I'm in the Teyvat running group

"Great!" Selis also got up and went out.

"Herta and Miss Lisa, please join Sugar in ensuring logistical support." Lisa responded and led the others downstairs.

Today, she was wearing the Knights' uniform, a rare sight for her. Her usual languid air had completely disappeared, replaced by a more capable and dignified demeanor. If Yunxiu hadn't noticed that Lisa was still wearing gradient black stockings in a somewhat improper manner, she might not have recognized the witch from the library.

"Finally, I'd like to ask Abedo, Ying, and Mr. Yunxiu for help," Qin said earnestly. "We will be attacking the Wind Dragon Ruins from other places to tie down our forces, so I'll leave the inside to you."

"Then, we will arrive at the Wind Dragon Ruins around 5 PM today, hide and sneak in at night. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to wake up Dvalin around 10 PM. Please be prepared, Captain Jean."

"No problem."

Yunxiu nodded. After Jean and Diluc greeted the others, they also left to change their armor. Today, as the generals leading the charge, these two not only had to wear the heavy armor they had worn in the previous battle, but also needed to add extra cavalry combat equipment, and even their horses needed to be covered with armor.

As explained many times before, due to the elemental forces and biological characteristics of Teyvat, humans and animals are several times, even ten times, stronger than those on Earth, and this is also true for the vehicles used for riding.

The pack animals that Yunxiu had previously purchased had a carrying capacity of up to 450 kilograms and a long-distance running speed of over 20 kilometers per hour, but these were just ordinary pack animals provided to ordinary adventurers and caravans.

But what can Yunxiu get if she's willing to spend more money?

If you spend two million Mora to buy a top-tier pack animal that has been carefully bred and modified by alchemists, this pack animal can still run at speeds of over 40 kilometers per hour while carrying a load of 2 to 3 tons!

In fact, among the thirty-person group of Sumeru, there were biological warfare weapons modified based on this kind of pack animal.

Of course, the same goes for horses. The horses of the Mondstadt cavalry are specially trained, and captains with strength of five rings or above ride top-tier warhorses of the level of magical beasts. Yunxiu once saw Kaeya leading a charge in heavy armor a few days ago.

Each top-class warhorse has a shoulder height of over two meters, and its head can even exceed three meters when raised. After Kaiya wears knight's armor and horse armor, the total weight of the armor exceeds 400 kilograms, and the weight of the entire warhorse armor is close to two tons. Even with such a heavy load, this kind of horse can still charge at a speed of at least 60 kilometers per hour!

Considering the destructive power of the elemental world of Teyvat, it's almost fair to say that it's faster and more destructive than a heavy armored force charging on Earth.

After all, elemental power is a very magical thing; the magical deflection field covering the vest alone is much stronger than the thick armor and active defense system of a tank...

Such a cavalry force, led by dozens of captains and with most of the remaining troops equipped with lower-tier warhorses and armor, naturally possesses terrifying offensive power. In particular, characters with the "Divine Eye" ability can often imbue their warhorses with special attributes.

For example, when Kaeya's warhorse charges, its body is covered with a layer of ice shards, causing considerable frost damage during the charge. In Legion battles, this effect surpasses that of most Seventh Ring Knights.

Without a good mount, Kaeya's combat power would drop by at least a third, because most of his spells and skills are geared towards mounted charge. As his heavily armored warhorse charges, covered in ice shards, his lance continuously unleashes frost attacks, creating a veritable frost tornado on the battlefield—one can only imagine how powerful the impact is.

Furthermore, Kaeya possesses feats that reduce stamina consumption during sprints and restore health upon killing units, clearly making him specifically designed for cavalry charges. Of course, if fighting alone, he lacks sufficient impact, significantly reducing his effectiveness.

This is also why Yunxiu didn't consider Kaeya in the previous battles, even when the ice elemental warriors had the advantage; after all, it's too difficult to launch a sneak attack with a two-ton horse...

Seeing that only he and a few secretaries remained in the office, Abedo did not go to his own office. Instead, he took Yunxiu and Ying directly to the vault to begin organizing and preparing the reversal array.

Yunxiu directly used 4th Ring Energy to cast [Hand of a Thousand Winds]. The 48 mage hands quickly stuffed more than two hundred enchanted crystals into the mouth of the swallowing bag. Abedo couldn't help but exclaim when he saw this spell: "Although the casting of this spell is not very profound, the analysis and application of the essence of the spell is indeed quite brilliant. I wonder if Mr. Yunxiu would be interested in exchanging ideas with me?"

