The goblin of the Final Castle possessed more HP than any boss that had appeared in the Twilight Forest.
Its combat power was overwhelming as well.
A Master-tier staff, a full warlock set, plus a tachi blade,
combined with its 1024 HP, in a one-on-one fight, even Zhongli would likely need to burn through more than a dozen Totems of Undying just to be confident of killing it.
Unfortunately for the goblin, this world had never been about duels.
Ryen and his group had always favored collective beatdowns.
They would only charge once their own firepower and numbers reached a level of absolute suppression.
After spending so long with Ryen, everyone had more or less absorbed his philosophy of survival first, victory second.
High HP and strong defenses didn't mean the goblin had any chance of turning the tables under concentrated fire.
At most, it only meant it would be beaten to death for a slightly longer time.
And that wasn't necessarily a good thing.
This time, thanks to Ryen's Time Stasis spell and the team's dense, coordinated firepower, no accidents occurred.
The goblin struggled briefly, then collapsed.
It never even got to use the White Fox tachi blade.
As for the Master-tier staff…
Aside from casting Summon Phoenix and Dragon Breath at the start, Ryen never even saw what its other spells were.
But honestly, those two alone,
One summoning a phoenix, the other breathing dragon fire,
were already cool enough.
For a brief moment, Ryen was tempted to quietly keep the staff for himself.
But he had already promised it to Hu Tao.
Besides, Hu Tao was his anyway, so whether the staff was his or hers didn't really matter.
More importantly, the staff didn't have Time Stasis. Compared to Ryen's Absolute Frost, it wasn't even close.
And besides…
A true wizard should wear white.
Otherwise, how could one be called Gandalf the White?
As for the tachi blade, it had already been promised to Yae Miko,
though Ryen wasn't even sure whether she actually knew how to use a katana.
When the goblin fell and dissolved into blue smoke, its equipment dropped gracefully like a gift package.
At the same time, a long-absent system notification appeared in Ryen's mind.
The information this time made him stand there, rubbing his temples in a daze for quite a while.
When he finally came back to himself, he saw Ganyu and the others looking at him with a mix of worry and excitement.
Ryen smiled faintly and nodded.
"It's open."
In the next instant, cheers erupted.
Even Hu Tao and Yae Miko, who had just obtained a Master-tier staff and a tachi blade, cheered louder than if they'd gotten loot.
Ryen carefully reviewed the rewards displayed in his mind and sighed in contentment.
"System… you actually have a conscience."
This time, the new content wasn't just one mod,
There were three.
With the Twilight Forest fully cleared, everyone's attention naturally shifted to the new mod.
The Twilight Forest itself would be refreshed anyway, so staying any longer was pointless.
Without hesitation, Ryen led everyone back to the main world.
Seated in the living room, Ryen didn't immediately begin sorting through the new mods.
They were excellent, perfectly in line with the system's newly discovered "kind-hearted" image.
It had even given Ryen some very generous personal rewards.
But as expected, the mods were also extremely troublesome.
Organizing them properly would take time.
He'd need to set aside a full day just to plan things out.
"Hu Tao, check what abilities your staff has first."
Ryen turned to her.
Hu Tao pouted.
"Is now really the time to worry about the staff?"
"What else would it be?" Ryen shrugged. "Things have to be done one at a time."
Hu Tao sighed helplessly, took out the staff, and began listing its abilities.
"Summon Phoenix, Dragon Breath, Weakening Curse, Fire Ring… and one more…"
She scratched her head, puzzled.
"Transcendence? What kind of spell is that?"
Ryen's expression changed instantly.
"Are you sure it says Transcendence?"
Hu Tao rolled her eyes.
"Hey! My eyesight isn't that bad!"
Ryen pressed his lips together. After a brief silence, he looked at Hu Tao with a complicated gaze.
"Darling… this staff is dangerous. You might not be able to handle it. Why don't I, "
"Not a chance!" Hu Tao hugged the staff protectively, glaring at him.
"How can you rob from your own woman?!"
"But yours is mine anyway," Ryen said calmly, spreading his hands.
Ganyu covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"In that case," she said, "this Transcendence spell is probably something as abnormal as Time Stasis."
Ryen stopped joking and nodded seriously.
"Strictly speaking, as long as you're holding this staff, no one in this world can kill you."
"Not even me."
"In terms of survivability, it's ten thousand times stronger than my Time Stasis."
"Good thing the goblin didn't get to cast it earlier. Otherwise, we'd have been in real trouble."
"As for Weakening Curse and the other attack or control spells, those aren't worth discussing."
"But this Transcendence spell, I need to explain its effect to you carefully."
Everyone straightened immediately, eyes fixed on Ryen.
The last time he'd been this serious about a spell was when he explained Time Stasis.
Clearing his throat, Ryen spoke slowly.
"Transcendence is an advanced spell classified under healing magic, but in truth, it can surpass even Master-tier spells."
