With the help of the three Ruin Guards, the excavation work became very efficient.
Soon, the gate of the underground palace was dug open.
"Finally out!"
Ji An stepped out, ready to breathe the air of freedom.
A goose-feather-like snowflake landed on his head.
"Huh??"
Ji An stared at the icy, snow-covered landscape stretching before him, his mouth agape.
Snow in Liyue?
I remember it was just spring before...
Did I actually end up in the simulation for several months in between?
That doesn't make much sense either...
Puzzled, he couldn't help but ask, "System, how long has it been since the simulation before the last one?"
[Ding! The time since the simulation before the last one is seven days.]
"...So it's not a matter of time. But why would Liyue have snow in spring?"
Just then, a biting cold wind blew.
It made him shiver.
Only then did Ji An notice he was still wearing his tattered hoodie.
The sleeves had been torn off by the Riftwolves, leaving his arms bare.
Ji An decided to simply discard the clothes and use Arcane Synthesis to create a new set.
He headed behind a large rock. Seeing no one around, he was about to take off his clothes and pants when his hands suddenly stopped.
He felt a bit awkward.
Turning his head, he found Herloxia closely following him, her single crimson eye curiously fixed on him.
Ahem.
He awkwardly turned back and said to Herloxia, who was watching him, "Herloxia, turn around for a moment..."
A moment later, using Arcane Synthesis, Ji An created a brand new set of clothes and boots.
The style was inspired by a combination of clothing from an anime character in his previous life and Liyue attire — white base embroidered with gold patterns, somewhat resembling formal wear from his previous life, with a fur scarf added around the neck.
It was both stylish and warm.
He conjured a mirror to check his reflection and nodded in satisfaction.
"Let's go, Herloxia."
...
Ji An discovered that Herloxia differed from other Automatons in one aspect, she could restructure her body.
So, he shamelessly requested that Herloxia create a seat for him, allowing him to ride on her as they traveled.
After walking for a while...
"Stop."
Ji An suddenly frowned.
He jumped down from the Ruin Hunter's body, his boots crunching on the thick snow.
"This is..."
Ahead of him was a deep, massive fissure in the ground, seemingly bottomless. Around this fissure were scattered countless shards of ice crystals. Even from a distance, he could feel the intense Cryo energy emanating from them.
Moreover, this wasn't an isolated case.
The further he went, the more such fissures there were—larger and deeper.
And for some reason, along the way, he saw many Ruin Guards and Ruin Hunters roaming about. He encountered groups of Automatons almost every few dozen meters.
If it weren't for Herloxia, they would have likely attacked Ji An long ago.
For anyone else, encountering such a vast number of Ruin Guards would probably lead to a dire outcome.
Ji An frowned deeply.
"Where did all these Ruin Guards come from? There are far too many."
"They aren't wandering aimlessly; they're searching for something."
He had Herloxia follow one group of Ruin Guards.
Finally, he and Herloxia stood at the edge of a frozen valley.
"A frozen valley... but there wasn't a valley here before."
As for why Ji An knew this—
It was because this was precisely where that Abyss Herald had thrown him into the spatial rift!
"What in the world happened..."
Ji An murmured.
The scene before him simply didn't seem like something man-made; it resembled some kind of natural, colossal force.
Besides—
Could someone really change the topography of an entire region single-handedly?
Ji An found it hard to imagine.
That would require terrifyingly immense power.
"Herloxia, let's go down and take a look."
He jumped onto Herloxia's body.
As Ji An and Herloxia descended further into the valley, the concentration of Cryo energy grew increasingly powerful. Along the way, even more Automatons appeared.
'There must be something here attracting them.'
The whole way, Ji An pondered where such a massive number of Automatons had come from.
He concluded there was only one possibility.
These Automatons had been dormant in ruins. The phenomenon that altered this landscape had awakened them.
When they reached the valley floor—
The Automatons were practically packed together, a dense, mechanical mass.
Even Ji An felt a chill run down his spine.
He never realized just how many Automatons were scattered around normally.
He recalled from his previous simulated life that there was a godless underground ancient kingdom, which created countless war machines to spread its civilization across the land.
Thankfully, the current Ruin Guards were out of control. If they were organized and invaded anywhere, it would be a catastrophe.
Ji An had already had Herloxia try; at her current level, she could control a maximum of five Automatons simultaneously.
Otherwise, he could have taken command of this steel legion.
But even if he could, it wouldn't be of much use.
Ji An didn't plan on conquering or painting the map.
Moreover, Teyvat had deities. Even the ancient kingdom at its peak was wary of the gods.
"Chirp chirp!"
At that moment, Ji An suddenly sensed excitement from Herloxia.
She seemed thrilled, like someone who had been starving for a long time and was now seeing a delicious feast.
"Is that what Herloxia and the other Ruin Guards are craving?"
Ji An's gaze sharpened, focusing on the crystals protruding from the ground of the ice valley.
They were buried deep; had the ground not collapsed due to that unknown force, they wouldn't have been exposed.
