"Higher, a little higher!"
"Alright, alright, spread your limbs!"
"What, you can't spread them? Didn't you eat? Put some effort into it!"
...Inside the vast Golden House, Yu Jin was directing the Golden Tree to "modify" the Exuvia.
A slender, golden-yellow sapling grew out of the floor, gradually coiling around the Exuvia's body.
"Buzz—"
The fine, needle-like branches pricked the Exuvia's surface, immediately emitting a grating hum.
It seemed that even a clone of Zhongli possessed a body toughness that Childe could not match.
"What? Why are you only pricking the thickest scales?" Yu Jin leaned over to look and found the Golden Tree struggling with the Exuvia's jade horns.
He grabbed the Golden Tree's twitching branch and plunged it into the Exuvia's neck.
Without the protection of the jade scales, the Golden Tree's branches finally penetrated the Exuvia's body.
Seeing this, Yu Jin shook his head. Not having eyes was truly troublesome.
As if finding the trick, more branches burrowed into the Exuvia. They seemed to transform into bones and muscles, supporting the limp Exuvia as it stood up from the ground.
However, this "standing" meant standing on two feet. Even the half-dragon, half-qilin Exuvia's forelimbs were raised.
It looked like an enlarged specimen.
"Good, good, good! I'll cut a piece, Xiao Huang, you try to restore the body."
Yu Jin looked on, very satisfied. Next, he needed to test if the Golden Tree could repair the Exuvia's body.
If not, he would probably have to intervene himself.
With that, Yu Jin casually pulled out a straight sword and began to cut with fluid movements.
"Bang!"
The Exuvia's entire body was forged from jade. Within it resided Morax's divine power, making its body's toughness comparable to refined steel.
If it encountered scales or calluses formed from pure elemental energy, even the Golden Tree found it somewhat difficult.
But all of this seemed to be no obstacle for Yu Jin. The old straight sword inserted, cut, and withdrew, and a piece of the Exuvia, composed of elemental power, fell off.
The straight sword was old, but very sharp. As Yu Jin cut, the Golden Tree's branches, deeply embedded in the Exuvia, couldn't help but shrink back. The Golden Tree was afraid that Yu Jin's hand might slip and cut it too.
Fortunately, Yu Jin's hand was steady, and the sword's movements perfectly avoided the slender Golden Tree branches within.
Yu Jin withdrew the straight sword, looked at the Exuvia with a gash in its thigh, and nodded. It seemed that after a long time without using a blade, his skill was still as superb as before.
"Come on, Xiao Huang, try it!"
Yu Jin clapped his hands and said, looking at the wound on the Exuvia, which resembled a fractured rock surface.
Hearing Yu Jin's words, the Golden Tree naturally began to exert itself. Outwardly, this meant the Exuvia began to sway—because the Golden Tree branches supporting the Exuvia were swaying.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The protruding calluses of the Exuvia collided as it swayed. After a period of what Yu Jin perceived as a constipated build-up of power, the Exuvia's wound finally began to change.
"Pfft~"
Such a familiar sound, had he heard it somewhere before?
However, before Yu Jin could think much more, the changes in the Exuvia captured his attention.
"Crunch! Crunch!"
A sound of colliding rocks emerged, and then Yu Jin saw the wound on the Exuvia begin to heal.
And then, there was no then.
"..."
Yu Jin looked down at the wound; the healing was estimated to be less than one centimeter. He then looked up at the Golden Tree branches hidden within the Exuvia, falling silent.
"Xiao Huang, do you have some kind of issue with me?" Yu Jin reached his hand into the Exuvia and pulled out a golden-glowing branch, saying.
What's with only one centimeter of healing? Is it looking down on him? Or is the Golden Tree lazy?
Whichever it was, Yu Jin felt that Xiao Huang's personality—oh no!—its "treesonality" had a problem and needed him to correct it.
Upon hearing this, the Golden Tree's branches immediately twisted and writhed, appearing very anxious.
"What? You're saying all the blessings went to nurture that big white fruit? Not a single drop can be squeezed out?"
Yu Jin released the Golden Tree's branch, shouting in disbelief. That big fruit consumed so much, it was almost draining Xiao Huang dry?
Of course, perhaps it was also because there was too little for the Golden Tree to absorb in Teyvat, making the produced blessing dew somewhat insufficient.
According to Xiao Huang, it mainly grew by consuming memories from places where Ley Lines were severed and chaotic, in addition to the filth deep within Irminsul.
Truly, it grew up eating trash.
Hmm? Did that just insult Yu Jin too? After all, the Golden Tree also consumed Yu Jin's blood as it grew.
"Hiss—" Yu Jin suddenly felt a dull ache in his arm. How long had it been? Was it time to shed blood again?
Even if he was physically robust, he couldn't endure such abuse!
"Ah—, I'm so annoyed!" Yu Jin let out a few strange cries and was about to remove his arm guard. But to his surprise, the Golden Tree's branches actively reached out, stopping Yu Jin's movement.
The golden-yellow branches swayed rhythmically. The meaning was: "I found something good!"
...In the deep underground ruins, campfires that should not exist suddenly ignited. This was once the site of an ancient kingdom, and also the place in Teyvat closest to the Abyss.
Above those campfires, obscure and incomprehensible purple runes floated. These runes emanated chaos and madness, as if beyond human comprehension.
Within the ruins stood a blond youth. Under the campfire's light, the youth's expression was extremely complex.
Aether, also the current "Prince" of the Abyss Order. Aether raised his hand and looked at the white tie in his palm, an accessory belonging to his sister, Lumine.
"We can't meet yet, Lumine, just wait a little longer." Aether put away the white tie, his complex expression once again becoming resolute.
"Your Highness, everything is ready. All that's missing is the core of Unit 01." From the deep darkness, a black and blue non-human entity emerged.
Abyss Herald: Torrent.
They were the sharpest blades of the Abyss Order, and also its absolute backbone. The will of The Order required them to execute it.
"What about the core's Abyssal energy block? Is that ready too?" Aether turned around and asked Torrent.
Besides the yet-to-be-found core of the first-generation Ruin Guard, the most important thing was the Abyssal energy block that The Order had been preparing for a long time.
Although the Abyss Order was the organization with the most contact with the Abyss in Teyvat, they did not dare to be careless in their use of Abyssal power.
The madness and taboo of the Abyss meant that even Apostle-level Gods could be swallowed without a trace if they were even slightly careless.
To solidify the extremely unstable Abyss into usable energy blocks was the current limit of what the Abyss Order could achieve.
But even so, it was an extremely brilliant achievement. The madness of the Abyss was both its danger and its strength.
The Abyssal energy infused by Khaenri'ah centuries ago still powered the Ruin Guards scattered across the land today.
With the energy The Order currently stored, Aether was confident he could activate the world-destroying God from a thousand years ago. And it would be one that would never tire.
"Your Highness, if I may speak frankly. Have you made a decision regarding the new target?"
"Naturally, the Vortex God Osial. He is our new target." Aether looked up at the dark crust of the earth, saying with full confidence.
Originally, The Order's target was Dvalin, but unfortunately, Dvalin had already shaken off the corrosion of the toxic blood and regained his duty as one of the Four Winds.
To try and corrupt him again would probably be unrealistic.
And Osial perfectly fit The Order's criteria: lonely, a loser, resentful. He was practically a God born to be corrupted by the Abyss.
"Oh no, Your Highness, something is stealing our Abyssal energy! I can't beat it!"
Just as Aether was contemplating how to modify Osial, a fiery red figure rushed over.
It was Enjou, who had been sent to guard the warehouse.
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