“Of course, no problem. We’ll have plenty of time after the war.” Yunxiu agreed without hesitation. It would be a real shame not to extract some knowledge from this top-tier alchemist.

However, a question that had always bothered him came to mind: why did spatial magic seem so uncommon in Teyvat? Even the Knights of Favonius only had three storage bags, which was hardly normal…

It's important to understand that storage bags aren't actually that valuable. In the D&D universe, they're something even fourth or fifth-ring mages can create. The cheapest "dimensional bag," capable of holding about 450 kilograms, costs only 500 gold coins, equivalent to around 100,000 moras. Theoretically, an adventurer could buy one after a few adventures…

When he asked Aberdo about this question, Aberdo gave him an answer that was completely in line with his expectations.

“My mother and Aunt Alice both told me that Teyvat’s space is very fragile and the elemental forces are quite chaotic. Even the magic arrays and spatial artifacts that are now in place require extremely high costs and materials to stabilize them.” Abedo said, holding the shovel in his hand, “Just like this prop, the spells that Aunt Alice solidified on it have actually reached the level of a demon god.”

"I see." Yunxiu couldn't help but ponder. Judging from the difficulty of casting this spell, it would be almost impossible to create a proper spatial artifact without reaching the 9th ring of spellcasting level.

This also means that teleportation is a skill that requires at least a 7th level of cultivation to cast reliably.

The difficulty in using teleportation and spatial magic naturally means that information is extremely difficult to circulate. Without paying a huge cost, even the transmission of information is extremely difficult. It is no wonder that even the creation of the "void" by Sumeru requires the stability of the Heart of God to function properly.

This was certainly not good news for Yunxiu, although he had expected it. For example, while the immortals of Liyue were clearly powerful, few of them were capable of mastering spatial magic; and information flow in this world was extremely poor, with messages and related information often relying on caravans and various intermediaries.

However, being only at the fifth ring level, Yunxiu didn't think too much about it. After taking a few more bottles of alchemical potions, she, along with Abedo, Ying, and Paimon, headed towards the Knights' basement and stepped onto Mondstadt's teleportation array. With a flash of light, the group appeared in a cave behind Wolfrun Territory.

As agreed, they would set off from here at noon today, cross the Brightcrown Mountains, and arrive at the Wind Dragon Ruins at nightfall. They would then infiltrate the ruins at night and launch a simultaneous attack under cover of darkness to wipe out the Abyss Order and these monsters, thus thwarting their plot to transform Dvalin into an Abyss Dragon!

"How do we get there now?" After leaving the stronghold of the Knights of Favonius, Yunxiu felt a headache coming on as he looked at the hundreds of kilometers still to go. He was about to borrow a few horses from the stronghold when Abedo raised his hand to stop him.

“I’ll go.” Abedo took out his magic sword and waved it casually. Several “Yang Hua” suddenly “emerged” from the ground. Abedo took the lead and stood up, signaling Yunxiu and Ying to stand up as well.

Ying and Paimon jumped up without hesitation, while Yunxiu checked the skill effects in the team panel before standing on the platform. Then, with a gentle wave of Abedo's hand, Yanghua sped along the Mingguan Mountain at breakneck speed.

The incredible speed made Paimon shout in surprise, and Yunxiu estimated that the speed was about five or six times that of the pack beast running at full speed!

Of course, the terrifying effect can be seen from the actual skill description.

【Creation·Imitation of Yanghua】"This rock flower has strange properties, consistent with the purpose of alchemy. It is born from the earth, but always hopes to rise to the heavens and become the sun."

Spell Ring: 6th Ring

Skill Features:

[Creation]: Creates a flying rock flower that provides Abedo with a field centered on this rock flower. This field enhances Abedo's abilities, granting all friendly creatures within the field an additional 10D6+14 temporary life for 1 hour. Furthermore, all units gain an additional 3 points on saving throws and casting abilities.

[Flight]: If the Rock Flower is used as a flight item, it only provides extra life when moving, without providing any additional bonuses. The flight speed is 30 + 42 meters per second (based on the Intelligence modifier × 3 meters per second).

