Back at the Church of Favonius.
Xia Zhi brought the Wind Glider he'd bought to Cloud Retainer's room.
"Do you have so ti, Adeptus?"
"I do. What is this you've brought, Mr. Xia?"
"You're a master of chanisms. I'd like to ask your help in researching this Wind Glider to see if we can develop an improved design."
"Wonderful!"
Cloud Retainer readily agreed.
Honestly, whether or not she could work with Mr. Xia wasn't the point — what truly interested her was the chance to study this kind of fascinating gadget.
The two of them imdiately set about tearing the brand-new Wind Glider into pieces.
By the ti Xia Zhi had finished taking it apart, he'd more or less understood its entire design principle.
It was quite similar to the gliders of his old world, except that all the materials were specialized alchemical substances.
For instance, the feather-like material of the wings felt almost exactly like real bird feathers.
"Cloud Retainer, I have a few insights about this — please advise ."
"Do tell, Mr. Xia."
"The design is rather ingenious…"
"I see! Mr. Xia's understanding is truly profound!"
"But it does have a flaw: it relies on strong natural wind currents to glide. If you were sowhere with no wind at all, it would be useless…"
"Perhaps we could add a device to generate airflow directly?"
"Like a jet engine?"
"Exactly!"
"Then we'd have to consider the extra weight such a device would bring…"
"We could borrow the principle behind our hovercar and use a special ore to create Anemo propulsion."
"But a Wind Glider doesn't have a steering wheel, so we'd also need to think about how to control direction during acceleration."
"Hmm… true."
The two of them brainstord all afternoon, finally producing a satisfactory design blueprint.
Next, they'd need to buy the materials, then head to the alchemy station to synthesize everything, and finally assemble the parts.
Using the alchemy station required approval from the authorities, though, so the earliest they could get started would be tomorrow.
Xia Zhi put away the blueprint and said, "This is all thanks to your help, Cloud Retainer."
"You're too kind — working with Mr. Xia has taught much as well."
"Then let's do this together again next ti?"
"Of course!"
Xia Zhi took his leave.
Cloud Retainer stretched lazily in her room, feeling that this afternoon's research session might have been the most satisfying she'd had in her entire life.
It even felt like Mr. Xia's scent still lingered in the air.
Cloud Retainer couldn't help rembering the dream she'd had this morning — one that had stopped halfway through, leaving her unable to go on.
So frustrating.
She wondered when she'd finally get to finish a dream completely.
She spaced out, staring at her work table, until Mada Ping ca by to knock on the door and remind her it was ti to go out for so shopping together.
Cloud Retainer snapped out of it, quickly changed her clothes, and hurried outside.
As night fell, Mondstadt truly looked different from dayti.
The air on the streets was tinged with the faint scent of alcohol, and the noisy clamor of taverns spilled out from every corner.
They chose a Mondstadt restaurant recomnded by Xiangling and sat down for dinner.
While they ate, they overheard so custors at a neighboring table discussing an interesting urban legend.
It was about soone called the [Darknight Hero].
They said he only appeared at midnight, punishing evil and protecting the good — a mysterious figure.
Apparently, there were a few witnesses, but no one had ever seen his face clearly in the dark.
As they ate, they chatted about whether this urban legend might be real.
Zhu Zi thought it was quite possible there really was soone like that in Mondstadt.
But Charlotte felt it was more likely just a gimmick to lure custors into the taverns.
After finishing dinner, they strolled for an hour along the shore of Cider Lake. Mondstadt's climate was truly pleasant — even deep into the night, there was no hint of chill.
They walked through the streets once more, grabbing so grilled skewers for a late-night snack before heading back to the Church of Favonius to rest.
In the room, Xia Zhi sat alone on the edge of his bed.
It was a double room; originally Xia Lin had wanted to sleep with him, but in the end, she'd obediently gone to share a room with Yaoyao and Mada Ping.
Xia Zhi reached into his inventory and took out a rock he'd picked up by the roadside.
He tried using the new skill he'd stolen today, [Art of Black Earth], on it.
A few seconds later, a Cecilia flower blossod from the stone.
