"Uh... this kind of Sword Intent is truly rare. Could it be the legendary Sword of Deep Affection?"
Xingqiu was momentarily stunned when he saw that Nolan's Sword Intent manifested as none other than Miss Lumine. As the second young master of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, Xingqiu had encountered several sword masters who had comprehended Sword Intent.
These masters had unique Sword Intents, like the Heavenly Balance Sword Intent, which had a weighty and mountainous aura. If one didn't have immense strength when facing someone who had gained insight from observing lofty mountains, both their spirit and body could be utterly crushed.
Then there was the Northland Beidou, the captain of the Crux Fleet. It was said that she had mastered a Sea-Cleaving Sword Intent, where her greatsword could split the sea with a swing.
But to see a Sword Intent inspired by a specific person—this was something that even the well-traveled young swordsman found eye-opening.
"Deep Affection? He's just a hopeless flirt."
Hearing Xingqiu's words, Paimon crossed her arms while hovering in the air, a look of disdain on her small face. He already has Fischl, and now he's after Lumine too!
"This guy!"
Lumine's fair cheeks flushed slightly; she never expected Nolan to comprehend a Sword Intent related to her.
At this moment, if Nolan were to tell her that his feelings were just fleeting infatuations, she would have rolled her eyes at him. There was no way he could have comprehended this kind of strange Sword Intent without deeply intense emotions!
But could you please not use it so publicly? Even the usually calm Lumine felt a bit embarrassed. How is this any different from confessing in front of everyone?
[Lumine Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 380 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 9 (5/900)]
Nolan noticed the affection notification on his character panel and was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected that using the "Lumine's Sword Intent" would have this effect.
Could it be that Lumine was overthinking things?
He smiled softly as the oversized phantom of Lumine formed by his Sword Intent mirrored his movements. As he raised his right hand holding the greatsword, the phantom lifted its golden sword as well.
Nolan slashed toward the weakened Pyro Regisvine.
The large phantom of Lumine instantly unleashed a golden sword wave, which rapidly cut through the air and struck the Pyro Regisvine. The sword energy, sharp enough to cut through steel, neatly sliced the ground and the head of the Pyro Regisvine.
A deep gash appeared on the Pyro Regisvine's head. However, as a powerful plant-type monster of a high level, its body was as tough as steel.
One strike wasn't enough to defeat it.
Nolan continued to unleash one golden sword wave after another, slashing the Pyro Regisvine repeatedly. Over time, more and more cuts appeared on its body.
Finally, the roots were severed from the ground, and the character panel displayed a new notification:
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy, Obtained 37,531 Adventure EXP.]
Seeing the Adventure EXP finally roll in, Nolan silently exhaled and retracted his Sword Intent. Over thirty-seven thousand Adventure EXP—it was the first time he had earned so much from defeating a monster. It was indeed a boss-level creature.
"Amazing Sword Intent, that was incredible!"
Xingqiu clapped his hands in admiration. He had thought that his own swordsmanship was already quite advanced, and while Nolan might be better, he didn't expect him to be this much stronger. To think he had even comprehended Sword Intent!
But this was good.
Xingqiu wasn't about to let himself be outdone by a young adventurer who wasn't much older than him. It seemed he would have to carve out some time from his reading to focus more on sword training in the future.
"Not at all, that was my full strength," Nolan humbly replied.
"Hmph, look how proud you are."
Lumine glanced at him with her arms crossed, then turned her face away, showing only her side profile. Clearly, she was a bit displeased with Nolan for making her feel embarrassed.
Seeing Lumine like this, Nolan took advantage of her momentary distraction to sneak closer and planted a kiss on her fair cheek.
"Ah!"
Paimon immediately covered her eyes, but still peeked through her fingers to keep watching.
She had seen Nolan and Fischl sneaking kisses before, and each time it gave her a "kids shouldn't watch this, but I'm curious" kind of feeling.
"Haha, I'll go collect the Pyro Regisvine's loot now," Xingqiu chuckled and tactfully walked away.
Lumine was kissed out of the blue. It wasn't like last time when he was unconscious—it happened in front of others. She suddenly felt her blood rush, and her fair, delicate face flushed red once again.
