While I was in Mondstadt, I never imagined becoming a god.

Abedo walked to the workbench, took out the Corrupted Sword, and handed it to Xu Chuan.

"The transformation of this sword is complete. Its structure has changed, and its affinity for elemental forces has increased significantly. You can give it a try."

Xu Chuan took the sword.

The sword was lighter than before, and its color had changed from dark purple to deep cyan. A faint light flowed across the blade, as if there was wind moving through it.

He gripped the sword hilt tightly. The knight-to-death knight technique was activated instantly with bare hands, and that familiar feeling surged up, even stronger than before.

The power within the sword resonated with the elemental energy within his body, as if the sword had been made specifically for him.

"How is it?" Abedo asked.

"Great, much easier than before."

Abedo nodded without saying much, but Xu Chuan noticed that his gaze lingered on the sword for a long time.

Especially when Xu Chuan activated the knight's ability to survive unarmed combat.

That change made Aberdo fall into deep thought.

Klee wasn't interested in swords; her attention was elsewhere.

She walked around the room, finally stopping in front of Xu Chuan, tilting her head up and asking, "Brother Xu Chuan, can you do magic tricks?"

Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment. "What?"

"Klee heard from Sugar that you have something amazing," Klee's eyes sparkled.

Xu Chuan glanced at Abedo, who remained expressionless.

He glanced at Sugar again. Sugar was packing up the equipment. The girl shrank back and avoided Xu Chuan's gaze.

Keli was still looking up at him, waiting for his answer, her eyes shining as if they contained two stars.

"I know a little," Xu Chuan said.

"Really!" Klee jumped up excitedly, "Transform one, transform one!"

Xu Chuan thought for a moment, then his gaze fell on the little doll Dudu hanging on Keli's backpack.

He reached out his hand, closed his eyes, and used projection magic.

Imagine every aspect of that doll in your mind, making sure every detail is clear.

Creative concept, basic framework, constituent materials, manufacturing techniques, and reliance on experience...

He didn't have a deep understanding of these things.

However, he had seen Duduco, touched Duduco, and the one in his hand was Klee's Duduco.

Those memories are enough to be projected.

The next moment, a faint light shone from his palm, and a red shadow gradually took shape in the light.

A doll that looks exactly like Dudu appears, with the same shape and color, and even the same stitching pattern.

Klee's eyes widened. "Wow!"

Xu Chuan handed the doll to her.

Klee carefully took it, held it in her hands and looked at it again and again, then reached out and touched its ears and pinched its belly.

"It looks exactly like the real Dudu!" she exclaimed, looking up in surprise. "Brother Xu Chuan is so amazing!"

But soon, the doll began to fade.

Starting from the edge, like a reflection in water being blown away by the wind, it gradually becomes transparent.

Klee watched helplessly as it disappeared from her hand, paused for a second, and then exclaimed in surprise.

"It's gone!"

"I know! It's the same magic as Mom's!"

"Mom changed before too!"

Klee said, "Something appears in a flash, and then disappears in a flash!"

Just like Brother Xu Chuan!

Abedo looked at Xu Chuan with great interest.

"Try again."

Xu Chuan looked around and his gaze fell on the chair next to him.

He reached out his hand, this time a little faster than before.

A light shone forth, and an identical chair took shape within the light.

Aberdo walked over and reached out to touch the projected chair.

His fingers traced the back of the chair, tapped the seat, and then he squatted down to examine the structure of the chair legs.

“It’s very similar to alchemy.” He stood up, turned to Xu Chuan, and looked at him with a rare hint of surprise.

"But material things cannot sustain their own existence, while alchemical creations are real and permanent, while yours..."

He paused. "Although it's only temporary, it's real during this period."

Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

He had always thought that projection magic and the mimicry ability of the Abyss were very similar, both based on the reproduction of something from memory.

But Aberdo is right; in some ways, it's more like alchemy.

Abyssal mimicry is based on memories within the earth's veins, while alchemy is based on an understanding of matter.

What about projection magic?

Whether it's memory or a true understanding of the composition of matter, both can serve as a medium for projection; the deeper the understanding, the better the projection effect.

"It is interesting."

Abedo said, his tone carrying something Xu Chuan was very familiar with—the excitement of scholars discovering new research topics.

Chapter 50 Proactively Seeking Change

As the assistant to Mondstadt's chief alchemist, Xu Chuan felt he was doing a decent job and was worth his salary.

When it came to cooperating with the research, there was no hesitation whatsoever.

For three whole days, Xu Chuan stayed in Abedo's alchemy laboratory, constantly performing projection magic to verify Abedo's various conjectures.

On the first day, a large number of everyday items were projected, along with some alchemical equipment whose names I couldn't recall.

