Chapter 514: Return (2-in-1 Chapter)

Hidden Palace, Voyage to the Sanguine Sky.

After obliterating the will of the ancient evil artifacts, Ei continued fusing some rare, rigid metals into the mass of black liquid.

Then, using her divine authority as an Archon, she wove runes and embedded formations, inscribing them into the black liquid in a precise pattern.

Before long, a pure-black suit of armor with a metallic sheen slowly took form...

To preserve the integrity of the ancient artifacts as much as possible, Ei had refrained from mixing in materials imbued with elemental or other energies.

She used only a few pieces of refined mystic steel alloy—known for its extreme hardness, capable of withstanding even attacks on the Archon level to a certain extent.

Combined with the fusion of the ancient evils, the armor should be able to defend against divine-tier assaults with ease.

While such defense wasn't necessary for Nolan himself, it would be more than sufficient for the girls.

As long as the armor remained intact, they could pair it with the newly acquired affection skill from Keqing, allowing them to redirect most attacks—an incredibly practical setup.

"It's done," Raiden Ei said, floating the forged armor to Nolan with her spiritual power. "This armor still contains cursed energy. Try not to touch it with your bare hands."

"Uh… an armor that can't be touched?"

Nolan looked at the armor before him, barely larger than a washbasin. Even if it weren't cursed, no one could physically wear something this small.

"Thanks for the hard work."

He nodded and summoned his spiritual threads to receive the armor, addressing Ei with gratitude.

Ei shook her head, indicating it was no trouble, then gestured for Nolan to open the portal and return from the domain.

Nolan stared at the cursed black armor in front of him and first marked it with "Grace of the Night's Opulent Splendor."

Then, turning to Yelan, Keqing, and Guizhong, he asked:

"What do you all think we should do with this thing?"

Something as dangerous and strange as cursed armor didn't seem appropriate to store in the wonderland realm—it could easily lead to unexpected incidents.

"If it's not going to be used, then why bother having Raiden Shogun forge it into armor at all? Wouldn't it have been better to just destroy the will and reseal it earlier?" Yelan asked, folding her arms under her chest.

"Well, I've got a special ability," Nolan said, explaining the effects of "Grace of the Night's Opulent Splendor," then added cheerfully,

"Heh, pretty cool, right? I'll mark your clothes too—when you wear them, you won't have to fear most attacks anymore."

As he spoke, he didn't hold back and immediately placed the "mark" on Yelan and Keqing's outfits. Unfortunately, Guizhong was an exception.

She currently existed only as a spiritual form, and the clothes she wore were mere illusions—unmarkable.

"It only works on these clothes?"

Keqing looked down at her seemingly unchanged outfit.

"Well, a skill this powerful is bound to have a few limitations."

Nolan smiled and explained:

"If you clear your mind and focus, you should be able to sense the presence of the 'mark.'

"You can manually transfer it to other clothes when changing. It's not that troublesome."

The purple-haired Keqing tried it out briefly and did indeed sense the intangible "mark" on her clothing.

Though it appeared to act on the clothing itself, the mark was actually linked to the wearer.

Keqing could transfer the mark to a new outfit—or, if she found that a hassle, she could just set it to follow her automatically, transferring to whatever she wore.

"I see,"

Keqing nodded as the feedback from the mark told her how to use it.

"Well, looks like I've benefited from you again," Yelan said, recalling how Nolan had already gifted her spatial teleportation and now a damage-transfer ability.

Such powers were undoubtedly rare and valuable. She couldn't think of anything she had to offer in return.

After a moment of thought, Yelan leaned closer to Nolan and gave him a kiss on the lips.

[Yelan Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 350 Affection Points. Current affection level: Lv.8 (200/800)]

Huh?

Feeling the softness of her lips, Nolan instinctively wanted to embrace Yelan—but before he could, Keqing, blushing, pushed him away.

"What are you two doing?! Have some shame!"

"It was just a moment of impulse," Yelan said with a soft laugh, wiping her lips.

