Outside Mondstadt, a group of people were walking in the vast wilderness.
"By the way, why did you call us over so early? What do you want to do?" As the Dragon Scourge dissipated, the Sky above Mondstadt became unexpectedly bright. Paimon flew to Yu Jin's side and asked curiously.
Their "Dvalin Rescue Team" had only been separated for a few days before reuniting.
But why did it feel a bit strange? Paimon tried to fly a little higher, and then suddenly realized that the bard seemed to be missing. In his place was Lanssangx.
"Hey! Yu Jin, did you forget the bard? Where is he?" Paimon immediately asked when she noticed the anomaly.
"I thought you hadn't noticed?" Yu Jin couldn't help but retort when he saw how long it took Paimon to notice the anomaly.
However, he still explained, "I called you over to let you see Dvalin's recovery."
"As for Venti, he went to call Dvalin. He'll probably chat with him for a while, since they haven't seen each other in so long."
"Then who is she?" Paimon looked at Lanssangx not far away and asked in confusion.
"Hehe, my name is Lanssangx, and I'm a dragon!" Lanssangx had long been looking at Paimon with sparkling eyes. She hugged Paimon tightly and thoroughly messed with him.
"Wow! What a magical creature, are you a little fairy?" Lanssangx asked curiously while ruffling Paimon's hair.
"No! Paimon is Paimon!" Paimon broke free from Lanssangx's embrace and immediately flew to Lumine's side.
He stomped his foot angrily. Why did everyone who got involved with Yu Jin like to touch him so much? No one else did that.
"Alright, Paimon, doesn't that just make you adorable?" Lumine said with a smile, comforting the angry Paimon.
By the way, Paimon seemed unexpectedly sensitive to being touched, a thought suddenly popped into Lumine's mind.
But soon, she shook her head and tossed out her wild thoughts. Paimon was so unique, it was normal for him to be a bit sensitive.
Paimon's anger came and went quickly. Soon, he flew onto Lanssangx and, full of curiosity, looked at her and said, "You're a dragon? Why can a dragon turn into a human?"
"Hehe, where we come from, dragons interact with humans!" Lanssangx spun around and said with a smile.
"But how do dragons and humans interact?" Paimon scratched his head and asked in confusion. He was terrified just seeing Dvalin, let alone interacting with him.
"How to interact, huh..." Lanssangx recalled the scenes of her friendly "exchanges" with her followers and couldn't help but pause.
She felt that if she said it directly, it might scare Paimon. So Lanssangx casually said, "Anyway, it's just interactions like answering their questions, it's very boring. By the way, are there many dragons here?"
"Very few. Before we met Dvalin, we thought dragons were mythical creatures!" Paimon looked at Lumine and said.
Anyway, no matter what others thought, he really used to think dragons were mythical creatures. He was startled when he saw Dvalin.
"Uh..., do you know where we are?" Unbeknownst to her, Jean suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar area.
In Jean's sight, a cylindrical arena appeared. The entire arena was brownish-gray, as if carved from several huge stone blocks, appearing seamless and incredibly heavy.
Between the stone blocks, there was an even taller stone pillar. Intricate patterns were carved on the stone pillar, and together with the hollowed-out statues in the stone walls, they added a touch of humanistic flair to the silent and somber arena.
Jean was familiar with all of Mondstadt's terrain, but in her memory, Mondstadt had no such architectural style.
Whether historically or currently, Mondstadt's architectural style at any period was completely different from the arena in front of them!
"Shouldn't this be the Temple of the Thousand Winds? How did it become like this?"
Although the terrain of the Temple of the Thousand Winds had been altered by Dvalin, Jean still judged it to be the Temple of the Thousand Winds based on the scenery along the way and the undamaged terrain.
"You can recognize this?" Yu Jin was greatly surprised. In his opinion, the Temple of the Thousand Winds had been plowed over by Dvalin's Requiem of the Sky, and its overall appearance was completely different from before.
Adding his newly built arena, it was a wonder Jean could still recognize it!
"Naturally, as the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, I should be intimately familiar with every inch of Mondstadt's land!" Jean said this without any pride, as if she was merely stating something that was only natural.
In fact, Jean was holding back. For her, as long as Mondstadt didn't turn into a wasteland, no matter where it was, she could roughly determine its location.
Because she had long memorized the distribution of Mondstadt's unique creatures. As long as the climate didn't change, no matter how the terrain changed, she could recognize it.
"Hmph, very good demeanor. If those guys in the Knights of Favonius were all like you, I wouldn't be so busy every day." Diluc listened to Jean's words and, for once, nodded in satisfaction.
Although he was very pleased with Jean, his junior, Diluc's mouth still hadn't softened, maintaining his usual indifferent demeanor.
Jean just scratched her head after hearing Diluc's praise, saying nothing. She knew in her heart that very few people could achieve what she had.
However, due to Jean's inner humility, she was just too embarrassed to show it.
"Wow! What a familiar feeling, is this an arena?" Lanssangx also saw the tall building towering in the distance.
Although Lanssangx had never been to an arena, she recognized it at a glance. It could only be said that the architectural style of The Lands Between was truly eye-catching.
That style, extremely intricate yet lifeless, could only be nurtured in a place like The Lands Between, with its strict hierarchy and unchanging nature.
"Yes! Do you feel a familiar sense of home?" Yu Jin pointed at the distant arena and said confidently.
This was a one-to-one rerun of the arena in The Lands Between, and his hands were numb from carving all those patterns.
"Not at all." Lanssangx shook her head expressionlessly. What did a human arena have to do with her, a dragon?
Moreover, The Lands Between of the past only left her with painful memories. She didn't even want to recall those days of collapse.
"Besides, King, your style is too old! The Lands Between of today no longer uses this architectural style!" Lanssangx looked at the interwoven tree patterns above and complained tiredly.
The Golden Order was a thing of the past, yet the building constructed by Yu Jin, the one who destroyed the Golden Order, still retained traces of the Golden Order's faith.
She didn't know what to say.
"Was this building built by Senior?" Lumine looked at the approaching arena and asked Yu Jin ahead.
"Yes, when sparring with Dvalin, we can't just go at it directly, can we? If I don't take some protective measures, I'm afraid this whole area will be destroyed." Yu Jin nodded.
Regardless of their strength, dragons' destructive power was top-notch. Especially dragons of outstanding strength like Lanssangx and Dvalin.
"I didn't realize you were so amazing, that you could build such a magnificent structure?" Paimon flew to Yu Jin's side, seemingly astonished that he could build this arena.
"I have many amazing qualities, just wait and see!" Yu Jin smiled confidently, but to others, his tone had only slightly changed.
Soon, everyone arrived next to the arena.
The shadow of the dozens-of-meters-high stone wall enveloped everyone, bringing immense pressure upon them. The statues of knights with upright swords, carved into the pits of the stone wall, watched everything around the arena.
A chilling and ruthless aura emanated from this arena, as if it was born to be bathed in blood.
"Come, come, come! This way! I remember the arena has many fake doors, you probably won't find the real one for a while."
A familiar voice dispelled all the pressure. Yu Jin in the distance was tapping on the arena's stone wall, seemingly trying to determine which was the real door and which was the fake one.
His voice and actions immediately shattered the stern atmosphere of the arena.
The ruthless and cold arena could also become lighthearted and cheerful.
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