[Counterattack]: This is a realm of order, where any chaos or hostility will be automatically punished. Whenever a hostile creature suffers any damage within the Spirit Realm, that enemy will immediately be subjected to two DC18 Strength and Agility checks. If either check fails, the enemy will be slowed by 60%; if both fail, the enemy will be slowed by 99%.

"So, Abedo's intelligence adjustment value is 14???????????????"

Chapter 44 Crimson Moon Slays Foolish Schemes

Seeing this intelligence adjustment value, Yunxiu was truly shocked...

Although it was somewhat expected, given that Jean and Diluc are both formidable characters with a main attribute of +9, and this is before they have fully matured, their strength is likely to increase further once they fully inherit Vanessa's or Mondstadt's legacy.

Especially since Diluc and Jean both possess Divine Weapons, and even two of them! Most of their weapons provide an additional 5 points of bonus, but this bonus is not reflected in their attributes, and their skills do not have any additional bonus. Meanwhile, Abelard's base bonus is as high as 14 points. If... no, he must have a Divine Weapon!

With the support of the artifact, Abedor's DC would be incredibly high, and his research and creation of spells would undoubtedly be among the best in Teyvat.

Yunxiu opened the teammate panel and looked at Abedo's panel.

Because of the significant difference in strength, and because Abedo deliberately concealed his abilities, Yunxiu did not see all of his attributes.

The level 16, 8-ringed Alchemist, the same class as Sugar, but Yunxiu's eyelids twitched at the sight of his high intelligence of 34 and ring-up spells. In particular, his two specializations made him yearn for them and wish he could become Alice's adopted son immediately.

[Child of Chalk]: Your Intelligence modifier is considered 2 points higher than normal and is used to determine your daily elemental energy, spell saving DC, and intelligence-based skill checks.

[Source of Extraordinary Intelligence]: A legendary mage cast a wish spell, granting +5 to Intelligence.

"May my little Abedo's head always be like a bottomless candy bag under the starry sky, filled with endless, sparkling, wonderful ideas! — Alice"

With the combined blessings of a legendary alchemist and a legendary mage, and the power of an artifact, Abedo easily reached 34 points of intelligence, a level that is generally only attainable by "demigods".

34 points of intelligence generally means a 12-point intelligence bonus, but due to Rhinedot's powerful ability to create perfect creatures, Abedo's intelligence bonus is increased by an additional 2, bringing it to 14 points.

And as expected, Abedo possessed an even more powerful Ascension spell than Sugar's [Primordial Tide], and the effects of this Ascension spell were somewhat beyond Yunxiu's imagination.

【The Tide of the Ancients】: Under the command of the White Chalk Prince, the truth of magic has been altered...

Skill effect: Can be used daily for a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier (currently 14 times). As a bonus action, you can cast this spell by specifying any spell you are about to cast.

Skill Features:

[Entropy Change Upgrade]: Skill ring rank +1, up to a maximum of 9th ring spell.

[Wisdom of Origin]: All spell damage DC +5

[Radiance of the Sun]: Spell duration increased by 100%.

[Divine Fall]: Each use automatically reduces your DC score by 1, with an additional 10 reduction after 14 uses per day.

Abedo's stats are the most powerful Yunxiu has ever seen, arguably the strongest.

Of course, the main reason is that Yunxiu hasn't seen a higher-level panel yet...

If a character of this caliber doesn't join Yunxiu's team, even if they force a 20-point roll with the Unrestricted Talisman, it will be difficult to pass the DC check, and it will be almost impossible to obtain enough information. Of course, in terms of skills, the most powerful is naturally Zhongli's [Jade Star of Heaven - Eternal Protection], but this may not even be Zhongli's original skill attribute. To be honest, in the original work, at least in this era, no one has seen Zhongli's original form.

In the PV for "The Best Taste of the World", a huge dragon appeared behind the Dragon King Ratna, which could very well be Morax's true form, though it's hard to be sure.

Of course, even now, Abedo is already incredibly powerful. With just the Rock Flower's speed of 72 meters per second, it can easily reach a speed of 260 kilometers per hour. Moreover, because it is a ground-hugging adaptive flight, there is no acceleration or deceleration. It is even more powerful than the high-speed rail in the previous life.

However, putting aside Paimon who was shouting and yelling on the side, Rockflower's comfort level was really just average. It certainly didn't have the same furry comfort as traveling on a pack animal.

However, this spell is indeed the fastest travel experience Yunxiu currently has besides the teleportation array!

