Genshin Impact: I Can Obtain Adventure EXP

The river nestled between Guili Plains and Cuijue Slope shimmered under the sunlight, its surface rippling with emerald waves—a tranquil pastoral scene.

After marking the underground space beneath the ruins and posting wooden signboards as warnings, Nolan and Keqing followed Yelan to this riverbank, where a group of Hilichurls had been bound and brought along.

Along the way, both he and Keqing remained alert for any potential safety hazards nearby.

"This is where the mutated Akai Maou was spotted?"

Keqing, clad in her signature purple heels and coat with a high collar, crossed her arms and stared thoughtfully at the gently flowing river.

"The eyewitness claimed so," Yelan replied, brushing aside a strand of hair that clung to her cheek. "But whether it’s really here... we’ll only know once we fish it out."

She turned toward Nolan and handed him a silken, water-blue thread.

"As the only gentleman among us, I’ll leave this troublesome job to you."

"Well, since you put it that way, refusing would be downright unchivalrous."

Nolan accepted the thread, woven from Hydro energy, without complaint.

"But I must warn you, my fishing skills are pretty abysmal. Whether we catch anything will be pure luck."

He swept the riverbed with his spiritual sense but detected no suspicious targets for now. All they could do was try luring it in with the Hilichurls.

"The Akai Maou is a vicious fish species. Once it mutates and grows to that size, it loses all interest in ordinary bait. Let’s hope these Hilichurls catch its attention."

Yelan sighed.

She had already spent the entire morning fishing here, setting bait at five or six different spots—but there had been no sign of the Akai Maou.

Plenty of other fish had taken the bait, but she released them all.

Nolan nodded, then turned toward the bound Hilichurl monsters. He dispatched them first, gaining a small amount of Adventure EXP.

Next, he used Anemo energy to toss their bodies into the river. The distinctive stench of monster blood spread downstream with the current.

Now came the waiting game.

Holding the water-blue thread, Nolan joined Keqing and Yelan under the shade of a tree where they could sit and wait patiently.

It was just about noon, so they took out some rations to eat casually.

But just then, Nolan sensed a strong aura from downstream. Something big was slowly approaching the "bait."

"What is it?"

Keqing noticed his distant expression and asked. Her long purple hair and flowing sleeves swayed slightly as she moved her arms from her chest to rest just below it.

"I’m sensing a big fish coming this way. Judging by the aura, it’s most likely the Giant Akai Maou."

Nolan replied with a trace of excitement.

Seems he wasn’t so bad at fishing after all. He’d half-expected to catch nothing on his first try!

"Should I catch it or take it down?"

His spiritual power had already locked onto the massive Akai Maou. There was no need to wait for it to bite—the moment he wished, he could seize it with ease.

But it was better to wait for Yelan’s instructions. After all, this was her mission.

It wouldn’t do to steal her thunder.

"Hold on."

Yelan, who also had her hands resting under her chest, shifted her gaze to the ground and thought for a moment:

"Since we’ve already lured it out, catching it won’t be hard. But although this fish can manipulate Pyro energy to some extent, it’s not actually a monster.

"For it to grow to this size is extremely rare. There must be some external factor at play.

"Before we deal with it, let’s trail it and investigate where it lives. Maybe we’ll find the root cause."

Nolan rubbed the silken thread between his fingers and nodded in agreement.

"True. If we want to solve the problem, we need to go to the source. Otherwise, even if we take this Akai Maou out, another one might show up."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let’s follow it."

Keqing uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her waist, her slender figure shifting smoothly with the motion.

With Keqing’s presence, both Nolan and Yelan found themselves subconsciously becoming more efficient, without any hesitation in their actions.

The three of them quietly approached the riverbank but didn’t get too close—lest the mutated Akai Maou detect them.

Through the clear water, they could see a massive crimson-red fish, glowing like molten lava, slowly approaching the monster corpses.

"Heh."

Yelan let out a soft chuckle. As the Akai Maou gorged itself, she silently extended the water-blue thread—originally used to bind the monsters—and wrapped it around the fish’s tail.

Thanks to being made from Hydro elements, the thread’s texture and color blended perfectly into the river current. The Akai Maou didn’t even notice it.

