I'm in the Teyvat running group

Current shield strength: 55352/58738

"Good heavens... just how strong is Abelardo?"

This number truly refreshed Yunxiu's understanding. To this day, the strongest person he had ever come into close contact with was his father. With four life stars retrieved from the sixth ring, he was undoubtedly among the top experts in a country. According to the power ranking of the Teyvat continent, he could basically be considered the limit of mortals. Once he had retrieved all six life stars, he would basically begin to "walk towards the realm of gods." And once he became a seventh ring, he would be "comparable to a god," although in reality he had only just entered the seventh ring and had the qualifications to become a god.

Compared to those level 8 and 9 demon gods' followers, demon gods, or even legendary characters, they are naturally far inferior. But in reality, level 7 demon gods are comparable to war gods in the human world!

The weapons of war in Kel'ia are absolutely beyond the capabilities of ordinary people. Even a character like Prince Charles would have to deal with them seriously in his prime, and when he is weak, he would need to use his Evil Eye to defeat them. A level 7 warrior can charge back and forth through the guards of the Kel'ia Ruins with his sword, and can even walk leisurely when surrounded by five or six. If such a character were to fight against ordinary Fatui, or ordinary mechanical or Hilichurl formations, he could single-handedly cut through hundreds or thousands of them!

The top four members of the Fatui are all super experts of this level. But if Abelard is this powerful, then Jean and Diluc might really be at least level seven or eight, as he predicted. Then, with the addition of Klee, who has extremely destructive power, Prince Canria who is hiding his identity, and Lisa, Mondstadt will have at least four or five characters with level seven or eight combat power. Dealing with a Stormterror that is corrupted by the abyss is really not a big problem!

It's simply a matter of how much of a price to pay...

Setting aside her amazement at Abedo, Yunxiu glanced around and grabbed two boxes of compressed rations and canned food from the food storage area. She ate them and then used a magic trick to pretend to drink two bottles of very strong liquor, just like the Winter People. However, before drinking them, she used a magic trick to pour the liquor directly into the ground. Afterward, Yunxiu pretended to be "drunk" in front of Sugar's cover and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

He waited patiently for two hours, until it got dark, when two members of the Fools came and kicked Yunxiu's leg:

"Sergei, let's go have dinner and drinks. Tonight we'll have hot northern smoked chicken!"

"Don't bother waking him. He lost over 500 molars playing cards this afternoon, got angry, and drank two bottles of alcohol. If you wake him up, he'll just yell at you."

"Really? Never mind then."

When only two Fools remained on duty at the entrance of the hall, and sensing that the Abyss Order had also begun to meditate, Yunxiu began to roll over in a whirl.

He cast two Sleep spells on the other two Fatui members in the hall, and after confirming they were asleep, he dispelled his disguise and then whispered into the protective shield:

"Miss Sugar, I am Yunxiu, the child of Tian Shu in Liyue. I've come to save you!"

"Ah...I...I...Can I trust you?"

Chapter 19 The Annihilation of the Cult Erupts

"I know you are Sugar, an alchemist of the Knights of Favonius, and your teacher is Abedo. You like to arrange things neatly and classify them by color and shape..."

"Ah...can you prove your identity?"

Yunxiu took out her Liyue identity document and the Sword of Suspended Division's certificate and affixed them to the protective shield wall.

Sugar leaned her cute green head closer and carefully examined Yunxiu twice. After confirming that Yunxiu's identity was indeed correct, her expression relaxed considerably. She let out a long sigh, patted her chest, and stretched out her legs, which had gone numb from being curled up, before timidly saying, "I...I am Sugar, and I am indeed an alchemy researcher. This is our first meeting. I came here a few days ago looking for amber. I originally wanted to test whether adding amber to a new formula could enhance its effects...but they discovered me, and I only had time to activate the scroll my master gave me...and then I was trapped here."

She paused again, seemingly tired from speaking so much, before continuing, "Master... gave me two magical items, one is a scroll, and the other is a sensing crystal. As long as I crush it, Master will come rushing over..."

"Did you crush it? Will Mr. Abedo be coming?"

“Mondstadt is too far from here, and it will take my master several days to get here. I thought the Fatui would give up quickly.” Sugar continued pitifully, pointing with two fingers as she looked down, “But it seems they saw some essence potions on my hand, so they haven’t given up… So I was planning to crush them today, because even if I eat very sparingly, I only have enough for two or three more days. Luckily, I still have a lot of water…”

It seems that Sugar carried about three days' worth of food and a week's worth of water...

