"We'll use the Spirit Grain to supplement the rations from now on. Xiangling, did you send a batch to your Master?"
"Mhm! It's already been delivered. But Sucrose said we need to prioritize seed breeding for now, so I only sent a day's worth of supply..."
"That's fine. Seeds take priority. If the little elves get too tired, have the Dendro Vision holders step in to help with the growth acceleration."
"Understood."
Relying solely on the lower-tier sprites was proving too taxing for them. Now, volunteers with Dendro Visions frequently joined the "catalyst army." Despite the repetitive nature of the work, there was a massive line of people eager to work for Su Han. A single mission posting would attract dozens of applicants, especially since the pay was a generous 5,000 Mora per session—fifty times the wage of a standard laborer. In Liyue's booming economy, everyone wanted a piece of the pie.
[The Proving Grounds]
After settling the logistics, Su Han headed to the Undersea City. The construction here was nearing completion; streets were paved, lights were flickering on, and facilities were fully operational. Su Han took this opportunity to deploy the Martial Trial Secret Realm.
While not a true world-scale secret realm, the artifact occupied a space roughly the size of a grand arena but contained a pocket dimension as vast as Liyue Harbor itself.
"Keep the entry fees accessible," Su Han instructed Baiven. "One hundred Mora for the basic training rooms, five hundred for intermediate, and one thousand for the advanced halls. Implement the point system as well—soldiers can use their merit points to offset the cost."
Baiven dutifully recorded every word. The city was set to open its gates soon.
Su Han stepped inside a basic room to test it. Compared to the Jade Chamber's high-density environment, the elemental energy here was a hundred times weaker, but still far superior to the natural world outside. As he left, he saw a group of soldiers—veterans of the Abyss defense—stepping into the low-tier rooms.
The gravity in those rooms could be adjusted from 1g to 5g. For a normal human, five times gravity was an agonizing weight that made every step a struggle.
"Hah... I didn't think even the basic rooms would be this brutal," one soldier panted, sweating profusely.
"We're just ordinary guys," his comrade replied, gritting his teeth. "We don't have the strength for the high-tier halls yet. Our points only cover three days—don't waste a single second!"
[The Clingy Dragon]
As Su Han emerged from the undersea hub, he bumped into Ruo-Ruo (the Dragon King's avatar) wandering about. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw him.
"Where are you going? I'm coming with you!"
Su Han sighed inwardly. He had provided her with plenty of playmates, but she was never satisfied. She wanted to stick to him like glue.
"I have official business, Ruo-Ruo. I won't be back until evening. How about we play games tonight?"
"No! I'm following you now!" She grabbed his sleeve, giving him a look that brooked no argument.
Keqing, who was standing nearby, suppressed a smile. "Why not just bring her? We might actually need her help for this afternoon's project."
"Oh?" Ruo-Ruo's ears perked up. "What are you doing? I can help!"
"We're planning to break ground on the third city near Jueyun Karst," Keqing explained. "But the area is surrounded by massive, jagged peaks. We need to level them to create a foundation for the city. We'll be spending the whole afternoon clearing mountains."
Ruo-Ruo's face filled with pride. "Is that all? Why didn't you ask me sooner? Breaking things? That's my absolute specialty!"
Su Han blinked. "Can you do that without your true body?"
"Hmph! My body is asleep in the seal, but I can draw upon its power. To tell you a secret... since you cracked that seal, I can siphon energy from the 'big me' much easier now. I can use all my old moves!"
"You won't get hurt, will you?" Su Han asked, genuinely concerned.
Ruo-Ruo huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm not stupid enough to hurt myself! If you don't want my help, go do the heavy lifting yourself. I'm leaving!"
Su Han quickly caught her small hand, offering a conciliatory smile. "I'm just worried about you. If you're willing to help, I'd be honored."
"Really?"
"Of course. Have I ever lied to you?"
"Well, no. Fine... let's go. But you owe me ten chocolate lollipops as compensation."
[The Sovereign and the Yuheng]
The three of them flew toward the Karst. Su Han on the left, Keqing on the right, and Ruo-Ruo in the middle. At a glance, they looked like a small, strange family.
Su Han's gaze lingered on Keqing, and when she caught him looking, her face flushed a delicate pink. She pouted and glared at him, but there was no bite in it—only a shy, fluttering affection.
Su Han reached out, his fingers grazing hers. Keqing shivered as if an electrical current had passed through her. For a moment, Su Han thought he had overstepped; Keqing was always so focused and professional. He began to withdraw his hand, but then, slender fingers suddenly laced through his, holding on tight.
"If you're going to grab on, don't back down... you idiot," Keqing whispered, her voice trembling but her resolve firm. She was a woman of action—if she felt it, she would face it head-on.
They flew in a comfortable silence for a while until they reached the target peaks.
"Start with that one," Su Han pointed to a thousand-meter-tall spire. "We need to reduce its height by ninety percent."
Ruo-Ruo stepped forward. Her small frame suddenly erupted with a crushing pressure. She threw a tiny, dainty punch at the air.
Rumble... The mountain shook, but it didn't collapse. Ruo-Ruo's eyes went wide. She was just a hair's breadth away from the threshold of destruction.
"AAAH! I'm so annoyed! My power is too compressed in this form!"
She stuffed her lollipop into her pocket and tossed her glasses aside. In a flash of light, her body surged upward, transforming back into the intellectual, long-legged "Big Sister" version of the Dragon King.
SHING!
She vanished. In the next heartbeat, the thousand-meter peak didn't just shake—it shattered into a trillion pieces of rubble. One punch, one mountain.
Keqing's eyes narrowed. "I didn't even see her move. As expected of the Dragon King..."
"In her child form, her power is too restricted," Su Han noted, watching the dust settle. "But in this form... she's a force of nature. If I had to clear that myself, it would have taken a lot more effort."
The terrain of Jueyun Karst—the intersection of Qingyun Peak and Nantianmen—was about to be permanently rewritten.
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