Genshin Impact, the spear remains.

After being turned down by Bai Qiyun for the eighth time, Bennett reluctantly put away the Mora in his hand.

"Then... then consider it as temporarily leaving it with me. You can come and get it from me whenever you need it."

Bai Qiyun shook his head helplessly. He could understand Bennett's good intentions, but for him, the money was nothing. However, judging from what Bennett had said before, he might really need the money.

After splitting it in half, each person would get about 10,000 Mora. This is the amount that his grandfather could earn with a single dish. Even for someone like him, who is far less successful than his grandfather, a single dish could still fetch several thousand Mora.

Although the ingredients are expensive, Bai's Restaurant is no longer a restaurant for the general public; it is now frequented by wealthy diners.

But don't get me wrong, it's not that his family is deliberately taking a high-end route and getting out of touch with the masses. In the past, his family was just like Wanmintang, a restaurant that used the most common ingredients to make delicious and affordable dishes for ordinary people.

However, in recent years, as the old man's health has deteriorated day by day, the restaurant has changed its operating strategy to allow the old man to rest more.

As for why he wasn't allowed to take over, his father hadn't yet deemed him a "qualified" chef.

How could we let him cook on his own? Wouldn't that be a disgrace to his skills?

So even though he wanted to help the old man, the other man never agreed.

"Ugh."

Thinking about the reason for this trip, Bai Qiyun couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Ultimately, what exactly is the old man's standard for "qualified"?

"Come back when you've made up your mind."

This was the last thing the old man said to him before he left home.

But determination and such, you can't see any of that in him at all.

Isn't this asking the impossible?

Lost in Bai Qiyun's thoughts, the two finally arrived at the big tree at the place where the wind began.

Although the tree already looked ridiculously large from a distance, upon closer inspection, it was even larger than one could have imagined.

The towering branches and leaves covered the entire landscape, even obscuring the wind god statue that was faintly radiating wind elemental power.

Looking up from its feet, Bai Qiyun even doubted whether he was still in the Whispering Forest.

There was absolutely no sunlight. It was difficult to even see the slightest crack.

Not far away, several wind nymphs were fluttering their wings and flying about, and small birds occasionally perched on the branches, making it seem like a kingdom in the trees.

"This is it..."

Faced with this scene, Bai Qiyun's mind suddenly went blank, and he was completely immersed in this quiet and peaceful atmosphere.

"Yes, this is the legendary land of Vanessa, the first Lion Fang Knight and the hero of Mondstadt."

Bennett's usual liveliness was gone, replaced by a deep longing in his eyes.

Looking at his companion's expression, Bai Qiyun knew that he wasn't yearning for the power that Vanessa possessed, but rather for something more unspeakable.

"A hero indeed."

Like an old man who has experienced many vicissitudes, Bai Qiyun sighed at this word.

That Mondstadt hero was famous throughout Teyvat. How famous? So famous that even he, who was far away in Liyue and buried in his kitchen, had heard of him.

"What is a hero?"

His words drifted on the wind, scattering among the leaves and buds.

"A hero is... a very famous person who has experienced many adventures."

What was originally just an unintentional remark by Bai Qiyun drew a very serious response from Bennett.

However, it seems that the focus of his answer was the second half of the sentence.

"Very famous? Will becoming a hero mean being remembered by many people?"

"I think so, anyway, those heroes in history are all quite famous."

Seeing Bennett's matter-of-fact attitude, Bai Qiyun seemed to think of something, then turned his head and silently looked at the towering tree.

"A hero indeed!"

After a long while, Bai Qiyun came back to his senses. He was about to say something when he was interrupted by a female voice.

"Oh, are you adventurers?"

The person who arrived was dressed in Mondstadt-style clothing, so he was probably a local.

"Ms. Edith? What is this...?"

Bennett clearly knew the woman, but she didn't seem to know him.

Edith smiled at the two of them, then looked up at the top of the big tree as if searching for something, but after a long time she found nothing, she lowered her head.

"I came here to do some research, but I haven't found any good materials after searching for a long time."

Helplessness crept onto her profile, and there was a hint of bitterness in her eyes.

"I've been here several times before, but I don't have the Eye of God and can't detect any traces of the elements. Perhaps the protagonists of this world are those who possess the Eye of God, and we are just supporting characters."

It looks like this lady has been here several times before.

Bai Qiyun and Bennett looked at each other in bewilderment.

"So what are you looking for?"

Finally, it was Bennett, a true member of the Adventurers' Guild, who spoke up to ask.

Upon hearing this, Edith looked carefully at the two people in front of her, and then nodded.

"You must be adventurers. Could you please take on a commission from me?"

Upon hearing this, Bennett initially wanted to refuse outright. After all, he was still taking exams, and while attacking Hilichurls could be considered a duty as a citizen of Mondstadt, this was a bit unreasonable.

"Hey, let's hear it first."

Seeing Bennett's expression, Bai Qiyun knew what he was thinking. He quickly covered Bennett's mouth and gestured for Ms. Edith to continue.

