Bai Ye Meets Xiao

Even the fastest Hilichurl is still just a Hilichurl.

With one arrow from Ganyu, all the Hilichurls fell to the ground.

Bai Ye walked forward, beginning to search for the source of this evil energy.

Suddenly, the two of them spotted a cave entrance at the base of a small mountain not far away.

Bai Ye and Ganyu approached the cave entrance.

They could feel an extremely evil and chaotic aura emanating from within the cave.

Bai Ye and Ganyu exchanged a glance.

This was the place that needed investigating.

If nothing unexpected happened, this was where the Archon's remnants would be.

They needed to go inside and investigate.

The two of them thought to themselves.

Then, they both stepped forward simultaneously.

"Ouch!"

Bai Ye and Ganyu once again clutched their heads at the same time.

"Come on, Ganyu, exploring should be a man's priority, shouldn't it?"

Bai Ye said, rubbing his aching forehead, which had been bumped by Ganyu.

They had been walking together, and since their heights were similar, they naturally bumped into each other. Especially since Ganyu had horns on her head, which made Bai Ye's head hurt even more.

Ganyu wasn't faring much better. She pressed her horns and said to Bai Ye, "But, I'm your senior... at least much more experienced than you, and my strength is greater than yours, so I should be the one in front."

The two of them looked at each other, neither willing to yield.

At this moment, Bai Ye suddenly pointed behind them.

"Huh? Enemies behind us!"

"Ah?"

Ganyu immediately looked behind them.

And at this moment, Bai Ye had already taken the lead, moving one step ahead of Ganyu.

"My Art of Automata is very good, and my defensive measures are better than yours. So, I'll be the one scouting ahead!"

Bai Ye said to Ganyu as he walked forward.

"Hey, be careful!"

Ganyu watched Bai Ye go in and quickly rushed in after him.

Passing through the cave, Bai Ye felt as if he had entered another world.

This Archon seemed to have a specialty in spatial manipulation. Even though they were inside a small mountain, Bai Ye saw several giant floating islands drifting above a thick, bloody cloud.

The entire world seemed to be dyed red with blood.

At the same time, Bai Ye and Ganyu immediately felt that the evil Archon's aura had weakened slightly.

It was replaced by a strong smell of blood.

"What happened here?"

This environment was actually very unfriendly to humans.

Bai Ye couldn't help but use Adeptal Arts to protect himself.

Since Ganyu already knew he could use Adeptal Arts, he decided to use them openly.

Ganyu thought the same way, and an aura of ice crystals appeared around her, protecting her.

Having made these preparations, the two began to move forward.

As soon as they reached the first island, enemies attacked them.

There were Hilichurls, Hilichurl Kings, Abyss Mages, Slimes, and Bai Ye even saw a few Treasure Hoarders who had lost their minds.

Bai Ye picked up his Handheld Crossbow and shot at the Hilichurls and Slimes.

At the same time, his Anemo God's Eye was shining.

As the Handheld Crossbow fired, the Anemo elemental power generated a crowd-gathering effect.

Slimes of various elements and Abyss Mages were intertwined.

This instantly dealt a massive amount of damage.

Meanwhile, Ganyu drew her bowstring to its limit, condensing elemental power in her hands and shooting it at the enemies.

The arrow passed by Bai Ye, making him tremble for a moment.

A bone-chilling cold.

It made Bai Ye realize that Ganyu's elemental power and strength were currently stronger than his own.

The absolute cold froze the lifeblood of the enemies Bai Ye had swept up.

Bai Ye turned his gaze to the mesmerized Treasure Hoarders and asked Ganyu, "Sister Ganyu, can these Treasure Hoarders be saved?"

He still wanted to try and see if he could rescue them.

Ganyu shook her head.

"No, they've been completely influenced by the Archon's residual aura. There's no way they can change back."

Even a weakened Archon was far beyond what a mortal could contend with. It was impossible to save those who were completely lost.

Seeing this, Bai Ye no longer held back. He picked up his handheld crossbow and shot each one in the head, killing them.

Be merciful when there's a chance to save, but decisively give up when there isn't.

Bai Ye and Ganyu successfully dealt with the enemies on the island floating in the sea of blood.

"Let's move on to the next one," Ganyu said to Bai Ye.

"Okay."

Bai Ye and Ganyu walked towards the next island.

As they ran, Bai Ye had a thought.

Wait, is there floating stone beneath this island? If they took all of that...

Bai Ye glanced beneath the island and immediately deflated.

They weren't floating; there were still mountain peaks supporting these islands from below.

Let's keep moving.

Bai Ye and Ganyu arrived at the second island.

As expected, it was still a group of Slimes, Hilichurls, and other monsters.

They were easily eliminated once more.

Then came the third island.

However, as they advanced to the fourth island, Bai Ye and Ganyu felt something was wrong.

"Why does it feel like there are fewer and fewer enemies?" Bai Ye said to Ganyu.

Logically, shouldn't it get harder the deeper you go?

Why was it getting easier?

"I don't know, just be extra careful," Ganyu said, her focus sharpening.

The two arrived at the fifth island.

And on this island, they found the answer.

There were no more enemies; instead, there was a ground full of corpses.

"Someone got here before us. They're probably still ahead, let's hurry and support them," Ganyu said to Bai Ye.

"Okay."

At this moment, Bai Ye approached the corpses.

He crouched down and carefully examined them.

There was Anemo elemental energy on them, and the wounds on these corpses were inflicted by spears. Furthermore, many of the wounds were from blows that came from above.

Bai Ye had already figured it out.

"Let's go, let's hurry forward," Bai Ye and Ganyu quickened their pace and began to run.

With the enemies dealt with, their progress was swift.

They passed through island after island.

The two quickly reached the space between the third-to-last and second-to-last islands.

They could see the second-to-last island in the distance.

On it, a figure stood amidst countless monsters, putting on a mask.

"Demon-Quelling Dance!"

The figure moved with incredible speed, weaving through the monsters, leaving behind streaks of afterimages.

Even from a distance, Bai Ye and Ganyu couldn't pinpoint his exact location.

His speed was truly terrifying to behold.