Damn it, something's wrong with the gacha I got.

After all, the eggshell created by the Archmage kept most of the Abyssal power out, but some people inside Teyvat liked to recklessly come into contact with the Abyssal power, resulting in a lot of filth getting in.

In a sense, the Great King was incredibly kind to the Teyvats.

Although she was a bit "forceful," if it weren't for the False Heaven, wouldn't the Abyss have completely submerged Teyvat?

At that time, Teyvat will truly be doomed.

Furthermore, lowering the nails was also to prevent the forces of the Abyss from further eroding Teyvat. Although the process was somewhat inhumane, it was mostly done by those people themselves.

Otherwise, there would be no need to lower the nail.

In Chen Bai's opinion, the Great King of Law could actually ignore Teyvat completely. Since Teyvat is also a descendant, he also has the means to traverse the stars and at least has the ability to protect himself.

Now, with Teyvat as a burden, and having fought the Abyss again and again for her sake, it has now fallen into a deep sleep.

But the people below are still causing trouble; eight out of ten of the officials under him are slacking off.

One of them even wants to rebel against her, and some even want to repeat the tragedy that happened to Canria.

If he were Phanes, he would have quit long ago.

Let whoever wants to do this damn Teyvat thing do it! Let whoever wants to take over take over!

After all, it's drafty from all sides and needs constant repairs; when will this ever end?

Therefore, let us thank the Dharma King!

The Dharma King is unparalleled in the world! The Dharma King is so beautiful that fish would sink and geese would fall from the sky! The Dharma King is so beautiful that the moon would hide and flowers would blush!

King Fa, you are the sun of Teyvat!

We also need to put up these slogans all over the streets and alleys of the seven kingdoms of Teyvat, and then recite them three times a day, morning, noon and night!

At this moment, Ye Lan's voice pulled Chen Bai back from his somewhat drifting thoughts.

"Gentlemen, let's continue. According to Miss Jinwu, the missing lady named Zhiqiong should be in the mine tunnel not far ahead. If we are lucky, we can find her and take her away."

"Yes, Ye Lan's novel is right. Let's continue on. If we encounter Miss Zhiqiong, we'll take her with us. Staying here for too long makes it hard for ordinary people to resist the erosion of the abyss."

Chen Bai nodded, and the group continued forward.

Chapter 158 Hello, Short-Stature True Lord!

"Hey! Ah Bai, look, there seems to be someone over there!"

Suddenly on March 7th, he tugged at Chen Bai's sleeve, stood on tiptoe, and pointed to a wide open space in the distance.

Several dark, demonic figures pounced on a swift, lightning-fast man. His movements were clean and decisive; in the blink of an eye, the demons fell to the ground.

"Come on, let's go take a look!" Chen Bai was pulled forward by March 7, and several of his companions from the Starry Sky Train followed suit.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the boy was a young man with blue hair and dressed in white.

He held a long spear, the tip of which was still gleaming with a faint light, and his body seemed to be enveloped in a mysterious aura.

The last monster vanished in the whirlwind of gunfire. Only then did the boy turn around, his expression cold and aloof, his gaze as still as a deep pool as he stared at the stench.

Who are you?

“You must be the Great Sage Who Subdues Demons,” Ye Lan stepped forward, her expression calm. “I am Ye Lan, sent here by Ning Guang of Tianquan Star.”

Xiao's gaze swept lightly over her, then turned to Chen Bai and the others behind him: "Tianquan Star? And who are these people?"

Before Ye Lan could speak, Chen Bai had already stepped forward with a smile, waved to the legendary guardian yaksha, and spoke with a familiar, amused tone:

"Hello, short-statured True Lord. We are nameless guests from the Celestial Train. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please take care of us."

The air was still for a moment.

elf:"……"

Is he a short-statured True Lord?

March 7th covered her mouth with a "pfft" and her shoulders trembled slightly.

Xing, standing to the side, looked the short, cold-faced guy up and down: "Not very tall, True Lord. Ah Bai's description is quite accurate."

