He changed Tiwat

Ye Lan ended the call as soon as she finished speaking, as if retaliating against Han Fulai for saying to her earlier, "The heart that believes is my magic"—you like to keep things mysterious, so can I.

Han Fulai gave a wry smile and turned to the crowd who were still in a daze, saying, "Gentlemen, please accompany me again. Perhaps it is necessary to take photos and conduct research."

The streets of the ancient ruins remain as dark and silent as ever, but the black mud that could be glimpsed occasionally before has now disappeared.

Having witnessed the miraculous scene, Han Fulai's "immortal identity" has been basically recognized by the exploration team.

Everyone's enthusiasm was ignited, and they surrounded Han Fulai with a barrage of "why" questions along the way. For example, Haidifu and Husseini relentlessly pressed him for answers, asking everything from the origin of the pool and the power to remove the black mud, all the way to why Han Fulai had the ability to use the ruins' facilities.

Han Fulai responded very officially: "It is a secret of the Liyue Celestials, and I cannot disclose it. Please forgive me."

Old Tu and the others were much more direct, pestering Han Fulai to make a few more wishes, such as "I want a lot of Mora".

Han Fulai replied helplessly, "I want one too, but I still have a mortgage to pay off..."

Zhiqiong's wish remains the same: "I...I want to become a great adventurer like Stanley."

As she said this, Zhiqiong's expression was somewhat uneasy.

She knew she wasn't really qualified, and she knew that she couldn't become a great adventurer by "making a wish"... But who doesn't have a dream?

Although she knew that she would only get perfunctory answers if she said such things now... just like when she talked about her dreams with some seniors in the Adventurers' Guild and was laughed at.

She lacked all the qualities that great adventurers possess, such as the "Eye of God," or inheritance, experience, martial arts, resources, and so on.

However, after witnessing Han Fulai drive the "power of wishes" to sweep away the black mud, Zhiqiong suddenly felt that perhaps her wish could really come true.

Facing Zhiqiong, a girl who seemed somewhat naive but remained steadfast and unwavering, Han Fu returned her with a gentle smile: "Your wish can indeed be fulfilled, as long as you do two things."

"Don't just say two things, twenty will do!" Zhiqiong jumped up with joy.

Han Fulai coughed lightly and said, "The first thing is that you must believe in yourself and become a great adventurer. Even without the 'Eye of God,' you are already an excellent adventurer. The maps you draw are better than anyone else's! There are many kinds of adventurers. Maybe there are many things you can't handle on your own, but in a team, you are definitely the most valuable and important adventurer. What you record is the survival path of the entire team, and even the adventurers all over the world!"

"So I'll give you this piece of advice: 'A heart that believes is your magic.'"

Zhiqiong blinked, recalling what Han Fulai had said after activating the power of the pool, and seemed to understand something.

"The second thing..."

Han Fulai patted Zhiqiong's thin shoulder.

"...Don't die before you become a great adventurer."

For some reason, Zhiqiong felt as if a force transformed into warmth, flowing from her shoulders into her heart.

Zhiqiong doesn't have the "Eye of God," nor does she know any magic or spells. Her self-defense skills are also quite mediocre, and she's a newcomer who has only recently joined the Adventurers' Guild.

In terms of seniority and reputation, the title of "great adventurer" is far beyond her reach.

Moreover, being an adventurer... is actually very difficult for the poor.

Adventurers are freelancers; they don't receive a fixed salary. Their income comes from accepting commissions from others. Adventure equipment, travel expenses, and various living supplies all need to be prepared by the adventurers themselves. Medical expenses for injuries are also their own responsibility. The Adventurers' Guild merely provides a platform for adventurers to receive commissions and exchange information.

Correspondingly, some adventurers with substantial resources can procure the best equipment, recruit renowned adventurers as teammates, and receive training from master instructors, giving them a significant head start over ordinary people. The difference between such individuals and Zhiqiong is akin to the gap between professional and amateur athletes.

If we compare adventurers to a sport, such as skiing, then athletes who are trained from a young age with the best teachers, the best equipment, and the best training grounds will definitely achieve better results than those who start training on their own.