At the time, she clearly hadn't considered the problem of being trapped. Now she should be a dirty... half-animal, since Sugar should only be a half-orc, so we need to be precise.

“It’s already quite remarkable that you’ve managed to hold on for three days. Let me think of something.” Yunxiu thought for a moment and then asked, “Do you have any potions or weapons? And can this be opened? I need to know your condition so I can rescue you.”

"Weapons... I don't have any. I mainly rely on potions and alchemical tools when I fight outside..." Sugar rested her head on her two small hands, thought for a moment, and then slowly said, "Right now, the only potions I have left for fighting are two bottles of 'charm potions' used to lure creatures. However, these were failed attempts at refining, and they will make people of the same sex five times more interested in you..."

After tilting his head and thinking for a moment, Sugar poked his little belly again: "I can open a small opening from the inside, but I can only do it twice at most... because each time I open it, I lose a third of the durability."

After thinking for a moment, Yunxiu quickly came up with a feasible tactic. However, she needed to kill all the Abyss Cult members in the vicinity first. She was already at level three, so although it was difficult, it wasn't impossible. Then, she could use the explosives in the vicinity to set up a trap to deal with these Fools. As for how to set up the trap... Yunxiu already had a pretty good idea.

He first took a lot of food from the Fools' supplies, then took a bucket of water and had Sugar open a small hole to put it in, saying, "Eat quickly, you don't need to talk. You'll need strength to escape later. You can wash up after you finish eating."

Seeing the food Yunxiu brought in, Sugar accepted it without hesitation. Then, timidly, she took out two bottles of purple, strange-looking potions from the canvas bag on her back and handed them to Yunxiu, saying, "These are the discarded charm potions... They're still quite useful for luring monsters, and they work well on humans too... But I practiced this one wrong, and I haven't tried it..."

"This will be very useful." Yunxiu chuckled. After obtaining two bottles of "Scrap Charm Potion," Sugar deactivated the barrier. Yunxiu glanced at the surrounding explosives and environment, then jumped out through the skylight. He had thoroughly investigated this place when he arrived; it was a weak point in the defenses. The Fatui were almost all out for lunch, and many members of the Abyss Cult had also left.

After scanning around again, I found two more groups of nine monsters from the Abyss Order. Two of them were Abyss Mages leading the groups, followed by three Hilichurls and four regular Hilichurls. During the day, there were four groups of eleven, so it seems the deployment was adjusted at night.

Seeing that the two groups of Abyss Order monsters were still some distance apart, Yunxiu thought for a moment and decided to prioritize finding a way to kill the Abyss mages. The biggest weakness of these Abyss Order monsters was that they were too fragile. Without their shields up, they would be instantly killed if they were ambushed at close range. When she played Genshin Impact in her previous life, Yunxiu loved to use Rain of Delight to snipe Abyss mages who didn't have time to activate their shields from a great distance...

Having taken a short break, Yunxiu's elemental energy was now fully restored. Naturally, Yunxiu didn't care at all when using magic. He directly used a disguise spell to transform into an abyss mage, and slowly strolled over to another abyss mage. While the abyss mage was still meditating, Yunxiu suddenly burst forth, and three scorching magical rays struck him directly.

[Scorching Ray] 2 Rings/75 Energy: Creates three rays that can be fired in a concentrated or dispersed manner, each ray dealing 2D20 Fire Elemental Damage.

“4！4！11！7！8！8！，你的世界修正系数为89.44。”

"-3756!"

This Abyss Mage, with a base health of only 20 points, only has 3300 points even with the world coefficient adjustment. It was instantly killed before it could even say a word!

The other eight creatures were awakened. Just as another abyss mage was about to cast a spell to activate his shield, Yunxiu fired another scorching ray.

“9！13！12！4！5！4！”

"-4203!"

Even though this Abyss Mage was considered one of the luckier Abyss Mages, with a base health of 26 points, he only had less than 100 health points left. Yunxiu then fired an Elemental Arrow. A level 1 Elemental Missile can fire 3 missiles with a value of 1D20+1. Without a doubt, it instantly killed him!