She exhaled to calm herself, rolled her eyes at Nolan, and then, as if nothing had happened, said, "It's a bit hot in here... ahem, I'm going outside."
With that, she tried to remain composed as she slowly walked out.
"Hehe, alright, wait for me," Paimon said, thinking things might escalate further, but was surprised when that was all that happened. She made a playful face at Nolan, sticking out her tongue, before flying off to catch up with Lumine.
Although Lumine's affection for him was already high, transitioning into an official relationship still required some time and adjustment.
It was just like with Fischl—despite her affection level being maxed out, it still took some time before their relationship was officially confirmed.
Now seemed like a good opportunity to continue deepening their bond.
Lumine was walking slowly, likely because her emotions were a bit jumbled. It was the perfect chance for him to walk over, hold her hand, and give her a sense of reliability.
Nolan pondered this quietly.
He felt confident in this plan, so he jogged to catch up to Lumine, coming up on her left side, gently nudging Paimon to the right, and then casually brushing his hand against hers.
Seeing that Lumine didn't seem to object, Nolan boldly took her hand in his.
This wasn't the first time they had held hands, so Lumine wasn't going to resist. It seemed like he had just been overthinking things.
"Hmph, you awful guy."
Paimon was still annoyed at being pushed aside by Nolan.
"If you don't treat me to something delicious, Paimon won't forgive you."
"Don't worry, I'll take you out for a big meal when we get back to Liyue Harbor."
As he spoke, Nolan interlaced his fingers with Lumine's, holding her hand tightly.
Lumine hesitated slightly, but then let out a soft "hmph" and tightened her grip on his hand as well, though she didn't look at him. It seemed that, for now, this was as far as their relationship could go.
She clearly needed more time to open up, especially since she had no prior experience in love.
She wasn't sure if she should so easily accept this flirtatious guy.
As Lumine thought about it, she glanced at Nolan. After spending so much time together, she was quite satisfied with him. The idea of being in a relationship with him didn't seem so bad.
However, she didn't want to let him succeed too easily. What if he didn't treat her well in the future?
Even though Fischl had come before her, making Lumine believe that Nolan's character could be trusted, she still felt that she shouldn't give in too easily. Otherwise, once she agreed to be his girlfriend, he might just get distracted by another girl.
Lumine thought about this with a bit of exasperation.
Outside the scorching valley beyond the cave.
Nolan, Lumine, Paimon, Xingqiu, and Chongyun gathered together again, now looking at the few red, fist-sized seeds in Xingqiu's hand with some curiosity.
"These are the most valuable items from the Pyro Regisvine," Xingqiu explained. "They're called Everflame Seeds. They're filled with abundant Pyro energy and can be used as ascension materials or in alchemy. But be careful not to leave them in environments rich in Pyro energy, or another dangerous Pyro Regisvine might grow."
Recalling what he had read in the Liyue Exorcism Records, Xingqiu shared this information with the group.
"So these are the Pyro Regisvine's seeds. But there are only three of them. How should we divide them?" Paimon asked, scratching her pure white hair and spreading her hands in a questioning gesture.
"Hmm, why don't we sell them to our Feiyun Commerce Guild, convert them into Mora, and then split the profits evenly?" Xingqiu suggested, having already thought of this plan.
"That works for me," Lumine nodded, indicating she had no issues with the idea, especially since she didn't need Pyro ascension materials.
"As for me, I'll skip the Mora and just take one seed. I have a keen interest in collecting rare items," Nolan said, already planning to give the seed to Sucrose.
With the Everflame Seed and the remains of the Pyro Regisvine, he figured gifting them to Sucrose for research would significantly increase her affection for him. After all, building good relationships with the girls was far more important than getting more Mora.
By the way, he also had a dragon scale from Venti that recorded the "Divine Generation Archery" technique. He could lend it to Sucrose for study when the time was right. Nolan was certain that Sucrose would be thrilled.
"Haha, of course, that's fine," Xingqiu agreed, handing one of the Everflame Seeds to Nolan.
He kept the remaining two seeds for now, intending to take them back to Liyue Harbor to be appraised before splitting the profits with Lumine and Chongyun.
