“Ooohhh!”
(>∀<)
Gu Sanqiu’s expression morphed into one of sheer excitement as he stared intently at the blue light descending slowly toward the altar.
“Albedo, it’s time to get to work!”
“Hm?”
Albedo opened his eyes, catching sight of the blue comet-like light aiming directly at him, blinking in surprise.
First things first—if they intended to take him out with a meteor, they wouldn’t have warned him. Which meant… what was this thing?
“Don’t worry; this is exactly what we came here for. The rest is up to you. If things go sideways, we’ll step in!”
Gu Sanqiu had to practically shout, as the sharpness and killing intent radiating from the blue light were so potent that, if he’d used a normal speaking voice, his words would’ve been shredded into meaningless noise before they reached Albedo.
“What’s going on? It’s just a plain old blue light—why’s it giving off such intense waves?”
Wrapping his right hand in geo energy, Gu Sanqiu extended it cautiously to test the sharpness radiating around the altar.
Shhhk!
A faint but crisp slicing sound followed, leaving a clean cut on his elemental glove.
“Well, well.”
Unfazed expression of surprise intensifies.
“What are you doing? The aura here feels off,” Tartaglia said, watching Albedo, who’d already taken a defensive stance. Then he shot Gu Sanqiu an indignant glare.
“With something this good, you didn’t even think to include me?!”
“This is good? You’re calling this good?”
Gu Sanqiu scoffed, then shot back, “You seriously think standing in the center of that field is a good thing?”
“It’s dangerous, so it’ll sharpen my skills and instincts even more. Of course it’s good!”
…
“Fine, you battle maniac, you win. I won’t even argue.”
“So, in Liyue terms, is this some kind of sword aura field?”
“Close enough. With my shield’s current strength, though, stepping dead center in there would require a second layer of shielding.”
Gu Sanqiu watched intently as the blue light gradually dissipated, revealing an ominous-looking greatsword.
The problem, however, was that this sword wasn’t just lying on the altar; it was pointed directly at Albedo, as if an invisible opponent were poised for a duel.
“This doesn’t feel right.”
Gu Sanqiu frowned, realizing that this thing—which had always been nothing more than enhancement material—was now exuding an aura that felt almost overwhelming.
Two possibilities came to mind: either they were still at a “throwing mud” level of power, making the difference stark, or—
Teyvat itself was a world of absurdly high-level power, where they barely qualified as fresh initiates in their new territory.
Sure, both were possible. But one was about being undertrained, and the other a matter of world scale itself, and those weren’t quite the same.
…
None of this makes sense, damn it!
“So, this is the ‘danger’ we were anticipating,” Albedo muttered, extending both hands as multiple flower-like instruments materialized around him. They dropped to the ground and unfurled into a massive alchemical domain that clashed with the sword aura.
The two forces collided mid-air, creating shockwaves as each side attempted to push the other back, forcing the two onlookers to take a few cautious steps backward.
“Strong!”
Tartaglia’s lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile. “That Albedo guy’s strong, and so is that sword!”
“This setup must cost a fortune. Get me one of these someday—I’ll pay whatever it takes!”
“Let’s see how this unfolds first.”
Gu Sanqiu didn’t commit. Although the pressure was intense, he sensed that if he and Tartaglia combined their efforts, they could probably take on the greatsword head-to-head.
Suddenly, the sword’s aura constricted, coalescing into a single blade of sword energy that hovered above Albedo’s head, poised to strike.
The Ultimate—Ten-Meter Greatsword!
“Unleash!”
With a swift motion, Albedo activated one of his flower instruments, which absorbed power from the alchemical field, forming a robust shield that intercepted the greatsword’s attack.
BOOM!
Although the sword aura wasn’t an actual weapon, the shield shattered on impact, scattering into the surrounding area and reestablishing the sword aura field, holding back the alchemical field once again.
Then, as if guided by an invisible hand, the greatsword lunged forward, tearing through the alchemical domain with newfound precision and stopping mere inches from Albedo’s face.
“Impressive swordsmanship!”
Tartaglia couldn’t help but exclaim. “To wield a greatsword like that? Whoever created this sword must be a rare master!”
Gu Sanqiu’s eyes flashed. “Agreed. This is not just brute strength—it’s pure skill. Like embroidering with an axe on a Slime’s head!”
Albedo hadn’t expected it to pierce his defenses so swiftly and could only muster a hastily constructed geo shield, while his other flower instruments launched a fierce counterattack.
Whoever was controlling this sword was pouring massive energy into it, keeping it stable enough to maintain such precision attacks without exhausting their resources.
Albedo’s gaze sharpened. He raised his hand, causing one of his instruments to flare with intense light, thickening the alchemical field to an almost solid state.
“Primeval entity—appear!”
ROAR!
The immense power conjured a massive ochre-colored dragon. With a ferocious cry, it lunged at the greatsword, claws flashing in a show of strength.
“Oh, this is bad!”
Gu Sanqiu stomped the ground, summoning a shield layered ten times over around himself and Tartaglia, watching through the barrier as the dragon and sword collided.
BOOM!
The shockwaves from the clash, combined with fragments of sword energy, ripped through nine layers of Gu Sanqiu’s shield before dissipating.
“That… that’s incredible power.”
Tartaglia swallowed hard, but his eyes sparkled with excitement.
“A perfect challenge! Just my style!”
“Sure, you’d enjoy this. But if every fight were this intense, Liyue’s landscape would be flattened into a barren plain by now.”
Gu Sanqiu glanced around. In a radius of hundreds of meters, the terrain was completely shattered, with the remains of sturdy trees lying in scattered splinters. His hastily constructed altar was reduced to rubble.
“In Liyue terms,” Albedo remarked with a small smile, spreading his fingers to reveal a faintly glowing blue orb, “mission accomplished.”
“This is what you were after, isn’t it?”
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