Before long, it had devoured every last monster corpse. Now full, it began lazily swimming upstream along the riverbed.

Nolan and the others remained patient, not wanting to startle it away from its den.

The Akai Maou didn’t meander for long. After gulping down a few smaller fish as dessert, it turned around and began swimming back the way it came.

"I remember this river leads to Luhua Pool, doesn’t it? Could that be where the Akai Maou resides?"

A trace of doubt surfaced on Keqing’s fair face as she pressed her finger lightly to her lip in thought.

"The water there is calmer, and the environment is quite favorable. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Akai Maou lived there."

Yelan stepped forward, her long legs wrapped in tight leather pants moving with elegance, and took the water-blue thread from Nolan’s hands.

The exposed white skin peeking through the cutouts along her legs shimmered even brighter under the dazzling sunlight.

Nolan and Keqing walked two steps behind. Seizing the moment, he reached out and wrapped an arm around Keqing’s waist from behind, letting his hand trail down to caress her thigh through the sheer black stockings.

Mindful of Yelan’s presence, Keqing chose not to quarrel with him, though she gave him an angry glare. Then she pretended nothing had happened.

Nolan chuckled silently and sensibly withdrew his hand from her soft thigh, resting it calmly on her stomach instead. No point pushing his luck—if he pissed Keqing off, she might just zap him with Electro.

Time flowed like the river—steady and unstoppable. Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Up ahead, Yelan came to a halt. She glanced toward the lake in front of them, then turned back. "Alright, you two lovebirds, knock it off. We’re at Luhua Pool."

"Hmph."

A barely noticeable blush rose to Keqing’s pale cheeks. She pushed Nolan away, stepped forward, and asked,

"Where’s the Akai Maou now?"

Keqing hadn’t completed her sixth ascension yet and couldn’t extend her spiritual sense. Once the Akai Maou vanished from her line of sight, it was truly gone.

Only Yelan, still holding the water-blue thread, and Nolan, who had been locking onto it with his spiritual sense, knew its exact location.

"It swam toward the ruins in the center of the lake. Let’s head there and see what’s going on."

Yelan resumed walking, her leather pants clinging tightly to the round curves of her hips, shifting slightly with every step.

The riverside grass brushed against the sides of her high heels as she and Keqing walked side by side, giving Nolan no chance to stick to Keqing again.

What a pity, he thought, but without a choice, he obediently followed behind.

Soon, they arrived at a section of ancient ruins along the river. From there, they could see a large ruin situated at the center of Luhua Pool.

Even from a distance, they could clearly feel the presence of a powerful formation surrounding the structure.

"The Hidden Palace of Guizang in Huaqing. Legend has it that this ruin contains multiple domains. One of them is the Voyage to the Sanguine Sky, a place where its master—the God of Dust—conducted research into mechanical constructs.

"There’s also the Travels of the Moonlit Venturer, said to house countless hidden treasures. Unfortunately, due to the formation protecting the place, countless adventurers have failed to breach it.

"No one has been able to solve its mysteries. Maybe only an adeptus could unravel the secrets within."

Yelan’s arms were folded just above her midriff, the translucent black silk of her outfit hugging her figure. Through the sheer material beneath her arms, the pale skin of her abdomen could be faintly glimpsed.

"The Hidden Palace of Guizang in Huaqing... Yelan, did you just say the Akai Maou swam near that area?"

Nolan recalled that when he played the game, if he didn’t have enough Primogems for wishes, he’d explore the world to solve puzzles and open chests.

He was quite familiar with this place.

Once the puzzle was solved, the formation would vanish, allowing players to descend through the central hole in the ruin to enter a domain—that was the Voyage to the Sanguine Sky.

Beneath the Hidden Palace was also another domain—the Travels of the Moonlit Venturer.

The latter wasn’t especially noteworthy, but the Voyage to the Sanguine Sky was the domain of Guizhong, the God of Dust. If he remembered correctly, there were a few ancient cursed artifacts stored within.

The Akai Maou’s grotesque mutation... could it have something to do with those ancient items?

Nolan couldn’t help but wonder.

"My water thread definitely extended all the way there. No mistake."

Yelan gently tapped her fair chin in thought.

"So the Akai Maou’s nest is there. Could its mutation be caused by something within the ruins?"

