roots went deep underground; it was precisely Azhdaha's tail for sensing the outside world.
Right now, Azhdaha was still slumbering; he had to wake it up.
Thus, he took a single Mora out of his pocket.
"This... what is the meaning of this?"
Cloud Retainer was very astonished.
She originally thought Ye Xi wanted to launch some kind of attack, but she hadn't expected him to actually take out a Mora. It was simply baffling.
The several Adepti all stared at Ye Xi, watching his every move. Ganyu and Keqing on the side also really wanted to know just how powerful Ye Xi's strength was.
They had never seen Ye Xi fight, so they were very expectant.
As for Cyno, he had long witnessed the power of this move, so he was mentally prepared.
Not far away, Zhongli stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze scanning Ye Xi.
In this battle, he wanted to see Ye Xi's power clearly.
As a Descender, exactly how many trump cards did he have!
Even if he had the [Time] Authority, that couldn't be used as a method of offense. Blindly pausing time would not cause any substantial damage to the enemy.
He wanted to see clearly what offensive means Ye Xi possessed.
Under the gaze of everyone, Ye Xi tossed the Mora up.
The Mora tumbled in the sky, then fell downwards.
Ye Xi aimed at the Dragon-Queller Tree and flicked his finger lightly.
[Railgun]
Bang——
The Mora instantly turned into a streak of purple lightning, shooting straight toward the bottom of the valley.
The airwaves generated around it were like a gale, directly blowing away the surrounding clouds and mist.
The entire valley was illuminated by the light for a split second.
The next moment, a massive crater appeared on the ground.
This scene truly gave everyone a fright.
"What... what terrifying power!"
Keqing's eyes went wide; she hadn't even seen clearly what Ye Xi did!
She only felt a light flash before her eyes, and then a large pit appeared on the ground!
No wonder she heard Lumine say last night that The God of Righteousness was instantly killed. Who could imagine that a tiny Mora could actually cause such massive damage!
A moment of underestimation would be enough to result in a tragedy! If this hit a person's body, she feared not even a corpse would remain!
Ganyu's eyes were also full of astonishment; she absolutely hadn't expected Ye Xi to possess such powerful means!
The Adepti were clicking their tongues repeatedly.
"Oh my, tsk tsk tsk. Why pick that part of Azhdaha to hit? Too cruel."
"Now Azhdaha is completely enraged!"
"Sleeping soundly, then suddenly getting hit like this—who wouldn't be angry? It looks painful just watching."
Even Zhongli in the distance couldn't help but have his eyebrows twitch.
Next to that Dragon-Queller Tree was precisely Azhdaha's buttocks.
This heavy strike could be said to be unbiased and impartial, hitting the bullseye!
Just as everyone was worried, a massive roar came from underground!
"Roar——!"
Subsequently, the entire earth began to tremble.
Especially the mountaintop, which shook extremely violently. Keqing almost lost her footing and fell off the summit. She hurriedly moved closer to Ganyu.
On the surrounding mountain ranges, countless falling rocks rolled down one after another; the whole land was quaking!
That Dragon-Queller Tree began to move.
It continuously rose from the ground toward the sky, finally breaking through the earth.
Beneath the Dragon-Queller Tree, a gigantic evil dragon drilled out!
The evil dragon roared, flying into a rage!
"Who is it?! Which bastard sneak-attacked me!"
"Morax! You old geezer! Don't go too far!"
Azhdaha stomped his feet in anger; the sour and refreshing pain coming from his rear made his legs go soft.
Seeing this evil dragon covered in rock armor, with a body size like a mountain, Keqing's small face was full of horror.
"T-This is Azhdaha?! Why does he look so angry!"
"Eh?"
Ganyu hesitated for a moment, then leaned into Keqing's ear and stammered out an explanation.
"What!? It was there..."
Keqing instantly blushed: "This guy Ye Xi is too bad, isn't he! Is there anyone who wakes people up like this?"
However, seeing Azhdaha, Keqing became increasingly worried.
It was just as she had guessed before!
Azhdaha's size was almost the same as Osial's!
And the imposing aura he radiated had even surpassed the Demon God Osial!
Ye Xi was also somewhat surprised.
Azhdaha's size in the game was far from being this big now.
It seemed the game developers had also made the model smaller to spare the players' memory usage.
But it didn't matter; everything was within a controllable range.
At this moment, if one were to say who was the most surprised, it would be Yelan at the foot of the mountain!
She had waited here patiently all night.
Just as she was getting drowsy, a streak of purple lightning suddenly descended from the sky, waking her up directly.
Before she could figure out the situation, the ground suddenly began to vibrate, and then Azhdaha appeared in front of her!
In this instant, she felt her blood run cold.
Fortunately, Azhdaha did not notice her, but was looking up toward the mountain.
"Mortals, cease your arrogance!"
Azhdaha saw Ye Xi and was about to launch an attack immediately.
However, Ye Xi would not give him this opportunity.
[Gravity Manipulation]
Ye Xi raised his hand and pressed down; Azhdaha's mountain-like body smashed ruthlessly onto the ground.
"Roar——!"
Azhdaha let out a roar, his four beast legs struggling to prop up his body.
But no matter how hard he tried, even as the ground beneath his feet cracked, he could not stand up.
Cloud Retainer was extremely curious inside: "What method is this? What happened to Azhdaha?"
"Strange, he seems unable to stand up. Could it be that the hit just now crippled him?"
"It isn't the legs."
Mountain Shaper said in a deep voice: "There is a massive force pinning him to the ground!"
"What!?"
This conclusion startled everyone greatly.
Keqing's beautiful eyes were full of surprise; she couldn't help but wonder, to press this colossus onto the ground, how powerful of a force must be used!?
The key was, Ye Xi had merely waved his hand; where did this force come from!?
Zhongli nodded secretly, feeling very surprised by this move of Ye Xi's.
He, Morax, knew best how great Azhdaha's strength was.
Easily pulling up mountains with strength, casually lifting mountain-like boulders.
Yet Ye Xi was actually able to win by force; it was truly extraordinary.
It was just that... Azhdaha would not be defeated so easily.
'He is the Geo Elemental Dragon King; he can dive underground...'
Just as Zhongli guessed.
Seeing that he could not get up no matter what, Azhdaha clawed at the earth, wanting to drill into the ground.
Ye Xi would not let Azhdaha escape.
He took a step forward, falling straight toward the mountain ground.
At the same time, a phantom image appeared behind him.
Stand User!
The World!
[The World!]
Hum——
Time instantly turned gray and white.
Everything stopped moving.
The clouds and mist no longer drifted; the flying birds remained stagnant in the air.
The Adepti, Keqing, Ganyu, Cyno—all were frozen.
No breathing, no thinking, no perception.
And Azhdaha was also fixed in place, motionless.
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