How to Earn Experience Points

Mondstadt City, near the city gates.

Sure enough, this area was much larger than it looked in the game, too. The street near the gates bustled with vendors and pedestrians.

Since his clothes were wet, and Amber knew that the Treasure Hoarders had robbed Li Qiuzhi and left him penniless, she paid out of her own pocket to buy him a suitable outfit at a clothing shop.

It cost over five thousand Mora for a very ordinary set of clothes. The number startled him at first, but he quickly remembered that Mora was different from Chinese currency.

One yuan was roughly equivalent to a hundred Mora. It seemed that Rex Lapis had produced quite a lot of Mora with his divine power.

Production had probably never stopped since the first Mora was created, only coming to a temporary halt later, after he handed his Gnosis over to La Signora.

Since Mora had intrinsic value and served as a medium, it was consumed through use, so there was little need to worry about overproduction causing severe inflation.

"Thank you again, Amber. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have known what to do."

Li Qiuzhi felt much more comfortable after changing into dry clothes. Then Amber took him to the Good Hunter restaurant for lunch.

Amber sighed and said earnestly:

"It's only my duty. You were robbed by the Treasure Hoarders within Mondstadt's borders, which means we Knights of Favonius haven't done enough. Don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for them while scouting and do my best to recover your lost goods."

Hearing Amber say that sent a wave of guilt through Li Qiuzhi. Had he been wrong to deceive her? He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"By the way, what do you plan to do next? If you want to return to Liyue, we can ask a merchant caravan heading there to take you along. If you stay in Mondstadt, we can provide you with temporary accommodation."

Amber looked at Li Qiuzhi and asked after a moment's thought. Then she put on the gloves she had removed for the meal and waited for his answer.

There was nothing to think about. Going to Liyue would put him right back where he had been when he first arrived. Li Qiuzhi could only suppress his conscience and keep his lie going.

After a moment's consideration, he said:

"If possible, I'd like to find a job in Mondstadt and live here for a while. If I went back to Liyue like this, people would look down on me and laugh at me."

Li Qiuzhi pressed his palms together in a sincere gesture of pleading.

He had his own plan. If the Knights provided temporary accommodation, Li Qiuzhi could find a job that would let him earn both Experience Points and Mora.

Li Qiuzhi had already decided. Earlier, he had seen someone selling fish near the city gates, and business seemed fairly good.

He could catch fish to earn experience points, then sell them for Mora. Once he used those points to grow stronger, he would become an adventurer. Defeating monsters was the best way to earn experience points.

If his plan worked, then as long as he stayed cautious, he would eventually be able to rival the gods as an ordinary human!

Was this a boy's pride? Amber slid her index finger up and down her cheek, recalling something Lisa had once told her: boys cared about saving face, and in situations like this, it was best to go along with them.

Phew, all right.

"...Hmm, you have a point. Then let me take you to your temporary accommodation."

Amber had no reason to refuse Li Qiuzhi's request. She stood up and led him to the shelter the Knights had set up for people in need.

After all, people like Li Qiuzhi, who came from elsewhere to trade only to be robbed, did turn up occasionally.

That made the shelter an essential part of Mondstadt City's infrastructure. It also served as an emergency refuge in the event of an unexpected disaster.

A day later, after Amber had arranged everything for him as someone stranded in hardship, Li Qiuzhi began considering how to earn experience points.

Once he was strong enough, what couldn't he do? Earning experience points was therefore his best option.

The way to earn experience points was to defeat opponents. As long as he beat them until they could no longer resist, even fish could provide experience points.

However, the number of Experience Points depended on how strong the opponent was.

A fish only gave five points, while the Slime he had encountered at the start gave thirty-two. That was one of the weakest monsters, something even an ordinary person could handle one-on-one.

But Li Qiuzhi was not strong enough yet, and fighting monsters outright would be dangerous. Just as he had planned earlier, he would earn experience points from fish for now to get through this early stage of weakness.

Catching fish by hand was far too slow. Thinking of the thirty thousand Mora Amber had lent him for emergencies, Li Qiuzhi wondered whether he could buy a fishing net. That would make catching fish faster and easier.

With that thought, Li Qiuzhi left his cramped, shabby temporary lodging.

He spent some time getting acquainted with this not entirely unfamiliar city of Mondstadt, then finally found a fishing gear shop. He went inside and asked:

"Sir, how much does a fishing net cost?"

The owner of the Fishing Tackle Shop was an older man with graying hair, a slightly balding head, and a lean face. From the way he moved, he still seemed quite spry.

Dressed in a light brown waistcoat, Sanborn looked rather like an elderly gentleman. Noticing Li Qiuzhi, he stopped wiping the cup in his hands.

"Oh? A customer! Heh, what a surprise-and someone from Liyue, too. We don't see many of you here. Welcome to Mondstadt, my foreign friend. What sort of fishing net are you looking for?"

"Yes, I'm from Liyue. Sir, I need a sturdy, durable fishing net. Do you have any recommendations? Preferably something inexpensive."

Li Qiuzhi spoke with a composed expression.

He did not really know the ins and outs of fishing gear. All he wanted was a cheap net that could catch fish. After all, this was not something he intended to do long-term.

Besides, he could not spend too much of the thirty thousand Mora he had borrowed from Amber on this, or money would be tight over the next few days.

Sanborn glanced over Li Qiuzhi and more or less guessed that this newcomer from Liyue might be having money troubles. After considering it, he said thoughtfully:

"Hmm, I only sell quality goods here. All my nets come from a well-known fishing gear manufacturer in Mondstadt, so even the cheaper ones aren't all that cheap."

As he spoke, he turned and walked farther inside, set his cup on a table, and took a fishing net from a hook on the wall. He said to Li Qiuzhi, who stood a short distance away:

"This net normally costs thirteen thousand Mora, but I'll sell it to you for ten thousand. It's made by the Tarn Fishing Gear Factory. As you know, their products are known for being sturdy and durable."

Sorry, I don't know. He had never even heard of that factory. After all, he had only been on Teyvat for a little over a day. Everything he knew came from playing Genshin Impact, and the game hardly described every detail down to who manufactured the fishing nets.

Li Qiuzhi stroked his chin. Ten thousand Mora seemed reasonable for a net. Converted into Chinese currency, that was about a hundred yuan, a typical price for a fishing net. The owner really had given him a discount.

"All right, I'll take it." Having decided, Li Qiuzhi bought it without further fuss.

"Haha, good. Cast it into Cider Lake tonight, and if you're lucky, you'll have plenty of plump fish by tomorrow morning. If you can't eat them all, take them to market early. They'll be harder to sell after noon!"

Sanborn had been a fisherman before retiring and knew plenty about the trade, which was why he had opened a Fishing Tackle Shop afterward.

Casting a net to catch fish was not particularly difficult; it depended on the surroundings and luck. He was simply offering a casual bit of advice.

Li Qiuzhi nodded to show he understood. What the owner had said was more or less what he had been thinking.

Before leaving, he bought some bait as well. Then Li Qiuzhi eagerly headed out through the city gates and turned left, following the shore of Cider Lake as he searched for a suitable spot to cast his net.

Without a small boat, he could not get out to the middle of the lake, so he had to make do. He cast his net where the water looked deep, scattered the bait, and waited for tomorrow to come.