Even though their talents were actually quite similar, their achievements later on were worlds apart.

Zhiqiong had seen adventurers like this in the Adventurers' Guild. They may never have longed for the stars and the abyss. They participated in adventures only to add a bright spot to their resumes and become the talk of the town in social circles. But they were able to gain the reputation of famous adventurers in the guild and become the focus of everyone's attention.

Their experiences will be written down, their glorious deeds will be packaged and spread throughout the world, and they will be touted as exceptionally talented adventurers... even if they can't be called real adventurers at all.

To be honest, Zhiqiong didn't want to envy them, but... she did think that if she had the same conditions, she might really be able to become a great adventurer.

Many young people join the Adventurers' Guild full of ambition, only to waste their youth without making a name for themselves. In the end, forced by the need to make a living, they have no choice but to leave the guild in disgrace... Such stories happen every day.

Zhiqiong knew that she might very well become one of these losers.

Her dream of becoming a great adventurer was something she knew would only invite ridicule if spoken aloud. So she worked tirelessly in silence, seizing every opportunity to prove her abilities, completely disregarding her own safety.

She even thought that it wouldn't matter if she died at the bottom of this giant abyss of rock, because compared to death, the regret of watching opportunities slip away and accomplishing nothing was a thousand times more painful.

But now, some people don't laugh at her dreams; instead, they earnestly tell her that they admire her and believe she can achieve them.

Zhiqiong suddenly realized that she was actually quite lucky, otherwise... how could she have met Master Han?

Chapter 255 The Silver-White Ancient Tree [4k]

Although Han Fulai had already guessed after hearing Yelan say that a tree had grown in the Hilichurl camp, he was still deeply shocked when he saw the tree with his own eyes.

That is--

"An ancient, silvery-white tree!"

The first to speak up was Hussein, a scholar of Sumeru from the Sudatta school. The Sudatta school is a school of thought that takes elements as its core theory, and for Sudatta scholars, the ley lines that contain elemental forces are the foundation of all their research. The Siddham Academy even has a special discipline called "Lyley Line Studies," and coincidentally, Hussein also chose Lyley Line Studies.

Both the "energy-conducting disk" and the "Pulsina light nail" are research tools closely related to the earth's veins.

Although he was a "Tiriyasi" who was nearly thirty years old and still hadn't graduated, which is the "wandering scholar" in Sumerian, he did indeed "read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles." His travels spanned at least three kingdoms on the Teyvat continent, and he was actually quite knowledgeable in terms of his experiences.

—And the “silver-white ancient tree”, Hosseini had seen it.

He smuggled himself to Narukami Island in Inazuma, and although he was captured by the shogunate, he remained persistent. After returning to the island, he begged fishermen to take him to islands beyond Narukami Island. The silver-white ancient tree was discovered by Husseini on Tsurukan Island, far off the coast of Inazuma.

Heguan Island is shrouded in a fog of unknown origin year-round, deterring even seasoned fishermen from approaching. Fog is a sailor's worst enemy; losing one's way in the thick fog means either getting lucky and ending up in circles, or risking running aground and sinking. Moreover, the fog is often accompanied by eerie thunderstorms, with lightning flashing across the island, its purple streaks visible even through the dense fog.

The fishermen naturally refused to take him to Hokkaido Island, but instead took Husseini to a small outer island to the south of Hokkaido. Strangely enough, the entire Hokkaido was shrouded in thick fog, but the fog seemed to have a mind of its own and refused to approach the small island, where the weather was normal.

Hosseini stayed on that island for a few days and even encountered a mysteriously appearing guardian of the ruins—although he looked white-haired, he was still quite agile and ultimately survived.

It was on that island that he saw the "silver-white ancient tree".

—Just like the tree in front of him.

The tree is entirely silvery-white, its texture unlike wood, but rather resembling some kind of chalk fossil. Its trunk is withered yet stands strong and upright, its branches are crooked yet stubbornly reach for the sky. Although it lacks the green leaves that represent life, it seems to possess boundless vitality.

