Jiang Xiaofeng landed.
Durin landed on the ground too.
"You can go now."
Durin froze.
"There's nothing left for you to do here. Go play with Albedo. I'll find you if something comes up."
Jiang Xiaofeng gave him his marching orders.
Durin shook his head and left.
If he hadn't sensed that Jiang Xiaofeng's aura was dangerous, Durin would have simply captured him to study him. Why would he have bothered making a deal?
He would surpass that fellow Albedo sooner or later anyway. It was only a matter of time...
With that thought, Durin spread his dragon wings and flew away.
Jiang Xiaofeng gazed at the five Elemental Monuments, lost in thought.
"Cryo Elemental Monuments... Will Frost Blast work...?"
Cold air rose from Jiang Xiaofeng's hand.
Then Jiang Xiaofeng tried attacking one.
Seeing the Elemental Monument light up, Jiang Xiaofeng breathed a sigh of relief.
It would have been real trouble if these things hadn't worked.
After all, kicking switches and other mechanisms to pieces wouldn't necessarily do any good.
Jiang Xiaofeng unleashed Frost Blast in the order the Seelie had moved.
Soon, the mechanism unlocked, and two Ruin Guards and one Ruin Grader stood up.
"..."
Jiang Xiaofeng smacked his forehead.
"I should have possessed them one by one before solving the puzzle."
Jiang Xiaofeng ripped out the Ruin Guards' cores one after another, then crippled the Ruin Grader's legs.
Then Jiang Xiaofeng popped his flying head out and began possessing it.
"It feels a lot stronger than a Ruin Guard..."
Feeling the Ruin Grader's strength, Jiang Xiaofeng spoke excitedly.
Not to mention the two more dormant Ruin Graders down below!
Jiang Xiaofeng immediately tossed the Ruin Guard out of his backpack and stuffed the Ruin Grader he had detached from into it.
Ruin Guard: "So love does fade, right?"
Jiang Xiaofeng: "Oh, love doesn't fade. I just don't love you anymore."
Ruin Guard: "..."
Jiang Xiaofeng solved the puzzle and jumped down through the opening.
Then Jiang Xiaofeng discovered that strange ice.
"..."
Jiang Xiaofeng picked up the lone Crimson Agate, put it away, then popped out his flying head and possessed the two Ruin Graders one after another.
Then Jiang Xiaofeng put those two giant radishes into his backpack.
Once all that was done, Jiang Xiaofeng looked at the strange ice. The longer he looked, the more his hands itched.
Finally, Jiang Xiaofeng couldn't resist any longer. He mined the nearby Scarlet Quartz and shattered the strange ice.
"Sigh."
Jiang Xiaofeng sighed as he looked at the strange orb left behind after the strange ice shattered.
"Traveler, you'd better come thank me for this someday."
As he spoke, Jiang Xiaofeng touched the orb.
Then off the orb flew~
Jiang Xiaofeng shook his head, flew out of the opening, and reached the mountaintop above the red waypoint, where he took a Crimson Agate.
Jiang Xiaofeng sat down on the spot, took off his hood, sent flames spouting from his head, and tossed the Crimson Agate into his head to begin absorbing it.
Jiang Xiaofeng kept shivering.
"It feels like my brains are sloshing around inside my head..."
Soon, Jiang Xiaofeng finished absorbing the two Crimson Agates.
Jiang Xiaofeng could now apply Evil Dragon Transformation to both hands and his chest.
Not only that, Jiang Xiaofeng had also gained the power of "poison."
Well, Durin had infected Stormterror with poisonous blood, and Jiang Xiaofeng had gained poison by absorbing Crimson Agate formed from Durin's blood. It made perfect sense.
Jiang Xiaofeng reverted the Evil Dragon Transformation on his hands and chest, then looked down below.
At some point, the ice there had frozen over again, and a huge pale blue cube had appeared.
Cryo Hypostasis: Daleth.
Jiang Xiaofeng dropped from high above and slammed a vicious kick into the Cryo Hypostasis's inert shell!
