131: Frost Walker Enchantment and the Snowball War

To be honest, Zhongli had lived for over six thousand years.

Ningguang had traveled across all of Teyvat for business, and Keqing, being in charge of Liyue's lands, had done more than her fair share of field inspections.

Logically, in a world as picturesque as Teyvat, nothing they saw should surprise them anymore.

Yet, upon reaching the edge of the plains and seeing the snowy mountains in the distance, all of them were struck with awe.

A wide river cut across the land, separating the plains from the snow-covered mountains.

One side of the river flowed normally, while the other—abruptly split by what looked like a mysterious barrier—had turned into a frozen glacier.

Snowflakes danced gently from the sky, blanketing the earth in a flowing white gown.

What was even more astonishing was that this snow-covered region, clearly belonging to an extreme cold zone, was right next to a scorching desert.

A few rabbits could even be seen hopping around in the desert, and cacti were growing along the foot of the snowy mountains.

Just like the plains earlier, the whole scene looked like it had been divided by a straight-edged boundary.

None of them had ever seen such a bizarre terrain.

Mondstadt had Dragonspine, and Sumeru had the Great Red Sand.

But even in those places, there was always some kind of transition zone between regions—an area where grassland turned to frost, or rainforest gave way to sand.

Yet here, the terrain stretched endlessly without any buffer in between.

On one side, desert. On the other, snow-covered mountains.

It felt like some divine prank by the Creator himself.

"How strange… such a geological phenomenon should not even exist," Zhongli murmured softly, gazing at the scene with a sigh.

"This world… continues to expand my horizons. The landscapes truly are unique."

While Zhongli and the others were caught up in the wonder of the view, Ryen was more focused on what these regions represented.

A mountain range this large? There was definitely going to be a village somewhere in it.

And as for the desert—odds were good that a Desert Temple could be found.

More importantly, both zones likely contained an abundance of caves and mineral resources.

It was the perfect candidate for a second base of operations.

Almost instinctively, Ryen began laying out a plan in his mind.

"First, we head to the snow mountain side and locate a village. We'll herd all the villagers into a house, then claim it as our second base."

"The miners and Millelith soldiers can then spread out to explore both the mountain and the desert regions."

"After that... I think I want to build an underwater mansion."

The river before them was wide and deep—more than suitable for such a build.

And why not?

With resource issues resolved, the next step was, naturally, to start building houses everywhere.

If possible, Ryen even wanted to hollow out an entire mountain and build a luxury retreat inside it.

"Hmm..."

Nahida turned her head, her big eyes looking adorably curious.

"Ryen, how are we going to get the horses across? Are we gonna build with blocks?"

That brought everyone back to reality.

Sure, they had come across on boats just fine, but the horses—well, not so simple.

Everyone turned to Ryen, curious about what he'd do.

He dismounted casually and pulled out a different pair of diamond boots, swapping them on.

These had dropped from a Lucky Block Ganyu had opened the day before.

They came with a single enchantment: Frost Walker.

At the time, everyone had speculated about what the enchantment actually did.

But Ryen had kept quiet, mysteriously promising to show them "when the time was right."

"Ha! So you're finally going to show us what those boots do?" Hu Tao grinned, eyes gleaming.

Ryen merely chuckled and said,

"Follow me."

With that, he dismounted and began walking toward the river.

By now, no one panicked whenever Ryen did something unusual.

Over time, he had proved with his actions that he understood this world better than anyone—he knew how to survive, how to thrive.

Even Xiao and Zhongli had come to accept this truth.

If Ryen acted, he definitely had his reasons.

Everyone led their horses and followed him.

He didn't check for rapids in the river—though, to be fair, in the Minecraft world, rivers rarely had fast currents.

Ryen stepped forward—and stood on the water.

Beneath his feet, frost began to spread.

Ningguang's eyes widened, and realization dawned on her face.

"Frost Walker... so that's what it means."

Ryen nodded with a smile and took a few more steps forward.

Everywhere he walked, the river froze into solid ice.

Everyone knew how tough ice blocks were in Minecraft—unless someone actively broke them, you could even dance on them without issue.

"Frost Walker activates when standing on flowing water. With these boots on, stepping onto water instantly freezes it into solid ice," Ryen explained.

"It's one of the rarer elemental enchantments."

"As long as the boots have enough durability, I can keep walking downstream, freezing the river into a glacial path."

"Well? Pretty amazing, right?"

He did a quick lap around the area, and in no time, a wide swath of river had turned into shimmering blue ice.

Extremely practical—

In a way, you could call him a glacier-maker.

Keqing stroked her chin thoughtfully, her elegant eyes gleaming with contemplation.

After a moment, she walked up beside Ryen and said softly,

"This enchantment seems... incredibly useful."

"Of course. Not only does it freeze water, it also lets you walk faster on the ice," Ryen replied casually.

Keqing shook her head.

"That's not what I meant. I'm saying… in Teyvat, it might be even more useful."

Everyone turned to her curiously.

She didn't keep them guessing.

"If ordinary Millelith soldiers wore Frost Walker boots, carried a bucket of water, and wielded a flame-enchanted sword… don't you think—"

Before she could finish, realization struck the group.

Throw water before engaging the enemy—

Step onto it to freeze them in place—

Follow up with a flame sword to melt them again in an instant.