The remaining seven Hilichurls were shocked and rushed over, attacking Yunxiu with their weapons without hesitation. Three Hilichurl thugs swung their great axes, Thunder Axe and Fire Axe.

"Shield!"

“你的AC防御为14+5（护盾术）=19，丘丘暴徒此次攻击鉴定为17，低于19但高于14，触发“擦伤”效果！”

“丘丘暴徒造成2D6+3=14点伤害，世界修正89.44，对你造成1252点伤害，触发擦伤为正常伤害20%，你受到251点伤害！”

"Your AC defense is 14 + 5 (Shield Spell) = 19, the Hilichurl's attack is assessed as 21!"

"Shield!"

“丘丘暴徒造成2D6+3=9点伤害，世界修正89.44，对你造成805点伤害！”

"Your AC defense is 14 + 5 (Shield Spell) = 19, the Hilichurl's attack is assessed as 22!"

"Shield!"

“丘丘暴徒造成2D6+3=11点伤害，世界修正89.44，对你造成985点伤害！”

All damage from the other four Hilichurls missed!

The Cloud Mage, who refreshed Arcane Protection with Shield, had his shield reduced to only 88 points, but his health was still full. This is the power of a Protection Mage!

Upon seeing the seven Hilichurls arrive beside her, Yunxiu grinned and cast the Grease spell directly at her feet.

A huge lump of oil appeared out of nowhere, and all seven Hilichurls were subjected to an attack. Only one managed to stay upright, while the others all fell to the ground. As the Cloud Ring level increased, the spell's effect became more and more powerful, especially with the support of Teyvat's high concentration of elements, making it even more effective.

"Stealth Step!" Yunxiu instantly teleported to an open space 10 meters away, then effortlessly threw out a fire arrow, which ignited the grease in an instant, and the four little Hilichurls were quickly burned to death!

Seeing that the three Hilichurls had lost about 20% of their health, Yunxiu did not choose the Scorching Ray. Instead, she chose the sure-hit "Elemental Missiles" combined with "Stealth Step" to kite them. She used Stealth Step twice and Elemental Missiles four times in total, easily killing the three Hilichurls.

“你获得50×4+200×3+700×2=2200XP。”

After cleaning up the battlefield and collecting the materials and several thousand Mora dropped by the monsters, Yunxiu considered her next tactics. Since her elemental energy was almost depleted and replenishing it would be extremely difficult, she should try to utilize explosives and the current environment to defeat her opponent. Looking at her experience bar, which was nearly half full, and then at her mana bar, which she had emptied, Yunxiu couldn't help but smile bitterly. Even though she could be considered the chosen one and had obtained a powerful artifact from a great being in this world, the fight was still incredibly difficult…

"No, generally speaking, it takes at least a team of level 2 Abyss Mages to fight just one!"

"I was too strong, but it's alright now!"

With the support of the Unrestricted Talisman, Yunxiu's combat power is actually no worse than that of an ordinary fourth-ring mage. Most mages would need to reach level 8 to achieve his sustained combat power. The biggest difference between him and a fourth-ring mage is that he cannot use high-ring spells.

Looking around again to make sure there were no more monsters from the Abyss Order, Yunxiu jumped down from the cave. Looking at Sugar, who had eaten her fill and recovered considerably, Yunxiu quickly calculated where to place the explosive barrels for maximum effect while moving them to set up the position. Then, seeing Sugar had eaten her fill, washed up, and was even twitching her ears, she smiled and said, "Remember to protect your ears with magic later, and when you open your mouth wide, don't open your eyes. Open them only when I call you."

"Okay, okay, you noticed my ears? It's a family trait... I usually try to hide them with my hair..."

Chapter 20: Bomb and Run Away

With the help of a mage, Yunxiu worked breathlessly for over half an hour before finally finishing moving all the explosives.

He evenly arranged the explosives on the inner wall of the ruins, layer by layer. He then took out all the Fools' liquor, soaked various furs, clothes, and fabrics in it, and placed them between the explosive barrels as ignition and electrical materials. Explosives, though described as easy to ignite in both games and reality, are actually quite troublesome. In fact, most explosives are difficult to ignite even after being thrown into a fire. If you want to ignite most common explosives by simply lighting a flame, you would need to burn them at 500 degrees Celsius for about ten seconds before they have a chance to explode. And even then, there is a considerable chance that they will only burn.

