Even though creating bicycles in Teyvat seemed quite "profitable," neither Nolan nor Lumine felt an urgent need to pursue it immediately.
After all, they couldn't forget their primary purpose of coming to Liyue Harbor: to attend the Rite of Descension and meet the Geo Archon, Morax.
They could find time later, during their rest periods, to draft a design. Then, they could commission a blacksmith to forge the necessary parts.
After assembling and testing the prototype themselves, they could approach a discerning merchant to sell the design, such as the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, Lady Ningguang.
Based on what Nolan knew about her, Ningguang, one of the foremost merchants in all of Teyvat, wouldn't miss such a lucrative opportunity delivered right to her doorstep. This approach would also be the most time and labor-efficient.
Lumine had to travel extensively to find her brother, and Nolan needed to gather Adventure EXP and rare skills to enhance his abilities. They couldn't afford to spend time on manufacturing, as it would be counterproductive.
That night, Nolan and Lumine encountered a small village while traveling in the wild. They hoped to find accommodation but were told that the village's inns were fully booked by others heading to Liyue Harbor for the upcoming Rite of Descension.
With no other options, they decided to camp outdoors. It wasn't too different from when they had to camp while on quests, except for the need to take turns keeping watch, which slightly affected their sleep quality.
After only one day, Nolan missed the feeling of holding little Amy's soft body in his arms and falling asleep together.
In the morning, Nolan and Lumine packed up their tent and continued on their journey. Along the way, they encountered some hilichurls blocking the road, seemingly intending to rob travelers. Unfortunately for the hilichurls, they picked the wrong targets.
Nolan quickly dealt with them and even tested his newly acquired elemental skill, "Dandelion Shield." When activated, cyan wind elements enveloped him and began to spin rapidly.
The hilichurl archers' arrows were easily deflected. Even arrows crafted with electro crystals couldn't pierce through, although they did reduce the shield's wind elements more quickly.
If the shield didn't rotate, Nolan estimated the energy drain would be doubled. This meant his shield's duration was effectively extended.
Not only was it effective against arrows, but the hilichurl berserkers' axes were also deflected, exposing them to sudden openings.
Nolan easily seized this opening and defeated them with a single sword strike.
Nolan capitalized on these openings and easily defeated them. He took down two hilichurl berserkers and nine smaller hilichurls, earning over 5,000 Adventure EXP.
He glanced at his character panel:
[Adventure EXP: 6325]
With over 6,300 Adventure EXP, he was now relatively well-off in terms of resources. However, Nolan decided not to use them just yet.
He still wanted to find a basic swordsmanship skill and level it up to the maximum before merging it into his already extraordinary "Royal One-Handed Swordsmanship," which had three exceptional traits, to see if it could evolve further.
It wouldn't take much, just 4,500 Adventure EXP.
As for where to find this basic swordsmanship skill, well, there just so happened to be someone nearby who had traveled through the "Star Ocean Realms"!
Surely, she knew a lot and would have some basic swordsmanship techniques to offer.
With this in mind, while they were resting on a grassy patch at midday, Nolan sat on a rock and ate, then turned to the blonde girl:
"Uh, Lumine, it seems like my swordsmanship has hit a bottleneck recently. I was hoping to learn some new techniques to broaden my understanding. Do you think you could spare some time to give me a few pointers?"
Lumine, chewing on a thick biscuit, looked at him with some confusion. This guy's swordsmanship is already so good, and he's hitting a bottleneck? She find that hard to believe.
She bit a crescent-shaped piece off the biscuit, chewed it slowly, and swallowed it before taking a sip of water and saying:
"You, just say you want to learn my swordsmanship directly. If we get to the inn early this afternoon, I can spar with you a bit."
By spar, she meant that if he wanted to learn her swordsmanship, he couldn't hold back and would have to teach her what he knew as well.
"Of course, that's no problem!" Nolan smiled and nodded.
He seemed to remember something and asked: "By the way, since you've traveled to so many planets, have you come across any methods to enhance spiritual power?"
"Hey, don't assume I know everything just because I've traveled a lot. My brother and I were traveling to explore cultures and histories, not to specifically gather martial arts techniques," Lumine said with a helpless expression.
"Uh, haha," Nolan scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
hat made sense; she was already very powerful, so she probably didn't need any martial arts techniques. If she hadn't mysteriously lost most of her power, she wouldn't be retraining while traveling.
After resting, the three of them set off again.
A bright, clear moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the massive mountain with buildings constructed around it, their tops adorned with golden-leaved trees.
By nightfall, they finally arrived at Wangshu Inn.
The place was bustling, with caravans parked all around the roads below the inn. It seemed they could find a caravan heading to Liyue Harbor tomorrow and hitch a ride.
"Wow, there are so many people here!" Paimon exclaimed, looking around curiously. She even flew up to a streetlamp, poking at the glowing yellow lantern that lit up the night.
"Ouch, it's a bit hot." She quickly pulled her finger back as the lantern swayed.
Lumine avoided a couple walking towards her and laughed at Paimon: "Alright, stop looking around. Let's check if there are any rooms available in the inn first. It feels like there are way too many people here."
"Hehe," Paimon chuckled as she floated back.
As they walked closer, the road sides were lined with stalls, mostly selling Liyue snacks, toys for children, and small games.
"It smells so good!" Having skipped dinner, Paimon's mouth watered at the sight, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Lumine.
"The lines are too long. Let's get a room first and come back later," Lumine sighed, rubbing her forehead.
Nolan noticed one of the stalls was selling masks, which reminded him of Xiao, the Vigilant Yaksha. Xiao often stayed at Wangshu Inn. He wondered if he might get a chance to meet him.
Xiao was an adeptus, and getting to know him might lead to learning some adeptal arts. However, considering his aloof demeanor in the game, he seemed a bit hard to approach.
(End of Chapter)
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