Starsnatch Cliff.
Venti took out the Holy Lyre der Himmel. A small amount of Anemo energy flowed across its surface.
This bit of Anemo energy was obviously not enough to summon Dvalin.
At this moment, it was Jun Bai's turn the one who had gone to collect the teardrop crystals earlier to step up.
Jun Bai took out three teardrop crystals and looked at Lumine: "Traveler, I'll leave the rest to you."
Lumine nodded, took the teardrop crystals, and began purifying them.
While Lumine was purifying the teardrop crystals, Venti looked at Jun Bai and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. This level of erosion isn't worth my attention." Jun Bai crossed his arms over his chest, yet a pair of gloves that had not been there before appeared on his hands.
This was for the players to see.
Little Gui immediately stopped auto-play and discussed the plot together with the water friends who were watching with magnifying glasses: "I remember very clearly that in both the official art and the previous model, Jun Bai wasn't wearing gloves."
[But now Jun Bai is wearing gloves. Something must have happened while he was collecting the teardrop crystals.]
[From Venti's tone, the corrupted teardrop crystals are harmful to the human body, but Jun Bai is pretending to be fine so no one would worry.]
[These gloves are probably to prevent others from noticing that he is injured.]
[He specially hides his wounds so his friends won't worry. Jun Bai, you're so gentle.]
"As expected of my husband. MiHoYo, hurry up open the banner. My wallet is already starving!" Little Gui continued calling out to MiHoYo.
—Back to Teyvat
Lumine finished purifying the teardrop crystals and merged the three teardrop crystals into the Holy Lyre der Himmel.
The Holy Lyre der Himmel shone brilliantly, its power fully restored to its peak state.
Venti took back the Holy Lyre der Himmel and praised, "Not bad. With this, the preparations for summoning Dvalin are complete. We can begin the performance."
"Please listen carefully. The best bard in the mortal world is about to start his show."
With that, Venti gently stroked the strings and played the Song of the High Heavens.
The notes danced under the command of rhythm. The sound of the lyre flowed along the direction of the wind, and a beautiful movement unfolded at this moment.
A feeling of relaxation, freedom, and comfort surged into the minds of the five people present. The wind blew gently beside them, and a soft warmth guided the bound dragon toward the direction of home.
Roar!
Everyone was immersed in the music, and then, within the music, they awaited that dragon cry.
Dvalin appeared above Starsnatch Cliff and locked eyes with Venti, who was playing the movement, and Jun Bai behind him.
Venti's face showed hope as he quietly watched Dvalin lower his head. Heavy breaths sprayed onto his body.
Dvalin growled lowly: "It's you? At this point, there's nothing left to say!"
"Is that so? Did I see wrongly?"
Venti rarely showed a deep expression: "Looking at your eyes, it seems you are also recalling this tune."
Dvalin: "..."
At this moment, Jun Bai stepped forward and said, "Dvalin, you know that you are sick right now."
"Venti and I have come to cure the illness on your body."
Before he finished speaking, a sharp glint flashed in Jun Bai's eyes. He summoned his white-tasseled spear, took two steps in three, swung the flaming long spear, and shattered the sudden ice spikes.
If Jun Bai had not acted in time, the ice spikes would have already struck the Holy Lyre der Himmel in Venti's hands.
Jun Bai's cold gaze turned toward the Cryo Abyss Mage that had suddenly appeared beside Dvalin. "I wondered who was sneak-attacking from the shadows. It turns out to be a small fry from the Abyss Order."
"With your strength, you logically shouldn't be able to control an elemental being of Dvalin's level. It seems there must be a higher-ranking member of the Order behind you."
"For example, that [Prince] Highness."
A rift tore open in the sky. A Hydro Abyss Herald charged out and swung a water blade toward Jun Bai.
Jun Bai's expression remained calm as his spear drew a fire blade.
Hydro and Pyro reacted, producing a large amount of steam.