This reminded Hosseini of the tree that every Sumerian was familiar with.

The six schools of the Order of the Church not only have different names, but their emblems also reflect the characteristics and styles of their respective schools.

The emblem of the Siddham Academy of the Sulun school consists of two things—a red peacock standing on the earth's veins.

A peacock with its tail feathers spread out resembles a towering tree, and the earth beneath its feet is like the tree's root system.

—This symbolizes the highest existence of Mount Sumeru, the sacred tree.

The Great Compassion Tree King created a rainforest in the desert of Sumeru and planted a sacred seed, which eventually grew into a towering tree tens of miles long with roots stretching for hundreds of miles. The entire city of Sumeru was built upon this sacred tree; it can be said to be a city in a tree.

The roots of the sacred tree are said to be closely connected to the earth's veins in Mount Sumeru.

Just as Mora is to Liyue, the Sacred Tree holds a special place in the hearts of the Sumerians. Even now, with the departure of the Great Tree King, the Sacred Tree she left behind continues to protect the people of Sumer.

The experimental guidebook "The Magical Elemental Force," which is a must-have for every member of the Sulun School, records the essence of the silvery-white ancient trees—they are called "Earth Vein Trees."

Legend has it that the roots of all the ancient silver trees and silver flowers (also known as "leyweave flowers") are secretly connected deep within the earth, and the traces of their connection mark the path of the ley lines. Although this legend has not been confirmed, most scholars believe it to be true. The "energy-conducting disc" that Hosseini carried with him at the time also reacted to the ancient silver tree in Heguan, confirming the flow of elemental energy within it.

"When...when did this tree appear? Did it suddenly grow out of nowhere?" Husseini asked Ye Lan and Jiang Xue excitedly, his eagerness evident in his words.

In his view, this is an even bigger discovery than paleontological fossils—the growth process of the "Earth Vein Tree"!

Husseini remembered clearly that the Hilichurl camp, which was originally a black mud swamp, did not have this "silver-white ancient tree." It must have grown after Han Fulai used the power of the pool to clear away the black mud.

Ye Lan's expression was somewhat unpleasant, but she still explained in detail what she had witnessed.

"First, the 'clock tower' where you were emitted a dazzling white light, illuminating the entire ruins as if it were daytime... When we came to our senses, the black mud disappeared, and the tree appeared."

"Wait... didn't you see how this tree grew?" Han Fulai was also curious about the growth process of the "Silver Ancient Tree". In his memory, there was also a similar ancient tree in the Dragonspine Mountains of Mondstadt, but that tree was much larger - it was called the "Honeysuckle Tree", and it was the sacred tree of the ancient snow mountain kingdom of Shar Fendnir, which had been destroyed.

"No," Jiang Xue shook her head. "The light was too strong; it blinded me, and I couldn't see anything. If you had told us beforehand, we might have been able to prepare accordingly..."

In the blinding white light, like a flashbang explosion, Jiang Xue and Ye Lan's first reaction was naturally to close their eyes to prevent vision damage, since they couldn't see anything anyway even if they opened them. They then focused their attention on their hearing, drawing their weapons to guard against any possible monsters or other changes. They could deduce that the disappearance of the black mud was related to the white light, but they had no recollection of how the tree had appeared.

"Well... alright." Han Fulai sighed softly. He really couldn't give advance notice because he had no idea how long it would take to communicate with the pool, or how the pool would remove the black sludge.

At this moment, Haidif spoke up: "I think the 'silver-white ancient tree' in front of us grew because of the power of that pool. You know, plants need water to grow, and the water in that 'inverted pool' clearly has special power... It may have originally been a huge ancient tree, growing in the land of this ancient civilization, but that 'great change' disaster destroyed this ancient country and their ancient tree together."

Haidif's guess was quite reasonable, and everyone present nodded in agreement.

Heidif stroked his beard and continued, "I have a hypothesis that ancient civilizations and ancient trees may have some kind of 'symbiotic relationship'... Do you remember the research of the Mondstadt geographer Estelle that I mentioned before?"