Qiong also looked at Xiao Bao with curiosity and said, "It's not even up to my chest yet. It seems the child hasn't fully developed."

Xiao remained silent for a moment before speaking softly: "...Disrespectful to the Immortal Master."

There was no discernible emotion in his voice, but the cold, indifferent tone seemed to have intensified.

"Ahem, my apologies for my rudeness, Great Sage Demon Slayer. These few are new to Liyue and had no intention of offending you." Ye Lan stepped forward at the right moment and smoothed things over in a calm tone.

Xiao's gaze swept over Chen Bai's smiling face, but he didn't dwell on it. He simply said, "It's alright. But why did you come to the Abyss of Rocks? This place is filled with malevolent energy and fraught with danger. If it's not necessary, you'd better leave as soon as possible."

Seeing this, Chen Bai also dropped his joking expression and said seriously:

"I was indeed abrupt just now, and I hope Xiao Bao will not take offense. Our purpose in coming here is to investigate the anomalies of the Stratigraphic Abyss, and at the same time, we are looking for an adventurer named Zhi Qiong. I wonder if you have seen any trace of her?"

“Adventurer…” Xiao hesitated for a moment after hearing this, “After I arrived here, I did encounter a human woman. She insisted on going deeper into the area. I tried to persuade her to leave, but she was quite determined and seemed to still go deeper.”

"Thank you for telling me." Chen Bai nodded, then extended an invitation, "Since that's the case, we're looking for someone, and you seem to have things to do as well. The situation in this abyss is unclear, so why don't we travel together? That way we can look out for each other."

“No need.” Xiao’s answer was almost without hesitation; he was always used to going it alone. “I have my own…”

"Hey, don't refuse so quickly!"

Before he could finish speaking, the cheerful Qiong had already come over familiarly and patted Xiao on the shoulder.

The size difference between the two looks a bit comical.

"We're all pretty good fighters! If you run into any trouble, it's always good to have an extra pair of hands!"

Xiao frowned slightly, clearly unaccustomed to such enthusiastic persuasion. He turned to the side, still intending to refuse: "It's my duty, I don't need to..."

“Yes,” Chen Bai said with a smile, casually throwing out his “trump card,” “If something happens to you while you’re traveling alone… your Emperor will probably worry, right?”

Upon hearing the words "Emperor," Xiao's golden eyes visibly flickered.

Yes, this deep exploration of the layered rocks and abyss was done with the Emperor's tacit approval.

If he were to encounter danger while traveling alone and cause the Emperor to worry, or even venture into this place... then that would be a dereliction of duty on his part.

After a moment of silence, he sighed almost inaudibly:

"...Alright. I'll go with you."

"Hehe, that's right!" Qiong Jianxiao agreed to go along, immediately regaining her sunny demeanor, and followed him a few steps to his side, her curious eyes looking him up and down at the legendary immortal.

"By the way, I heard you're the guardian Yaksha of Liyue, and you've lived for thousands of years, right? Hmm, why do you look like... uh, your height doesn't seem to have grown with it? Do you immortals not have time to eat when you're cultivating? Look at me and my little sister, we were about this tall when we were born!"

As Qiong spoke, she gestured to the top of her head with her hand, her face filled with innocent curiosity, without any malice.

elf:"……"

He paused almost imperceptibly for a moment, his profile seemed to tense up, and his hand holding He Puyuan's moved slightly.

But when she caught a glimpse of the gray-haired youth's clear and innocent eyes, she swallowed back the cold words that were about to come out of her mouth.

However, although this person speaks bluntly, he has a childlike nature and does not intend to offend.

He took a slight breath, concealing the hint of helplessness in his eyes, and decided not to bother with this visitor from outer space.

"The road ahead is dangerous, stay close." Xiao didn't respond to the topic anymore, only offering a brief reminder before taking the lead and walking forward.

The people behind were a few steps behind.

On March 7th, he gathered around Danheng:

"Teacher Danheng, look at that Immortal Xiao. He has a cool and aloof demeanor and doesn't talk much. Doesn't he look a bit like you? Besides, you all use spears!"

