Twenty thousand Adventure EXP!
These "Karmic Residue" are really that strong? Nolan felt a bit surprised in his heart.
It seemed that opening the elemental shield beforehand was indeed fortunate; otherwise, things would have gotten quite difficult if they had been entangled by them.
"It's been dealt with," Lumine said, looking up at the black mist that had been entirely consumed by the Pyro element.
"This must have been a relatively weak 'Karmic Residue,' or else it wouldn't have been so easy," Yanfei sensed the surrounding area and, noticing the absence of any malicious presence, breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"So even the adepti's realms can be this dangerous? Paimon don't want to stay here anymore. Let's quickly find what we need and get out," Paimon said, shaking her head and covering it with her hands.
"Alright, let's move forward and see what we find," Yanfei said, lowering her hands from her waist and signaling everyone to follow her.
As they stepped onto the light bridge once again, they noticed that, despite appearing smooth, the bridge's surface had a strong grip, making it feel like any regular path underfoot.
There was no need to worry about slipping and falling into the "sky" below.
... But they couldn't help but wonder what was down there.
Nolan glanced downward, curious as he looked through the light bridge at the cloud-like scenery below.
"That's just the bottom of the teapot's interior. There's nothing particularly special," Yanfei explained, noticing Nolan's curiosity.
She continued, "Granny Ping uses a teapot to create an 'Extradimensional Space.' Essentially, she's modified the interior of the teapot to create a realm within."
"Of course, not just any teapot can be used. You need rare and precious materials to craft a vessel capable of holding such a realm."
Upon hearing this, Nolan nodded in sudden realization. So, the ground they were standing on was actually floating within the teapot's internal space. What an incredible ability to create an "Extradimensional Space."
The more he thought about it, the more envious he became. Why didn't he have any aptitude for adepltal arts?
After several seconds, they slowly reached the second floating island. This time, they remained highly vigilant, wary of another "Karmic Residue" attack.
Yanfei used her innate abilities to sense any nearby malice. Lumine channeled her newly mastered Geo elemental power through her feet, using it both as a practice and to detect any hidden abnormalities below.
Nolan activated his golden Eye of Judgment. If there were anything lurking around, he would easily spot it, as the level indicators and weaknesses would appear on them.
"It seems there's no danger here," Paimon said, scanning the surroundings with her eyes. She noticed that, like the previous location, this place also had some flowers, trees, and a light bridge connecting to a higher floating island.
However, unlike the previous island, this one had a small pond in the middle. The pond had a few lotus flowers growing in it, and through the clear water, the sharp-eyed Paimon spotted an exquisite treasure chest at the bottom!
"Hey, Nolan! Look at the bottom of the pond!" Paimon's starry eyes twinkled mischievously. She tugged at Nolan's shoulder, pointing excitedly at the pond.
"Oh? There's a treasure chest!" Nolan's eyes lit up at the sight.
"Hehe, Paimon found this one, so you should go fetch it," Paimon said with a proud smile.
"Alright, then," Nolan replied.
After carefully checking that there was no danger, he was about to summon his semi-transparent tendrils to retrieve the treasure chest from the bottom of the pond.
But suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back, as if someone had pinched him.
He turned around and saw Lumine looking at him with an exasperated expression.
"Idiot, this isn't the wild or a secret realm. Even if there is a treasure chest, do you think you can just take it?"
She held her forehead, feeling a bit embarrassed on his behalf.
"Uh, you're right. This is Granny Ping's teapot realm. Even if there's a treasure chest, we can't just take it without her permission."
Nolan finally snapped out of it after Lumine's reminder. Then, he stared at Paimon with some dissatisfaction—this was all her fault for egging him on, almost causing him to make a mistake.
"Eh-heh," Paimon nervously poked her fingers together, avoiding Nolan's gaze.
"Haha, that treasure chest was probably something Granny just tossed into the realm, and it happened to end up here. She wouldn't care about these things, so you can just take it if you want," Yanfei said with a smile, seeing how flustered Nolan was.
"No, let's forget it. Since we haven't found the Cleansing Bell here, we should hurry to the third island and take a look," Nolan shook his head.
Pretending to be slightly embarrassed, he quickly walked toward the light bridge leading to the third floating island.