"Once you cast Transcendence, you enter a Transcendent State for twenty seconds."
"During that time, you are beyond reality."
"Do you understand what I mean?"
Zhongli frowned slightly, clearly confused.
"Beyond reality… what does that mean?"
"Literally," Ryen replied.
Ryen spread his hands and explained calmly:
"To transcend reality means to detach from it. You're standing here, but you no longer exist within this world."
"Everything in this world becomes irrelevant to you."
"No damage can affect you. You gain a complete invisibility-like effect. You cannot interact with objects, cannot use your staff, but at the same time, you also cannot attack enemies or cause any destruction."
"In simple terms, you are completely severed from this world."
"For those twenty seconds, even if the world itself were to explode, you would remain perfectly unharmed."
"Stepping on TNT? Zero damage."
"Even if the Heavenly Principles were fighting you, once you activate Transcendence, she cannot harm you."
"To put it bluntly: twenty seconds of absolute invincibility for retreating."
At once, everyone felt a chill crawl up their scalps.
Their eyes locked onto the staff in Hu Tao's hands, burning with barely restrained excitement.
Twenty seconds of invincibility.
What could that mean?
For them, it meant far too much.
Although being unable to deal damage while invincible sounded like mere escape utility, in reality,
Just the fact that she couldn't be attacked during that time was already terrifying.
Zhongli alone could think of over a dozen counterplay strategies that could be executed during those twenty seconds.
Ningguang looked at Ryen with complicated emotions.
"Are you sure this spell is only an advanced-tier one?"
Ryen shrugged.
"The most outrageous part is something I haven't told you yet."
"The cooldown of this spell is less than twenty seconds. Which means, "
Keqing shuddered, staring at him in disbelief.
"As long as the staff has enough mana… Hu Tao can remain invincible forever?!"
Ryen nodded.
"That's exactly why I said this advanced spell is absolutely broken in terms of survivability. It's even more absurd than Time Stasis."
"You're transcending the world itself. Even if reality collapses, as long as you're still in the Transcendence state, nothing can happen to you."
"That's why I said earlier, holding this staff, no one can hurt you. Not even me."
"And don't assume Transcendence can't be used offensively just because it can't deal damage directly."
"Imagine fighting the Heavenly Principles. Hu Tao can't overpower her."
"She summons a fire phoenix, follows up with Dragon Breath, then immediately enters Transcendence."
"When the effect ends, she unloads another spell combo and goes straight back into invincibility."
"Even if it doesn't kill her, it would disgust her to death."
"This spell may only be advanced-tier in classification, but its effect surpasses Master-tier magic."
"The key point is its short cooldown and low mana cost."
"One activation costs just fifty mana."
"Compared to Master-tier staves that store thousands of mana, that's practically nothing."
"This Master-tier staff, like my Eternal Frost, revolves around a single core spell."
Silence filled the living room.
Only the steady rhythm of breathing could be heard.
After a long while, Yae Miko leaned over toward Hu Tao and said with a mischievous smile:
"Director Hu, don't you think this White Fox suits you perfectly? How about we trade?"
"No!"
Hu Tao immediately shielded her staff, glaring at everyone.
"This was given to me by Ryen! No one's touching it!"
Yae Miko sighed softly.
She had found the space-infused staff quite appealing earlier.
But now…
It suddenly felt rather underwhelming.
"Two Twilight Forest explorations, two goblin kills."
"Two Master-tier staves. Two warlock sets. Two blades."
"One Time Stasis. One Transcendence…"
Ningguang shook her head with a wry smile.
"That goblin really was a walking treasure chest."
"But this is also far too dangerous. From now on, we should personally handle goblin runs."
Everyone nodded solemnly.
If they didn't come in person, how could they ensure they were the ones getting the Master-tier staves?
Those spells were simply too irresistible.
"All right," Venti said, finally pulling his gaze away from Hu Tao's staff and staring straight at Ryen.
"Shouldn't you tell us about the new mods now?"
Ryen shrugged.
"All I can tell you for now is that there are three new mods."
"As for the rest…"
He paused, then smiled.
"Shouldn't you be heading to Sumeru now? It's already the third day. Lumine is waiting for you."
"…?"
Venti fell silent, staring at Ryen in disbelief.
"Wait, seriously?! We just unlocked new mods, and you're sending us off already?! At least tell us what they are!"
"Nonsense. If I tell you now, you won't want to leave. Handle the important business first."
"Are new mods not important business?!"
"You've got time to argue with me, you've got time to move out and finish things quickly."
Rolling his eyes, Ryen continued calmly:
"Hurry up and go. I need time to integrate and study the mods anyway."
"By the time you're done and come back, I should be finished too."
"Then I'll tell you everything."
"Perfect timing for everyone to get some rest as well. A full week of nonstop exploration really drains the mind."