Even if she really managed to save up enough money someday, she still wanted to stay by Brother Fang Xun's side forever,
Even if it meant becoming his little secretary.
"Ding! Ningguang's Affection has increased from Level 3 to Level 4. Congratulations, Host, you've received one Intertwined Fate, along with an extra Return Saint Talisman!"
Just then,
the system's voice rang out in Fang Xun's mind.
He'd gotten lucky this time and received an extra reward.
It was another kind of talisman. It probably worked like the Enhancement Talisman he'd gotten before.
[Return Saint Talisman: Use this talisman to freely change an artifact's substats and raise their values.]
Looking at the Return Saint Talisman, Fang Xun raised an eyebrow.
Well, this was even more powerful than the Enhancement Talisman.
It was a little like using three artifacts at the crafting bench to get one artifact back,
except this Return Saint Talisman didn't require using that many artifacts,
and it let him choose the substats himself, too.
All in all, it was much more useful than the Enhancement Talisman.
Fang Xun immediately pulled out the Feather of Death whose substats had all rolled into HP, then used the Return Saint Talisman.
He obviously didn't want HP or DEF,
so he quickly picked out four substats:
CRIT Rate, CRIT DMG, Elemental Mastery, and ATK.
After choosing the substats, Fang Xun could also raise their values himself,
and this worked exactly like the Enhancement Talisman.
When raising an artifact's substats,
the key was to develop them evenly, rather than going too far in one direction.
So a balanced spread was best.
Fang Xun quickly finished improving the Feather of Death.
CRIT Rate +18.5%
CRIT DMG +21.2%
ATK +3.2%
Elemental Mastery +19
It was just about good enough.
Nothing special.
Chapter 23: Little Airhead Ganyu and the Worrywart Cloud Retainer
Meanwhile,
after parting ways with Fang Xun, Ganyu hurried to Mount Aocang.
She was planning to meet with her master, Cloud Retainer,
because she felt she ought to tell her master about both Osial and Fang Xun.
"Ganyu, what brings you here in such a hurry?"
As soon as Ganyu reached the mountaintop, she heard Cloud Retainer's cool voice from inside the cave.
Then she saw Cloud Retainer, in the form of a crane, descend from the sky and land beside her.
Ganyu could talk more normally with her master. Getting straight to the point, she said, "M-Master, we discovered something unusual today..."
Ganyu quickly told Cloud Retainer about the Fatui's plan to release Osial.
Cloud Retainer was silent in thought for a long while.
After a moment, she spoke slowly. "Ganyu, this adeptus has a general understanding of what you've told me."
"This adeptus suspects that the Fatui's plan to undo Osial's seal may simply be a ruse to draw our attention."
"This adeptus still cannot discern the Fatui's true objective, but... whatever their plan, we must assign people to keep a close watch on Guyun Stone Forest."
"This adeptus will also notify the other adepti to keep an eye on the matter."
After speaking, Cloud Retainer prepared to spread her wings and fly back into the cave.
But when she glanced at Ganyu, who hadn't moved from her side, she stopped.
Was the girl troubled by something?
Normally, after reporting her work to Cloud Retainer, Ganyu would hurry off to deal with her other duties.
But today, she was acting strangely.
Ganyu stood there, looking as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.
Cloud Retainer had watched Ganyu grow up, so she naturally knew that this expression meant Ganyu had something else on her mind.
"You child, why can't you say everything at once?"
"This adeptus still remembers how you were just like this when you were little. Every time something was on your mind, you'd bottle it up for ages before speaking."
"Do you remember when you were six..."
Cloud Retainer couldn't help reminiscing about the past.
Ganyu's fair cheeks turned red, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to hide in.
Cloud Retainer was wonderful in every way, except that she loved bringing up things Ganyu had done as a child.
Those memories were far too embarrassing to look back on.
It was so humiliating!
"M-Master, please stop!" Ganyu hurriedly interrupted, her face flushed.
"Very well, this adeptus will stop. Now, tell me what's on your mind."
Ganyu looked up at Cloud Retainer. "Master, is Fang Xun my junior?"
"Fang Xun?" Cloud Retainer shook her head.
"This adeptus doesn't know anyone named Fang Xun. How could he be your junior?"
"Ganyu, why did you suddenly ask that?"
Cloud Retainer was puzzled.
Ganyu was acting very strangely today.
Ganyu lowered her head and fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "B-Because I saw Fang Xun use 'Mountain Marsh Lin Ji,' too."
"It's your signature technique, Master, so I mistakenly thought Fang Xun was my junior."
Cloud Retainer was taken aback by Ganyu's answer.
Could there really be a second person in the world, besides Ganyu, who knew Mountain Marsh Lin Ji?
How was that possible?
Wait...
Could Fang Xun be...
A wave of emotion stirred in Cloud Retainer's heart.
If that were true, then everything would make sense!
She looked at Ganyu and spoke gravely. "Ganyu, what I'm about to say may be difficult for you to accept,"
"but this adeptus must say it all the same."
Ganyu had never seen her master look so serious before. She immediately nodded. "O-Okay. I'm ready."
Cloud Retainer gazed into Ganyu's clear eyes and said each word carefully. "This adeptus hopes... you'll get together with Fang Xun."
Ganyu stared at her in disbelief. "Huh?!"
"Master wants me... to get together with Fang Xun?"
Ganyu's mind felt like a tangled mess.
She'd spent over a thousand years as a secretary in Liyue,
always busy with official duties and never giving any thought to romance.
Her master, Cloud Retainer, had never said anything about it before.
So why was she suddenly telling Ganyu to get together with Fang Xun?
Why?
Cloud Retainer nodded and continued. "Ganyu, Mountain Marsh Lin Ji is not this adeptus's signature technique."
"It was the signature ability of the Qilin adeptus clan, from three thousand six hundred years ago. Ordinary people could never master it."
"Half the blood in your veins comes from the Qilin adeptus clan, so you were able to learn it with ease."
"This adeptus once thought you were the only descendant of the Qilin in this world,"
"but today, when you told me that a young man named Fang Xun could also use Mountain Marsh Lin Ji, this adeptus immediately realized that he, too, must have Qilin Bloodline."
"You both bear the responsibility of restoring the Qilin clan. Do you understand what this adeptus means?"
Ganyu stood rooted to the spot.
Cloud Retainer's words had left her mind completely blank.
Before you continue