In Teyvat, it all begins with rescuing the grass god.

On his way back to Sumeru City, the Blazing Beast Hunter had to pass through Aru Village, so he could hitch a ride.

But new problems arise.

Just like what Dixia is asking now: "Where are you from? Judging from your skin color, you shouldn't be from the desert. Are you from the rainforest? Or are you an adventurer?"

Where is home?

This question left Rod bewildered, and a hint of sadness crept onto his face.

His home is not here!

And he may never be able to go back!

"Were your family members killed by those robbers?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up your painful memories."

Dixia was very good at reading people. As soon as she saw Rhodes' expression, she mistakenly thought that Rhodes' family had met with misfortune and that her words had reminded him of those unbearable memories.

The atmosphere became a little awkward.

However, Dixia quickly broke the tense atmosphere: "If you have nowhere to go, you can settle in Aru Village. Candice will definitely welcome you."

"Settle down in Aru Village?"

Rod raised his head, and a glimmer of light gradually returned to his bewildered eyes. After pondering for a long time, he sighed and said, "Well, it's better than wandering around."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 3 Welcome to Aru Village

We set off again.

Perhaps it was the renowned Blazing Beast Hunter, or perhaps it was Dixia's personal reputation that shook the desert, but in any case, the rest of the journey went smoothly. They encountered neither foolish treasure-hunting groups nor gilded caravans attempting to plunder.

During this peaceful period, Rhodes did not rest, but instead devoted himself to studying the Eye of God.

In Desia's words, his application of the Eye of God is still very crude, limited to the simplest elemental force condensation.

She also said...

Rhodes was able to kill the gang of robbers not simply because they were weak.

Another important reason is that the tribespeople are extremely protective of their lives, and not only are they protective of their lives, they are also unwilling to be injured for no reason.

This is related to the harsh living environment of the desert.

In such a dog-eat-dog world.

Death is terrible, but being seriously injured or crippled is even worse. Even if you are a comrade-in-arms from the same tribe, if you lose your fighting ability and are no longer of any use to the tribe, the tribe's leader will not hesitate to throw you into the desert to feed the wild beasts.

The incompetent do not deserve food.

That's the rule of the desert.

That's why when Rhodes suddenly unleashed his power and the situation reversed, the Tanit tribe bandits decisively chose to run away; no one was willing to take the risk of dealing with such a madman.

“I have met some powerful individuals who are skilled in using the power of ice elements. In their eyes, the essence of the Eye of the Ice Element lies in creating extreme cold that is completely at your command, rather than simply manipulating a bunch of ice to stab and poke people like you do.”

Rhodes played with the Eye of God in one hand and stroked his chin with the other, recalling what Desia had said to him.

His current use of ice elements is limited to simple attack methods such as creating ice spikes, ice shards, and ice barbs. Oh, and he can also create an ice shield to protect himself.

With his current elemental power reserves, he can manipulate a maximum of one ice shield and five ice spikes at the same time.

This was the trick he used to defeat the Tanit tribe warriors.

However, even with such methods, Rhode was beaten down in less than a breath against the powerful Desia.

"Elemental power has more than just such simple applications."

"Since you're good at using ice, then make use of the properties of ice."

What is ice?

"Just this fragile ice pick in your hand?"

As she said this, Dixia looked at Rhodes' face, and with a casual pinch, crushed the ice spike that could easily pierce a human body to pieces.

"What you're using now is just one way of representing ice."

"What you should learn to use is the essence of ice, not these superficial and unskilled crude applications."

Desia is the holder of the Fire Elemental Eye.

Although fire and ice elemental powers are used differently, they are ultimately similar in principle.

For example, Dixia likes to concentrate fire elemental power into her fists to create a pair of high-temperature gauntlets made of blazing flames. With one punch, not to mention how badly the fist can damage a person, the flame gauntlets alone are enough to burn the enemy's skin and flesh.

In addition, Dixia has another habit in battle: wherever she goes, there is always a blazing ring of flames under her feet, making it difficult for enemies to get close. They are forced to keep their distance from Dixia and then be chased and attacked by her.

Rod studied with her for a few days.

