The Chasm.
The place where the Heavenly Nail fell.
Where the heavens and the Abyss became entangled.
The main battlefield of the Millelith against the Abyssal scourge.
For countless years, Liyue's richest treasure trove of mining output.
This place had too many legendary stories to tell.
But today—
It would become Taro's leveling ground and testing site.
Light flashed.
Four figures appeared just outside the entrance to the Chasm.
"So this is the Chasm?"
Taro felt the heavy, oppressive aura all around. His eyes went straight to the yawning maw ahead.
Huo Liya frowned.
"This place… carries such an ominous stench. The kind that makes you sick just by breathing it in."
Her impression of the Abyss' disaster at the Chasm was one of pure aversion.
That foul aura seemed born to oppose all life.
Even as an Archon-level being, her instincts recoiled at it.
"That's the aura of the Abyss," Senna replied at once.
"The dossiers from Yujing Terrace record it: five hundred years ago, the Abyssal scourge erupted."
"The Chasm was one of the largest battlefields where Liyue blocked the Abyssal beast tide."
"My eldest brother Bosha fell heroically in its depths."
"Big brother was a hero," Huo Liya and Senna both said.
"Mm."
Taro's reply was low.
But because of the entanglement of Abyss and Heaven's power, the souls of the fallen never returned to the leylines, never found rest.
The Abyss—forever loathsome to the living.
"Big brother…"
Yingda clenched her fists.
"We've come for you!"
"Let's begin."
Taro slowly raised his right hand.
"Next, you might hear a prompt in your mind. Just silently consent. If you don't hear it, ignore it."
"Sir, I heard it," Huo Liya said immediately.
"I heard it too," Senna was the second to reply.
"Yingda as well."
Even without answers, Taro already knew.
Before their voices reached him, the names of his three companions had already appeared on the team interface.
He was captain.
Party, formed!
"Good. Very good."
Taro nodded in satisfaction.
"If we can form a party here, that changes everything."
In the real world, forming parties like in a game should've been impossible.
But here it worked. Which meant endless possibilities.
"Yingda, go kill a few monsters nearby for a test."
His gaze left the party screen.
"On it."
Yingda clenched her fist, her body splitting into two streaks of flame that shot away.
The next moment, her form reappeared beside Taro.
At the same time, experience bars rose for all three party members.
"Excellent!"
Taro's eyes lit up.
"Well done, Yingda. You can return now."
"Understood."
Her voice echoed through the team channel. A flash of flame streaked back, and Yingda's form once again stood at his side.
"How was it, sir?" she asked expectantly.
The same look of anticipation lingered on Huo Liya and Senna's faces.
"Experiment successful."
Taro smiled.
"My hypothesis is confirmed. As long as you're in my party, you can grow with me."
"That's great!"
Yingda actually hopped in excitement, then clung to Taro's arm.
"This way, we can slowly catch up to you and fight alongside you!"
"…"
You're overthinking it, child.
Taro shook his head inwardly.
Their templates weren't the same as his. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with him was impossible.
Unless… he could craft racial and class-change manuals tailor-made for them.
If his ideas worked, maybe there was a chance.
But that wasn't today's priority.
Now that parties were possible, and members gained experience in proportion—
That meant limitless growth for anyone under him.
In YGGDRASIL, party size had limits.
In faction wars or guild wars, the entire guild was treated as a party.
Some guilds had over five thousand members.
Like the Seraphim Guild Taro had once joined.
In its prime, it had reigned at the top of the entire game, unmatched in power.
Now he could build the same here.
A colossal force under his command.
Party members could travel the world, grinding and leveling.
While he enjoyed a carefree life in Liyue.
Exploitation?
Please. This was fortune.
Joining his party meant benefits.
Guaranteed safety.
Ten party-wide buffs active at all times—
Health, stamina, strength, regeneration, and more.
And if someone died against monsters too strong, mass resurrection magic would bring everyone back.
But the real prize—
Even without fighting, simply being in his party meant steady growth without side effects.
Spread that news, and people would fight to get in.
No shortage of applicants.
Of course, he wouldn't let just anyone in.
His close ones would always get in free.
The rest, he'd trade with Zhongli and the adepti for favors.
And with the Qixing and Millelith in exchange for deployments.
Those people would essentially become his… workers.
No—"partners in prosperity."
Yes, common prosperity.
The team's day-to-day would be handed to Huo Liya, Yingda, and Senna.
They'd use the team log to manage it, with authority to kick freeloaders.
His party wouldn't support dead weight.
Well… except his own.
He'd just lie back and level in comfort.
Pulling his thoughts back, Taro looked at the gaping maw before him.
"Alright, let's go down."
Party formation and exp distribution tested and proven.
Next, more things to verify.
"Follow me!"
Huo Liya, Yingda, and Senna followed without hesitation.
They dove straight down into the Chasm's depths.
It took a full three breaths before they landed.
"This deep?" Senna's voice carried disbelief.
"These miners sure dug like crazy."
Landing smoothly, Taro's expression turned odd.
No wonder Azhdaha couldn't take it.
Liyue miners truly dug like they wanted to hollow out the earth.
Three breaths of freefall.
Nearly a full minute in descent.
By feel alone, that was over ten thousand meters deep.
A genuine abyss.
And this was only the first mining zone.
There were still several more layers below.
Insane.
And that was just depth.
Width, length, total area—uncalculated.
If tallied, Liyue's mining might be even more shocking.
Wasn't this basically hollowing out the world?
And yet no cave-ins…
(End of Chapter)
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