Early the next morning.
The chaos of the previous day had already begun to settle down—though of course, it would take some time before things fully calmed.
Ningguang was already back to work, busy preparing for the major event scheduled for the afternoon.
As for Ryen, he had nothing urgent on his plate, so he brought Ganyu—who finally had some free time again—into the MC world, along with Jean and the others.
The Adepti had long been intrigued by the MC world thanks to what Cloud Retainer and the others had told them. Now, their curiosity had reached new heights.
With Zhongli retiring today, the fog had lifted and Liyue's full strength was now on full display for the world to see.
There was no longer a need for the Adepti to stand guard at the foot of Mt. Tianheng.
The Qianyan Army alone was more than capable. Ordinary intruders couldn't breach their defenses.
And even if a powerful enemy managed to slip past the Qianyan Army to investigate, they would have to seriously consider whether they could withstand Liyue's wrath.
After all, the Jade Chamber was still hanging high above the courtyard, visible for all to see.
Ryen first sent the Qianyan troops back to base, instructing them to consolidate materials and scavenge the remaining nearby resources.
As for long-distance world exploration, that would have to wait until the Mondstadt forces arrived and had time to get familiar with this world.
The Mondstadt delegation, led by Diluc and members of the Knights of Favonius, wasn't far now.
According to Ningguang, they were about to reach Guili Plains and would likely arrive at Liyue Harbor within two days at most.
After yesterday's satisfying battle, the returning Qianyan troops were full of passion and quickly threw themselves back into their work.
However, based on the amount of materials consumed during yesterday's conflict, it would take at least a week to fully restock.
Fortunately, there were no major events planned in the immediate future, so time wasn't a problem.
After sending off the Qianyan Army, Ryen brought the Adepti into the MC world.
The moment they entered, Mooncarver and the others gasped in surprise.
"My power…"
Mountain Shaper flapped his wings, but no longer felt the usual surge of Adeptal energy flowing through her.
"This is normal," Ryen said with a smile, sharing his physical attributes with everyone.
"This world doesn't operate under Teyvat's strict elemental laws. Honestly, even Zhongli barely retains any of his strength when entering here."
Unfortunately, the Adepti didn't really register Ryen's explanation. Once they received the shared abilities from him, they were momentarily stunned by their newfound power.
"So that's why the Conqueror of Demons enjoys staying here so much…"
Mooncarver glanced sideways at Xiao with a soft chuckle.
"This kind of pure power is definitely more comfortable to wield than Adeptal energy."
Speaking of Xiao, Ryen suddenly remembered something.
"Xiao, did you go clean up the remnants of the fallen gods last night?"
Xiao nodded quietly.
"I cleared part of it. There's still a good amount left—it'll take about half a month to reduce it to a level that won't affect humans."
Ryen nodded, then took out an enchanted golden apple.
"You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
"I'm fine… Don't worry. I've accumulated some karmic debt, but it doesn't really affect me."
Ryen chuckled and shook his head.
"You're here to enjoy yourself. Carrying negative status effects around just makes things uncomfortable. Let's clear them out, shall we?"
Xiao didn't resist. He took out a bucket of milk and casually ate the enchanted golden apple with it.
From the perspective of the Adepti, it was easy to see that Xiao's karmic debt had been cleansed.
Madam Ping sighed with emotion.
"Although I knew the Conqueror of Demons' karmic burden could be lifted, I didn't expect it to be this simple."
Ryen replied with a chuckle,
"It wasn't always this easy. Xiao carried a heavy karmic burden before. Back then, we had to rely on regular golden apples and milk, bit by bit."
"But now, with enchanted golden apples, as long as it's not something on the level of his past affliction, even a single one can completely cleanse it."
"As for the milk… well, maybe Xiao just likes the taste."
Ryen shrugged, choosing not to explain further why Xiao drank milk.
The truth was, Ryen had once told Nahida—while coaxing her—that drinking more milk would help her grow taller.
Xiao happened to overhear that…
Even though Ryen later clarified that he only said it to cheer Nahida up, still…
Now that his karmic burden was lifted—who knows, maybe it might actually work?
With the karmic weight gone, and with Zhongli retiring and moving in as a neighbor, Xiao had only two lingering regrets in life:
One, that Bosacius and the others didn't live to see better days;
And two… his height.
Xiao's expression turned a little awkward. He avoided eye contact with Mooncarver and the others, clearly embarrassed.
Ryen, seeing this, tactfully changed the subject.
"Come on, I'll take you outside for a look. Cloud Retainer's built something rather impressive here."
He glanced over at Cloud Retainer with a smile. She proudly lifted her chin, clearly full of anticipation.
Holding Klee's hand in his left and Nahida's in his right, Ryen led the group out of the villa.
The moment they stepped outside, the Adepti looked around—and their eyes were immediately drawn to the view of the mountain behind the house.
They all froze on the spot.
"Is that… Jueyun Karst?"
"And those… aren't those the others, like Skybracer?!"
Mooncarver's eyes trembled as he gazed at the lifelike statues, momentarily overwhelmed with emotion. His eyes stung slightly.
"That's a joint project between me and Liyue Harbor's top architects," Cloud Retainer said with satisfaction.
"The Qianyan Army helped carve it out."
"I really went all out for this piece!"
The three Adepti stared at the mountain in silence, hearts stirred with emotion. After a long while, Mountain Shaper spoke up with a sigh:
"Cloud Retainer, even if you're not good with words… your heart is in the right place."
"You old goose!"
Cloud Retainer huffed and glared at her.
"Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Of course," Mountain Shaper replied calmly with a nod.
Cloud Retainer was momentarily at a loss for words. But since these were her old friends, and everyone was in good spirits, she let it slide and didn't argue further.
"The buildings on the mountainside—I've finished most of them," Cloud Retainer explained, "but there are still a lot of details to refine."
"For example, I plan to build a large immortal island among the peaks. Its main focus will be landscape and garden design."
"The designers from Liyue Harbor gave me the architectural blueprints. But I thought—this kind of thing should be built by us Adepti ourselves. It'll be more meaningful that way."
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