Keqing voiced the same suspicion Nolan had.

"We can’t rule that out. Let’s go verify if the Akai Maou lives there regularly, and check if anything strange has happened around the ruins."

Yelan made the call and led the way, following the water-blue thread across the lake to the ruins in its center, where they found the Akai Maou.

It was swimming lazily through the water, bullying the smaller fish of Luhua Pool like a tyrant ruling over its domain.

That sight alone made it clear—this was indeed the Akai Maou’s lair.

With everything confirmed, Nolan, under Yelan’s signal, swiftly ended the Akai Maou’s arrogant reign.

[Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Obtained 5,262 Adventure EXP.]

As the notification popped up on his character panel, Nolan couldn’t help but note—this fish was stronger than most monsters. No wonder it had acted so brazenly.

"Now it’s your time to shine again. Use your spiritual sense to scan the area and check for any anomalies nearby."

Yelan knew Nolan was far stronger than she was, and such tedious work was best left to him.

"No problem."

Nolan readily accepted the simple task.

A vast surge of spiritual energy quietly enveloped the entire ruin at the center of Luhua Pool, scanning the surroundings with meticulous care.

The elemental environment and leyline flow were functioning normally—nothing seemed ominous or out of place.

Nolan then focused his senses toward the formation within the ruins.

"Hm?"

A soft murmur escaped his lips.

"What is it?" Keqing turned to look at him.

"There’s something wrong with the formation. One of the nodal points has stopped functioning, which is disrupting the elemental flow within the array.

"If it continues like this, in two or three months there might be a supply gap in elemental power, causing the entire formation’s strength to weaken."

Nolan explained, drawing from his limited knowledge of formations.

"Well done. If nothing else seems abnormal, then it’s likely that the formation node’s failure is what caused the Akai Maou to mutate."

Yelan’s lips curled into a faint smile—her opinion of Nolan rising ever so slightly.

[Yelan Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 330 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.6 (530/600)]

"Alright, follow me."

Nolan nodded and led Yelan and Keqing to the malfunctioning formation node he had discovered.

This node was located in the southeast corner of the ruins—it was a Pyro elemental monument. For some unknown reason, a corner at its base was chipped away.

"Elemental monuments are usually protected by the formation. Damaging one is nearly equivalent to attacking the formation itself. Normally, it’s very hard to destroy them."

Keqing frowned in confusion.

"Because of the missing corner, this Pyro monument isn’t supplying elemental energy to the formation. Instead, the energy is leaking from its base. Could it be that the Akai Maou wandered near here and, by some stroke of luck, survived the elemental erosion—leading to its mutation?"

Nolan felt as if he had stumbled upon the truth.

"That might just be it."

Yelan agreed. His reasoning was logical and made perfect sense. She stared thoughtfully at the damaged section of the elemental monument.

"If it’s this badly damaged from the inside, then it’s likely something within the formation itself went wrong. We may need to unseal and enter the ruins to fully understand what’s going on."

"Trying to decipher the structure of this formation and dismantling it won’t be something that can be done quickly."

Keqing crossed her arms as she spoke.

She still had a safety inspection task to finish and couldn’t afford to stay here for too long.

"Then leave it to me. I’ve got a way to quickly disable the formation."

Nolan said with a confident smile.

When his affection level with Yun Jin had maxed out, he received a skill called "Cloud-Gathering Banner Array." With this ability, he could summon phantom banners that acted as formation nodes, allowing him to construct various formations freely.

And regardless of what kind of array he formed, it would always come with attack, defense, and entrapment properties—an incredibly powerful ability.

But now, he didn’t need to construct a new array. He simply had to summon a phantom banner and insert it near the current formation node to steal the elemental energy it was drawing.

Without an energy source, the formation would collapse on its own.

"Hmph, so secretive. Just get on with it already."

Keqing urged him forward.

Nolan gave a slight nod. He had never really tested the "Cloud-Gathering Banner Array" skill before—this was the perfect opportunity.

With a silent thought, the skill activated. A translucent, geo-colored banner materialized in his hand.

It felt almost weightless, with nothing unusual about its appearance. Nolan studied the intricate patterns engraved on it.

Then, without hesitation, he planted it beside the Pyro elemental monument.

(End of Chapter)

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