He changed Tiwat

Mona was also pondering to herself: "Judging from how shocked that skirmisher was just now, he didn't seem to be lying. Could it be that the 'false heaven' that my master mentioned when he taught me astrology has another meaning? Could it be that the knowledge in the meteorite has been stolen by that guy, which is why it has changed?"

They were both speculating in their hearts, but Ying and Paimon didn't care about that; the two of them had already surrounded the meteorite.

Ying reached out and touched the meteorite: "This stone contains astonishing elemental power and intent."

Paimon circled the meteorite: "This must be the 'core' Mona was talking about, right?"

"Mona, what should we do next?"

Hearing Paimon's question, Mona snapped out of her reverie: "Oh, sorry, I was just spacing out. Anyway, it's the root of all the coma incidents. People won't wake up unless it's cleared away."

Ying tried to put the meteorite away... but strangely, this time, she couldn't put it into her "four-dimensional backpack" (storage space).

Han Fulai, observing Ying's actions, already knew what they should do.

“Before we clean it up, I think we should also try to make contact with Leonard’s spirit hidden in the meteorite,” Han Fulai suggested.

Mona agreed, "Let's reach out and touch the meteorite, and then try to project our consciousness into it. If the Fools can do it, we can too."

"But... but what if you all fall into a deep sleep too?" Paimon asked worriedly.

"Are you trying to say we have less willpower than that guy?" Mona retorted, dissatisfied.

Ying then reassured Paimon: "Don't worry, Paimon, we'll be fine—besides, aren't you here? If we really don't wake up, please help us go back to Mondstadt to ask for help."

Hearing Ying say that, Paimon puffed out his little chest: "...Okay, then good luck to you guys! I'll protect you while you investigate the meteorite!"

With the plan settled, Han Fulai, Ying, and Mona simultaneously reached out and touched the emerald-like meteorite, then channeled their consciousness into it.

After a slight dizziness, a melodious tune suddenly rang in the ears of the three, like a pastoral song played by a bard.

Then came the sound of birds flapping their wings. Two birds suddenly flew past the three of them, and after the birds flew past, a tall mountain appeared before them.

"Where is this...?" Ying asked softly.

"It's the consciousness space, isn't it..." Han Fulai, who had quite a bit of experience with this, replied.

Although they only had consciousness and no physical form, the three of them seemed to be together, and there was no problem communicating.

Mona then said, "If the mountain is a symbol... then this place must be Leonard's spiritual consciousness, perhaps his memories..."

As soon as Mona finished speaking, an old voice slowly rang out: "...With a rope, you can climb the cliff."

A rope was hanging from the cliff in front of the three people, and a man who looked to be just entering middle age was gripping the rope tightly with both hands, climbing up the cliff step by step.

"Is this Leonard?" Ying asked again.

“That should be correct,” Han Fulai replied.

“Leonard, can you hear us?” Mona called out, but no one answered them.

The scene before the three of them changed again, from the cliff to a turbulent sea.

"...with a wooden boat, one can drift into the sea."

The figure they had just seen, Leonard, appeared on a small boat, struggling against the waves. Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the adventurer's resolute face. Facing the might of heaven and earth, the adventurer remained fearless.

The scene changes again.

On the summit of Longji Snow Mountain, an adventurer carrying a huge backpack and wearing full mountaineering gear gazes into the distance.

“This is… ‘Summit of Fendnir’!” Ying recognized the name of the place at a glance.

The adventurer turned around, and his face had become more wrinkled, and his hair had turned a little gray.

Leonard's voice rang out again: "Before I turned forty, I had traversed all the hidden realms. Only 'Peak of the Spire' ended my adventure career. Or perhaps, what it ended was more than just that..."

The distant, pointed mountain peaks suddenly zoomed in, like a spear crushing Leonard's body, shattering the scene like glass.

total darkness.

The darkness did not last long; light reappeared, accompanied by the howling of a blizzard.

The thinly dressed old man knelt in the snow at the foot of the mountain, looking at the snow-capped mountain in despair.

This is the dream that everyone shares – “Pointed Hat Peak”.

"Now that I am old, there have been many times when I stood at the foot of the mountain, buried by the vast white snow."

A massive avalanche occurred.

