Walking across the barren land, the group silently approached their target—the ancient ruins ahead.
Recalling the sheer force of Ryen's casual punch just moments ago, everyone was still in a state of existential doubt.
They finally understood why Zhongli had looked so troubled back when Ryen came to ask him for a Vision.
In their whole lives, none of them had seen anything so absurd.
Ryen could literally split Teyvat down the middle with a single punch—what use was a Vision to him?
Forget Visions—even a god's elemental power wouldn't add much to someone like him!
Just think of the scene from earlier:
He threw a punch, and even space itself trembled.
The gale of his fist swept across the sky, and in its wake, the heavens cleared—no clouds left for ten thousand miles.
And this was when Ryen clearly wasn't even using his full strength!
So then… what could a Vision possibly offer him?
Was chasing "aura points" really the only reason Ryen wanted one?
Rosalyne, however, was delighted.
She had always heard Zhongli say Ryen was immensely powerful, but never had a concrete sense of what that meant.
Now that she saw it with her own eyes, she understood why Zhongli hadn't bothered to explain—
Because no one would believe it unless they witnessed it themselves.
Before now, who would have dared imagine that someone could nearly shatter Teyvat's space itself relying on nothing but raw strength?
After witnessing this, when she thought about Celestia's Heavenly Principles…
Rosalyne didn't feel the slightest concern for the Cryo Archon anymore.
With power like Ryen's—
If even he couldn't smash down the Heavenly Principles, then they might as well all just lie flat and give up.
Tartaglia, too, finally understood why Ryen had always been so lazy about learning combat techniques.
For him, fighting monsters was always the same: a swing to the left, a strike to the right—every move riddled with openings.
But the truth was—Ryen never needed technique.
When strength reaches its absolute peak, no technique matters.
All the flashy sword arts in the world couldn't withstand one casual slap from him.
The mere wind pressure from his punches alone was already unstoppable—let alone a serious hit.
If he had Ryen's strength, would he waste time practicing martial arts?
Of course not.
If someone looked at him the wrong way, he'd just walk up and punch them flat.
Reasoning and principles? Those could wait until after throwing a punch.
If the opponent could withstand it, then they could sit down and talk about reason.
If they couldn't, then they could go down below and let the undead explain reason to them.
Everyone had their own thoughts—after all, Ryen's punch had been far too earth-shattering.
As a result, Paimon was now sitting on Ryen's shoulder, puffed up with pride, looking down on all directions.
She was hugging onto the thickest thigh she could find—whoever dared to mess with her, Paimon would just have Ryen settle the score for her.
Even Archons or the Heavenly Principles weren't enough to make the mighty Paimon worry!
While the others were marveling at Ryen's strength, Lisa's thoughts wandered down a rather different path.
She was wondering—with Ryen's kind of power, how had Ganyu and the others ever managed to handle him?
If Ryen ever acted on a whim and patted someone just a little too hard, wouldn't something terrible happen?
Lisa grew troubled. With her frail, mage's frame, there was no way she could endure even a casual slap from Ryen.
Now that her curse problem had been solved, Lisa had long been considering whether she ought to find someone to rely on.
Not necessarily someone for protection—she didn't need that—but simply someone whose shoulder she could lean on.
And naturally, Ryen had become her best candidate.
Lisa had read far too many books, and she knew all too well the… different ways such matters could unfold.
If she were ever to be with Ryen, things would inevitably lead down that path, and she honestly wasn't confident she could handle it.
As for whether Ryen would even accept her…
Well, that was hardly boasting—Lisa knew full well the kind of temptation her body posed for Ryen.
And she also knew Ryen was very much a top-tier carnivore—the type who never turned away anyone who came to him.
Those amazed looks he often gave her? Lisa had certainly noticed them.
While she was pondering this, Lisa leaned closer to Ganyu and whispered softly:
"Ganyu… may I ask you something?"
Ganyu blinked in surprise, then nodded.
"When you're spending time with Ryen… can he control his strength well?"
Hearing that, Ganyu thought Lisa was simply talking about holding hands or such, and her face lit up with a blissful smile.
"Of course. Don't worry, Ryen is very gentle. He controls his strength really well—he'd never hurt me…"
"T-then…"
Lisa bit her lip, her voice dropping even lower.
"When you two are… doing that… can he also control his strength properly?"
At that moment, Ganyu finally understood what Lisa meant.
Her face instantly turned red. After stammering for a while, she said weakly:
"Of course not! Ryen is very careful with boundaries…"
"Although when he's happy, his strength can get a little overwhelming, I can still handle it…"
"And besides, Ryen would never bear to hurt me…"
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