Chen Bai stroked his chin, nodding in deep agreement, his gaze shifting between Dan Heng and the demon in front of him before delivering a precise blow:

"Hmm, they do look quite similar, but if you look closely, there are still some differences... The biggest difference is probably that Danheng is a bit taller than him, and also more reserved and sassy?"

Dan Heng: "..."

He glanced expressionlessly at the two clowns beside him, and veins seemed to bulge at the temples of his eyes.

He raised his hand to rub his temples, decisively interrupting their increasingly off-topic comparison: "Stop talking about this, hurry up and catch up."

Having said that, he gave March 7th and Chen Bai no more chances to shine and followed Xiao Bao, who was leading the way.

March 7th stuck out her tongue and exchanged a look with Chen Bai that said, "I've been lectured by Teacher Danheng again."

The group then continued to venture deeper into the area.

However, the deeper you go, the darker it gets.

Even the lumenite catalyst in my hand wasn't shining as brightly anymore, as if the increasingly heavy darkness inside was constantly squeezing out the light emanating from the lumenite catalyst.

Soon, a strange and distorted scene appeared before them.

"Is this a city that hangs upside down?"

Xiao looked surprised, and even Dan Heng was quite astonished.

There's actually a building like this underground. This rock abyss seems really extraordinary.

Chapter 159 The Nail of Cold Sky

The upside-down city before us seems to belong to the same ancient civilization as Azuma-no-miya, both originating from an era before the War of the Burial Fire.

The fate of this ancient kingdom is strikingly similar to that of Fendenil in the Longji Snow Mountain, both having violated forbidden taboos and thus incurring the wrath of the Dharma King.

The difference is that the ancestors here seem to have possessed a kind of holy water power that could purify the abyss.

The Abyss Order once attempted to use the devices and techniques left behind in this ancient city to wash away the curse of immortality that clung to the people of Kanria.

It seems that the secrets buried beneath the Teyvat continent are deeper and more unsettling with each layer.

"Ah Bai, are we... really going in? It looks creepy in there, could there be... something unclean?"

On March 7th, gazing at the inverted ruins before him, a hint of hesitation crept into his voice.

"Of course we'll go in. As for unclean things, there might be some. What, are you scared?"

Chen Bai glanced at her sideways, a hint of mockery playing on his lips.

"Me? How could I be afraid! Of course I'm not afraid!"

Hearing that she was still being stubborn, Chen Bai just pursed his lips slightly and didn't continue.

"I'd love to go and explore it too,"

Ye Lan narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze falling on the upside-down city. "I never imagined that such ancient civilization ruins were hidden beneath this place... The previous intelligence reports didn't mention it at all."

She took two steps forward, her clothes fluttering in the wind.

Then, they stepped into this upside-down ruin, which had been covered in dust by the long years.

The city's upside-down structure made exploration exceptionally difficult, forcing the group to navigate through a maze of intricate corridors and steps, as if walking through a vast and tranquil labyrinth.

Fortunately, we did not encounter any real obstacles along the way and arrived at the most conspicuous upside-down spire in the very center of the city.

Upon entering the inverted tower, a tall figure stood in front of a platform.

The newcomer was wearing a black trench coat with starry patterns and a peculiar mask on his right cheek.

What's most striking is his short, golden hair.

"Huh? Isn't that Daines Reeb?"

Chen Bai was taken aback upon seeing this.

What is he doing here?

They actually arrived at the Layered Rock Abyss ahead of schedule?

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Daines Reeb, who was lost in contemplation of the past, turned around immediately upon hearing the sound, his tone wary and inquisitive.

“We are travelers from beyond this world.” Chen Bai took a half step forward, looking directly at the other person. “But what I want to know more is, why did you, who are known as the ‘Endblade of Kanria,’ appear in the Abyss of Layered Rocks ahead of schedule?”

“Kanria…”

The name was like a pebble thrown into a still pond, stirring up cold ripples in Xiao's heart, who had remained silent all along.