The adventurer vanished, and a towering peak appeared before the three of them.

"It is a ferocious beast without weaknesses, a manifestation of the world's ruthless side, which terrifies me... and once an adventurer loses his courage, he cannot climb to the summit..."

The scene went dark again, and even the background music turned somber, as if reflecting Leonard's mood.

But soon, the screen brightened up again.

"I'm no longer climbing mountains; instead, I'm dreaming bigger and farther!"

The old man appeared in the study, with piles of documents and drawing tools in front of him and countless design drawings scattered at his feet.

"Humans invented tools to conquer nature, and then, because they were conquered by nature, they invented even better tools!"

Leonard's voice suddenly became passionate, and just as passionate was the music that suddenly became exciting in the ears of the three of them.

"If your legs can't reach it, use tools. If tools can't do it, use wings!"

Several design drawings appeared before the three of them.

“My dear friends, I leave you with the blueprints for the ‘unfinished wings.’ Humanity unites in the face of the unknown, and as long as we live, we will eventually reach all visible places.”

The design drawings contain various exquisite tool diagrams, as well as densely packed parameters and explanatory text, some written in Old Mongolian, and others in even more difficult-to-understand ancient scripts.

But for the erudite Mona, none of this was a problem.

“Remember, your flying machine must mimic a bat! Because the tight connection of the membranes gives its wings strength.”

She translated the text on the design drawings.

Yingyi immediately recognized the graphic on the design drawing—"This is 'Wings of the Wind,' so it was designed by him!"

“It’s not just ‘Wind Wings’… This Mr. Leonard is probably a great inventor.”

Although she doesn't have hands, Mona is clearly pointing to other design drawings.

"The circumference will encompass a space smaller than distance... a longer length... spatial extension... her abilities are the same as theirs..."

The image above shows the basic structure of all porous structures; if porous wood were to be bent in half…

"When porous wood is bent, part of the wood is compressed, and part of the wood becomes loose. The loose and compressed parts will then twist..."

Mona's explanation reminded Han Fulai of "force analysis" in physics. Leonard's expertise in mathematics and physics might even surpass his professional level as an adventurer.

Mona then proceeded to explain the other design drawings to them:

"The frame supporting the canvas will be long and sturdy reeds. You can make a small paper model with thin steel blades on its shaft, which are propellers that allow it to twist freely under stress."

"I found that this spiral tool is best made with linen, and you fill its holes with paste, and the spiral makes her rise into the sky."

“The wooden beams are divided into evenly spaced threads from the bottom up, transmitting the force to an equal number of discs. These discs are made of very thin metal, and the wind blowing into them will make a sound.”

"When strong winds, snow, and frost make the beam unstable... if the crossbeam and the load of an adult are 100 pounds, how much weight would be needed on the mountain to withstand that weight and prevent it from falling?"

The design drawing showed a strange machine loaded with spiral discs—Han Fulai immediately recognized it.

"...Helicopter?"

Yes, Leonard wanted to invent a helicopter to reach the "Peak of the Peak," just like how modern climbers often send helicopters to transport mountaineers to the camp halfway up the mountain when they summit Mount Everest.

However, modern helicopter rotors are not the complete circular discs drawn by Leonard, but blades.

But Leonard's design was undoubtedly a prototype of a helicopter; he had even figured out the principle of rotor lift.

Wait a minute... these blueprints, he seems to have seen them before... not in a game, but in... a history textbook?

Han Fulai began searching his memories.

At that moment, flames suddenly burst forth on those blueprints, as if they were confidential documents that could be burned after being read, and they were reduced to ashes in an instant.

"Ah..." Han Fulai reached out to grab the design drawings, but it was all in vain.

To his relief, he had a genius astrologer named Mona by his side: "Hmph, so what if it's burned? I've already memorized it all!"

"Miss Mona is truly a genius!" Han Fulai praised sincerely.

Leonard's aged voice rang out once more: "My time is running out, my time... has not yet come. But among us, or among your children, students, and friends..."

Before everyone's eyes, the image of "Pointed Hat Peak" reappeared, and the scattered lights, like human will, merged into the mountain and began to climb towards the summit.

More and more points of light disappeared during the climb, but finally, a glimmer of light reached the summit.

—Not just the summit.