With the Pyro Regisvine taken care of, the group set off again. Although they hadn't stumbled upon any grand treasure this time, the gains they made were still quite valuable.
Especially for Nolan—his Adventure EXP had risen to over 44,000. With so many Adventure EXP, his strength could be greatly increased once again.
The first thing he wanted to enhance was his Dandelion Shield, which was already at level 9. Nolan was curious to see what effect it would have at max level.
Adventure EXP - 9000
Elemental Skill: Dandelion Shield Lv.9 (0/9000) → Elemental Skill: Dandelion Shield Lv.10 (Max Level)
The information about the newly upgraded "Dandelion Shield" flowed into his mind.
First, its duration could now last for an hour, and its defensive capability had been significantly enhanced. If he were to face the Pyro Regisvine's blazing pillars again, it wouldn't easily break through Nolan's Anemo shield, meaning that even a level 65 boss monster wouldn't be able to pierce his defense for a while.
Additionally, the original effect of the "Dandelion Shield," which involved a swirling wind that could deflect some attacks, had also become stronger. He could even control the direction of the deflection, essentially making it a form of counterattack.
It seems that this upgrade turned out to be quite powerful.
However, now that the Dandelion Shield is at its max level, the only way to further enhance it would be to find other shield or barrier-type skills, max out their levels as well, and then fuse them to continue upgrading.
For now, the Dandelion Shield's defensive capability is sufficient. Although it's at its limit, as Nolan's character level increases, its defensive effect will also continue to improve.
After all, character level is the foundation of strength. Other factors, like weapons, artifacts, and talent skills, are additional "multipliers" to that strength. So, as the base strength increases, even a max-level skill will produce more powerful effects.
Nolan looked at the 35,000 Adventure EXP he had left. It wasn't enough to reach level 60.
Earlier, he considered using these EXP to level up the "Concealment Form" skill to see if it could be upgraded to allow both Lumine and Paimon to become invisible as well. This way, whether they were activating a teleport waypoint or using it, they wouldn't have to worry about attracting too much attention.
But it would take about 45,000 Adventure EXP to max out that skill from level one. For now, he didn't have enough, so he decided to save the EXP for later. After all, there was no shortage of monsters to encounter in the wild.
As the sky turned golden, dusk settled in.
After passing through the waterlogged ruins in the middle of Tianqiu Valley, they reached the Nantianmen area. Here, towering peaks reached into the clouds on either side, and a river valley lay at the bottom.
They stood in the middle of the valley, looking at a shallow stream in front of them.
"It's getting late. Paimon think this place seems safe enough. Let's set up camp and rest here," suggested Paimon, who was tired from flying.
"It is getting late," Xingqiu agreed, nodding. "But we should still check the surroundings to make sure it's safe. We can't just assume it's fine because it looks that way."
Though he wasn't an adventurer, Xingqiu had often traveled with his family's caravans and was wary of potential dangers.
Xingqiu and Chongyun went to survey the surrounding area, while Nolan, Lumine, and Paimon stayed behind to set up a temporary camp and prepare dinner. They were well-practiced in this, so it wasn't difficult.
Just as they finished preparing dinner, Xingqiu and Chongyun returned, looking slightly excited, as if they had found something valuable.
"Did you find anything?" Nolan asked curiously.
"We discovered a Ley Line outcrop nearby. The energy from the Ley Line has formed a Blossom of Wealth," Xingqiu explained.
"But there are quite a few monsters around it. We'll need to see if we can secure it."
"A Blossom of Wealth? The legendary flower that blooms with Mora!" Paimon's eyes practically turned into little stars.
"Exactly!" Xingqiu confirmed with a nod.
"Well, this is quite the unexpected find," Nolan remarked. The last time he encountered something like this was the Blossom of Revelation in Mondstadt, and he hadn't come across another one since.
Now, they had found a Blossom of Wealth, another Ley Line flower. It was an opportunity they couldn't miss.
So, after quickly finishing their dinner, the group, led by Xingqiu and Chongyun, made their way toward the location of the Blossom of Wealth, resting as they walked.
(End of Chapter)
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