Su Wan's mouth began to twitch uncontrollably.
This skill description... no matter how she interpreted it, it felt completely off.
Before she could even begin a lengthy academic rebuttal, Lin Qingyue, who was beside her, slapped her thigh in excitement.
"Holy shit! Genshin Impact, start!"
The DNA of this veteran gamer was thoroughly ignited at this moment!
What bankruptcy grief, what heart-stopping cyber-scams, all were completely forgotten in the face of a brand-new game mechanic with infinite potential!
Her perspective instantly expanded!
"A Divine Skill! This ability is simply a Divine Skill! What are we still worrying about for DPS?"
Lin Qingyue's eyes shone as she immediately began arranging their formation:
"Xiyue, don't just stand there foolishly holding a shield! Keep the Holy Light Enchantment active at all times, you are our Light-Buffing Support!"
"Su Wan, switch between Ice and Fire Mage! Use your ultimate to trigger Melt and Vaporize, doubling the damage directly!"
"Xia Lian, can't you poison your arrows? From now on, you'll be our Dendro element tool, playing a round of Spread and Intensify!"
"Then I'll switch to the main DPS and slam down a Sunlight Spear nuke—"
She grew more excited as she spoke, as if she could already see a string of colorful critical hit numbers floating above the BOSS's head.
"Vaporize! Melt! Overloaded! Bloom! Aggravate! We'll just smash its reactor to pieces!"
"From now on, our squad shouldn't be called Quantum Battleship anymore. I think we should just change the name to 'Continent of Teyvat Vanguard Squad'!"
Su Wan's head was buzzing as she listened, and a vein on her smooth forehead popped out with a "biu."
How did sacred and rigorous magic theory sound like a recipe for stir-frying dishes at a snack street in this woman's mouth?!
What do you mean, "Apply Element"?
That's called precise magic power resonance and high-frequency attachment, okay!
She was just about to put on the air of a well-bred young lady and severely correct her captain's atrocious, illiterate phrasing.
But she saw Lin Qingyue's expression suddenly freeze, the light in her eyes instantly extinguished.
"Something's wrong!"
Lin Qingyue quickly swiped through the mission list in mid-air, her gaze locked dead on the mission bar that should have lit up.
The grayed-out text now seemed exceptionally glaring.
[World Quest: Broken World (Third Ring)] [Quest Objective: Find and soothe the "World Heart"] [Quest Progress: Incomplete]
The excitement on Lin Qingyue's face instantly vanished, her gaze turning calm.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves."
The joy of harvest in the air was like a punctured balloon, instantly deflating.
The silly grin on Lin Xiyue's face froze, Su Wan's brow furrowed, and Xia Lian also put away her curiosity about the new equipment, her expression becoming serious.
"How could... it be incomplete?"
Lin Xiyue scratched her head, her face full of confusion.
"Sis, didn't you already format that broken heart? The rewards for the Trial of the Heavenly Gods have been distributed, can the main quest still default on its payment?"
"The rewards are for the Trial of the Heavenly Gods, and they are on two separate tracks from the World Quest."
Lin Qingyue's mind raced, more focused than when she was calculating how much money she had lost earlier.
Her fingers swiped in the void, rapidly organizing the chain of logic.
"Dungeon Rule Number Two: Punishment of the Seven Sins. This world is extremely sensitive to emotions. Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust will all affect everything."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over her three teammates.
"The Trials of the four great Celestial Gods, Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, happened to correspond to the first four: Pride, Envy, Wrath, and Sloth."
"The illusions we just experienced, the pile of treasure was 'Greed', the handsome men and beautiful women were 'Lust'..."
Su Wan immediately picked up the thread, a hint of realization in her voice: "So, among the Seven Sins, one is still missing: 'Gluttony'!"
"Valley of the Four Winds! Feast of a Hundred Flavors! That so-called 'God of Food'!"
Lin Qingyue reacted instantly.
Good grief! That "God of Food" wasn't a proper god at all!
It was the personified incarnation of the sin of "Gluttony", the final piece of the Ancient God Shadow's puzzle! The last fugitive member of the scamming gang!
They were fighting to the death here, using their wits and courage, and yet one of the real masterminds was happily feasting outside?!
What kind of bullshit is this!
"Let's go!"
Without another word, Lin Qingyue turned and charged back toward the spiral staircase they had come from.
"That bastard is still out there stuffing his face! I'm going to flip his dining table!"
