Padisarah Pudding

Through a deliberately left opening, he breathed in the damp air tinged with the earthy scent of soil.

Lin Feng controlled the roots of the flora, slowly burying himself.

Holding Xiao Bai, Lin Feng lay inside the wooden container he had just shaped by hand and suddenly felt a little like one of the wrapped corpses from Uncle Ying's films, secretly siphoning spiritual energy from the ley lines.

—Come to think of it, it really was pretty much the same. As he considered what he was about to do, Lin Feng belatedly realized something.

As for why Lin Feng had suddenly decided to bury himself, that had to start with his identity.

From the very beginning, Lin Feng had understood that he was definitely not native to Teyvat.

Whether it was the garbled text under the race category in his system or the trait he had gained when he first touched the Statue of the Seven—Elemental Mastery: Dendro.

This unremarkably named trait was, put another way, a fragment of Teyvat's Seven Great Authorities—the Authority of Flora.

Although he did not have some flashy title like "Lord of Flora," that was merely something akin to the world's identity verification. The true core was precisely that plain trait on his status panel that represented the Elemental Archon Authority.

Four thousand years ago, in order to bring about the birth of the Elemental Authorities, the Heavenly Principles had not hesitated to order the Adepti to slaughter one another. Only by using the lives of countless Adepti as sacrifices had the divine thrones representing the purest Elemental Authority been condensed.

And he had obtained one just by touching a statue?

Lin Feng felt that there was a huge problem here. A very huge problem!

It just so happened that he needed to use the Statue of the Seven this time to connect to the ley lines and gain enough power to fight the Withering Manifestation.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Feng could finally test some of his guesses regarding the origin of this body.

Though he was somewhat impatient, there was still one last matter to handle first.

After confirming that the specially made fifteen-percent-sugar Padisarah Pudding was still safe and sound in his Storage Space, Lin Feng drew upon his dream energy and slowly closed his eyes.

The emerald-green space overflowed with the breath of life, flowers and verdant trees spread throughout every corner.

The petite Nahida sat beside a table piled with snacks, looking expectantly toward the figure gradually appearing in a corner of the dream.

The shadow slowly solidified, revealing the face of a young man.

—Lin Feng, who had already become a frequent visitor, had entered Nahida's dream of his own accord.

Skillfully taking his favorite seat, Lin Feng intended to first deal with the reason he had come here—to temporarily bid the Lesser Lord Kusanali farewell.

Given Nahida's unusual circumstances, the phrase "living in a dream" could not have described anyone more aptly.

And since Nahida had specifically granted someone permission to enter the dream freely, Lin Feng came to Nahida's dream nearly every night to freeload food and drinks.

Considering that he would be unable to come for a while, sensitive Nahida might feel lonely, or even let her Little Brain wander into all sorts of needless thoughts.

So, to prevent that from happening, Lin Feng had deliberately come to bid the Lesser Lord Kusanali farewell before falling asleep and explain why he would be unable to visit her.

As usual, Lin Feng fondly stroked Nahida's silky white hair while sharing everything he had recently seen and heard with her in the dream.

Halfway through, Lin Feng suddenly removed his hand from Nahida's head.

"What is it?" Nahida, absorbed in the story, slightly raised her head and looked at Lin Feng in confusion.

"I brought you something. Want to guess what it is?" Lin Feng teased.

"But this is a dream, isn't it? What could you possibly bring in here?"

Realizing that this was merely a dream, Nahida looked at Lin Feng with a puzzled expression.

"You're right. By conventional reasoning, physical objects really can't be brought into a fictional dream." Lin Feng admitted that Nahida was correct.

"But the problem is, I suddenly realized that conventional reasoning might not suit me very well."

As Lin Feng spoke, a pale purple Padisarah Pudding appeared on the pristine white table. He then gently pushed it toward the Lesser Lord Kusanali.

"Give it a try. I specifically asked the cook at Gandharva Ville to add a little more sugar. I don't know whether it'll suit your taste."

Looking at the exquisite dessert pushed before her, Nahida sighed.

"Sigh... You know, because of my Authority, I can't freeload food and drinks in dreams as naturally as you can. Still, thank you."

Not wanting to disappoint Lin Feng, she still took the dessert before her. Gazing at the pudding's beautiful pale purple exterior, Nahida gently scooped out a small bite with her spoon and placed it in her mouth.

—It'll be tasteless again anyway, Nahida thought.

Although he could already freely create objects within this dream.

That level of dream manipulation was still far from enough to deceive her.

As the controller of the Dream Authority, Nahida never ate in dreams—

Her excessively sharp perception would cause her subconscious to see through the disguise of dream-created objects.

No matter how delicious food appeared, the moment it entered her mouth, she would naturally discern its true nature.

And once a dreamer realized that they were dreaming, the experience that should have been there would naturally be greatly diminished.

At this thought, worry rose in Nahida's heart once more.

"No matter what, I should try to look happy. Otherwise... when he touches me again later, I won't dodge."

She thought with slight inner conflict.

Yet her expression remained as calm and unruffled as ever.

Sitting opposite Nahida, Lin Feng watched her reaction with a touch of nervousness.

Of course, he knew Nahida could not taste food in dreams.

Lin Feng himself had little confidence that the items brought in by his ability would be an exception.

"How is it? Is it good?" Tilting his head, Lin Feng asked curiously.

"It's good." Nahida lowered her head and ate the pudding before her bite by bite, appearing no different from usual.

"Really? You're not just saying that to fool me, are you?"

Still uncertain, Lin Feng shifted along the table to Nahida's side. Only then did he notice that her tiny body was trembling slightly.

"Lin Feng, do you know why I like Date Palm Honey Candy?"

Rather than directly answering Lin Feng, Nahida raised a question she had never mentioned before.

Feeling the springy, smooth texture in her mouth and the rich milky aroma, Nahida, who had not eaten real delicious food for centuries, lowered her Little Brain, unwilling to let him beside her see her current expression.

"That's because it was the only food I had ever truly eaten before the day I was sent to the Akademiya five hundred years ago."

Nahida slightly raised her head, and Lin Feng finally saw what she looked like now.

—Nahida, who had always been so calm and seemingly cheerful and optimistic, now wore an expression that could almost be described as "hollow."

Once the outer decoration had been stripped away, what remained was the pallor and deathly stillness of a doll.

"..."

"..."

This was bad. What was he supposed to do when a basic attack had drawn out the big boss?

Although he had vaguely noticed that Nahida's heart was not as innocent and optimistic as she appeared, seeing her like this still plunged Lin Feng into a brief silence.

Lin Feng knew that imprisonment in reality could lead to serious issues such as depression, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia.

But because Nahida had always acted so cheerful and optimistic, making people feel at ease, Lin Feng had unconsciously assumed that gods were naturally far more resilient than ordinary people.

Yet it seemed that this was only because Nahida had long understood—

Even if she revealed her vulnerability, no one would care. She might as well numb herself with her sense of responsibility.