Hu Tao Is Monetizing My Existence. [141]

The moment Jiang Bai touched the stone, he felt the surge of a vast leyline network. The node connected to this domain lit up immediately.

Not long after his hand made contact, a faint blue glow began to radiate from the smooth stone — like the light that shone from Statues of The Seven.

The stone slowly shifted, transforming into an ancient-looking gate.

Intricate carvings adorned the doorway, with strange triangular patterns glowing softly in blue. The stone pillars flanking the gate were perfectly symmetrical — clearly shaped by human hands, not nature.

Jiang Bai found the transformation fascinating, though in a world as fantastical as this, he supposed anything was possible.

“The domain’s open. We can go in now.”

Unlike Jiang Bai, the others were clearly used to this — not even Klee, the youngest of the group, looked surprised.

Obviously, this kind of thing had long become commonplace for them.

“So how do we enter? Just push the door open?”

“Exactly.”

Jiang Bai pushed on the stone doors. They creaked inward, revealing a dark void within — deep and star-speckled, like a window into the cosmos.

Albedo took Klee’s hand and stepped through first. Hu Tao glanced at the stunned Jiang Bai, then grabbed his wrist and pulled him along.

Passing through the vast, starlit curtain, they arrived in an entirely unfamiliar place.

It was a massive cavern, sprawling in all directions. From above, a pale blue light filtered in through crevices in the rock ceiling, keeping the space from falling into complete darkness.

Ruins lay scattered across the cave floor — collapsed structures and crumbled walls tangled with jagged stone, making the terrain treacherous and complex.

The only smooth surface was a sheet of ice that had once been a flowing river, now completely frozen over. The thick ice exhaled wisps of chilling mist.

Flakes of snow danced through the air. Cold wind blew in from the cave’s mouth, shrouding the space in a fine, biting haze.

They now stood upon a vast platform, pristine and intact. The starlit barrier they had passed through was gone — the view ahead was unobstructed.

The platform itself was held aloft by massive, gnarled roots, twisted like muscle through the surrounding rock. Suspended above the frozen river below, the platform was encircled by pale blue cubes that cast a soft, glowing light.

“Where… is this?”

Jiang Bai looked around, wide-eyed with awe, like someone seeing the world for the first time.

He walked to the edge and peered down — a white void stretched beneath them, so dense he couldn’t see anything past it.

“This is the interior of the domain,” Hu Tao said, arms crossed. “Each domain is different. What we’re seeing here… is probably a projection of Dragonspine as it was a thousand years ago.”

“Projection? You mean this isn’t real? We can’t touch it?”

Albedo nodded, picking up her explanation. “Correct. What you’re seeing is a captured image from history — preserved and replayed by the ley lines.”

“We can interact only with the things on this platform — and with that petrified tree at the far end.”

Jiang Bai followed Albedo’s gaze. At the very end of the platform stood a pale-white tree, leafless and still. Behind it, a massive mural covered the wall — though from this distance, Jiang Bai couldn’t make out its details.

“So if we want to learn more about the ancient civilization… it’s through that petrified tree? But wasn’t the one outside destroyed? Why is there still one here?”

Jiang Bai had questions. So many questions.

“Every domain has one of these trees. I believe they’re a kind of leyline memory node — like a record left behind by the world itself. They may resemble the petrified trees we see aboveground, but they’re not the same.”

He paused, then added:

“Think of the leylines as a massive server. The leyline trees we see around Teyvat are like terminals — connected to that server.”

“As for domains and the trees inside them… those are more like USB drives. They store specific information copied from the main server, like a backup.”

“They can be accessed from a terminal, or removed and viewed independently.”

“…I think I get it,” Jiang Bai said slowly — though, in truth, he wasn’t entirely sure he did.

The relationship between Teyvat’s leylines, leyline trees, and domain anchors was complicated. For someone encountering it all for the first time, it was almost impossible to sort out.

“So we just walk over to the petrified tree, touch it, and the information will be revealed?”

Jiang Bai had noticed — Teyvat had a habit of making things oddly convenient. Most things could be activated just by touching them.

“Basically.”

“Then let’s just go!”

“Not so fast,” Albedo cautioned. “Domains typically contain monsters — leyline corruption given form. We’ll need to clear them before we can reach the tree.”

Jiang Bai had just taken a step when he quickly pulled his foot back.

“…Will they be strong?”

So far, he’d only fought hilichurls, abyss mages, and geovishaps — the more common types. He hadn’t yet come across anything really difficult.

“Hard to say. Every domain is different. We won’t know until they appear.”

Albedo exhaled, white mist escaping his lips. “Also… have you noticed how cold it is in here? Even colder than near the Skyfrost Nail.”

This was the kind of cold that clung to bone — a chill so deep it seemed intent on freezing them solid.

Albedo could feel it pressing in from all directions, slowly eating away at their warmth.

Now that he mentioned it, Jiang Bai suddenly realized how freezing it was.

No matter how many layers he wore, the cold seeped right through them. Clothing offered no protection at all.

Klee was already warming her hands over her Pyro Vision, her catalyst floating behind her. With the Vision active, a thin layer of Pyro energy shimmered around her like a heat field, warding off the cold.

It was a trick she’d developed while placing the bombs — even on Dragonspine, she stayed toasty warm now.

…Though if she misjudged the Pyro output, she might catch fire.

Hu Tao clutched her little ghost tight, letting the spirit’s inner heat warm her through.

Jiang Bai took out the warming charm Albedo had made him. It worked just fine outside the domain, but here… it could barely keep his hands warm.

He shuffled closer to Klee, shamelessly soaking up her Pyro aura.

“Let’s move,” Hu Tao urged. “In this kind of cold, we won’t last long. Quick in, quick out.”

Even with her ghost pressed close, she was still freezing.

In the end, she had no choice but to enlarge the ghost, wrapping herself completely inside its form. It looked strange, but it worked — the warmth was undeniable.

—

T/N: 2 pyros, and 2 geos… i mean its not a bad comp to shield up and just vaporize for this domain

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!