The thought of her hard-earned money, over two hundred thousand, being squandered by a scamming gang while one of their accomplices lived it up in luxury made Lin Qingyue's liver flare up so much she felt she could perform a fire-breathing act on the spot.
The four retraced their steps, rushing out of the Core Area's main gate in a whirlwind.
At the entrance, the two "door gods," Bedrock and Steel Bone, were leaning against the wall.
One was drawing circles in the dirt with his finger, cursing his job, while the other was repeatedly doing elderly radio calisthenics in place, his entire being radiating the resentment of someone who had been waiting for their shift to end so long they were about to grow mold.
Seeing the four emerge, the two colossi snapped to attention.
"Respected Authority Holder, you have completed the Core Purification Protocol!"
Steel Bone's mechanical voice trembled with irrepressible excitement.
"May we now initiate the 'Return to Silence' procedure? The retirement I've been waiting for... I mean, the final mission I've been waiting for is finally about to..."
"Stop!" Lin Qingyue raised a hand to cut off its retirement speech. "There's a problem. The purification isn't complete."
Steel Bone: "..."
Bedrock's massive stone head let out a clunk, nearly performing a "separate head" act on the spot.
"Not... not completed?"
Bedrock's honest voice cracked.
"To put it simply,"
Su Wan explained concisely,
"Your Ancient God has seven clones. We've taken out six, but there's still one out there attending a food festival."
Bedrock and Steel Bone, two living fossils with ten thousand years of history, crashed on the spot.
A deathly silence filled the vast temple.
After a full half minute, the red light in Steel Bone's mechanical eye sockets began to flash wildly, emitting a "zizla... zizla..." electrical crackle, looking exactly like a flickering old light bulb with a poor connection.
"So that means..."
Its voice sounded like rusty gears grinding together,
"The 'Return to Silence' protocol... is temporarily postponed?"
"Yes," Lin Qingyue nodded.
"We... we still can't go off duty?"
Bedrock's voice took on a sob, and his massive stone body even emitted a faint, mournful wail.
Looking at these two "wage slaves" who were even more desperate to retire than she was, Lin Qingyue felt a pang of desolate sympathy for their shared plight.
She patted Bedrock's ankle and said earnestly, "Bro, look on the bright side. Think about it: once we deal with the last one, you'll be able to fully retire and get your ten-thousand-year pension all at once! This is called delayed gratification."
"We don't have a pension," Steel Bone corrected desperately, using his last shred of strength.
"...Then never mind." Lin Qingyue retracted her hand with an expressionless face. "Anyway, send us out to the Valley of the Four Winds, the sooner the better!"
Bedrock and Steel Bone exchanged glances, seeing in each other's eyes the endless sorrow of "Working ten thousand years, overtime for ten thousand years."
This surge of grief and anger finally transformed into motivation.
The sooner we die, the sooner we reincarnate; the sooner we send them away, the sooner we get off duty!
"As you command! We will open the Hyperspace Jump Channel for you immediately!"
Steel Bone roared, and together with Bedrock, shoved open an inconspicuous wall at the side of the temple.
Behind the wall was a... giant centrifuge in an extremely steampunk style, patched together from countless rusty gears, leaking copper pipes, and haphazardly welded metal plates.
A massive platform sat right in the center, surrounded by several warning signs that read "Attention: Safety First, Beware of Being Spun Dry."
Lin Xiyue stood there, dumbfounded: "...You call this thing a Hyperspace Jump?"
"Ahem, it's an emergency passage. It hasn't been serviced in ten thousand years, so the style is a bit retro, but its performance is absolutely reliable!"
As Steel Bone spoke, he pulled a massive hand-crank from behind his back, inserted it into a hole on the side of the machine, and began to crank it furiously with a series of "heave-ho" grunts.
"Energy preheating in progress! Target locked: Valley of the Four Winds coordinates! Estimated time: thirty seconds! Please stand firmly and hold on tight, do not stick your head or hands out the window!"
As he cranked, the entire machine emitted a terrifying "creak, creak" moan, and thick black smoke billowed from the pipes, accompanied by a choking smell of machine oil mixed with rust.
Lin Qingyue and her three companions stood on the platform, feeling less like they were about to save the world and more like they were being packed into a drum washing machine for a "Sterilization Power Spin Dry" service.
"I think..." Xia Lian's face turned pale as she gripped the nearby handrail for dear life, "it would be safer for us to just run there."
"Too late! We wish you a pleasant journey!"