The Automatons surrounded the crystals, feasting on them like patrons at a banquet.
"Herloxia, you can go too."
Sensing her desire, Ji An said.
He then jumped down from Herloxia and approached one of the crystals, reaching out to touch it.
"This is... it's filled with the power of the ley lines?"
Ji An said in surprise.
Before, he might not have recognized it, but after acquiring Ancient Alchemy proficiency, he intuitively knew much related knowledge.
"So that's it. The cores of the Automatons are all powered by ley line energy."
"And it seems I can also draw power from them and even improve my alchemy level."
A flicker of delight crossed Ji An's eyes, but then he frowned.
"However, there's some dark and violent energy mixed within the ley line power that needs to be purified first..."
...
Meanwhile—
Outside Liyue Harbor, at a Millelith base.
The buildings here were also covered in pure white snow.
The faces of the Millelith soldiers were very grave, as if worried about something.
"Lady Keqing!"
"Lady Ningguang!"
Shouts from the distance eased the tension on the soldiers' faces, and they hurried forward to greet the newcomers.
The arrivals were two women.
One was a young lady with twin-tails, the ends of her hair styled almost like cat ears.
She wore an exquisite purple dress, her waist slender, her long legs clad in black stockings. Her stunningly beautiful face was currently very serious.
The other woman was also extremely beautiful, with a graceful demeanor. She wore an elegantly embroidered, flowing long skirt that revealed her fair, jade-like thighs.
"How is the situation? Have all the nearby residents been evacuated to Liyue Harbor?" Ningguang asked a soldier, her brow furrowed.
"The troops followed the orders immediately and went to various locations to relocate the residents to the Harbor," the Millelith soldier replied respectfully.
"And, following Lady Keqing's command, we sent requests for help to others within the Harbor, asking them to assist us in evacuating the residents."
Keqing nodded, her expression stern. "We must investigate and find out exactly what caused this anomaly."
"Those swarms of Ruin Guards are also a great threat to the people of Liyue. We must find a way to deal with them." Ningguang said with seriousness etched into her tone
Keqing looked at Ningguang. "Neither of us are experts on machinery. Should we send a message to Mt. Aocang and ask the Cloud Retainer to come?"
The Yuheng, Keqing, although advocating for human governance and reluctant to involve the adepti in Liyue's affairs, was not inflexible.
For the safety of Liyue, her personal pride meant nothing.
Ningguang puffed on her pipe, not immediately answering the question.
Keqing's delicate eyebrows furrowed. She was about to ask why Ningguang was hesitating at such a critical time.
"Heh."
At that moment, Ningguang suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Keqing, do you really think we should invite the Cloud Retainer?"
"What do you mean?" Keqing sensed something behind her words.
Ningguang put down her pipe. "I just received intelligence from the front lines. Guess who caused this current situation?"
Without waiting for Keqing's answer, she said through gritted teeth, "It was that disciple of the Cloud Retainer, that woman with the 'Lonesome Transcendence'! Who knows what madness came over her, but she used 'Calamity Queller'!"
"Calamity Queller? You mean that adepti weapon of the Cloud Retainer?" Keqing was shocked. "She passed that spear to Shenhe?"
"But even a forbidden weapon shouldn't cause a phenomenon like this," Keqing said hesitantly.
"Who knows what else happened in between? Anyway, the situation is out of control."
Ningguang grabbed her hair in frustration.
Both fell silent.
They tacitly agreed not to mention inviting the Cloud Retainer again.
The Liyue Qixing advocated for human governance and already had reservations about the adepti.
Now that the Cloud Retainer's disciple was the one who caused such a disaster and the adepti hadn't sent any word it was hard not to make them suspicious of the adepti's intentions.
"It seems the matter of the Ruin Guards will have to wait until we return to Liyue Harbor to recruit professionals to investigate later."
Keqing rubbed her temples.
She asked a Millelith soldier, "You mentioned earlier that you asked others to help evacuate the residents. Have they all returned?"
"Miss Xiangling has returned."
"Director Hu Tao returned ten minutes ago."
"Secretary Ganyu and Qiqi just got back..."
The soldiers reported one after another.
Suddenly, one Millelith soldier's face turned anxious: "Lady Keqing, Lady Ningguang, Miss Yanfei still hasn't sent any word..."
Hearing this, Keqing and Ningguang's expressions changed drastically.
"How could you let Yanfei go? She never liked fighting much, and she was injured not long ago! What if she encounters Ruin Guards!?"
The Millelith soldier looked miserable. "Well... because I heard that Miss Yanfei had taken on a legal commission near Cuijue Slope. Our soldiers couldn't get there in time, so we sent a message asking Miss Yanfei to help look after things."
"This is bad! Send people to provide support immediately!"
Keqing and Ningguang looked at each other, their faces pale with alarm.
-------
A/n: Hey over on my patreon there are currently two for the time being exclusive books which are
Zenless Zone Zero: Loving Daily Life Starting in New Eridu
Honkai Impact 3rd, I Can Transform into a Valkyrie!
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