Finally, a good pull!

"Damn, that wasn't easy, but I finally got something good!"

Got something good?

What did that mean?

The radiance faded completely. Seeing that nothing else unusual was happening, Keqing quickly leaped forward and lifted the carriage curtain.

Inside, Wei Yan sat grinning foolishly, as though something exciting had happened.

"Keqing, what brings you here? Did something happen outside?"

Seeing Lin Yi safe and sound, Keqing finally let out a long breath of relief.

"Nothing happened outside. But what happened in here nearly made us think you were in trouble."

Lin Yi shrugged, in an excellent mood.

"What trouble could I get into? I'll let you in on a secret: I'm now pretty confident I can finish the land reclamation project. Just watch!"

Keqing said nothing, continuing to study Lin Yi's condition.

Judging by his expression, he really seemed unaware of the extraordinary phenomenon that had just occurred-one that might even have originated from him.

Meanwhile, outside the carriage, the caravan members beside Xiangling spoke up.

"C-could this be a rare divine miracle? Even when the former god Morax descended among us time and again, no such phenomenon ever appeared across heaven and earth. For us mortals to witness it now, we must truly have the Geo Archon's blessing! The Geo Archon's blessing!"

"Praise the Geo Archon Lin Yi for sending a miracle to bless the people of Liyue!"

"Thank you, Geo Archon Lin Yi! Your divine power protects Liyue!"

Hearing the reverent cries outside the window, Lin Yi was rather baffled.

When he learned that an earth-shaking phenomenon had occurred while he was drawing his prizes, he was stunned.

He was shocked, and even felt a little frightened in hindsight.

What's going on? The system never warned me that drawing prizes would cause something similar outside. Even the purple, purple, and orange lights that appeared before the glow faded matched the quality of the prizes I drew exactly.

Lin Yi pondered this.

He couldn't tell whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

To the people of Liyue, it might be a miracle granting them a blessing.

But energy outside the system of elemental power was undoubtedly an anomaly. Would Teyvat's other gods or adepti see such a phenomenon as a sign of danger?

Would they covet this unusual power and bring harm to Liyue as a result?

While Lin Yi wrestled with these questions, something else was happening.

Atop a tall cliff some distance away, a figure was watching the caravan intently.

On closer inspection, he looked like a young boy, but in truth, he was over two thousand years old.

His short teal hair was neat, with a few pale highlights. His eyes were sharp and his gaze calm, yet he exuded an aura unlike that of ordinary people.

A close-fitting ritual garment patterned with clouds, paired with dark trousers and boots, added to his austere appearance.

He was none other than Liyue's Conqueror of Demons, the Golden-Winged King, the Three-Eyed, Five-Manifestation Adeptus-Xiao.

In the dark places beyond the reach of Liyue's lights, his figure could always be found, battling alone against the karmic evils born from the fragments of fallen gods.

Of the five great yakshas who had once served the Geo Archon Morax, only Xiao remained.

Having absorbed too much karmic corruption, Xiao was in poor condition. He was no adeptus who bestowed blessings; all he had left was his skill in battle, protecting Liyue from the shadows.

Perhaps this was one reason Lin Yi had chosen Xiao for his team.

As the new Geo Archon, with divine authority having changed hands, he should now have held full authority to command the yaksha.

But Xiao's loyalty to Morax was not to be underestimated. If Lin Yi wanted to make use of Xiao's power, he would have to find Zhongli.

Yet Lin Yi had never imagined that Xiao, whom he thought about day and night, was right there in the Guili Plains, rooting out evil.

Having noticed the phenomenon reaching into the heavens, Xiao had come up onto the cliff.

He had intended to investigate further, but then he saw the Liyue insignia on the caravan.

With familiar faces like Keqing and Xiangling there as well, he knew his intervention probably wasn't needed.

A teal light flashed, and his figure became the shadow of a soaring bird before vanishing from the spot, leaving no trace of his coming or going.

At that moment, Lin Yi seemed to sense something too. He stepped down from the carriage to survey the surroundings, but still missed that figure.

As for the strange phenomenon during his prize draw, he could only leave it for further consideration later.

"We've been held up long enough. Let's get moving!"

Calm returned, and they took precautions to ensure nothing unusual happened again.

Xiangling volunteered to ride with Lin Yi, which also gave her a chance to discuss culinary expertise with her teacher.

Lin Yi casually handed over two Sichuan recipes, enough to keep Xiangling busy studying for a while.

His own attention, meanwhile, was on the three rewards he had drawn.

One was the purple four-star weapon Solar Pearl, Ningguang's top choice among four-star weapons.

Lin Yi had checked beforehand. Only old Zhongli possessed his signature five-star weapon, the Vortex Vanquisher. Everyone else, even his wife Ningguang, had weapons below three stars. Their equipment was quite a mixed bag.

This Solar Pearl will make a perfect first gift for my wife. Once I make it big, I'll get her the Memory of Dust and max out her combat power!

The second item, a gold five-star reward, surprised Lin Yi somewhat.

It was actually a suppressor made specifically for the Rockforged Pistol.

But the attributes this suppressor provided were downright absurd.

Beyond its basic stealth effect of silencing gunshots, it increased elemental penetration by one hundred percent and even provided ten percent suppression against every element other than Geo.

"Although it doesn't directly improve my strength, adding this suppressor will turn it into the ultimate assassination weapon!"

The final five-star item was the blueprint for the Rock-and-Soil Expansion Device.

As long as Lin Yi gathered the clearly specified quantities of materials listed on the blueprint, the device could be constructed automatically.

"When the time comes, I won't have to worry about the rock and sand needed for land reclamation!"

Perhaps Rex Lapis had blessed him. Lin Yi's luck had turned, bringing him two golds and a purple.

Then again, wasn't he Rex Lapis himself? A little bonus luck was perfectly normal.

Over the rest of the journey, Lin Yi investigated the basic conditions of the Guili Plains while also grinding monsters under Xiangling and Keqing's guidance to raise his Adventure Rank and his own level.

With a weapon that wasn't even two-star, he stubbornly chipped away at a Fire Crystal Slime until he killed it.

Lin Yi finally reached level ten, shedding his reputation as a weak god who couldn't even truss a chicken.

"Every ten levels, adventurers undergo an ascension. Naturally, ascending requires materials found in the wild across Teyvat."

Listening to Keqing's explanation, Lin Yi stared at the panel only he could see, utterly exasperated.

"Other people might only need some flowers, grass, and little gears to ascend at level ten."

"But what the hell kind of ascension material is five kisses from Ningguang?!"

What baffled him even more was that he had already collected all five kisses!

What on earth was going on?

"I vaguely remember Ningguang reluctantly kissing me once, but where did the other four come from?"