Chapter 420: EXP Farming? (2-in-1 Chapter)
There was no glimmering pile of Mora, nor were there weapons or artifacts. Instead, what lay inside was a stack of old, yellowed papers.
What is this?
Nolan felt a tinge of curiosity.
Controlling the "Lumine's Sword God," he reached out to pick up one of the sheets for a closer look. However, as soon as he touched it, only a tiny fragment between his fingers lifted away—the rest of the paper remained stuck to the pile, too brittle to be removed intact.
…
Nolan remained silent for a moment. It was obvious—these papers had been left here for far too long, deteriorating to the point that they would crumble at the slightest touch.
Oh well. He didn't dwell on it and instead focused on the text.
---
[Record 7: Third Batch Experiment]
- Subject 07: Ordinary crow
- Changes: Green pupils, charred wings
- Extraordinary power: None
- Lifespan: Rapid decline, estimated maximum 78 hours
- Conclusion: Experiment failed.
[Record 8: Third Batch Experiment]
- Subject 08: Ordinary crow
- Changes: Green pupils, charred wings
- Behavioral anomaly: Extreme aggression
- Extraordinary power: None
- Lifespan: Rapid decline, estimated maximum 52 hours
- Conclusion: Experiment failed.
[Record 34: Third Batch Experiment]
- Subject 34: Ordinary crow
- Changes: Green pupils, wings unaffected
- Behavioral anomaly: Extreme aggression
- Extraordinary power: Signs of erosion detected
- Lifespan: Relatively stable, estimated maximum of two years
- Conclusion: Experiment failed.
---
As Nolan scanned through the entries, it became clear—this was an experiment log, and the test subjects were ordinary crows.
Using common crows as test subjects in an attempt to grant them extraordinary power… Nolan quickly deduced that this place must have been one of "Gold" Rhinedottir's research bases.
After all, he had encountered Beastrealm Crows—a type of magical creature—roaming around this area. And Beastrealm creatures were Rhinedottir's creations.
The chances of someone else conducting similar research in the same location? Unlikely. It had to be her.
The fact that these experiment records were left here so carelessly suggested that they weren't particularly important.
As for the strange purple mist lingering in the area, perhaps it was a byproduct of natural decay over time—or maybe, just maybe, it was Rhinedottir's twisted sense of humor.
A little "surprise" for any unfortunate soul who happened to stumble upon this place.
For Nolan, these logs weren't particularly useful. However, if Sucrose were given a copy, she might find it valuable as an alchemical reference from a predecessor.
Although Sucrose and Rhinedottir pursued different branches of alchemy, there were always things to learn from fellow alchemists.
Hmm… Perhaps he should have Sucrose transcribe a copy. And the original? It could be left as a keepsake for Albedo—after all, it was his master's work.
With that decision made, Nolan stashed the ornate chest containing the experiment records and moved on to check the other wooden crates. To his disappointment, they were all empty.
Were these originally used for food storage?
Had so much time passed that not even a trace remained?
Shrugging off the thought, he turned his focus forward, guiding the Lumine's Sword God as it continued to fly ahead.
---
Exiting the room, Nolan arrived at the next passageway.
A staircase led upward—about twenty to thirty meters in length.
The Lumine's Sword God ascended steadily.
Step after step blurred past as he soared upward, soon reaching the top.
He arrived at what appeared to be an aviary or holding pen.
On either side stood structures made of iron bars, though time had corroded them, leaving them rusted and decayed.
There was no sign of the green-eyed crows here. He had no idea where the one from earlier had come from.
Temporarily setting aside his questions, Nolan relaxed, enjoying the massages from Eula and Amber while he continued his exploration.
---
"Ugh… I'm so tired! My hands are sore! Can't we do something else?"
Amber, who had been leaning forward to massage Nolan's shoulders for quite some time, was now aching all over. Her back and hands were stiff from the prolonged effort.
She was growing bored of this task.
"Heh, in that case, how about stepping on my back instead?"
"That way, you won't have to use your hands."
Nolan smiled as he suggested the idea.
"S-Stepping on your back?!"
Amber's fair complexion instantly turned flushed.
Massaging shoulders was one thing, but stepping on someone's back—that was something a maid would do!
"Umm… I think I'd rather just keep massaging your shoulders. O-Or I can rub your back instead. But stepping on you… Ugh, that's too embarrassing!"
Amber shook her head, firmly rejecting the idea.