Then he began to try more complex things: Sugar's sweet flower specimen, Timaus' alchemy furnace model, and even Klee's Dodoko.

He could also perfectly materialize the precision measuring tools on Abedo's table, as well as the Corruption Sword.

“Your ability can indeed be considered a unique form of alchemy,” Abedo said, flipping through his notebook, still somewhat surprised.

"To achieve the effects of alchemy, but without requiring any real-world alchemical materials."

Or, to put it another way, your understanding and memory of the corresponding thing are the core materials for its manifestation.

However, is the truth that Abedo speaks of truly true to him?

The thought popped into Xu Chuan's mind, but a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed him, leaving him with almost no energy left to think.

He slumped into his chair, looking utterly exhausted.

"So I'm now considered a qualified alchemy assistant?"

"Yes," Abedo nodded, agreeing with Xu Chuan's statement.

Xu Chuan wanted to smile, but he didn't even have the strength to twitch his lips.

These past few days of intense experiments have really drained him.

The cost of projection magic and the knight's ability to survive unarmed combat is not high, but it can't withstand such a high frequency.

Especially when he had a sudden inspiration and wanted to project the heart of the wind god.

The energy expenditure was terrifying, but unfortunately, they still failed in the end.

The turquoise chess piece lit up in his palm for a moment before exploding, the burst of wind elemental power startling Sugar.

But this defeat did not deter Xu Chuan; instead, it fueled his fighting spirit.

If you can't project the heart of God, then project something else first. Projection requires understanding, understanding requires knowledge, and knowledge requires learning.

So he seamlessly transitioned from the laboratory to the Knights' Library.

Noelle was squatting in front of the bookshelf arranging books when she heard footsteps. She looked up and gave him a gentle smile. "Mr. Xu Chuan, what would you like to learn today?"

“Writing,” Xu Chuan said, “I want to learn the Teyvat script.”

Noelle blinked, didn't ask any more questions, took out a few primers from the bookshelf, sat down at the table, and began to teach him stroke by stroke.

Xu Chuan learns very quickly, not in a "genius-like" way, but rather quickly enough to "discover whether this person's mind is different from others."

Those winding Teyvat characters seemed to him as if they had been straightened by some invisible force; he could remember them after seeing them once and never forget them after writing them once.

A few days later, Noelle looked at a passage of text that he could now write correctly and exclaimed in surprise, covering her mouth.

"Mr. Xu Chuan, you learn so fast!"

"It's because the teacher taught well." Xu Chuan put down his quill pen.

"If I could be like Mr. Xu Chuan, I would probably be able to become a true knight."

Xu Chuan watched as the girl, dressed in a maid outfit, squatted on the ground, diligently tidying up his books—she seemed more earnest than anyone else.

She clearly possesses strength far exceeding that of many official knights, yet for various reasons, she has never been able to pass the knight selection.

He never complained, but worked hard day after day, helping this person and that person, wanting to help everyone.

“But in my eyes, Noelle is already a competent knight,” Xu Chuan said.

Noelle paused for a moment, then shook her head.

"No, I'm far from being the reliable knight everyone sees me as."

"Is that so?" Xu Chuan thought for a moment, then said, "Then Noelle is the knight in my heart."

"Please don't do this..."

Noelle lowered her head, her voice barely audible, like a mosquito's hum, her ears so red they looked like they could bleed.

"Oh my, the way the girl blushes is so cute."

A lazy voice came from the side.

Lisa had sat down to the side at some point, resting her chin on her hand, and looked at the embarrassed Noelle with a smile.

She wore a purple dress and a hat tilted at an angle, exuding an intellectual yet languid charm.

“Miss Lisa.” Noelle’s face turned even redder.

Lisa smiled, stopped teasing her, and turned to look at Xu Chuan.

“At the Sumeru Academy, teachers would fight over a student like you.”

Xu Chuan raised an eyebrow. "The Order of Teachings?"

"Hmm." Lisa rested her chin on her hand. "With your learning speed, you could achieve something great at the Order of the Gods."

Do you want me to write you a letter of introduction?

Her tone was half-serious, half-joking, as if she were testing the waters.

Xu Chuan smiled and shook his head, "Let's finish the Mondstadt matter first."

Lisa didn't press him further, but gave him a meaningful look before getting up and leaving.

Xu Chuan studied for a few more days.

Text, history, geography, elemental theory... like a dried-out sponge thrown into water, it desperately absorbs everything.

But he did not forget his original purpose.

Projection magic requires understanding, understanding requires knowledge, and knowledge requires learning.

But learning is not something you can do behind closed doors; there are some things you can't learn from books.