Hu Tao Is Monetizing My Existence. [140]

Xiao and Zhongli appeared silently atop Dragonspine, overlooking the figures below and the thick, lingering clouds of smoke that still shrouded the impact zone.

From his vantage point, Xiao could clearly feel the tremors rippling through the mountain below. Faint explosions continued to echo from the blast site, as bursts of smoke surged upward, carrying the stinging scent of ignited sulfur through the icy air.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to pierce the dense smoke and glimpse what remained at the center of the detonation — but the haze was too thick. Even he couldn’t see through it.

Zhongli’s golden eyes glimmered faintly. He could see.

The Skyfrost Nail now resembled shattered glass — crisscrossed with countless fractures, faint blue light flickering within the cracks, barely holding its form together.

But the cracks were too many. With the relentless pressure of the explosions, the Nail could no longer hold.

It collapsed into fragments — large and small — floating midair in clear defiance of gravity.

Below it, the once-unbreakable sheet of ice had shattered completely. The permafrost that once sealed the Nail in place had melted under the blast’s heat, and its restraining grip was lost.

From beneath the melted ice, part of an ancient domain — sealed away for centuries — began to reveal itself.

The others couldn’t see what lay beneath just yet. Holding their breath, they waited for the smoke to clear.

—

Once the last explosion faded into silence, Jiang Bai quietly summoned a gust of wind using Anemo energy, sweeping the smoke aside.

And there it was — the broken remains of the Skyfrost Nail.

“We did it! The big stupid nail got wrecked!”

Klee jumped up with joy, fists raised. The others smiled too, the tension finally easing from their faces.

The Skyfrost Nail had splintered into pieces, completely detached from the ground. One could even say it had been pulled out.

Cartis’s soul was overcome with emotion. Even though he no longer had a body that could produce tears, translucent droplets still fell from his eyes — vanishing into the air before they could touch the ground.

He looked up at the sky, silent tears rolling down his face.

This was no longer the unreachable dream of a fallen civilization.
It was real. It had happened.

The nail that had destroyed his homeland… was finally gone.

The heavy weight that had pressed on his soul for so long lifted at last. His form grew faint, almost translucent.

“Let’s go.” Zhongli spoke softly from the mountain’s peak.

The answer had been revealed. There was no need to linger.

“Mhm.” Xiao nodded.

The two disappeared just as silently as they had arrived.

No one below noticed their presence — everyone’s attention was elsewhere.

Seeing Cartis’s soul growing unstable, Hu Tao quickly pulled out a sealing talisman and pressed it to his forehead, guiding him back into the journal.

Only once he was safely sealed away did she let out a long breath.

Now all that remained was to send Cartis to the Border — and her mission would be complete.

Jiang Bai had been watching the whole time. Seeing how faint Cartis’s soul had become, a sudden thought struck him — and his previously relaxed expression turned anxious.

“Director! Cartis promised to take me treasure hunting on the mountain! He still owes me!”

He’d been running around nonstop the past few days — there hadn’t been time to even look for treasure.

Honestly, if he hadn’t seen Cartis starting to fade, he might’ve forgotten all about it.

Hu Tao snapped the journal shut and gave him a look full of disdain.

“Is your brain ever filled with anything other than Mora and treasure?”

“…And Sweet Flowers!”

Jiang Bai replied defiantly, with zero shame.

That treasure was his reward — no way Hu Tao was going to claim it for herself!

“Treasure? Did someone say treasure?!”

Klee’s ears perked up immediately. She spun around, sparkling with excitement.

“Big Brother Jiang Bai’s going treasure hunting? Klee wants to come too!”

“You misheard!” Jiang Bai said quickly, scooping her up and turning her to face the floating shards of the Nail again.

Still not quite convinced, Klee pouted. Albedo glanced at her, then gently reminded:

“Klee, we haven’t finished here yet. No goofing off.”

Klee pouted harder… but nodded obediently. “Okay…”

“So… everything here’s settled now, right?” Hu Tao asked, looking around.

The Nail was broken — no need to pull it anymore. Sure, the fragments floating midair weren’t exactly pretty, but it wasn’t like they had a better solution.

Maybe someday, a clever, insightful adventurer would uncover all of Dragonspine’s secrets — and perhaps even raise those broken shards to the sky again, returning the Nail to where it came from.

“Not yet,” Albedo said, shaking his head. His gaze was fixed on the edge of a structure that had been revealed beneath the blast.

Domains like this were similar to ley line waypoints — they weren’t built by human hands, but formed by the ley lines themselves.

Ley lines had the power to record information. These domains often preserved echoes of past events.

But the method of recording was unique — you couldn’t just look and find answers. It required certain conditions to reveal what was hidden.

“I still have a lot of unanswered questions. About the Nail… this mountain… that lost civilization…”

The information Cartis had left behind was incomplete. Much of it had already been lost to time. And, more importantly, Cartis hadn’t been a scholar — just an adventurer. Even when the answers were right in front of him, he might not have recognized them.

But this domain — now partially exposed — might hold the rest of the puzzle. It could complete the story of the past.

“I want to explore the domain. Anyone want to join me?”

“Domain? What domain?” Jiang Bai blinked, totally clueless.

“That one,” Hu Tao pointed to the structure half-revealed in the melting ice.

Though calling it a “structure” might be a stretch — domains, when dormant, often resembled large stone blocks. If she hadn’t seen so many before, she might not have recognized it either.

“You going too, Director?”

Jiang Bai was itching to go. He’d never seen a domain before.

“Of course! A never-before-opened domain? Of course I’m going in!”

Klee raised her hand high. “Klee wants to go on an adventure too!”

“Then let’s all go together!” Jiang Bai was practically bouncing with excitement.

The four of them leapt into the crater left by the explosion. Scattered across the pit were fragments of what had once been part of Shar-Findelir, the lost nation buried beneath the snow.

The buildings, shattered and tilted at odd angles from the impact of the Skyfrost Nail, leaned like broken teeth. Just standing on the ruins meant tilting your head to see straight.

Jiang Bai tilted his head at a particularly clean, rectangular slab — the dormant domain. He thought back to how ley line anchors were usually activated, then cautiously reached out to touch the surface.

—

T/N: INTO THE UNKNOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN

This is a fan translation of 胡桃拿我冲业绩 by 余溯. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!