Seeing that the two had reached a preliminary consensus, Edith seemed very happy. She placed her hand on her chest and performed a Mondstadt salute.

"Could you two please collect three items related to the wind element from this tree? I don't have the Eye of God and can't see any traces of the elements, so could I trouble you two to do this? Of course, I will pay you as usual."

"I think there's no problem."

After confirming the other party's intentions, Bai Qiyun had no objections. However, considering that this was his membership test, he still had to express his opinion first.

After hearing the other party's request, Bennett also wanted to take it on, and when he heard that the person involved had no objections, he readily agreed.

"Okay, then, on this tree, right?"

"Yes, and please take this."

Edith took a box out of her backpack and handed it to Bennett.

"Please use this to hold them."

Bai Qiyun leaned over to examine the box and found no trace of any elements. He pursed his lips.

It looks like just an ordinary box.

"Well then, I'll go up and take a look first."

After all, it was his next task, and Bennett volunteered to take on the challenge.

"Why don't I go with them? I'm just killing time anyway."

After distancing themselves from Ms. Edith, their conversation became much more casual.

"Huh? But you..."

"Don't worry, although I don't have the Eye of God, I can still see elemental traces. Otherwise, how do you think I caused that commotion earlier?"

Having no intention of hiding it, Bai Qiyun frankly told Bennett about his abilities.

In fact, people like him are rare on the continent of Teyvat, but they do exist.

Moreover, since those who possess the Eye of God can see elemental traces, his ability is not particularly surprising.

"Oh...no wonder."

Bennett believed him without a second thought, since he had witnessed the scene himself.

He still remembers the terrible fate of that wooden shield Hilichurl thug.

"Let's see who finds it first."

Bai Qiyun had long been eager to challenge the holder of the Eye of God.

He wanted to know how big the gap was between him and the other person in areas where he could also do the same thing.

Under Ms. Edith's watchful eye, the two climbed the towering tree step by step.

Surprisingly, Bai Qiyun, who is a chef, doesn't seem to have much of a slow Bennett.

The two continued climbing at roughly the same pace, one in front of the other.

Before long, the two climbed to the fork in the tree.

With a quick glance, Bai Qiyun noticed a leaf with wind element on each of his left and right sides.

He turned around and met Bennett's gaze; there was no doubt that the other had noticed him too.

Without exchanging words, the two of them crawled toward the direction closest to them.

"Okay, got it."

Walking on the somewhat narrow branches, Bai Qiyun felt slightly disoriented.

This height is already quite high; if you fall without any resistance, you'll definitely get injured.

He swallowed hard and carefully returned to the fork in the road.

However, it was precisely because of this action that Bai Qiyun wasted some time.

Meanwhile, Bennett had already nimbly climbed to the highest point and retrieved the last leaf with the element of wind.

"I'm really defeated by you."

Back on land, Bai Qiyun looked at Bennett, who was still grinning foolishly at him, and admitted his defeat.

He knew he was a little scared at that moment, which is why he slowed down. However, the other person didn't seem to feel that way and maintained the same pace without slowing down.

However, the opponent did not use any elemental power during this process.

In other words, he was not defeated by Bennett's Eye of God, but simply by Bennett's straightforwardness, a power that the Eye of God had never given him.

"Hehe, it's alright. I just used the energy I had when I was fighting with the Hilichurls on climbing trees."

Bai Qiyun handed the leaf in his hand to Bennett, and then put them into Ms. Edith's box.

"You guys are amazing. You only went up and down for a few minutes. If it were me, it would take me several hours to find even a clue."

Upon receiving the box, Edith placed her hand above the leaves and could indeed feel the breeze.

This is the elemental power that she can sense even without special abilities.

She immediately paid the two of them and then went back to continue working on her paper.

"I don't have any way to save it, so I might have to trouble you again next time."

Before leaving, she gave the two of them a deep look, as if she wanted to remember them, since they might be two people she would visit often in the future.

"Oh, they've left."

"Yes, they've left."

Bai Qiyun watched this lady who came in a hurry and left in a whirlwind, and couldn't help but sigh a few times.

"By the way, you can't refuse the payment this time. We completed this task together."

Bennett insisted on giving away this portion of Mora this time.

Perhaps sensing his determination, Bai Qiyun did not refuse.

Is this what it feels like to do commissions and get paid? It seems not so bad?

Bai Qiyun weighed the Mora in his hand; this was, strictly speaking, his first pot of gold.

It's because he didn't get paid when he did odd jobs at home.

"Speaking of which, this big tree can actually give birth to products containing wind elemental power."

Bai Qiyun came to his senses and looked at the big tree.

You should know that products of wind elemental power are extremely hard to find. Those three wind-elemental leaves contained far more elemental power than windmill chrysanthemums or anything like that.

"Perhaps it's because it was Lady Vanessa who planted it back then."

Not knowing why, Bennett blamed the great hero.

"Vanessa?"

Bai Qiyun also stared at the big tree in front of him, remaining silent for a long time.

As the breeze swept by, the lush, leafy trees rustled softly.

It was as if Vanessa had answered the two boys' questions across a thousand years.