Seeing Keqing's red face, Nolan could tell she was a bit jealous. Without another word, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips as well.

"Mmph—!"

Keqing was too stunned to speak, her eyes wide. She instinctively pushed him away and shouted, face blazing red:

"Y-You! What do you think you're doing, you shameless scoundrel!"

She raised her fist to punch him, but Nolan easily caught her wrist and gave it a gentle tug, causing her to fall against his chest.

Still flustered, she simply buried her face and stayed there, trying to calm her chaotic emotions.

"Hehe, your bonds seem quite close,"

Guizhong giggled behind her hand.

"Speaking of which, if you don't have a place to store that armor, why not reseal it here? With the bit of power I still have, I should be able to watch over it for a while."

"...Hmm, that might not be the best idea."

Nolan thought for a moment and then said:

"The formation outside is already damaged. Sooner or later, adventurers will find this place. Even if we reseal the cursed armor, there's still a risk it'll be taken away. It's better to find a more discreet location.

"Besides, you've been guarding this formation for so long. Wouldn't it be a shame if your final trace of consciousness faded away doing something so dull?

"Miss Guizhong, don't you want to see the world again? Maybe even reunite with some old friends?"

Like Sucrose, the teal-haired girl sighed softly.

"You make a good point... but I'm just a fragment of consciousness. Before long, I'll fade away regardless.

"If I were to appear before my old friends like this, wouldn't that just bring them sorrow? No... It's better if they remember me as someone who's already passed."

"I have solutions for both of those problems."

Nolan explained the functions of his Wonderland Space and Shenhe's affection skill, Divine Maiden's Purity, before inviting Guizhong:

"How about it? If you want to keep seeing the colorful world of Teyvat, you can stay in my portable space for a while to recover.

Once your soul has regained enough strength, you'll be able to walk Teyvat again!"

"To think humans—who once needed us Gods to protect them—have grown so strong. You've even found a way to resolve 'spiritual erosion'!"

Surprise flashed across Guizhong's fair and delicate face.

She crossed her arms, pondered for a moment, then asked, "You're going through all this effort to help me… Surely it's not without expecting something in return? Is there something you want me to do?"

"Miss Guizhong, even though you've perished and only a wisp of your divine will remains, your knowledge as a God is still far beyond what ordinary people can achieve—

And there's even a chance you might recover your strength one day."

Nolan knew well just how advanced Guizhong's knowledge of mechanical arts was.

If she could design contraptions like excavators, bulldozers, or drones—similar to the ones on Earth—to aid in future infrastructure development, construction efficiency would skyrocket!

And most importantly, when it came time to design spaceships in the future, having a master of mechanics like her around would surely make things much smoother.

He didn't hide any of this—he told her everything honestly.

"I see. The only one who could rival me in mechanics would be that old fogey Cloud Retainer.

If you're planning to explore the stars, then it makes perfect sense that you'd need me."

Guizhong picked up on the admiration in Nolan's words. Her lips curled into a satisfied smile, and she nodded proudly while crossing her arms.

"So, what do you think? I help you, and you help me—it's a win-win deal."

Nolan smiled.

"Mm-hmm! In that case, I accept!"

Helping him with her knowledge in exchange for avoiding the fate of spiritual dissipation—Guizhong had no reason to refuse.

[Guizhong Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 480 Affection Points. Current affection level: Lv.5 (300/500)]

Seeing the prompt pop up on his character panel, Nolan knew the arrangement was mutually beneficial.

Without delay, he asked Yelan and Keqing to stay outside and guard the cursed armor, then opened the Wonderland Space and brought Guizhong inside.

It was around 2 p.m., and everyone was still at work, so the living room was quiet and empty.

Nolan let Guizhong choose a place to stay.

Since she was still just a spiritual form and hadn't regained a physical body like Ei's, a regular room wouldn't serve much purpose.

After thinking it over, Guizhong decided to stay in the library, just like the Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.

At least there she could read, study mechanical arts, and chat with another god in a similar spiritual state to pass the time.