Aside from taking a short break to scout out the surrounding area, the group quickly arrived at the vicinity of the Wind Dragon Ruins after casually raiding a few monster camps along the way.

“The rate of monster growth has accelerated,” Yunxiu murmured. “Just a week ago, the Knights had swept through all the camps in the Brightcrown Mountains and the vicinity of the Wind Dragon Ruins.”

“Aunt Alice once said that the borders of Teyvat are thinning,” Abedo said with a hint of barely perceptible melancholy. “Mother also said that Teyvat has indeed become dangerous.”

"yes……"

"The boundary is getting thinner?" Ying also leaned in and asked, "Is it related to the increase in the number of monsters?"

“Hmm… You can think of Teyvat as a ship with a huge hole in it, through which water rushes in.” Abedo gestured with the shape of a ship: “This hole is a remnant of the cataclysmic disaster of Kanria five hundred years ago. Even though the calamity was dealt with by the Seven Gods and the Heavenly Law at that time, as the ship’s planks aged, many small cracks appeared.”

“Monsters are beings that ‘sneak’ in through these small gaps,” Yunxiu added. “Most monsters use powers that are incompatible with Teyvat’s native power, so they are rejected by this world, hence the term ‘Abyss’.”

“Yes.” Abedo nodded: “The reason Aunt Alice has been away so often all these years, even leaving her daughter with me and the Knights, is because she has to maintain the loopholes in Teyvat.”

"But now even Ms. Alice's maintenance isn't keeping up with the rate at which the cracks are forming, is it?" Ying pressed. "Then what can we do?"

"do not know."

"do not know."

Abedo and Yunxiu shook their heads in unison.

After thinking for a moment, Yunxiu gave an answer: "Our most important task now is to save Dvalin. Once Dvalin truly becomes a dragon of the abyss, the destruction it will cause to the border between Mondstadt and Teyvat will be unimaginable."

“Yes.” Abedo waved his hand to withdraw Yang Hua and stared at the cliff in front of him. “You, who can purify the abyss, may be the key to breaking the deadlock in this world, provided that we can really save Dvalin this time.”

Ying nodded, and the group sat down to rest on the edge of the cliff. The agreed time was 10 p.m., when most enemies would be least vigilant. Yunxiu and the others would sneak into the Wind Dragon Ruins under the cover of night around 9 p.m., and then arrive at the place where Tvalin was controlled at 10 p.m. to carry out the purification. At that time, the Knights would launch a fierce attack from the outside, and the two sides would attack from both inside and outside.

-----------------

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Wind Dragon Ruins, a blue-haired man wearing a mask, whose expression was unreadable, was sitting in the Fatui army camp, receiving intelligence reports from his subordinates.

Suddenly, a woman wearing a Fatui cloak with black and white hair rushed in and shouted, "Dotore! Why was Rosalind captured by the Mondstadts! Is this all the empathetic, cowardly scum you're capable of?"

“Arecino, your anger is somewhat different from what I calculated.” Dotore, the third seat of the Fools’ Executors, “Doctor”, said through his mask with a strange noise: “But powerless rage cannot change any facts. Besides, I am doing something far more meaningful than saving her.”

"Your purpose is just to watch your colleagues get captured, collect data, and then mess with your junk?" Arecino drew the Crimson Moon from her back, a huge blood-red scythe appearing on the spearhead. With a single swing, she pressed the scythe against the Doctor's mask, emitting a crisp, bloody sound: "She is one of us, the Queen's executor!"

"This is just an avatar of mine. What's the point of killing me?" The Doctor showed almost no surprise.

Seeing the doctor's expression, Arecino tightened his grip, and blood seeped from the doctor's face. He revealed a barely perceptible, cold expression before continuing, "Rosalind's failure lies in being consumed by the ghosts of the past, losing her composure as a warrior. This capture was simply an inevitable outcome."

"Furthermore, Peruvieri, I can give you some information for free: the Knights of Favonius have assembled near the Wind Dragon Ruins. If you want to carry out an unplanned rescue, now might be the best opportunity."

"Then what are you going to do?"

“Based on intelligence and my verification, the son of Tian Shu Star, the Cloud Mage who has been stirring up trouble in the past month, is very likely to infiltrate the Wind Dragon Ruins. This is the best opportunity to verify it.” The Doctor said with a serious expression, “This is the target full of variables, much more important than the failed Rosalin.”