Han Fulai and Ye Lan, who participated in the meeting, both gave an affirmative answer.

At the time, Hydif mentioned that the Mondstadt geographer Estelle discovered that the leyline energy in Dragonspine was quite disordered, and that Dragonspine's unique geographical environment might be related to leyline anomalies. Estelle also speculated that such anomalies might share certain common characteristics across Teyvat; Dragonspine in Mondstadt, the Lava Pit in Liyue, and Tsurugashi Island in Inazuma might all contain similar 'Frost Spikes'.

This hypothesis should hold true in both Mondstadt and Liyue. As for Inazuma, we'll only know the truth when some adventurer ventures deep into Tsurugan Island.

"Senior Haidif, what do you mean by 'symbiotic relationship'?" Husseini asked.

"...Just like our Sumeru, perhaps wherever ancient civilizations exist, there is a 'silver-white ancient tree'," Haidif said. "Housseini, have you read the latest issue of the journal of the Vahumana Academy?"

“Uh… Senior, you know, each college has its own journal. I usually only read the one from our Siddham College, and nobody likes reading the textual research papers of the Yin-Yang school…” Husseini shook his head.

"You need to develop good habits. For scholars, staying abreast of the latest information in the field is essential. Interdisciplinary studies can often provide scholars with important inspiration." Heidif adopted the air of a senior student, lecturing Hosseini, "Subscribing to the journals of all six academies is the foundation of research! Look at me, I'm in Liyue, and I still have someone send me journals from Sumeru every month. You're in Sumeru, yet you know less than me. How can that be acceptable?"

Hussein listened to his senior's lecture with his head hanging low, secretly thinking, "Not everyone is as rich as you, and not everyone can afford international shipping costs."

"In short, the latest issue of the journal of the Vahumana Academy published a paper about the ancient snow mountain kingdom of Shar Fendnir. Ever since the famous adventurer Ying excavated the ruins at the summit of Fendnir, the Yinlun faction has organized a team to go to the snow mountain to investigate and make rubbings of the inscriptions on the stone tablets of the ancient snow mountain kingdom. Based on their interpretation of the ancient civilization's script..."

Through Haidif's somewhat lengthy narration, the group roughly understood what had happened in that ancient snow-capped kingdom.

Two thousand six hundred years ago, before Mondstadt was founded, its homeland lay in the howling winds of the icy plains. A human tribe, far from the ice and strife, migrated to the Dragonridge Mountains. At that time, the Dragonridge Mountains were a verdant paradise, and they erected a monument on its summit, naming the place Shal Fendnir.

Guided by the divine messengers of the heavens, they found the ancient, silvery-white tree in the mountains and built a royal city around it, constructing an altar to serve the heavens. The king became the priest, and following the guidance of the heavens, the people of the kingdom prospered.

One day, the kingdom's princess dreamt of a black dragon that blotted out the sky, an ominous sign. That same month, a foreigner named Imroca arrived in the ancient kingdom. The princess and the young warrior fell in love at first sight, but their happiness was short-lived.

Due to some unknown factors (the inscription here has been erased), a huge pillar (also known as the Nail of Frost) fell from the sky, destroying ancient trees and the earth's veins, and causing snowstorms to sweep across the land.

King Farruhi ascended the altar to pray for revelation from the heavens, but this time, he heard no more voices from the sky.

The princess commissioned a greatsword forged from star silver and gave it to Imronok, hoping he could find a way to save Fendnir beyond the snowy mountains. The young warrior set off with the greatsword and the kingdom's last hope. The princess attempted to graft branches from the ancient silver tree while simultaneously healing the ley lines, but she failed. The price of failure was her life.

Years later, when the foreign warrior finally found a new branch of the ancient tree and returned to his ancient kingdom, he was greeted only by the echoes of wind and snow in the valley.

"...What a poignant love story." Zhiqiong looked deeply moved.

"Uh... the point isn't the love story..." Haidif clearly hadn't expected a listener to have such a peculiar focus.

