Elemental Control: Dendro

Elemental Control: Dendro

Lin Feng, who had planned to take a walk while the weather was nice, kept feeling as though something was drawing him in.

Following that faint, elusive feeling in his heart, Lin Feng wandered around until he spotted Tighnari crouching beside the Statue of the Seven, picking mushrooms.

No. Not him. Shifting his gaze away from Tighnari, Lin Feng looked at the Statue of the Seven before him—the most familiar object from the game.

A plain, light-gray base was surrounded by specks of blue fluorescence. Above it, the small deity's face was blurred, cradling a crystalline pearl in its arms.

—It isn't dilapidated. Looks like there are no Oculi in this world for me to suffer through finding.

Lin Feng thought with some relief.

"Can I touch the Statue of the Seven?" Lin Feng asked, looking at Tighnari, who was absorbed in studying a mushroom nearby.

"Hmm? Of course. Cleaning and maintaining the Statue of the Seven is part of a Forest Ranger's duties as well."

Tighnari put down the mushroom in his hand and replied with some doubts.

"But touching the statue doesn't have any special effect," Tighnari explained.

"Although legends say the statues allow people to glimpse the truth of the world, the Akademiya's years of research have shown that the statues themselves are nothing special."

"Their greatest feature is simply that they are difficult to clean because they contain abundant Elemental Power."

Tighnari shook his head. He had clearly been troubled by that before.

"Mm, I understand."

Lin Feng felt a little disappointed after hearing Tighnari's answer, but he still stepped forward and walked up to the statue.

Feeling that faint pull in his heart, Lin Feng pressed his hand against the statue.

Nothing happened.

Sure enough, not everyone could gain Elemental Power just by touching a statue like the Traveler.

Lin Feng had intended to give up, but then he remembered that when the Traveler switched elements in the game, the text read, "Resonate with the X Element," not that they switched simply by approaching or touching a statue.

Lin Feng perked up and tried again.

Resonance, resonance...

Lin Feng pondered the meaning of resonance in his heart.

He first activated Elemental Sight, then discovered that unlike the grayish-white statues in the game, this statue appeared a deep Dendro green within his Elemental Sight.

Lin Feng's spirits lifted. He emptied his mind and tried to sense the Dendro Element around him.

Within the pitch-black Consciousness Space, countless green motes drifted through the air. As he had done before, Lin Feng tried to touch those motes with his mind.

—There was no response. The motes clung affectionately around Lin Feng, yet it was as though they existed on a different layer, ignoring his commands.

Lin Feng did not give up. He tried to sense the motes themselves, treating them as conscious individuals and attempting to communicate with them.

Tighnari watched Lin Feng close his eyes with some curiosity, but he did not think this would yield anything. Every year, quite a few people hoped to attract the gods' attention by touching the statues—yet all of them left disappointed, without a single exception.

But the situation seemed to exceed his expectations. Tighnari felt the elemental concentration around him rising at an astonishing rate, already making even a Vision holder like him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

—Fortunately, this place was extremely remote, with no residents or merchants nearby.

Having moved away from the statue, Tighnari felt rather relieved.

He looked toward Lin Feng expectantly.

—The vegetation around Lin Feng began sprouting, growing, flowering, and bearing fruit at an incredible rate. Then, stimulated by Elemental Power, the fruit became enormous and twisted.

The overly dense Elemental Power even formed a visible green band of light around Lin Feng, and for a moment, Tighnari felt as though he were gazing directly upon a god.

What an unbelievable person. Could he be an Adepti from Liyue who had come here to experience mortal life?

Watching the young man who had repeatedly brought him "surprises," Tighnari silently thought.

Lin Feng felt very comfortable.

More and more green motes gathered around him. The cluster of elements seemed to develop its own consciousness—weak and tiny, but undeniably real.

He tried to communicate with those elements.

It worked!

Though that consciousness was weak and ignorant, its existence was like a bridge, allowing the two sides that had originally existed on different layers to communicate.

Lin Feng was unaware of the changes around him. He merely tried issuing a command to the elements—come to my side.

And then Lin Feng saw it.

His viewpoint rose higher and higher, as though he had become a star in the sky.

From that perspective, Lin Feng saw:

Not only the green motes around him, but those within the plants, the forest, and even the earth and sky all gathered toward him, forming a green river like an Illusory Dream.

Countless elements seemed eager to display their closeness to Lin Feng, rushing to reach his side.

???

This was Elemental Affinity 6? Was it really this ridiculous? Lin Feng felt doubts in his heart.

Xiao Bai, who had been lying on Lin Feng's shoulder the entire time, yawned.

Though the spectacle was a little exaggerated for awakening Elemental Power, Lin Feng could feel the elements responding as readily as his own limbs. He understood that he had gained the Dendro Element's recognition.

—Even without a Vision, he would be able to freely control the Dendro Element from now on.

Having achieved his goal, Lin Feng intended to open his eyes, only to discover that the level section in the system, which had always displayed insufficient enhancement conditions, had changed to "Enhancement Available."

Suspecting that he might have taken advantage of Lesser Lord Kusanali, Lin Feng gritted his teeth and decisively clicked Enhance on the level section.

A familiar darkness fell over his vision, and Lin Feng once again experienced the sleep of a child.

Individual Information: @￥%&--Lin Feng

Level: 19→32 (Conditions Insufficient) (Can control Elemental Power to a certain extent and possesses strength beyond that of ordinary people)

Attribute: Dendro

Traits: #%*&, Elemental Control: Dendro (Conditions Insufficient, Temporarily Unavailable), Elemental Resistance 7 (Conditions Insufficient), Elemental Affinity 6→7 (Conditions Insufficient), Robust Physique 3 (Can Be Enhanced), Agility 2 (Can Be Enhanced)

Looking at his panel, which had undergone a dazzling transformation, Lin Feng had the urge to set out immediately and touch every Statue of the Seven across the Seven Nations.

But it was only a thought. After all, the real Teyvat was simply too vast. Even just traveling through it once would take who knew how many years.

The greatest change was undoubtedly the enormous increase in his level. Lin Feng suspected that this was not entirely the Stat Modifier's doing—mastering Elemental Power itself also strengthened the body.

But without question, Lin Feng now possessed a certain degree of combat capability. Unfortunately, the newly appeared Elemental Control: Dendro on his panel was temporarily unavailable.

After all, Lin Feng was no longer beside the Statue of the Seven, and he felt that his current self would find it difficult to enter that state again.

Perhaps because of that experience of directly conversing with the elements, his Elemental Affinity had automatically increased by one level. That was an unexpected gain.

Lin Feng believed that the Statue of the Seven was, in a sense, some kind of elemental amplifier. Through that structure, it could greatly enhance an individual's perception of the elements, even allowing them to communicate with the elements themselves.

—But why could he use Lesser Lord Kusanali's statue? Did that count as cuckolding on some level?

Lin Feng thought nonsensically.

As for the increase in bodily energy caused by his higher level, which had added several new traits that could be modified, Lin Feng decided to deal with that later—he could not keep sleeping forever.