Nolan naturally agreed with her choice.

After introducing her to Rukkhadevata and Ei on the third floor, he left the space and returned to the Voyage to the Sanguine Sky.

Yelan and Keqing were already waiting for him.

"All right, everything's more or less taken care of. Next, as we inspect the roads for hazards, we'll find a hidden spot and seal the cursed armor away,"

Nolan said to the two ladies.

"You two can handle that yourselves. My mission here is done, so I'll head back to Liyue Harbor and report to the Ministry of Civil Affairs."

Yelan brushed the smooth strand of hair at her cheek and smiled at Nolan.

"If you miss me, just come find me at the Yanshang Teahouse."

"Mm." Nolan smiled and nodded, then extended an invitation. "But instead of me going to you, how about you move into my portable space? There are still lots of empty rooms!"

"Live together? …Let me think about it."

Even Yelan found this development a bit too fast. Nolan posed the same question to Keqing, who blushed furiously and refused on the spot.

Well, looked like they still needed a little more time before cohabitation.

Nolan sighed internally with a hint of regret.

Afterward, the group left the Voyage to the Sanguine Sky Domain and returned to the ruins outside.

Yelan attempted to use "Interstellar Travel" to teleport directly to Ningguang's side, then return to Liyue Harbor from there.

Nolan and Keqing resumed the task they hadn't finished earlier.

They flew using their Wind Gliders and quickly reached Wangshu Inn, finding no real dangers along the way.

Continuing their inspection toward Dihua Marsh, Nolan encountered Xiao at Wangshu Inn and used Divine Maiden's Purity to cleanse the "erosion" from his body.

Of course, he didn't grant Xiao the permanent version—just the short-term one, since the permanent blessing had a limited number of uses.

Nolan was saving those for the girls, so the temporary one would suffice for Xiao.

After all, once the erosion was cleansed, it was truly gone.

Even if it were to build up again, reaching the same level of erosion would take several thousand years.

He could always purify him again in the future.

Nolan had always been generous to his friends—this kind of thing was no trouble.

Xiao, being a man of few words, was deeply grateful for the help. But even after holding it in for a long while, all he could say was:

"…Thank you."

Nolan had helped him deal with demonic resentment before, and Xiao had once promised that if he ever needed anything, he'd be there.

Now, Xiao had nothing left to offer as a favor.

But Nolan told him not to worry—it was just a small gesture of goodwill.

He'd also help the Geo Archon and the other Adepti if needed.

With no more demonic torment or spiritual erosion, Xiao was deeply moved.

If Nolan could see Xiao's affection level, it would probably be sky-high.

But since Xiao wasn't a girl, the max was capped around level 5 or 6—that was the limit of friendship.

In Xiao's heart, Nolan probably ranked right up there with Rex Lapis and the Adepti.

Only with girls could friendship evolve into romance and reach higher affection levels.

Nolan felt things were already good enough as they were.

Anything higher, and he might get suspiciousWhat if Xiao actually had ulterior motives? Haha...

After bidding Xiao farewell, Nolan and Keqing set off again, flying toward Dihua Marsh.

They found that the terrain in this area was relatively soft—if they laid hardened roads here, the poor base support might lead to subsidence or structural failure.

Of course, this was easily fixable. Once the roads reached here, they could just use Geo power to reinforce the foundation.

Before heading toward Stone Gate, Nolan discussed things with Keqing, and they agreed to first seal the cursed armor.

The bottom of the waters near Dihua Marsh seemed like a good hidden spot.

Though it wasn't guaranteed to stay undiscovered forever...

As long as they buried it deep enough, it'd be hard to find—and thanks to his seal, even if someone did find it, they wouldn't be able to touch it easily.

Once the cursed armor was dealt with, Nolan and Keqing continued their inspection up to Stone Gate, confirmed there were no hazards, and prepared to return to Liyue Harbor.

(End of Chapter)

T/N: New Harry Potter story is out, if you want to check it out.

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