"Hm?"
Jiang Xiaofeng approached the Geo Hypostasis's territory, only to freeze.
The Geo Hypostasis was sitting there, perfectly fine.
"...It respawned?"
Jiang Xiaofeng was somewhat surprised.
"Is the Ley Line disorder really this powerful?"
"Even something as powerful as the Geo Hypostasis can revive this quickly..."
Jiang Xiaofeng picked up a rock and threw it at the Geo Hypostasis.
The awakened Geo Hypostasis: "..."
The Geo Hypostasis looked over, saw Jiang Xiaofeng, and instantly flew into a rage!
"Human, you dare come back!"
Jiang Xiaofeng could not even be bothered to speak. He charged forward and forcibly pried apart its inert outer shell. Before the Geo Hypostasis could unleash a skill, Jiang Xiaofeng grabbed Acceptance and pierced its core with a single thrust.
"..."
"Did this guy forget it could revive and actually die of anger?"
Jiang Xiaofeng kicked open the Ley Line Blossom, collected the rewards that dropped out, and prepared to leave.
Suddenly.
"Enough cells collected. System awakening." "Scanning host's needs." "Distributing rewards." "Congratulations, host. You have obtained: 'Valmont's Whip,' 'Electric Whip,' 'Frost Blast,' 'Skill: Corrupted Power,' 'Mutation: Melee.'" "System entering dormancy. Please kill enough monsters to obtain cells and reactivate the system..."
"..."
Jiang Xiaofeng took the pile of rewards out of the system and sank into thought.
At the same time, he checked his cell acquisition log.
"Killed Geo Hypostasis. Obtained 20 cells."
"Well, uh."
Jiang Xiaofeng had not expected repeated farming to yield cells, too.
He felt he had discovered the secret to getting rich.
But now was not the time to think about that.
Jiang Xiaofeng flew over to that windmill.
He gave it a forceful turn with his hand, and an updraft appeared immediately!
"See? That activates it, doesn't it? How easy was that?"
As Jiang Xiaofeng spoke, he rode the Wings of the Crow upward along the updraft.
Jiang Xiaofeng soon reached the top of the updraft and flew toward Dragonspine.
He had not made much of a plan. He had simply seen Dragonspine beside Liyue and suddenly felt like taking a look.
It was not that Jiang Xiaofeng did not want to make concrete plans, such as deciding where to settle down next. Rather, he felt he ought to take a break.
What? After running around for so long, my body might not be tired, but my mind is exhausted, okay!
Jiang Xiaofeng flew slowly toward Dragonspine.
Looking at the snowy mountain before him, Jiang Xiaofeng suddenly felt the urge to climb it.
But it was only a passing thought. He had no intention of actually going up.
Are you kidding? I don't want to slave away solving that puzzle at the summit.
Not that anyone's commissioned me to, anyway...
Jiang Xiaofeng drifted down to the ruins from Albedo and the protagonist's hangout quest.
Ignoring the dancing Hilichurls, Jiang Xiaofeng glanced to his left.
The climate there was less harsh, and he could still see the snowy mountain.
But... he was here to have fun, so there was no need to consider so much!
Jiang Xiaofeng pulled down his hood, and tall flames spouted from his head.
He ran up Dragonspine.
After running for who knew how long... Jiang Xiaofeng slowly stopped.
Why is this mountain so tall?!
Jiang Xiaofeng thought as he stared at the summit, which had barely changed despite how long he had been running.
"Even the blizzard keeps getting worse..."
Jiang Xiaofeng spouted a burst of flame and continued climbing.
After another long while, just as Jiang Xiaofeng was getting so fed up that he wanted to activate the Wings of the Crow and fly up, his hand touched level ground.
Jiang Xiaofeng flipped himself up and came face-to-face with a Frostarm Lawachurl scratching itself.
"...Have you eaten?"
A massive fist greeted Jiang Xiaofeng.
Utterly fearless, Jiang Xiaofeng brought out the Hayabusa Gauntlets and met it head-on!
Bang! Crack!
The Frostarm Lawachurl's arm snapped at the impact!
Immediately afterward, a red light flashed, and the Frostarm Lawachurl's head fell to the ground.
Red blood stained the pure white snow. Jiang Xiaofeng stood up, unsure whether to be happy or sad.
Happy, because the battle had ended before some of his mutations even had a chance to be used;
Sad, because his own strength seemed to be growing greater and greater, leaving him little need for mutations.
Jiang Xiaofeng felt as though he had picked the wrong mutations and wanted to reset them.
Of course, he could only think about such things.
This was reality, after all. Not only could mutations not be reforged, but there was no limit of three, either. They had all fused into his soul.
Jiang Xiaofeng came back to his senses, popped his head off, and possessed the Frostarm Lawachurl's corpse.
Soon, Jiang Xiaofeng stood up, controlling the Frostarm Lawachurl's body.
Enormous brute strength, an extremely tough constitution... but I can't feel any elemental power... is that because it's dead?
Jiang Xiaofeng silently pondered as he felt the Frostarm Lawachurl's strength.
After moving around a little, Jiang Xiaofeng lost interest.
It's just a Ruin Guard that can't launch missiles. Nothing special.
Jiang Xiaofeng returned to his own body and walked into the Hilichurls' hut. Looking at the chest glowing red, he kicked it open.
A pile of Mora and some pink stones popped out.
Jiang Xiaofeng ignored them and looked at the most unusual thing in the chest: a red crystal.
"Crimson Agate..."
Jiang Xiaofeng picked up the red crystal and examined it closely.
Crimson Agate was said to have formed from the blood essence of the demonic dragon Durin, who had fallen here. It could be offered to the Frostbearing Tree to receive its gifts.
But Jiang Xiaofeng was not thinking about the Frostbearing Tree.
He was thinking: Could I possess the demonic dragon Durin, whose life or death remains uncertain?
In the game, the demonic dragon Durin's skeleton occupied nearly half the snowy mountain, while Stormterror was not even half the size of Mondstadt city.
But that was a game, after all. They could not make the map that large; the main priority was making everything look normal to players.
In reality, the demonic dragon Durin and Stormterror were about the same size.
Otherwise, with such a huge difference in size, Stormterror could not have survived a fight with Durin even with the Anemo Archon's help.
Getting off track...
Looking at the Crimson Agate before him, Jiang Xiaofeng thought for a moment, then brought it to his mouth and took a bite.
"..."
"No taste."
"No taste of blood."
Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head and decided to try another method.
Flames suddenly erupted from Jiang Xiaofeng's head, and he casually tossed the Crimson Agate into them.
The hard Crimson Agate immediately began to melt, slowly turning into liquid and flowing into... Jiang Xiaofeng's head.
"..."
Jiang Xiaofeng shivered.
"This feels awful."
After the last drop of Crimson Agate flowed into Jiang Xiaofeng's head, the flames settled down, and Jiang Xiaofeng stood motionless.
After a long while, a terrifying blast of force erupted, blowing the Hilichurls' hut clean away.
Jiang Xiaofeng twisted his neck.
"I feel great now."
Jiang Xiaofeng had absorbed the demonic dragon Durin's blood.
Jiang Xiaofeng immediately felt the changes in himself.
The demonic dragon Durin was one of the greatest creations of Rhinedottir, the alchemist known as Gold, and possessed a near-immortal nature.
Jiang Xiaofeng had discovered that trait and fused it into his own body.
Jiang Xiaofeng's soul as the Beheaded was already almost undying and indestructible. Now that he had fused with Durin's blood, he had taken another great step along the path of immortality.
Besides that, he had gained an ability that Jiang Xiaofeng considered his greatest reward...