This wasn't just about letting ordinary people possess elemental power—it was about allowing them to trigger elemental reactions themselves.

Especially for the Archons in Teyvat, and even more so for Hydro Archons, it seemed to have extraordinary effects.

Ningguang pondered slightly, then softly said:

"Indeed, I think Yelan would like this."

Frost Walker was certainly an outstanding enchantment—or rather, any elemental enchantment held immense significance in Teyvat.

Everyone had seen the effect of Xiao's Primordial Jade Winged-Spear attracting lightning. It could be said that as long as it was raining, Xiao could be called a little Raiden Shogun.

Even if you weren't walking directly over water, Frost Walker, when used in Teyvat, would still be brimming with Cryo elemental energy.

That could also be considered a form of natural elemental power.

"Once we return to the manor villa, you guys can check with the librarian at the villagers' trading center and see if they have the Frost Walker enchantment."

Ryen nodded with a smile.

"We've got tons of emeralds now, anyway. You all might as well go on a shopping spree."

This morning alone, Ganyu had opened quite a few Lucky Blocks.

Resources like diamonds, gold, and emeralds had more than doubled.

Though strangely, they still hadn't found a Totem of Undying.

Maybe it was the coconut milk he drank before getting out of bed this morning… or maybe it was because Ganyu had served Ryen a bit earlier.

Either way, Ryen's luck today was pretty good.

He had opened three Lucky Blocks, and all of them contained useful resources:

Ender Pearls, Redstone components, and various ores.

Much better than yesterday—when it was either zombies or traps.

It seemed Ganyu's luck was contagious, but considering the means of transmission, Ryen figured he'd enjoy that blessing all to himself for the rest of his life.

Joking as they went, Ryen took the lead with Frost Walker paving the way, and the rest followed behind...

On the way, a few Drowned rose up from beneath the water, but before they could surface, they were frozen underfoot by Ryen's Frost Walker.

All they could do was stare through the thick ice in complete confusion as Ryen's group walked away.

No one paid the Drowned any mind.

After all, none of them had a trident with them.

If they had brought a trident, Xiao at least would have asked Ganyu to grab the Looting Sword and chop the Drowned up.

He really needed a trident.

That thing was handy in the Minecraft world, and even more powerful in Teyvat.

And since it had a durability stat, Xiao didn't mind stockpiling a few extras.

Before long, the group reached the snow mountain biome.

Oddly enough, they didn't feel particularly cold—perhaps it was a matter of constitution.

After all, Steve could walk around glaciers in short sleeves. A true madman of blocks.

Compared to the grassy plains, the snowy region offered a lot more scenery.

At least there were trees everywhere.

And from time to time, some animals could be spotted.

In the distance, a polar bear was leisurely wandering about.

"Wow! Snow! Real snow!"

Hu Tao's plum blossom-shaped pupils sparkled like stars. She looked like she wanted to dive in and roll around in it immediately.

"You've really never seen snow before, Hu Tao?"

Ryen was a bit speechless.

Given her restless personality, she should've visited Mondstadt's snowy mountains by now—especially since that place was ideal for pushing coffin sales.

Countless adventurers died in those mountains every year.

But Hu Tao puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms in protest.

"Why would I lie! I really haven't seen snow before!"

"Liyue never gets snow. I wanted to visit the snowy mountains of Mondstadt to sell co— ahem, I mean, just to take a look!"

"But then Sister Lan told me that Mondstadt's people don't seek burial for the body, but freedom for the soul."

"Even if they die in the mountains, no one brings their bodies back."

"She said the wind would carry their souls back to Barbatos, huff… It's really hard to do business in Mondstadt!"

Everyone chuckled, but no one was too surprised.

Every nation had its own culture.

Liyue valued contracts. Mondstadt cherished freedom.

As long as everyone respected and understood one another, it was fine.

If all of Teyvat were the same, that would be incredibly boring.

Suddenly, Ryen's eyes lit up. He reached down, brushed aside the snow, and picked up a snowball.

With a flick of his wrist, he lobbed it at Hu Tao's head.

"???"

Hu Tao blinked, completely stunned.

"Come on, we're already here. Gotta enjoy the snowy mountain experience!"

Ryen shrugged innocently, then picked up another snowball and threw it at Zhongli's face.

That was the moment all hell broke loose.

Everyone had seen Ryen making the snowballs. Without hesitation, they all jumped into action.

The long-quiet snowfield suddenly burst into chaos.

Snowballs flew thick and fast, crisscrossing the sky and smashing into everyone.

During the chaos, quite a few passing animals were accidentally hit—some even got sliced in the heat of battle.

Laughing and playing, the group ran far from the river and deep into the snowy mountains.

They didn't know how far they had run when Ryen suddenly stopped on a high ridge.

"Gotcha!"

Right behind him, Hu Tao leapt into the air and smashed a snowball right into his face.

But Ryen quickly spun around and pulled her into his arms.

Hu Tao's heart skipped a beat. His masculine scent overwhelmed her, making her knees go weak.

"W-What are you doing?! This Head of the Hall won't give in so easily! I-I'll call Ganyu on you!"

She raised her little fists as if to threaten him.

Ryen chuckled, gently wiped the snow off her face, and pointed to a plume of campfire smoke rising in the distance.

"No more playing around. We've got something coming."

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