"The key point is the connection between the 'Silver-White Ancient Tree' and the earth's veins. If the ancient tree is destroyed, the earth's veins will also change... and the manifestation will be a change in the geographical environment." Ye Lan, who had been listening silently, revealed the key point.

Han Fulai interjected, "Correspondingly, the appearance of the 'silver-white ancient tree' here indicates that... the earth's veins have returned to normal. Although it's only within the area of ​​this ancient civilization's ruins."

The black mud was produced by an anomaly in the earth's veins. He used the celestial power of the pool to cleanse the black mud from the ancient civilization's ruins, thus restoring the earth's veins to normal. Haidif thus deduced that the "Silver-White Ancient Tree" and the ancient civilization had a symbiotic relationship, with the tree representing the protection of the heavens. And those ancient civilizations that lost this protection ultimately perished.

He had begun to consider whether it was possible to use the power of the pool to calm the geological anomalies in the entire Layered Rock Abyss... but he quickly came to the conclusion that it was not. Just restoring the ley lines in this ruin was almost draining him dry. Before he truly became the "Salt King Emperor," he shouldn't even think about having the relics of Sky Island work for him.

“The earth’s veins haven’t fully recovered,” Haidif said, pointing to the “silver-white ancient tree.” “It… is too small.”

Too small... Han Fulai looked at the "silver-white ancient tree". This bare ancient tree was only about three meters tall, and its circumference was more than enough for one person to hug. Compared with the "honeysuckle tree" in the game in his memory, it was indeed pitifully small.

Wait a minute! Han Fulai suddenly remembered something—there really were trees in the Abyss of Layered Rocks, huge trees, even the dead trunks were big enough to build a bedroom inside!

The missing miner, Lao He, had been living in that tree all along!

Han Fulai had wondered before, while searching for Lao Shihe, why there was such a large tree in the Layered Rock Abyss. Moreover, there was a water source, star mushrooms, and even a swarm of fungus beasts around that tree... making it arguably the most "vibrant" place in the Layered Rock Abyss!

Thinking about it carefully, Lao He lived in such a polluted place as the Layered Rock Abyss for two years and ate so much potentially contaminated food, so why did he only have a slight mental abnormality? In terms of physical fitness alone, he was as strong as an ox!

Furthermore, Old He's visits to the underground swamp and his move into that tree clearly indicate he was guided by the "wishing stone"! If Old He wished to live by the "wishing stone," then the "wishing stone" led him to a place that could "protect" him...

Han Fulai now knew what the giant tree remains he had seen in the underground swamp area were—the former "Silver-White Ancient Tree"!

Chapter 256 Nothing Was a Coincidence [4k5]

Han Fulai suddenly stepped forward and, under everyone's gaze, reached out and touched the "silver-white ancient tree" without any hesitation.

"Wait!" Ye Lan called out, her voice unusually tense.

But Han Fulai did not stop.

It feels cool and smooth to the touch, like touching a smooth marble.

Nothing special happened.

Han Fulai heard Ye Lan exhale.

He turned around and found that Ye Lan was already standing behind him, and was about to pull him away.

Seeing him turn around, Ye Lan groaned and withdrew her hand, pretending nothing had happened.

"Eh? Miss Yelan, are you worried that I might be in danger?" Han Fulai's smile was very bright.

“I’m afraid you’ll seek death and cause us all to perish with you.” Ye Lan glared at him fiercely, her tone unfriendly. “…This ancient tree has a strange origin, and it grew out of the giant abyss of layered rocks. Who knows what strange things might be on it.”

Although this was the first time Yelan had seen the "silver-white ancient tree" in the Layered Rock Abyss, it wasn't the first time she had encountered such a petrified ancient tree. Despite Yelan's reluctance to mention it, she had seen similar things in her past missions, and those with special powers could easily resonate with such petrified ancient trees, sensing the energy and memories within them... just like resonating with the earth's ley lines.

For example, in one of the Liyue Clan's secret realms, "Taishan Mansion," there exists a petrified ancient tree that is tens of feet tall.