In his room, Xia Zhi sat at the desk and pulled out the Diamond Chest he'd earned from Albedo.
He chose to open it.
A golden flame appeared before him.
[True Sunfire]
Quality: Diamond
Type: Special Item
Trait: Heaven-Burning, Extreme Yang, Smelting
Effect: Automatically grants mastery over all fire spells of Tier 5 and below; damage against Yin-aligned targets doubled; can smelt substances of Quality not exceeding this item.
Hidden Effect: Cultivation speed of Yang-based arts +300%; Dual Cultivation ability +200%.
Recyclable: 10,000 points.
At the same time, the system voice rang:
"Bind [True Sunfire]?"
Xia Zhi stared at the flame floating above his palm, thought a moment, then chose yes.
The golden fire sank into his body.
Warmth flooded through him, and his skill panel lit up with new fire techniques.
Anemo, Geo, Hydro, Electro, Dendro, Pyro—
Counting them up, of Teyvat's seven elements, he now commanded six. Only Cryo remained.
And besides those, he'd also mastered Time, Light, Darkness…
He extended a finger, a golden flame dancing at the tip.
The strange fire moved entirely at his will now.
Thinking of its Hidden Effect, and its [Extreme Yang] trait, his expression turned odd.
Opening his panel, he found a passive skill:
[Pure Yang Body]: Born with abundant Yang energy. Demons and evil avoid. Cultivation speed of Yang-based arts +100%. Dual Cultivation ability +50%.
He'd once learned this physique from Chongyun. Judging from its description, it was quite like True Sunfire's hidden effect, only weaker.
So… was [Extreme Yang] just a stronger form of [Pure Yang]?
Xia Zhi sank into thought.
Aside from [Extreme Yang], Xia Zhi was also very interested in the [Smelting] trait.
The first thing that came to mind were those alchemical materials he'd tested in Miss Lisa's workshop earlier today—the ones that contained scattered Rule Fragments.
When leaving, he'd taken two samples with him to study further.
Xia Zhi pulled them out from his inventory.
Then, with a flick of his finger, a golden flame sprang up before him. He tossed one of the materials into the fire.
Under his control, the flame burned steadily. The material's exterior didn't change in the slightest. But the Rule Fragments scattered within it were smelted down by some overwhelming force, condensed into a tiny point, and finally separated.
Xia Zhi put the flame away.
The alchemical material had lost its purple hue and turned back into an ordinary material.
He also collected the tiny sesame-sized Rule Fragment.
The result was the same—successful separation—but compared to using the [Universal Syringe], there was a key difference. Extracted Rule Fragments from the syringe came out liquid, whereas the ones smelted by fire became solid.
Xia Zhi checked the item description in his inventory.
Different forms, but identical descriptions.
With that, the problem that had stumped him during the day was neatly solved.
All he needed to do was smelt the materials with [True Sunfire].
The flame could grow or shrink entirely at his will. He could easily expand it large enough to smelt all the stockpiled materials in one go, returning them to normal.
Far more convenient than extracting each one with the [Universal Syringe].
Xia Zhi played with the flame at his fingertip, musing to himself.
This thing had shown up at just the right time.
Almost too perfectly.
Most likely, it was his absurd luck kicking in again when opening chests—getting exactly what he wanted most.
Footsteps sounded outside.
From his god's-eye view, he saw Xia Le sneaking over.
She pushed open the door and whispered, "Big Brother, you're still awake, right?"
"Yeah. Why are you here? Weren't you two supposed to sleep together?"
"I couldn't fall asleep."
"So?"
"Play me a song! I'll go right back after."
"…"
"Please?"
"…Fine."
There was just no refusing her.
Hearing him agree, Xia Le grinned and climbed onto him.
"What are you doing?"
"I said I'm here to listen."
"Not like this—I can't play with you sitting on me."
"Just put the guqin on the desk! I won't move, promise. I just wanna see how you play."
"…Alright."
Xia Zhi placed the guqin on the desk and let her sit on his lap as he began to play.
At least now he didn't need to worry about using the Silence Orb to avoid drawing Dvalin over.
Xia Le leaned back against him, burying her head under his chin, eyes half-shut.
"Don't move."
"Big Brother…"
Her voice softened into a whisper.
"You suddenly feel so warm."
"Warm?"
"Mm, like hugging a stove."
Must be [Extreme Yang] at work.
Her head rubbed lightly against his neck, tickling him.
"I wanna stay like this forever."
"Dream on. Song's over. Go back to bed."
"Aw…"
Though reluctant, Xia Le obediently climbed off.
"Good night, Big Brother."
"Good night."
She waved and slipped out.
Her room was empty now—Qiqi was off being a Magical Girl, and Xia Lin was out setting off fireworks.
Xia Le lay down, closing her eyes.
Before long, Xia Lin returned.
She climbed onto the bed, about to lie down, when she sniffed and frowned. Something was off.
She leaned closer, sniffing Xia Le's body.
!!!
Didn't she just shower?!
Why did she reek so strongly of Papa?
She definitely sneaked something!
Xia Lin felt her whole dragon body short-circuit.
She bit her lip, hesitated, then hopped off the bed and ran toward Xia Zhi's room.
He'd just lain down when a knock came at the door.
Checking with god's-eye view, he saw—yep, Xia Lin.
"Papa, are you asleep?"
"Not yet."
"I'm coming in."
"Go ahead. What's the matter?"
"I… I can't sleep."
Like father, like dragon. Even their excuses matched.
"You want a song too?"
"Too?"
Xia Lin blinked, then nodded hard.
"Yes!"
Xia Zhi sat up, guqin on his lap.
Xia Lin climbed onto his bed, curling against him.
He began to play—though not very well, thanks to her constantly nosing around him like a little puppy.
"What now?" he sighed.
Her eyes fixed on his neck. "Why does Papa smell so strongly of Xia Le here?"
"Probably because she rubbed against me earlier."
"Then I want to rub too."
"You greedy little thing."
Xia Zhi chuckled, lifting her so she could nuzzle his neck a few times.
"Better now?"
"Mm… Papa, you're so warm."
"You feel it too?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I'm going to sleep. You should too."
"Okay. Good night, Papa."
"Good night."
Reluctant, Xia Lin left.
Finally, both dragons were settled.
Xia Zhi went next door.
By principle, men were Yang, women Yin.
And sure enough, he discovered that [True Sunfire]'s "deal double damage to Yin-aligned targets" also applied to his critical hits on Shenhe and Ganyu.
"Boss, you feel really warm today."
"Do you like me at forty degrees?"
"Mm."
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