Xia Zhi hadn't sown any seeds or spread any fertilizer — just used a tiny amount of mana to bring forth a delicate, vibrant flower.
He plucked it from the stone, examined it closely, then lifted it to his nose to sll.
It really did carry the fragrance of a Cecilia.
Setting the flower aside, he tried [Art of Black Earth] again on the rock.
A few seconds later, the stone turned into a perfectly ripe Sunsettia.
This ti, the mana cost was higher than before.
He brought the Sunsettia to his lips and took a small bite.
Crisp texture, sweet flavor.
It was indistinguishable from an ordinary Sunsettia.
Xia Zhi looked at the half-bitten fruit, then used [Art of Black Earth] on it once more.
A few seconds later, a living beetle crawled out of the fruit.
It was much smaller than the Sunsettia, but this ti the mana drain was significantly higher.
He kept experinting, creating so other tiny insects.
In the end, he concluded that creating animals consud far more mana than creating plants.
After finishing these experints with [Art of Black Earth], Xia Zhi suddenly heard a prayer from Qiqi.
She was probably in her room right now, praying while holding the [Key of Light].
Xia Zhi flicked his finger slightly, and so faith power — visible only to him — materialized before his eyes.
Fanatical believers really could supply a steady stream of high-quality faith power.
But Xia Zhi didn't really need faith power himself. He waved his hand, sending it back to recharge the [Key of Light].
Then Xia Zhi suddenly thought of the chuunibyou girl he'd t today, with her black eyepatch.
And also Kaeya, the Cavalry Captain he'd t today, who also wore a black eyepatch.
It seed like black eyepatches were surprisingly popular in Mondstadt.
That sparked another fun idea in his mind.
He already had the [Radiant Wings], a symbol of light.
And he also had the [Chain of Darkness], a symbol of darkness.
Since he'd already made a magical girl transformation item aligned with light,
why not create one aligned with darkness as well?
If the transformation device for light took the form of a tiny key,
then the one for darkness might as well be a black eyepatch.
Xia Zhi thought for a mont, opened the system, and spent a single point to custom-order an eyepatch.
Unlike ordinary eyepatches, the system-made one was flawless, without a single stitch, and felt incomparably smooth to the touch.
Just like when he'd crafted the [Key of Light], he then began inscribing a circle of complex Divine Speech onto the eyepatch:
incantations to gather and channel faith power, harness spatial forces, draw on the power of darkness, and weave in the force of contracts.
After expending a huge amount of divine power and ntal energy, a new transformation item was complete.
[Eye of Darkness]
Quality: Platinum.
Type: Rechargeable item.
Trait: Divine Blessing, Transformation.
Effect: Absorbs faith power to charge up. Once fully charged, the wielder can transform into a divinely blessed form.
Hidden Effect: The purer the faith in darkness, the stronger the powers available after transformation.
Recyclable: 1000 points.
Xia Zhi looked at the description. It was basically identical to the [Key of Light], except with "darkness" swapped in for "light" — and in the end, the one being worshipped was still him.
He turned the eyepatch over in his hands, wondering who might be best to give it to.
"Yaoyao? She's so cheerful and bright, I doubt she'd ever manage to worship darkness…"
"Xia Lin? Even though she's suppressed right now, she's already platinum-tier herself, so she wouldn't need this…"
"Ying'er? She's a bit too old to be a magical girl at this point, it just wouldn't have the right flavor…"
"Forget it, I'll hang on to it for now."
Xia Zhi stowed the eyepatch back in his inventory.
The phone on the nightstand rang.
Yet another ssage urging him, as the owner of the internet café, to hurry up and open for business.
Xia Zhi shook his head, closed his eyes, and entered the dream.
First, he went to bring Furina and Focalors over.
The two of them already knew he'd arrived in Mondstadt, and were curious about what was fun there and whether he'd t any interesting people. Xia Zhi chatted with them for a while.
Anyway, dream ti ran twelve tis faster than the real world.
After that, he went to open the internet café and brought everyone from the dream realms inside.
Unlike before, tonight there was a brand new guest at the café.
Venti.
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