Original God, But Chat Group

Li Yue took the Cecilia flowers Nahida had picked and wove them into a flower crown, placing it on her head.

"When I came looking for Dvalin before, I spotted these Cecilias and thought they'd match your hair color perfectly. I figured a flower crown would suit you, and now that I see it, I was right!"

"Is that so? Thank you so much, Li Yue."

Nahida smiled sweetly at Li Yue, her eyes fixed on his, as if trying to see Greater Lord Rukkhadevata through him.

Yes, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata was watching her now. She had to behave well, act like a good child!

Venti watched Nahida's joy and felt happy too. The reunion of Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Lesser Kusanali—wasn't that a beautiful story?

"Alright, the crown's done. Let's head back to Mondstadt City. We've been running around Tokyo all morning, and even though we snacked a bit, we haven't had a real meal yet. Let's grab lunch at Angel's Share—my treat."

"Awesome!"

Venti raised both hands in approval.

"I'll take a bottle of Apple Cider!"

That's right, this was Venti. Food could wait, but alcohol couldn't!

"No problem. Drink as much as you want today."

Li Yue said, drawing his blade and slashing through the air in front of him, opening a spatial gate straight to Angel's Share.

Venti and Nahida, already used to this, stepped through the gate into the tavern.

Diluc watched the spatial gate open right in front of the bar and couldn't help twitching an eyebrow.

"If customers want to drink at this tavern, please enter through the front door."

Venti waved a hand dismissively.

"Oh, come on, Master Diluc, we're old friends here. No need to be so stiff~~"

He walked up to the bar, slouching against it without a care, resting his right hand on the counter.

"One bottle of Apple Cider to start."

"Pay first."

Even if Venti was the Wind Spirit following the Anemo Archon, even if the actual Anemo Archon showed up, they'd have to pay first!

"It's not me—Youngster Li Yue is treating!"

Venti pointed back at Li Yue. Master Diluc glanced over, and Li Yue nodded.

"Two glasses of juice and two orders of Pile 'Em Up—one for me and one for my daughter. As for this guy, a Wind Spirit won't starve. He just needs his booze."

"Right, I won't starve! Just give me Apple Cider! Hehehe~~"

Venti didn't mind Li Yue's words at all; in fact, he agreed wholeheartedly.

"Wait a moment."

Master Diluc wasn't worried about Li Yue skipping out on payment, so he didn't ask for money upfront. He turned to grab the wine, setting a bottle of Apple Cider on the counter.

"Awesome!"

Venti snatched it up, popped the cork, and started drinking.

As for Li Yue and Nahida's juice and Pile 'Em Up, those would take a while—especially if Master Diluc was making them himself. Then it wasn't just ordinary Pile 'Em Up; it was Mondstadt Memories! Eating it didn't just boost crit rate—it boosted crit damage too!

The three left the bar and sat down at a nearby empty table.

"Ah, Mondstadt's Apple Cider—it always tastes amazing no matter how you drink it."

Venti took a gulp, leaned back in his chair, and wore a blissful expression.

"Too bad it's not chilled. Once, I brought some Apple Cider outside Mondstadt City and ran into a group of Cryo Slimes. My bottle got frozen by their attack by accident. After I escaped, I found out that chilled Apple Cider tastes even better!"

So he liked cold drinks? Fine by me—I like them too.

Li Yue spread his hands.

"If you want it chilled, why bother with Slimes? Just find someone with a Cryo Vision and ask them to freeze it for you."

"I'd love to find someone with a Cryo Vision to do that, but it's the kind of favor that could offend people. Asking a Vision holder to just chill your drink—that's a bit of an insult, you know."

Venti explained helplessly, but as soon as he finished, Li Yue reached out and touched the Apple Cider bottle. A flash of white light, and a layer of frost instantly coated it. Venti's eyes went wide.

"There, it's chilled now."

As Li Yue finished, Master Diluc came over with two glasses of juice.