The Cryo Hypostasis's shell shattered on impact!
As for the Cryo Hypostasis, it faced the risk of death right after being born. Of course it couldn't contain its anger.
"Human, you-"
Before the Cryo Hypostasis Daleth could finish, Jiang Xiaofeng used Acceptance to pierce and burst its inner core, leaving it as dead as could be.
As usual, Jiang Xiaofeng kicked open the Ley Line Blossom and collected the rewards for killing the Cryo Hypostasis.
Well, they weren't much use to him at the moment...
Holding the Crystalline Bloom, Jiang Xiaofeng thought for a moment, then took out a Basalt Pillar too.
"Maybe I can try absorbing these two things..."
With that thought, Jiang Xiaofeng sent flames spouting out and began absorbing the two items.
The absorption was unexpectedly fast.
Jiang Xiaofeng felt it out, then shook his hands.
"They haven't strengthened me much, but..."
Jiang Xiaofeng raised his hand and slapped the ground.
A square Stone Stele rose up.
"I seem to have gained a way to control elemental power..."
Jiang Xiaofeng hadn't gained the Debt Collector's ability to use Pyro attacks after possessing him. Presumably, it lay in the Debt Collector's memories.
But judging by how much time had passed... the Debt Collector's head had probably been gnawed down to a skull.
Living in the world of Genshin Impact, it was impossible for Jiang Xiaofeng not to care about an ability like elemental power.
After all, it was the foundation of the entire world's abilities. Gaining it was equivalent to becoming part of this world.
That was right. From beginning to end, Jiang Xiaofeng had felt out of place in the world of Teyvat.
So, compared to those familiar-looking Vision holders, Jiang Xiaofeng preferred interacting with people who disliked the world as it was now.
That went for the Fatui, who wanted to fight the "calamity," and for the evil dragon Durin, a remnant of Khaenri'ah. Jiang Xiaofeng liked them both better.
And now, Jiang Xiaofeng finally no longer envied those Vision holders.
"I can control the elements too."
"Next time, we'll see who's stronger..."
Jiang Xiaofeng murmured.
With that thought, Jiang Xiaofeng absorbed all the remaining Crystalline Blooms and Basalt Pillars.
After all, they were only elemental life-forms derived from the Ley Lines. The elemental power these things contained was limited.
Was there a way to obtain an endless supply of elemental power?
And so, Jiang Xiaofeng flew up to the mountaintop.
He watched as the Cryo Hypostasis slowly emerged from the ground, formed its inert shells, and remained there dormant.
Jiang Xiaofeng jumped down.
Yes, Jiang Xiaofeng wanted to farm monsters!
He simply hadn't discovered before that he could absorb Basalt Pillars. Otherwise, even the Geo Hypostasis would have been killed dozens of times by Jiang Xiaofeng!
Just like that, he shattered the shell with a punch, pierced the core with a spear thrust, collected the rewards, and flew up to the mountaintop to wait.
Jiang Xiaofeng farmed it this way an unknown number of times.
"Having no Resin limit is great!"
Jiang Xiaofeng laughed wildly.
Just like that, Jiang Xiaofeng farmed for an entire day and night.
Only after farming nearly a thousand Cryo Hypostases, causing the surges in Ley Line energy to diminish until the Cryo Hypostasis almost stopped spawning, did Jiang Xiaofeng stop.
During this time, Jiang Xiaofeng also noticed a problem.
That was right. The system hadn't given any notifications.
He had killed the Cryo Hypostasis hundreds of times. Unless killing one didn't drop even a single cell, he should have reached a hundred long ago.
But now, the system seemed to have malfunctioned, not making a sound.
Jiang Xiaofeng felt that something was wrong.
Suddenly, standing at the Cryo Hypostasis's spawn point, Jiang Xiaofeng raised his head and stared straight at the mountaintop where he had waited for the Cryo Hypostasis to respawn!
A golden figure flashed past and vanished.
At the same time, Jiang Xiaofeng also heard the system's long-absent voice...