The Power of Water

In an instant, a blue circle appeared on the ground within a ten-meter radius centered on Wu Wanghai.

This was...

Wu Wanghai felt a constant stream of energy welling up inside him, and...

Wu Wanghai stretched out a hand toward the Hilichurls. "This is a new power!"

"Awwooo!!!... Meow~"

That was right. A small mimic Azhdaha, two meters tall and three meters long, appeared before Wu Wanghai.

Wasn't this invincible?

The mimic chubby Azhdaha raised its front paws in the next moment, stood up, then stomped hard on the ground.

A wave of water instantly surged up before it and rushed toward the large Hilichurls.

The force of the wave sent every Hilichurl ahead tumbling backward onto the ground.

"It can transform into any form. This is the power of water!" At that moment, Wu Wanghai was Rhodeia, the Oceanid's stand-in.

Thanks, Rhodeia! Because of her, he had been able to think of such an interesting way to play with the Hydro element.

"Chicken Bro, help me!" Wu Wanghai shouted again. The mimic chubby Azhdaha instantly shrank into a water droplet, which began to tremble.

After shaking for a second or two, a mimic Chicken Bro appeared. The watery veil atop its head refracted a seven-colored rainbow.

BGM, start! Back it up, back it up.

Mimic Chicken Bro hopped on both legs and spun around. Its body began twitching, occasionally spraying water from its tail.

"Get outta here!" Wu Wanghai kicked the summon away. Why had it suddenly started doing an Iron Mountain Lean?

Using summons during his burst felt pretty great.

Then it was time to test the enhancement to himself.

"I can feel the power overflowing!" Wu Wanghai loosely clenched both hands and took two steps forward.

"A surging tide!" Another wave swept forward, but this time it rolled the Hilichurls into the air.

"Pew~ pew~ pew~" Wu Wanghai closed his left eye and fired water spears at the Hilichurls with the index finger of his right hand.

"Kokomi's blessing!" Wait, was something wrong there? Whatever, Kokomi was close enough.

As the Hydro struck the enemies, Wu Wanghai also felt healing energy overflow through his body.

Even Lynette, who had been somewhat fatigued beside him, felt refreshed after receiving the added healing.

Water truly contained the power of life. It could fight, heal, and support.

But why did he need healing right now?!

Wu Wanghai took out Splendor of Tranquil Waters from his phone inventory. "Kamisato Art: Water Garden!"

Another blue circle surrounded the Hilichurls. Water continuously gathered overhead before huge water balls, each half a person tall, came crashing down.

Wu Wanghai wanted to imitate Ayato, but that move involved teleporting. It was too hard to learn, so it ended up turning into an Iron Mountain Lean again.

"Swish, swish, swish." Water blades still kept appearing.

After being forcibly bathed several times, the Hilichurls actually shattered into ash and vanished.

"Huh?" Wu Wanghai was puzzled. Why hadn't they done that after he defeated them before?

"For some reason, some Hilichurls leave behind corpses that do not disappear. After a long time, they revive on their own. Others turn into ash and vanish the moment they die, returning to the Ley Lines before appearing somewhere new," Furina explained when she saw Wu Wanghai's confusion. After all these years, she was long accustomed to creatures like Hilichurls.

"Oh~ Now that you mention it, I get it." As Wu Wanghai spoke, the water circle around him suddenly vanished.

Huh? I wasn't done having fun yet! His skill cooldown had ended, so Wu Wanghai used it again.

"Puju~ puju~"

Fine. He had turned into a mimic water ball only half a leg high again.

"Get what?" Wu Wanghai suddenly stopped talking, piquing Furina's curiosity. Not asking made her itch with curiosity.

Even Lynette pricked up her ears to listen.

"Then do you know about Khaenri'ah, which was destroyed five hundred years ago?" Wu Wanghai put away his sword and paced with his hands behind his back.

When Furina showed no reaction and simply stared at him with wide eyes, Wu Wanghai understood. She knew absolutely nothing.

Khaenri'ah? Lynette was puzzled as well.

Thinking it over, Wu Wanghai suddenly recalled part of the lore. "The Hydro Archon Focalors was the new Hydro Archon. The previous Hydro Archon, Egeria, ultimately died in the Vourukasha Oasis."

Furina's expression stiffened, and the corners of her mouth dipped slightly. "Why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"After the Archon War, Khaenri'ah researched power from beyond this world. It was targeted by Heavenly Principles, which then had the Seven Archons wage a war against Khaenri'ah." Wu Wanghai continued, glancing at Lynette.

He did not know whether the House of the Hearth knew this information. Even if they did not, it should be fine to tell them, right? After all, it was ordinary stuff—real history.

"Oh." Furina nodded, half believing him and half doubting him.

This was getting bad. Bringing it up suddenly put Wu Wanghai in a bad mood. If he could travel back five hundred years... It would have been better if he could go even further back. Then perhaps he could save many people... maybe.

Wu Wanghai was not sure. If that really happened and he still could not save them, it would only hurt more.

Besides, he was already in this era. Charlotte and Lynette, for example—he could see many familiar people. They were ordinary humans and did not look particularly young. This should be very close to the beginning of the story.

Wu Wanghai forced a smile. "As everyone knows, if the Seven Archons had lost, there would be no Seven Archons today..."

Lynette remained expressionless, feeling that this guy was stating the obvious.

Indeed. Furina looked at Lynette and nodded.

"Perhaps because they studied forbidden knowledge and suffered its backlash, the curse turned mixed-blood Khaenri'ahns directly into Hilichurl monsters, forcing them to wear masks forever. So the ones that do not turn to ash and disappear are most likely former mixed-blood Khaenri'ahns. As for pure-blooded Khaenri'ahns, they received the curse of immortality," Wu Wanghai said.

"A curse of immortality?!" Furina became alert and looked at Wu Wanghai. "Is that true? It seems you really do know a lot." It looked like she needed to investigate Khaenri'ah. It also involved a curse of immortality.

Wu Wanghai hurriedly waved his hands. "Not much, not much! That's all I know. I don't really understand anything else. This is just Teyvat history that isn't widely known." No matter what, Wu Wanghai refused to say anything more about it. He was not the kind of player who deeply researched a game's lore.

Lynette silently memorized several key points. Perhaps she could ask "Father" about them later.

If it was true, then at the very least, this suddenly appeared outsider seemed to know Teyvat very well and even recognized people he had never met.

"Alright, that's enough idle chatter. We need to defeat more monsters before nightfall!" Wu Wanghai clapped his hands. More than half the afternoon had already passed, and being stuck at level nine was frustrating. He had to reach level ten today at the very least.

There was also something important, the reason he had specifically come here.

There should be an artifact domain nearby that suited him perfectly.

"Domain, domain, where are you?"

Wu Wanghai followed behind Furina, slacking off with her. From time to time, he directed the mimic water ball to charge and helped Lynette, who was working hard up ahead, kill monsters and ease some of her pressure. A little more Swirl damage, after all.

You'd better show yourself and let me farm you. Even if you're just for feeding artifact fodder and rolling substats, I can accept that.

After all, in the real Teyvat, there was nothing wrong with building for survival!