"Your juice. The Pile 'Em Up will take a bit—the meat needs to be grilled fresh."

"Thanks!"

Li Yue took the juice and asked Nahida beside him.

"Nahida, want some ice?"

"Hmm, I've only had it at room temperature before. I think I'd like to try it."

"Sure, no problem."

Right in front of Diluc, Li Yue rubbed his hands together, then produced a few ice cubes and dropped them into both glasses of juice.

"Elemental power?"

Though it was only for a brief moment, both Diluc and Venti had sensed elemental power—specifically, Cryo.

"Wait, Li Yue, isn't the power you can use Dendro? Why has it turned into Cryo now?"

Venti couldn't help but ask.

"Could it be that you..."

"Did I not tell you? There's a guy in my Inner World who uses both Cryo and Anemo."

Li Yue pointed at his hair.

"See these colors?"

"I did see the colors of your hair, but I thought it was just your hobby—dyeing it a few shades."

Venti shrugged helplessly. "Come on, this is Teyvat. Having colored hair is totally normal, okay? How was I supposed to know your hair is tied to your elemental power? You're not an archon... Ah, wait, no. You're wielding the authority of Dendro now, so you could practically count as a Demon God. Hiss—"

Venti couldn't help but take a sharp gulp of his chilled Apple Cider to calm himself down.

"So, who's the one using Cryo and Anemo?"

Diluc hadn't left either; instead, he looked at Li Yue with curiosity. This Adeptus from Liyue seemed about to reveal some special information again.

"That guy's a massive wolf. He says his name is Boreas. I ran into him by chance."

"Boreas..."

Venti's mouth twitched. Others might not know who that was, but he certainly knew what that name represented.

Wasn't that guy in Wolvendom? How did his soul end up being absorbed by Li Yue too?

"After I came out from that tree, I went back to Wolvendom in Mondstadt and ran into some people from the Abyss."

"The Abyss!?"

Diluc stared at Li Yue in shock.

"That's right. Some Abyss guy—he was strong. I fought him, and I drove him off. While he was fleeing, he dropped something, and I picked it up. Turns out it was Boreas's soul, so I absorbed it. Boreas thanked me for saving him from the Abyss and agreed to lend me his power. That's how I can use Cryo and Anemo now."

"I see. So the Abyss went after Andrius..."

Venti didn't doubt Li Yue's words. He pinched his chin, lost in thought. The Abyss had first targeted Dvalin, trying to corrupt him. After failing with Dvalin, they tried to take control of Andrius. He hadn't considered that possibility at all. Thanks to Li Yue's timely interception, the Abyss's plan had been foiled. Otherwise, Andrius would have been captured.

He hadn't expected that after helping heal Dvalin, Li Yue would do Mondstadt another huge favor like this.

"Well, at least everything's fine now!"

After a brief moment of seriousness, Venti spread his hands.

"Come on, I'm just a weak little Wind Spirit. What can I do? Since someone's already handled it, why should I be tense?"

56. Dendro Is an Element Made for Combat!

After a meal's time, Venti grabbed another bottle of wine from the bar and left on his own.

Since returning from the other world, Venti hadn't been sticking to Li Yue's side constantly. As long as Li Yue occasionally invited him to hang out in Tokyo, that was enough. For now, he needed to go handle something alone.

After all, Dvalin's crisis had been resolved, but the Fatui were still hanging around Mondstadt City. La Signora, one of the Harbingers, was still searching everywhere for Venti. Having gone to the other world for a day, Venti had been out of her reach the whole time, and she was so frustrated she wanted to curse.

So after finishing his meal... well, after finishing two bottles of wine, he grabbed another and left. He needed to find the right moment to hand over his Gnosis. Then he could completely slack off—drinking in Mondstadt, occasionally tagging along with Li Yue to the other world for fun. Perfect!