"Alright then. Eula, what about you?"
Since Amber refused, Nolan turned to Eula, unwilling to give up so easily.
After all, Eula was quite prideful. She had already declared that she would be a perfect maid, leaving Jean with no room to criticize.
Perhaps, out of sheer stubbornness, she would agree to his request?
Unfortunately, things did not go as he expected.
Eula's cheeks also turned red, and her fingers dug deeper into his shoulders.
With a slightly flustered yet angry voice, she declared:
"If you make me do that, I'll shove my Glacial Illumination right up your ass!"
---
Glacial Illumination?
Nolan paused, visualizing the explosive aftermath of such an attack.
A chill ran down his spine.
That… sounds terrifying.
Feeling intimidated, he quickly abandoned his idea, awkwardly clearing his throat to cover his embarrassment.
"A-Ahem… You know what? Never mind. Using hands is perfectly fine. Hands are just fine."
"Hmph. Then lie down and turn over properly!"
Eula huffed, clearly still flustered, but continued her massage.
This flirtatious guy really knows how to push his luck. In the morning, he had them stepping on his back, and by night, he's already daring to have them warm his bed!
"Hehe, sure, but you two should take a break first. After all, you've been massaging my shoulders for a while. You must be tired."
With a smile, Nolan spoke as if he was letting them rest out of concern. Then, without hesitation, he lay down on Eula's soft, curvy thighs.
Even though he didn't achieve his original goal, this was still quite nice.
"You… this guy—!"
Eula was clearly displeased. She never agreed to let him use her lap as a pillow!
Hmph, I'll remember this grudge! she thought to herself before leaning back against the sofa, half-reclining and allowing herself a brief moment of relaxation.
Amber, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind. Even when Nolan's legs ended up draped over her knees, she remained unbothered.
Who would've thought that something as simple as giving a massage could be this tiring? She needed a break too.
More than ten minutes passed, and in the end, Eula relented and started massaging Nolan's back.
Seeing that Eula was handling the back, Amber had no choice but to lightly tap his legs with her fists.
[Eula Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 130 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (230/800)]
[Amber Has Developed Good Feelings Toward You. Obtained 120 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (370/800)]
At least this guy wasn't treating them completely like maids. Hmph, he still has a bit of a conscience.
Feeling the gentle pressing and rhythmic tapping on his back and legs, Nolan let out a satisfied sigh.
This was incredibly relaxing.
Now, if only he could have cute and beautiful girls giving him massages every day—shoulder rubs, back presses, leg taps—wouldn't that be the ideal life?
Too bad Eula and Amber were only acting as maids for a few days. He had to find a way to keep them around a little longer.
Or maybe he could convince Fischl, Sucrose, or Mona—those girls were easier to persuade—to occasionally help him with a massage?
As he entertained these thoughts, his attention shifted back to "Lumine's Sword God."
After searching through the ruins of an abandoned laboratory for a long time, he had finally found traces of the green-eyed ravens.
At this point, "Lumine's Sword God" was no longer in a man-made tunnel with obvious signs of construction.
While flying through the dim passageway earlier, she had suddenly noticed a break in the wall, about half a meter wide.
Inside was complete darkness—nothing could be seen.
However, when he used "Lumine's Sword God" to probe inside with his spiritual senses, he discovered that the passage beyond the crack was surprisingly long.
Clearly, this place wasn't simple. Nolan suspected it had something to do with the green-eyed ravens.
Without hesitation, he controlled "Lumine's Sword God" to fly inside. He estimated that he traveled about two or three kilometers before—
Finally, a faint light appeared ahead, and the scenery outside gradually became clearer.
When he fully emerged from the tunnel, what unfolded before him was a massive cavern, at least several hundred square meters wide.
The ground was covered with the droppings of some kind of bird.
To the left, there was a dark and still pool of water, where dozens of green-eyed ravens were gathered, drinking.
Looking upward, "Lumine's Sword God" noticed a dense swarm of green-eyed ravens circling around a golden spatial rift in mid-air.
There were so many that counting them was impossible.
By now, Nolan had a decent understanding of beasts from the Abyssal Realm.
As expected, these creatures were likely maintaining a successfully opened spatial rift—one that led directly to the continent of Teyvat!
Where exactly in Teyvat this rift connected to, he wasn't sure. Just as he pondered this, the green-eyed ravens quickly noticed "Lumine's Sword God."