The Hydro Abyss Herald stood in front of the Cryo Abyss Mage. The look in his eyes toward Jun Bai was filled with indescribable dread.
"Phemix, you still exist in this world!"
"Liyue still has need of me, so naturally I will not leave." Jun Bai raised his hand, pointing the spear tip at the Abyss Herald. "Since you recognize me, it is time to settle the blood debt from the Chasm five hundred years ago."
"I will settle your sins one by one!"
Jun Bai dashed forward. The spear tip went straight for the Abyss Herald's heart. His red eyes were filled with killing intent.
"Gather forces! Don't let a single one escape!"
The Hydro Abyss Herald ordered, swinging the twin blades on his arms to meet Jun Bai.
"Understood."
The Cryo Abyss Mage who received the order acknowledged and began performing a dance resembling a ritual.
One abyssal monster after another controlled by the Abyss appeared and launched a siege toward Venti, Lumine, Paimon, and Diluc.
"Venti! Pacify Dvalin and don't let it cause trouble!"
"Diluc! Deal with that Abyss Mage!"
"Traveler! Handle those monsters!"
"This guy is mine!"
Jun Bai split the Hydro Abyss Herald open with one spear strike. Pyro energy gathered around his body, forming a crimson phoenix behind him.
This was the first time Jun Bai had used his full strength after crossing over.
"Don't think that just because you are a god you can look down on us believers of the Abyss!"
The blazing heat of the crimson phoenix and the majestic godly aura, even from dozens of meters away, still made the Hydro Abyss Herald feel fear.
However, he refused to admit that he, as an Abyss believer, felt fear toward a god.
A massive amount of Hydro energy converged into a raging current. A water-blue glow surged across his pitch-black armor.
This was the Hydro Abyss Herald's final trump card and the symbol of him going all out.
Facing Phemix, the Nirvana God who had made a resounding name for himself during the Archon War, even though he had already confirmed that the opponent's strength was less than one percent of what it once was as a member of the mortal world, only by burning everything could he qualify to fight him.
Fire and water, like two crossing meteors, once again collided in the sky.
—Real World
Silver Wolf unscrewed a new bottle of happy water and stared unblinkingly at the computer screen.
The usually lively livestream room was rarely quiet no one was chatting because everyone was concentrating on watching the story animation.
Silver Wolf, who usually called herself a meta player and rarely studied the plot in detail, couldn't bear to blink while watching this cutscene, afraid of missing any exciting frame.
Lumine walked through the horde of monsters. The blade wrapped in flowing wind continuously reaped the lives of the monsters, her movements smooth and valiant.
Diluc gripped his greatsword with one hand, dealing with the Cryo Abyss Mage using powerful moves. The blazing flames around him illuminated his face.
The focus, however, was on the battle between fire and water in the sky.
Crimson red and water blue each lit up half of the sky. The sounds of spear and blade clashing rang out continuously.
The Song of the High Heavens served as accompaniment for this battle. The clashing of weapons fell onto the notes, carrying a trace of killing intent.
This didn't look like a game cutscene at all it looked more like a high-energy battle from an anime theatrical version.
It wasn't until the screen froze on the scene of Jun Bai clashing with the Hydro Abyss Herald, requiring a click to continue the story, that the animation ended.
Long after the animation finished, Silver Wolf finally picked up the happy water she had opened earlier, calmly took a sip, and then asked, "Did any family member record the screen just now? Please DM me a copy. I got too immersed and forgot to record."
[...I forgot too. Feels like I missed out on a hundred million.]
[Looks like I have to download it.]
[Was I really just watching a game story earlier, or a big-budget anime theatrical version?]
[Every frame is movie-level CG. Every second of effects is burning money.]
[Hiss, why is Wolfie taking out her calculator?]
Silver Wolf glanced at the bullet comments, then replied, "I'm calculating how much it costs for C6 R5. My original Jun Bai 0+1 plan might have changed."