Cross through Teyvat, and you'll become stronger by taking the hits!

Faced with Lu Li's request, Zhong Li hesitated for a long time before finally agreeing.

Only then did Lu Li feel relieved and continue on his way with him.

Jueyun Karst is so far from Liyue Harbor that if they traveled normally, it would probably be dawn the next day when the two of them returned to Liyue Harbor.

So after exiting the South Heavenly Gate, Zhongli stepped onto a rocky ridge that he had created.

Seeing this, before Zhongli could invite him to go up together, Luli also created an identical rock ridge and stood on it.

Seeing Lu Li's actions, Zhong Li couldn't help but chuckle. Then, he put his hands behind his back, and the rocky ridge beneath his feet rose into the air.

"Why?"

As Zhong Li rode on the rocky ridge that soared into the air, Lu Li tried to imitate his gesture of putting his hands behind his back, but the rocky ridge beneath his feet remained completely still.

That move isn't in his skill set!

Noticing this, Zhong Li gently raised one hand towards Lu Li, and the rocky ridge beneath Lu Li's feet immediately rose into the air.

"The method of manipulating objects is not too profound; it is a basic method for immortals. You can try it out with your own elemental power."

Zhong Li instructed Lu Li to let the rocky ridge beneath his feet fly up and follow him.

"The method of controlling objects?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Li scratched his head, first looking down at the rocky ridge beneath his feet, then shifting his gaze to his hands.

Because he was helping to support the rocky ridge beneath Lu Li's feet, Lu Li could see some light in his hands.

After looking at it carefully for a while, Lu Li had a look of sudden realization.

"I don't understand!"

"Let me guess, could it be... like this?"

Lu Li said with certainty, then tried to activate his Evil Eye, and ice elemental power slowly covered the rock ridge beneath his feet.

He couldn't manipulate objects, but he had a knack for controlling ice elemental power. He first tried to roughly condense a large amount of elemental power to support the rock ridge.

But soon a more refined method was adopted. Instead of simply using elemental force to lift the rock ridge, the energy contained in the elemental force was released below the rock ridge, and the balance was adjusted by precisely controlling the amount and direction of the release.

It should be noted that Lu Li can control the ice elemental power to flow freely in his blood vessels, so his control over the elemental power is absolutely flawless.

As it did this, the rock ridge hummed and slowly detached itself from Zhongli's power, suspending itself in the air, though it was a little clumsy and wobbled slightly.

In addition, frost covered the surface of the rock ridge, and a long white trail appeared behind it, like a shooting star.

Does this count?

Looking down at the swaying rock ridge beneath his feet, Lu Li raised his hands to maintain his balance, and asked Zhong Li for confirmation with some unease.

"Of course it counts. Young friend, you are very talented, but it would be even better if you could further control your elemental power."

Zhong Li nodded with a hint of appreciation and responded softly, his eyes reflecting the approaching lights of Liyue Harbor in the distance.

Seeing this, Lu Li straightened up again, mimicking Zhong Li's posture of putting his hands behind his back, and followed behind him.

I have to say, that pose is actually pretty cool!

However, Lu Li's speed had slowed down considerably, so Zhong Li had to reduce his flight speed and wait for him.

……

After flying back to Liyue Harbor, the two first landed outside the harbor before entering and returning to the Hall of Resurrection together.

Not long after entering, Lu Li saw Columbia.

She floated up to Lu Li with her light body, took his arm, and rested her forehead on his shoulder, as if she had suffered some injustice.

"Little pigeon? What's wrong...?"

Looking at Columbia, who suddenly grabbed his arm and leaned on his shoulder, Lu Li asked her with some concern.

"Lu Li, why did you hurt me?"

Columbia then slightly raised her head and spoke to Lu Li.

"Huh? How did I harm you... Oh! Did Hu Tao poison you again!"

Lu Li was a little confused, but quickly realized what was going on and said.

He entrusted Columbia to Walnut before he left in the afternoon.

"?"

Walnut, who had originally come over to watch the excitement, couldn't help but have a question mark pop up on her head.

If Lu Li and Columbia hadn't been together, she definitely would have rolled up her sleeves and gone over to have a serious talk with Lu Li.

"Well……"

Lu Li's words made Colombia pause for a moment.

That's really true...

Today's new flavor of "Ghost March" was terrifying...

"It's not Walnut, it's all your fault, you made me like you so much."

After hesitating for a moment, Columbia shook her head and continued speaking according to the original plan.

"..."

Hearing that Colombia had pulled this stunt again, Lu Li deflated and visibly shrank.

But soon, Lu Li took a deep breath and recovered.

"Okay, it's all my fault. To make it up to you, Little Pigeon, I'll treat you to a big meal at Liuli Pavilion."

Once he recovered, Lu Li took one of Columbia's hands and said apologetically to her.

"OK."

Upon hearing this, Columbia immediately forgot about the other ideas Walnut had taught her and nodded happily.

Hu Tao and Zhong Li naturally had no objections to this, so Lu Li took the membership card that Zhong Li had given to Columbia last time and led everyone to the Liuli Pavilion.

However, the expense of indulging in such a lavish meal at Liuli Pavilion was still a bit painful for Lu Li, since the food at Liuli Pavilion was not as affordable as that at Wanmintang.

A meal here costs at least 500,000 Mora.

If I eat like this every day, the little bit of Mora I earn from my stall won't be enough to cover my expenses.

……

After silencing Columbia with delicious food, Lu Li bid farewell to Hu Tao and Zhong Li, and then took Columbia's hand as they returned home together.

Back home, Lu Li immediately took out his camera and started looking at the photos from today.

Seeing this, Columbia also curiously came over, still unaware of what Lu Li had done that day.

However, the lunar torque force cannot directly perceive the two-dimensional content on the phonograph and the photograph.

Unlike books, which are printed or copied, text on paper has a different thickness and shape, even if it is invisible to the naked eye.

However, whether it is the content of the photo or the image displayed on the screen of some new photo booths, it is basically flat, and the thickness fluctuations that can be felt are unrelated to the content of the photo.

So Columbia had no choice but to huddle behind Lu Li and secretly open her eyes to watch.

"..."

At first glance, she saw Lu Li holding the head of the Dragon King Ruotu in his hands, pressing his face against it with an excited expression.

This photo was taken by Ying at Lu Li's request.

Next, in the next picture, Lu Li is feeding the Dragon King Ruo Tuo with a piece of amber he dug out of the ground.

"Well……"

"Why is it that Lu Li doesn't feel shy when he hugs her, but instead seems very happy, yet he gets shy when he hugs me?"

Upon seeing these two photos, Columbia couldn't help but ask questions.

If Lu Li turned around, he would notice that her cheeks were slightly puffed out.

"Oh, this..."

Lu Li was taken aback by Colombia's question and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"Why aren't you answering? Is it because Lu Li likes her more?"

Seeing Lu Li stunned, Columbia leaned on the back of the chair and poked Lu Li's cheek with her slender white index finger.

"Because it's not human, there's nothing to be ashamed of..."

Lu Li, whose face was being poked, felt immense pressure for some reason. After blinking, he finally came up with this explanation.

"But I'm not human either."

"Unless you hold me right now, Lu Li, I won't believe you."

As she spoke, Columbia walked up to Lu Li from behind, opened her arms to him, and a smile appeared on her lips.

……