After all, "she" was glowing brilliantly with golden light, making her an obvious target.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
The green-eyed ravens instantly identified this golden intruder as an enemy and started screeching furiously.
Within moments, their cries synchronized, creating a powerful soundwave resonance that swept toward "Lumine's Sword God."
It seemed that this sound carried traces of mental energy, as it was actually capable of affecting "Lumine's Sword God!"
Though the impact wasn't significant.
After all, most of these ravens were only around level 30 to 40. No matter how many of them there were, they wouldn't be able to truly harm "her."
Perhaps realizing that their attacks were ineffective, the Abyssal Ravens immediately switched tactics.
They opened their beaks and spat out clusters of green fireballs, hurling them toward "Lumine's Sword God."
But "she" didn't even bother dodging—the fireballs simply passed through her body effortlessly.
Any attack that lacked spiritual, psychic, or conceptual power had no way of harming her.
Nolan decided not to let them continue their futile assault. He summoned a golden longsword and casually swung, releasing a wave of sword energy.
Without a sound, a massive number of ravens were instantly sliced in half, falling lifelessly to the ground.
+522 Adventure EXP
+486 Adventure EXP
+671 Adventure EXP
His character panel rapidly flooded with Adventure EXP notifications.
Just from that single slash, at least a hundred green-eyed ravens were cut down.
He had gained around 80,000 Adventure EXP!
Nolan's eyes widened in delight. He glanced up at the remaining flock and noticed that, despite the massacre, their numbers hadn't visibly decreased much.
If he wiped them all out, he could probably earn over a million Adventure EXP!
He had to admit—Rhinedottir was truly remarkable. She had actually created an Abyssal Beast species capable of reproduction.
And why was this important?
Because with so many Abyssal Beasts, there was no way she could have created each one individually. But if they could reproduce on their own, that would explain their overwhelming numbers!
Considering the desolate landscapes he had seen outside, Nolan strongly suspected that the Abyssal Beasts had already exceeded the ecosystem's capacity.
That was likely why they were so desperate to open spatial rifts and invade Teyvat.
It was highly probable that the Abyssal Realm no longer had enough food to sustain them. If they didn't invade another world, they faced inevitable extinction.
"Caw! Caw! Caw!"
Having just lost over a hundred of their kin in an instant, the green-eyed ravens grew frenzied.
Yet, despite witnessing "Lumine's Sword God's" overwhelming strength, they showed no intention of retreating.
Seeing that the green fireballs were useless, they reverted to their initial tactic—launching another wave of sonic attacks.
Alright, fine. While these wouldn't significantly affect "Lumine's Sword God," the constant "Caw! Caw! Caw!" was absolutely irritating!
Nolan just wanted to end the fight quickly.
He controlled "Lumine's Sword God" to raise her sword and point forward. The golden longsword split into multiple blades, orbiting around her.
Then, with a flick of his will, the swords flew into the raven swarm, slashing out waves of sword energy.
More and more green-eyed ravens plummeted, while his character panel once again flooded with Adventure EXP notifications like a waterfall.
After just two or three minutes, half of the ravens had been eliminated.
Yet, they still showed no signs of fear.
Strangely enough, even after killing so many, their leader—the Golden King Beast-class Green-Eyed Raven—had yet to appear.
Had it chickened out? No way.
These regular ravens weren't afraid of him, so why would their leader be?
If it refused to show itself, Nolan wouldn't be able to confirm whether it was the same one that had attacked him back at Wuwang Hill.
After all, ravens all looked the same.
And back then, separated by a spatial rift, he had never gotten a clear look at the Green-Eyed Raven leader.
He needed to make it unleash a psychic attack—only then could he compare its spiritual signature to the one from last time.
As "Lumine's Sword God" continued cutting down ravens with her sword energy—
Suddenly, the dark pool of water to her left began bubbling, releasing a few ominous ripples.
Nolan glanced over but saw nothing unusual beneath the still, murky waters.
Even so, his instincts kicked in, and he became more alert.
Then, an idea struck him.
He deliberately controlled "Lumine's Sword God" to fake a misstep, making it seem as though the ravens' sonic attack had forced her back a few steps.
Sure enough—
The next moment, something burst out from the pool with explosive speed, streaking toward "Lumine's Sword God" like a jet-black blur!
It was so fast that Nolan almost couldn't react in time!
---
(End of Chapter)
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