Even now, he can barely manage to condense a low-temperature domain under his feet using ice elemental power.

However, compared to Desia, a seasoned user of the Eye of God, the low-temperature domain he created was much smaller, and the temperature did not drop to an unbearable level. Not to mention Desia, even the mercenaries in the Blazing Beasts who did not have the Eye of God could easily come into contact with this low-temperature domain, and some even took the initiative to come into this ice circle to cool off.

Rhodes was slightly disappointed.

Dixia, however, had a different opinion.

"Do you know how long it took me to become proficient in using the Molten Inferno?"

The Molten Iron Purgatory is the fiery ring that Desia uses in battle.

Rod still remembers the expression on Desia's face when she told him about it.

It was a look of surprise, confusion, and a slight hint of jealousy.

"Two and a half years, a full two and a half years!"

“Even in an unstable field like yours, it took me a whole year to barely form a prototype.”

"You've only been here a few days?"

"Three days? Or two days?"

As Dixia spoke, she became increasingly jealous, and in the end, she repeatedly exclaimed that she had found an extraordinary genius.

"Am I really a genius?"

Thinking of this, Rhodes' right hand moved slightly, and ice elemental power burst forth from his body through the Eye of God. Following Rhodes' will, this ball of ice elemental power twisted and turned into a red thought flower commonly seen in the desert.

"It's still a bit crispy."

Looking at the unstable ice sculpture flower that was still crumbling, Rhode carefully considered its flaws and used ice elemental power to continuously stabilize the imperfect parts, then corrected and reshaped the details.

This is the training method that Dixia taught him.

Meticulous craftsmanship helps to improve control over elemental forces.

This is how Dixia trains in her spare time on weekdays.

"First, try to successfully sculpt a fine ice sculpture, and then try to lower the temperature of the ice sculpture and improve its details, doing your best."

"I think that when you can create an ice sculpture at the ideal temperature and in the ideal shape at any time, then your control over elemental forces will be almost at the level of doing whatever you want."

"By then, even if you don't have any martial arts skills, you will be able to join the ranks of the desert's strongest warriors just by relying on the power of the Eye of God."

Rhodes was very fortunate.

I'm so glad I met such a kind and helpful person as Dixia.

If it weren't for her, I would have had to take many detours just to learn how to manipulate elemental forces.

Time always flies when you're practicing.

When he was on the run, Rod felt that every day was very long.

And now.

Before we knew it, seven days had passed.

As the outline of Aru Village faintly appeared on the horizon, Rhode was already able to skillfully condense a solid Crimson Thought Flower, but the condensation speed was very slow, far from the effortless speed that Dixia had mentioned.

These ice sculptures, which can remain frozen for a long time, are also very popular with the Blazing Light Beasts. As soon as they appeared, even Dixia couldn't resist asking for two, enjoying the cool feeling brought by this creation of ice elements.

soon.

The Blazing Light Beast then entered the gates of Aru Village.

"Is this Aru Village?"

Looking at the bustling village before him, Rod murmured to himself.

"Yes, this is Aru Village."

Desia looked at Rhodes with some confusion.

Judging from Rhodes' skin color, she originally thought he must be a rainforest person.

But now it seems that this is not the case.

Since Aru Village is the only way to enter the desert from the rainforest, Rod should know about it.

But the expression on his face didn't seem fake; he genuinely appeared to have never been to Aru Village.

Where did he come from?

Fontaine? It can't be Liyue, can it?

With these questions in mind, after entering the village, Dixia led Rod to a blue-haired woman with heterochromatic eyes.

“Candice, this is a poor guy I found in the desert, his name is Rod.”

"Hmm, his family was all kidnapped by the robbers."

At this point, Dixia glanced at Rhodes discreetly, and seeing that his expression had not changed, she continued, "He had nowhere else to go, so he thought of settling down in Aru Village."

Candice listened attentively to her, then gave Rhodes a scrutinizing look.

Aside from briefly glancing at the Eye of God at Rhodes' waist, she showed no unusual expression, then smiled and said, "Since you recommended me, Mr. Rhodes, welcome to Aru Village."

(End of this chapter)