"Also, I can offer you a location. There's a dragon in the Dark Sea," Yu Jin said, stroking his chin. "That guy should be the original Pyro Dragon, but he's very weak now. Remember to bring him some things to replenish his strength."
Even if Dvalin really brought good things to Kutri, Yu Jin estimated he wouldn't eat them.
After all, a new Dragon King would only be born when the old Dragon King was sufficiently weak.
"The Dark Sea?" Dvalin lowered his head in thought, wondering what he was contemplating.
"Dvalin, don't worry about Mondstadt or me. Go do what you want," Venti encouraged, seeing Dvalin's pensive look.
He understood now that Dvalin was, after all, a dragon, and these were things he should naturally know.
Moreover, there were many things Yu Jin spoke of that Venti himself didn't know. Listening to him, Venti felt he had gained a lot of knowledge.
"So? Have you decided, Dvalin?" Yu Jin waved his hand, and the thorns that enveloped them gradually receded back into the ground.
These rejecting thorns were quite useful. Once the Golden Tree's root system became even more luxuriant, Yu Jin would simply beckon and directly imprison anyone who bothered him!
"Hoo—, those questions can wait. Right now..., I just want to try out everything Lan Jie taught me."
Dvalin took a deep breath and flapped his wings, soaring into the Sky, leaving Venti and Yu Jin to brave the cold wind by the Golden Tree.
"Uh..., is Dvalin running away?" Yu Jin scratched his head, watching Dvalin's rapidly disappearing figure.
"What do you think? Suddenly telling Dvalin so much news, anyone would want to escape," Venti said with a hint of resentment, looking at Yu Jin. This guy always managed to stir up something big for him.
But this time wasn't bad. Venti himself only had a partial understanding of the Dragon Kings' origins, let alone the even more ancient history.
As for exploring them, Venti didn't even consider it. The taboos of Teyvat, strictly speaking, were two: do not cast curiosity towards Sky and the depths of the earth.
As long as these two points weren't touched, no matter how much people on the surface courted disaster, Celestia wouldn't bother with them.
"Hey! I say, if Dvalin really ran off, what would you do?" Yu Jin leaned closer to Venti, asking curiously.
Mondstadt's combat strength was hard to gauge. Dvalin was the only top-tier one. The Wolf King... half a one? After all, it couldn't go anywhere outside of Wolvendom.
And Venti himself, Yu Jin glanced at the idle Venti, his strength was also quite questionable now.
"What do you mean, what to do? Are you talking about Mondstadt?" Venti heard Yu Jin's words, spread his hands, and continued, "It's the era of human governance now. Even if Dvalin were gone, I'd still have faith in the people of Mondstadt."
"At least, when it comes to people, Mondstadt won't lose to any other nation!"
At this, Venti confidently put his hands on his hips. Jean, Lisa, Diluc... he could name many excellent people from Mondstadt.
"What if it's not about people then?" Yu Jin looked at Venti. This guy was quite confident.
"Not about people?" Venti's eyes narrowed, making him look a little sinister.
"Then I'll blow the roof off your house, and whoever provoked me, I'll say they did it!"
He reverted to his usual carefree demeanor.
"Alright, alright, so that's how you want to play! Just don't let me catch you, or I'll treat you to some snacks," Yu Jin immediately clapped. Venti's style, he had a bit of his own now.
"What are snacks?" Venti asked curiously.
"Delicious things, don't worry about it," Yu Jin said, not wanting to elaborate. Feeding people 'Oli G' was one of Yu Jin's greatest tricks, only used in special circumstances.
"Alright, if you don't say, I won't ask. Anyway, right now it's just human vs. human conflict. If it really comes to that point..."
"Heh, I'll make them pay the price!"
Venti whistled, making it unclear if he was serious or joking.
"Tsk tsk tsk, looks like you're quite reliable?" Yu Jin smacked his lips, withdrawing his consciousness that had delved deep into the Golden Tree.
This was good too; Durin's body still had flaws, and it wasn't time to release him yet... Inside Alex's mechanical factory, all sorts of complex robotic arms and processing machines had been cleared out.
The factory, originally large enough to simultaneously modify dozens of Apep, the Dragon of Everlasting Calamity, now appeared so empty.
And all of this was for the creation of the creature before him.
It was a dragon filled with machinery, darkness, and an aura of death.
"Fifth consciousness projection, preparing to begin!" Alex looked at the pure white Durin in the container nearby and declared with full vigor.
"Do you have a problem? There are only a few people here, why are you yelling so loudly?" Yu Jin complained, standing beside Alex.
There were only four living beings in the entire factory: him, Alex, Bayeta, and Durin. Yet Alex was shouting like a chief commander.
"Lord Yu Jin, you don't understand. Look at the Black Dragon before us, how perfect, how powerful, it can even rival a god!"
"Uh..., I reserve judgment," Yu Jin said, looking at the massive Black Dragon before him.
Its entire body seemed to be condensed from inky black tar. In some crucial parts, steel emerged, adding a sense of solidity to its constantly flowing form.
The darkness was like surging sludge, and with each breath, the dragon's body heaved, as if breathing.
And its exhalations sounded like the wails and lamentations of people.
In Yu Jin's opinion, this thing... was very similar to the Human's Pus, but larger and more stable.
"He's not talking about you, he's talking about the Seven Archons of the surface," Bayeta explained from the side.
She looked at the giant dragon before her, her eyes filled with immense anticipation and fanaticism. This dragon was partly her achievement, her life's work.
From a wisp of inky black mist to this mountain-like giant dragon, Bayeta didn't know how much time she had endured, nor how many times she had died.
She was just a Black Earth alchemist, without the genius of Gold. Facing the "lighter gas" extracted from the Deep, she could only exchange countless deaths for the possibility of studying it.
Fortunately, there was a god beside her; she couldn't die, nor could she go mad. That tiny wisp of smoke, over the stretched-out years, had been nurtured by her into a dragon.
"Hoh..." The Black Dragon's breathing finally became somewhat normal; it let out the pained cries a regular creature should.
"Durin, is it still very painful?" Alex asked anxiously, looking at the parameters on the instrument.
"Very... painful. Can't... move," Durin's massive head quietly twisted a little, but that was all he could do.
"No, it's still not working. We've studied too little about souls! Both I and the Empire!"
Alex slammed his fist on the silver control panel. If nothing unexpected happened, Durin would soon go berserk and destroy everything.
"Hoh..., hoh..., again... again like this!" Durin's bright eyes, which had opened from the darkness, now began to turn chaotic.
In Durin's mind, hatred and fury intertwined, pain and lamentations resounded. And he, the dragon himself, could only cower in a small corner, watching the darkness slowly creep up his body.
"Five minutes, thirty-six seconds, forty-two parts. One minute improvement from last time, progress made," Yu Jin said, having walked over to Durin at some point.
As he spoke, he reached his hand into Durin's head. Then, Yu Jin pulled Durin out by his tail.
"One minute! Damn it! The new soul inhibitor only improved it by one minute!" Alex grabbed his hair, shouting in disbelief.
He was furious at his own incompetence. The conditions before him were so good, the wish to surpass the gods was so close.
Yet, because of his own incompetence, this wish was drifting further and further away from him!
"Alright, stop freaking out. It's not your fault."
Yu Jin looked up at the dragon, which had once again lost its vitality, and said calmly, pressing on its body, "This project is too difficult for you all."
He raised his hand, and a Burning ring appeared on the dragon's body.
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