The light rose slowly from the mountaintop, upwards, and upwards again, piercing the clouds and reaching the heavens.

"...There must be one person who will be able to arrive."

The scene before the three disappeared, and Leonard's voice also vanished.

They returned to the real world.

Along with it disappeared, the emerald-green meteorite also vanished.

It's like entrusting your obsessions and will to someone else, then contentedly dissipating and merging into the wind.

Chapter Forty-Five: Wind God's Mixed Dish

"I never imagined it was like this..." Mona sighed softly as she returned to reality from Leonard's memories.

Paimon flew up in a hurry: "You're finally awake! Tell me what happened!"

The three of them entered the consciousness space, and the physical experience didn't last very long; it was like a dream.

But for Paimon, who was waiting outside, that was more than half an hour of watching the three people fall into a deep sleep.

Paimon worried for them for as long as they remained unconscious. With the moon already risen and they still hadn't woken up, Paimon almost decided to fly across the sea alone to seek help from Mondstadt.

Ying naturally understood Paimon's feelings and immediately recounted her experiences in the consciousness space to Paimon in detail.

"We met Leonard, the adventurer from two thousand years ago, and read his memories..."

"...the climbers, attempting to reach the unknown peaks."

"...Those who are persistent are willing to pass on their will to the future."

It must be said that Ying really has a talent for storytelling. After Ying vividly described that memory, it could almost be turned into an epic sung by a bard.

After hearing Ying's story, Paimon was moved to tears: "Waaah, I never imagined there was such a touching story hidden in 'Wings of the Wind'..."

“Yes,” Mona nodded in agreement. “Human beliefs can actually remain in the sky for thousands of years… Wow, astrology is truly amazing!”

Still immersed in the touching atmosphere, Paimon couldn't help but complain, "Why did we suddenly start talking about astrology?"

“If we didn’t understand astrology, how could we see these things?” Mona replied confidently. “Being able to communicate with the stars means being able to grasp all the secrets from ancient times to the present! Of course, there are very few astrologers besides me who can do this.”

"Ms. Mona, thank you so much this time," Han Fulai said sincerely.

If it weren't for Mona, he would never have been able to decipher the blueprints in Leonard's memory, nor would he have been able to figure out what Leonard was originally trying to do, or why Wendy blew the "Pointed Hat Peak" into the sea. These secrets are actually more valuable than the aircraft Leonard invented.

Although... he knew that Leonard's memory wasn't a real "secret," and that what the skirmishers saw was definitely different from what they saw... but without Mona, he probably would have just been like Yingmei, only witnessing an inspirational adventurer's story.

Mona's cheeks flushed slightly: "W-What's wrong? Why are you suddenly so serious..."

Seeing Mona's shyness, Paimon took advantage of her momentary lapse in attention and snatched the pointed hat from her head, putting it on his own.

The large brim of the hat completely covered Paimon's head.

Paimon said with a grin, "The current 'Pointed Hat Peak' is just like this hat; anyone can wear it!"

The pointed hat in Paimon's hands was originally a symbol of a witch, representing mystery, knowledge, and pride... but on Paimon's head, it was just a hat.

The legendary mountain that could connect to the sky is now just an island on the sea, and it doesn't resemble the terrifying "beast without weaknesses" that Leonard described in his memory at all.

"Hey! Not just anyone can wear this! Don't take my hat." Mona quickly snatched the hat back, but she understood what Paimon meant. In fact, she had the same thought: "The mountains of the past have become a small piece of land in the sea... Now, almost everyone in Mondstadt can get here by boat, right?"

“So now everyone can climb ‘Peak Peak’!” Paimon struck a mountaineer’s pose.

Ying nodded repeatedly: "Everyone can reach the top of the mountain now."

Paimon circled the glowing light once, then said, "The Mondstadt people can now fly with the help of the wind god. As long as you take the 'flying license' test, anyone can fly into the sky with 'wind wings.' With wings, people can go to higher and farther places and explore more unknown corners... Do you think Leonard would be happy if he knew?"

Ying looked up at the sky, as if searching for Leonard's "constellation"—now, has Leonard's wish truly been fulfilled?

For some reason, she also felt a little sentimental.

Han Fulai was also thinking about the question Paimon had raised.