As he passed Paimon, he suddenly grabbed her from mid-air when she wasn't paying attention.
"Ah! Help! Waaah!"
Paimon's small face was being vigorously squished as she kicked her legs in a futile attempt to escape.
"Pfft!"
Both Lumine and Yanfei couldn't help but laugh at the antics of these two.
[Lumine Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You. Obtained 120 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 10 (Max Out)]
[Yanfei Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You. Obtained 100 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 2 (160/200)]
Seeing these two notifications pop up on his character panel made Nolan unconsciously pause his actions.
Paimon took advantage of his momentary distraction to break free and angrily flew up, tugging at his cheeks.
"You jerk! How dare you treat me like this! Even Lumine wouldn't dare!"
"Ah, I'm sorry, Paimon. I was wrong! Let me treat you to a big meal to make it up to you!"
After spending so much time with Lumine, her affection for him had finally reached the max level.
Naturally, he also gained the corresponding Seat of Destiny' ability. Curious, Nolan wanted to check out the details of this affection ability as soon as possible.
With no other choice, he had to apologize to Paimon.
"Hmph, you still haven't fulfilled your promise from last time," Paimon huffed, her resolve wavering at the mention of a big meal, and her grip on his cheeks softened.
Nolan remembered that last time at the Xinyue Kiosk, it was Ningguang who had paid for the meal, so it didn't count as his treat. But he didn't intend to break his promise, so he continued, "Alright, I owe you two big meals now—feel free to order anything you like from a fancy restaurant!"
"Fine, I'll let you off the hook for now," Paimon finally relented, unable to resist the allure of a big meal.
She dropped her plan to get back at Nolan, "But remember, whether those two meals are up to par will depend on my dining experience."
"Alright, whatever you say."
Nolan gently pushed Paimon's hands away and rubbed his now sore cheeks.
"Hmph!" Paimon crossed her arms and turned away.
"Alright, Paimon, don't argue with this idiot. We're probably close to finding the 'Cleansing Bell' and can finally get out of here," Lumine said, her fair face still showing traces of an amused smile as she tried to calm things down.
With Yanfei leading the way, the group continued toward the third floating island.
Nolan lagged behind, leisurely following the girls as he opened his character panel to check the affection skill he had just received.
[Through sincere intentions and relentless efforts, your fate has become deeply intertwined with that of another. Henceforth, the star of the maiden's destiny shall shine alongside yours, granting you the ability: Interstellar Travel.]
Interstellar Travel.
The name seemed to perfectly match Lumine's background of traveling across different worlds.
Could this be the long-awaited ability that would play a crucial role in his quest to find Earth and return home?
Nolan wondered as he focused his thoughts on the affection skill, quickly receiving detailed feedback.
[Interstellar Travel: You can place a 'Waypoint' on any person. Those with a Waypoint can sense each other's location, communicate, and, with mutual consent, instantly teleport to each other's side, ignoring all obstacles. The current number of Waypoints you can set is: 92.]
Reading the description of Interstellar Travel, Nolan felt a mix of disappointment and contentment.
On one hand, this affection skill was indeed powerful and fell within the realm of spatial manipulation, but unfortunately, it didn't allow him to roam the starry seas freely like Lumine once did.
Unless Lumine regained her former strength and traveled to another planet, he would then have to use this ability to teleport there.
Hmm... all things considered, it wasn't too bad. After all, Nolan believed that with his help, Lumine's journey across Teyvat would be much smoother, and regaining her strength would only be a matter of time.
The number of Waypoints made sense too. His level was 50, and Lumine's was 42, adding up to 92—just like how the strength of the Eye of Judgment he gained from Fischl was determined by combining their levels.
Besides spatial teleportation, the Interstellar Travel Waypoints also functioned like a phone, which was quite handy.
He had even considered learning some sort of long-distance communication technique before, so this fulfilled that desire.
As everyone knows, maintaining contact is a key way to boost affection.
With so many Waypoints available, if he could place one on all the girls like Amber, Eula, Noelle, Sucrose, and Jean... well, that would certainly help improve their affection towards him.
For Nolan, gaining strength wasn't just about leveling up or improving skills through Adventure EXP. The affection abilities he received when the girls' affection maxed out also provided a significant boost to his power.
