Xia Zhi held the small notebook in his hands and said to Ei, "Mind if I make a copy of this?"
Ei shook her head. "Of course not."
Xia Zhi opened his inventory and took out a small box—the Replication Box.
It was currently black, meaning it had finished charging.
He placed the notebook into the box, then opened it again. Two identical copies slid out, perfectly indistinguishable from the original.
Ei blinked, a little surprised.
She'd thought Xia Zhi meant to copy it by hand with a brush and ink. She hadn't expected he meant literally duplicate it into existence.
Xia Zhi casually picked up one of the notebooks and handed it back to her. "Thanks."
Ei took it. "You're welcome."
Xia Zhi put away the Replication Box, picked up the remaining copy, and flipped through it. "I still have a few questions about what's in here. Mind discussing it a bit?"
Ei nodded. "Sure."
The two began exchanging thoughts. Xia Zhi asked about some of her past experimental failures, digging into the missing details that the notebook only hinted at.
Over an hour later, Ei left the room. Xia Zhi, meanwhile, had almost completely mastered this intricate technique of crafting puppets.
With such a mysterious art, a person could indeed create lifelike dolls indistinguishable from true living beings. If the materials were high enough in quality, even a replica of a god could, theoretically, be made.
Xia Zhi sat alone at the desk, holding the replicated notebook, deep in thought.
Then he opened his skill panel and found an old ability he'd learned from Albedo back in Mondstadt—
[Art of Black Earth]: An alchemical technique capable of giving birth to life. Mana consumption depends on the lifeform being created.
He read the description and murmured,
"Puppet art and alchemy… they do seem similar. But they're not quite the same…"
By his own speculation, Albedo—like Durin—was also a lifeform created by Rhinedottir. That skill must have originated from his master.
Rhinedottir, known as The Gold, was both a sage and the chief alchemist of Khaenri'ah—a godless nation once renowned for its advanced technology and powerful constructs.
Though Khaenri'ah had fallen five hundred years ago, many of its mechanisms were still scattered across Teyvat today.
Machinery, the art of artificial life, and this technique for creating lifelike puppets… these all seemed connected by an unseen thread.
Perhaps… puppetcraft itself originated in Khaenri'ah.
But that raised a new question.
If it truly came from Khaenri'ah, why was it written in Inazuman script instead of Khaenri'ahn?
Unless someone had deliberately translated it.
Or perhaps—no one had translated anything at all, and it had always existed in this form since its creation.
He recalled what Ei had said earlier:
That the notebook had suddenly appeared before her one day—like fate itself had dropped it at her feet. She had no idea how or why it had ended up there.
For something to be placed right in front of a god without her noticing… whoever did it was either far stronger than Ei, or a master of concealment.
Like himself, when using the Hat of Secrecy.
If he had activated Stealth Mode, he could've easily dropped an item in front of Ei without leaving a single trace.
At that thought, Xia Zhi's expression turned oddly complicated.
He'd traveled back five hundred years twice.
Both times, he'd used the one-time consumable Intertwined Fate.
The first time, he'd drawn the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
The second time, he'd drawn Furina and Focalors.
Would the third time… bring him Beelzebul?
But Intertwined Fates were unique. They couldn't be bought in the Shop—only found in treasure chests.
And right now, he had none left.
Wait…
Something clicked. He opened his inventory and spotted two unopened chests.
One Platinum Treasure Chest he'd obtained from Yae Miko, and one Diamond Treasure Chest dropped by Ei.
The diamond one wasn't important. The key was the platinum chest.
Because Intertwined Fates were platinum-tier items—meaning they could only come from platinum chests.
In that case, it was worth a try.
Xia Zhi pondered briefly, then pulled the diamond chest from his inventory.
But before opening it, he first opened the Shop and bought a bottle of Luck Potion for 500 points.
Effect: Temporarily increases Luck by 100% for one hour.
After drinking it, he finally opened the chest.
A soft pink-blue glow filled his hands—
[Intertwined Fate]
Quality: Platinum
Type: One-time consumable
Trait: Destiny, Bond
Effect: Selects the most compatible being in the current world to form a deep fate bond.
Hidden Effect: The higher the user's rank, the higher the rank of the being drawn.
Recyclable: 1000 points.
He'd really pulled it.
Xia Zhi held the glowing orb, his expression thoughtful.
Was it because of his boosted luck that he'd drawn exactly what he wanted?
Or because this event was part of a closed time loop—something destined to happen no matter what?
If it were the latter, then it meant drawing this Intertwined Fate was inevitable, luck notwithstanding.
He toyed with the orb for a while, then used his Time Rewind ability on it.
The glowing sphere dissolved into light and reformed into a platinum chest.
Then he scrolled through his skills until he found a passive ability he'd learned from Bennett:
[Forsaken by the World]
Passive — Luck value permanently set to 0. Your every action defies the world's will and reduces the luck of those around you. The closer they are to you, the greater their luck decreases.
He'd deactivated it the moment he obtained it—it was too terrifying to keep on.
He'd thought it useless… but now, it was perfect for an experiment.
He activated Forsaken by the World. His sky-high luck immediately dropped to zero.
Since 0 increased by 100% was still 0, the Luck Potion no longer had any effect.
Xia Zhi opened the platinum chest again.
A new item materialized—
[Second Meditation Technique]
Xia Zhi stared silently.
Useless. Completely useless to him now.
With the Book of Erudition, it was a waste even to give it away. Its only value was recycling.
So that was what a Luck value of zero brought, huh?
He rewound time again and opened it several more times.
Each time, the item was different—yet they all shared one thing: none of them were useful to him.
At last, he gave up, deactivated Forsaken by the World, and—with his high Luck restored—opened the chest one final time.
The familiar pink-blue orb shimmered into view again.
Intertwined Fate.
So it really had been pure luck that made him draw it earlier—
Wait…
Even after all those experiments, he'd still chosen the Intertwined Fate in the end. Which meant… this itself was the time loop.
Xia Zhi was about to think further when the system's voice suddenly echoed in his mind—
"A prayer from a follower has been detected!"
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