Since Venti was planning how to give away his Gnosis, it naturally wasn't convenient to bring Li Yue and Nahida along. In front of Li Yue, his identity was that of a Wind Spirit—how could he have something like a Gnosis? And in front of Nahida, he was the senior Anemo Archon. Having his Gnosis snatched away in front of her would be a bit embarrassing. Plus, what if Nahida intervened and caused La Signora to fail? Even if she was just a five-hundred-year-old child, Nahida was still the current Dendro Archon. Her dream-wielding authority was something La Signora couldn't withstand.

Li Yue knew what Venti was planning, so he didn't have Nahida keep following him. Instead, after eating the Mondstadt Memories personally made by Master Diluc, he took Nahida out of Mondstadt City. He was going to teach her how to use Dendro.

"Nahida, you awakened a Dendro Vision, right?"

"Yes, I awakened a Dendro Vision."

The five-hundred-year-old child lied without changing her expression. Li Yue nodded approvingly. As expected of my daughter—spouting nonsense with a straight face, just like me!

"Even though you've awakened Dendro, you're still young and probably not good at fighting. Since I've recently awakened Dendro powers myself, I want to teach you how to use Dendro in combat, so you won't be in danger when I'm not around."

Mm, I know!

Nahida nodded seriously.

"I'll study hard!"

Greater Lord Rukkhadevata is watching me. I have to do well!

Li Yue nodded in satisfaction and extended his right hand.

"First, we need to figure out what Dendro power can do."

A faint emerald glow began to emanate from his palm, and his eyes flickered with green light.

"Dendro is the element of life, resonating with the plants of Teyvat. So, its most basic expression is accelerating plant growth."

Li Yue clenched his right hand toward the ground, and a twig burst through the grass, sprouting from the earth.

Back when he played the game, exploring Sumeru, the Withering would cause plants to wither and trees to die. But once the Withering was cleared, the trees would regrow and the grass would revive. So Dendro could promote plant growth as long as there was enough elemental power.

Nahida looked at the little twig and nodded affirmatively.

"That's right. Dendro can accelerate plant growth."

"So, we've reached a conclusion: the Dendro element is exceptionally suited for combat."

"Huh?"

Nahida was taken aback.

"Don't you understand?"

Li Yue asked Nahida.

"Is accelerating plant growth suited for combat?"

Nahida voiced her confusion.

"That's right, accelerating plant growth is very suited for combat."

As Li Yue finished speaking, he clapped his hands together. An emerald glow erupted from his body, and the ground around him began to tremble. Soon, thick trees burst forth, shooting straight into the sky. They grew rapidly, transforming into towering giants in just a few seconds, densely packed. Within moments, a 10x10 meter, hundred-square-meter grove had been conjured by Li Yue.

"See? Like this. If there's an enemy, you can use the trees to entangle them on the spot, or even squeeze hard enough to crush them outright."

"Is... that so?"

Nahida stared at the sudden forest before her, a bit dazed.

"Exactly. This move is for dealing with multiple enemies. If there are a lot of foes, just spawn more trees to entangle and crush them. Simple—if once isn't enough, do it a few more times!"

Nahida furrowed her brows slightly. She felt something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. Sumeru wasn't without Dendro Vision wielders; she'd seen them fight through the Akasha Terminal, using Dendro in battle, but... not like this.

"If the enemy is stronger, this move's effect weakens, but it's still usable. Unless the enemy can destroy all the trees in one blow, the trees will still disrupt their movements enough to set up our next attack."

Li Yue raised his hand and thrust it forward. A wooden spike shot from his palm, embedding itself into one of the tree trunks.

"First use trees to hinder the enemy's movement, then attack with wooden spikes?"

"It's not just a simple spike. The spike is only the foundation."

Li Yue pointed at the trunk where the spike had lodged. Suddenly, the entire trunk burst open. A mass of wooden spikes erupted from within, twisting and growing outward, splitting the trunk apart completely. It looked ferocious.

"Use the spike as a medium to deliver seeds into the enemy's body, then accelerate growth from within—destroying them from the inside out! Boom~ Instant explosion!"