The two he had now were proof of that—one allowed him to see through illusions and discern strengths and weaknesses, while the other let him teleport across any distance and communicate remotely.
Clearly, these were no ordinary abilities! This made him very invested in gaining affection.
Of course, his interest wasn't solely due to power; there was also the desire to get closer to the girls. After all, on Earth, the reason he kept playing Genshin Impact was for the adorable characters.
There was no shame in admitting that, and now that he had actually crossed into the real Teyvat, he wasn't about to let go of his initial dreams, especially when they were within reach.
If Nolan had been a native of Teyvat, perhaps this dream alone would have earned him a Vision.
However, Waypoints weren't something you could just hand out willy-nilly.
Take Yanfei, for instance—they had only just met. Offering her something that could track her location with questionable privacy implications might make her think Nolan had ulterior motives, causing her affection to drop instantly.
It seemed that only Fischl and Lumine were the ones he could casually offer Waypoints to; giving them to others might be a bit more complicated.
After all, with a "Waypoint," your location would be exposed to anyone else who also has a Waypoint.
Unless everyone involved knows each other well and has a good relationship, most people would resist this kind of tracking.
Sigh, I guess it's better to take things slow and be cautious, going one step at a time.
Nolan temporarily pushed aside the endless thoughts swirling in his mind because they had arrived at the third floating island in the teapot domain.
This island was quite different from the previous two.
Firstly, there were no trees planted here, no pools of water, and no "Karmic Residue" either.
Instead, there was just a long table placed in the center.
On the table were various inconspicuous odds and ends, with a few boxes stacked in the corner. It looked like this area was used for storage.
Which makes sense, considering this is an adeptus' domain—how could there be so many demons and monsters?
Nolan shook his head and continued to observe the island. On both the left and right sides, there were light bridges extending upward to two more floating islands.
Looking in the direction of those islands, they were connected to even more islands beyond.
"This teapot realm is unimaginably vast," Paimon, wearing her crown, remarked with a bit of awe as she looked up.
How long would it take to find what they were looking for?
"Hehe, I remember Granny Ping kept a lot of things here. The 'Cleansing Bell' should be among them. Let's search carefully," Yanfei said with a light chuckle.
"Yeah, finding things is our specialty," Paimon replied confidently, folding her arms.
What followed was a scene of everyone rummaging through the boxes. Nolan felt that the "Cleansing Bell" was most likely on the table, but after a thorough search, he found nothing.
"Strange, could it not be here?" Yanfei wondered aloud as she finished going through the boxes, also coming up empty-handed.
"Huh? What's this?"
Lumine suddenly noticed a delicate box covered in dust near the edge of the floating island. She picked it up and gently shook it.
"Ding-ding."
A soft, clear sound came from inside.
The sound immediately caught everyone's attention because it sounded just like a bell. It seemed likely that the "Cleansing Bell" was inside this ornate little box.
"Quick, open it and see!" Paimon eagerly urged as she floated closer.
"Alright."
Lumine's fair hand held the wooden box, brushing away some dust. She gently pressed her fingertip on the lid and lifted it.
Sure enough, inside was a beautifully crafted bell adorned with intricate patterns.
"Miss Yanfei, could this be the 'Cleansing Bell'?" Nolan asked as he walked over to where Yanfei was standing.
"Uh, I've never actually seen the 'Cleansing Bell' myself, but there shouldn't be any other bells in this realm. Let's take it outside and ask Granny Ping to confirm," Yanfei replied, touching a strand of hair by her temple, sounding slightly uncertain.
"Hehe, that works too. But where's the exit?" Paimon wondered, hovering in mid-air with her right leg slightly lifted.
Nolan and Lumine both looked to Yanfei for answers. After all, they had been in the teapot realm for quite a while and hadn't noticed any obvious exit.
"Simple." Yanfei patted her chest confidently, then cupped her hands around her mouth and took a deep breath before shouting, "—Granny Ping! We've found it!"
Her loud voice echoed throughout the teapot realm.
A few seconds passed, and just as Nolan and the others thought it hadn't worked, their vision suddenly went black, and in an instant, they were back outside.
—End of Chapter— What a good chapter to end the week!
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