What does this mean? It means that even in reality, it's possible to run over 100 or 200 meters, so using fire to ignite explosives, as depicted in some works, is absolutely unacceptable...

Even in Teyvat, a place where elemental forces are extremely active, it is very difficult to ignite explosives without using elemental energy.

Therefore, Yunxiu plans to use fire and thunder together for the sake of stability.

As for why they didn't escape with Sugar first, firstly, trying to break through the horde of fools while running away with the girl is basically a pipe dream. Moreover, once the fools here discover that Sugar has escaped, they will definitely send a signal to the police. At that time, the nearby fools might come to surround and kill them. They must kill all the fools in one go. That way, even if the fools want to know what's going on here, they will have to send scouts to check first!

Seeing this would cause chaos again, and this would be their best chance to escape. As long as they reach the Thousand Rock Army's camp, they will be safe.

After planning it out again, calculating the precise detonation point, and drawing the detonation point diagram, Yunxiu nodded and gave himself a small compliment before telling Sugar about his plan. He sat in front of the protective shield and told Sugar with a serious expression, "I'll try to lure everyone in later. You have to stay here first, because once they see you're gone, they'll definitely search in all directions and report back, making it harder for us to escape. So you have to stay here first. After I figure out how to take them all out, I'll come back and take you away."

"Ah... okay, and then? Combat... I use it occasionally, I sometimes fight when I'm gathering materials in the wild."

“You don’t need to fight.” Yunxiu looked at Sugar seriously: “You haven’t had a proper rest or good food for days. Even if you just ate, fighting will definitely damage your body greatly. Besides, even I don’t have any extra spells to fight right now.”

"Then what should we do?"

“We’ll give the Fools a big gift. When they arrive, I’ll use a lightning bolt to ignite all the explosives. That should kill them all at once. Even if a few manage to escape, the ruins will be destroyed by then, and they certainly won’t survive. But be careful. Although Mr. Abedo’s shield will most likely withstand all the damage, some sounds will definitely get through, so be careful.”

"Hmm...it's okay, I just need to cover my ears and I won't be able to hear anything..."

"Um... if you want everything to be alright, remember to open your mouth and then cover your ears."

After instructing Sugar, Yunxiu dragged the two unconscious Fools to the center of the explosives and sprayed each of them with a bottle of "Failed Charm Potion." The potion was indeed terrifyingly strong; even Yunxiu momentarily had the thought, "Brother, you smell so good," and almost did something shameful. Fortunately, his sufficient main attribute bonus and Sugar's questioning gaze made him resist the temptation. He then jumped up through the skylight and quietly waited for the Fools to return.

About 35 minutes later, footsteps sounded outside, and a large group of fools, having eaten and drunk their fill, returned. As soon as they entered the door, a voice rang out.

"What about Petrov and Igor?"

"Can you smell a burning odor...?"

What are those two doing?

"That girl didn't run away, did she?!"

A group of people crowded into the ruins. Upon seeing Sugar, they breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the girl hadn't run away, their superiors wouldn't blame them. As for the strange smells, they were nothing to the Fools, who had grown up in the harsh lands! But soon, they saw two people lying in the middle of the ruins, surrounded by strange odors and emanating a strange fragrance. These drunken Fools, already lacking in spirit, were irresistibly tempted by this charm potion, five times more potent than ordinary potions—a fatal temptation for someone who rarely saw a woman!

"Brother...brother..."

"I've never asked you for anything all these years..."

"It smells so good..."

"Bro, can I see your muscles...?"

"What color are your socks...?"

A group of fools crowded around Petrov and Igor, forming a large circle. Their eyes were gleaming with greed, and some of the people at the front had even started to pull down the two men's pants!

After waiting quietly for the last member of the Fools to squeeze in, Yunxiu raised his hand and fired a lightning arrow directly at the explosive barrel!

Yunxiu immediately exhausted the last bit of energy he had just recovered, used the Misty Step to teleport to the flat ground, jumped behind a rock, and ran wildly for a full twenty meters. Then, with his back to the epicenter, he braced himself on his elbows, suspended in the air with his abdomen, and straightened his body, directly assuming the prone position with his back to the epicenter that he had learned in the previous era to protect against nuclear explosions!

As long as Teyvat's physical laws remain close to reality, this is the most suitable defensive posture, at least ensuring Yunxiu's survival.