After Liang Chuan took down the boss of this Hilichurl camp,
It was safe to say that the players' victory here was already a done deal.
Leading a group of assassin players, Liang Chuan returned to assist the others,
wiping out the remaining Hilichurls completely.
Then came the most thrilling moment of all—opening the treasure chest!
Inside one of the camp's huts sat a chest,
marked in the players' vision as — [Precious Chest].
As the team leader, [BlazingFlame] stepped forward and opened it.
The moment he saw the contents, he froze in disbelief.
There were no rare items inside...
Just a chest full of Sunsettias!
After all that hard work—for this?!
If Liang Chuan hadn't been standing right beside him,
[BlazingFlame] would've cursed the game developers a hundred times over.
Liang Chuan could only shake his head at the sight.
He knew better than to expect to find "Primogems," "Artifacts," or "Talent Materials" in these chests.
What was easily obtainable in the game—equipment, items, resources—
was incredibly rare here in Teyvat.
To get higher-tier equipment and materials,
he and the players would have to rely on upgrading their [Workbench]
and unlocking more advanced System Shops.
With the Hilichurl camp cleared,
the players still had one more crucial task—
transporting the corpses back to the [Bioenergy Terminal] for conversion into bioenergy.
That, ironically, turned out to be the hardest part.
A small Hilichurl weighed dozens of pounds,
a Blazing Axe Mitachurl started at around two hundred,
and a Hilichurl Stonehelm King?
That was already pushing into the ton range.
Hauling those bodies back
was ten times more exhausting than fighting the monsters in the first place.
But when they remembered that 1 unit of bioenergy could be exchanged for 1,000 Credits,
they gritted their teeth and got the job done.
At this point, they were basically working part-time inside the game!
With the Hilichurl camp out of the way,
Liang Chuan's path to the Masters of the Night-Wind domain was finally clear.
After bidding farewell to the players, he activated [Gale Step] and slipped away.
Crossing a river,
he officially arrived at the core area of the Masters of the Night-Wind domain—
only to find a new headache waiting for him.
Mountain climbing.
And not just a little—a lot of climbing.
Looking at the jagged peaks before him, Liang Chuan couldn't help but complain:
"No wonder the people and dragons of Natlan can fly, leap, and burrow underground.
Without some kind of world-level ability, how could anyone live in terrain like this...?"
His gaze fell upon a Tepetlisaur resting nearby.
Reaching into his [Boarhide Backpack],
He pulled out a [Mid-grade Control Collar].
The Tepetlisaur couldn't fly or burrow,
but it could use [Spirit Sense] to extract [Spirit Puzzle Fields],
creating updrafts of wind.
After generating a wind field, Liang Chuan could simply ride upward with it—
problem solved.
He activated [Gale Step] and approached the creature.
Sensing his presence, the Tepetlisaur lifted its head and met his eyes.
Realizing he'd been spotted, Liang Chuan didn't hesitate.
He snapped the [Mid-grade Control Collar] around the dragon's neck!
A surge of stunning current coursed through the beast,
knocking it to the ground.
A moment later, the dragon's portrait appeared in his [Companion] interface.
Checking the stats, Liang Chuan saw:
HP 95%, Loyalty 60%.
A companion's loyalty below 60% meant it could rebel at any time.
"So this is what makes the [Mid-grade Control Collar] special—
it even comes with built-in hypnosis to raise loyalty.
When I used [Low-grade Control Collars] on Hilichurls,
their loyalty hovered around 30% no matter what.
I had to use both food and the stick to train them up to around 60%.
But now, this Tepetlisaur starts at 60% right off the bat—
no need to worry about betrayal."
Liang Chuan walked up to the subdued dragon,
took out a [Small Vitality Potion],
and restored its HP to full.
At the same time, its loyalty rose to 70%!
That surprised even him.
Apparently, creatures like the Tepetlisaur were much easier to tame—
their initial loyalty was higher, and it grew faster too.
Hilichurls, on the other hand,
were naturally hostile to humans.
No wonder they were such a pain to train.
With the dragon successfully tamed,
Liang Chuan had it use [Spirit Sense] to extract a [Spirit Puzzle Field].
Then he leapt onto its back.
The wind field expanded beneath them—
and in an instant, the Tepetlisaur carried Liang Chuan up to a nearby mountaintop!
When they landed, Liang Chuan took a look around—
and froze.
Right nearby stood a humanoid monster.
He recognized it instantly—
A Wayob Manifestation!
A Wayob Manifestation!
He still remembered vividly—
even with his "Trisolarian" avatar,
fighting one of these took real effort.
If his elemental attributes were countered,
he'd even have to retreat and reconfigure his lineup to beat it.
This was way out of his current league!
Liang Chuan activated [Gale Step] to retreat,
but the Wayob Manifestation had already sensed him.
Its [Domain: Trial of the Moment] activated instantly!
A wave of weakness washed over Liang Chuan's body—
he knew he'd been caught.
Checking his stats,
he saw all four attributes halved!
"This thing only drains elemental energy, right?
At worst it should sap my mental power!
Why the hell are all my stats down?!"
He scowled,
realizing the creature could still track his position.
The Wayob Manifestation's attacks came in a relentless barrage!
"Damn it… looks like this is where I lost my first life..."
Taking a deep breath, Liang Chuan muttered,
"Good thing there aren't any players nearby.
Otherwise, I'd have to do a full rollback just to keep the lore consistent."
Just as he braced himself for death,
a sudden chill filled the air.
He looked up—
snowflakes were falling.
Clang!
The Wayob Manifestation's blow was stopped cold—
by an ice shield forming around Liang Chuan!
"Where'd you pop out from, little guy?"
A pink-haired twin-tailed girl,
sitting atop a floating pillow, drifted lazily to his side.
"Citlali!"
"Oh? You know me?"
Citlali tilted her head, surprised.
"I don't think we've met before, though."
"The name of Grandma Obsidian... I've heard it before,"
Liang Chuan replied with a grin, waving his hand.
"Thanks for the shield, Grandma!"
"My nickname is Obsidian, not Grandma! Ugh, never mind.
We'll talk later—
I need to calm down that Wayob Manifestation first."
Landing gracefully,
Citlali began to display her powers as a Priestess.
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