He changed Tiwat

Its canopy trembled, and the ice magic circle that Abe had previously used to bombard everyone appeared above its head.

Countless icicles rained down like arrows.

Han Fulai's jade shield was still intact, but Abedo did not have a shield.

However, Aberdo didn't need anyone to shield him; the alchemist only needed to activate the "alchemy circle" in this situation.

With a flick of his wrist, Abedo unleashed another shower of golden light upon the ground.

Only Han Fulai, who was very close to him, could see that what Abedo had scattered was actually a "seed" mixed with elemental power.

As Sugar's teacher, Abedo's expertise in the field of "bio-alchemy" far surpassed Sugar's level—although, in order not to discourage his disciple, Abedo never revealed his true strength to Sugar.

"Birth Ceremony: The Tide of the Earth!"

As Abedo spoke, a high wall of rock crystals rose from the ground, completely blocking the rain of ice spikes.

Not only that, but several rock spears formed from rock crystals followed Abedo's command and attacked the Frozen Tree on the opposite side, making the scene lively with back-and-forth exchanges.

Just as Han Fulai had predicted, when alchemists fight, their skills really do fly everywhere...

Moreover, the way Abedo was blasting people with all sorts of rock-based objects suddenly reminded him—in the game, Abedo was also known as the "Mondstadt Geo Archon"...

Chapter 143 Demons and monsters need not fear, a thousand armies and ten thousand horses avoid the white-robed one.

Han Fulai and Abedo temporarily relied on Abedo's rock crystals to withstand the ice spike bombardment from the Frozen Tree.

The Frozen Tree's firepower was fierce, and Han Fulai was reluctant to go out and get attacked while relying on the Jade Shield. Of course, his main purpose was to meet with Abedo to discuss countermeasures.

The two stood side by side behind the rock crystal, dodging the "bombardment" of the frozen tree, giving one the feeling of carrying guns and crouching in trenches together. In particular, Abedo would occasionally throw a few rock guns back, which had a strong sense of modern trench warfare.

During a lull in the long-range firefight with the Frozen Tree, Abedo was also contemplating a way to defeat the enemy.

In fact, he already had a plan in mind.

"Mr. Han, could you use that trick a few more times?"

Han Fulai's ability to "turn wind into stone" might go unnoticed by others, but it did not escape Abedo's notice.

“Of course. If necessary, I can even turn it directly into a ‘statue’.” Han Fulai didn’t hold back and brandished the Salt Sorrow Spear in his hand.

If all else fails... he can always resort to a "heavenly tremor".

"It's good that we can stop its movement." Abedo nodded, and casually swung a few more rock spears out.

This attack, like Yola's greatsword, can damage the Cryo Regisvine, but it cannot stop it from regenerating.

However, as long as the Cryo Tree is kept busy regenerating, it will naturally have no time to launch more attacks.

"Tell me your plan?" Han Fulai looked at Abedo with great interest.

"To get rid of this thing, we can only purify its core... Don't be fooled by its appearance. Any form it takes is just an energy body formed by combining with the elemental forces in the earth's veins. Even if you chop it into pieces, as long as the earth's vein energy continues, it can regenerate continuously."

Abedo raised the "Cinnabar Spindle" in his hand.

“The sword I struck him from behind just now purified his core body… but at that moment he transferred his soul and will into the Corruption Sword, and I didn’t have time to purify it.”

"I see." Han Fulai nodded, having already understood what Abedo meant.

Their enemy is not the Frozen Tree, not Abes, not some creature or monster—their enemy is the Corruption Sword.

After Abedo stabbed Abe in the back, the scene was too chaotic, and no one cared about the whereabouts of the Corruption Sword. Now it seems that the Corruption Sword is actually inside this Frozen Tree. It can change its appearance in many ways, which is equivalent to the Corruption Sword choosing a suitable "skin".

It wouldn't matter if you cut this tree into a thousand pieces and burned it to ashes, because its essence, its energy core, is that humus sword.

In other words, only by purifying the Corrupted Sword can it be completely defeated.

Currently, only Abedo, who possesses the "Cinnabar Spindle," can accomplish this.

“I lied to you about something before,” Abedo said, bowing his head. “After I killed Dulin, I also absorbed a part of his power… I can actually sense the location of the Corruption Sword; it’s like a clone of Dulin.”

Han Fulai shrugged indifferently. He had already guessed it anyway, and he didn't really care about it. However, it was good news that Abedo could sense the existence of the Corruption Sword.

"So, you can find its core location?"

“Yes.” Abedo nodded seriously and pointed to the roots of the freeze-thawed tree.

Although people usually think that the crown of the Cryotree symbolizes the "head" from its appearance, and subconsciously believe that attacking the "head" is the best way to kill a creature, and the real Cryotree's weakness is indeed in the crown... In fact, the most important part of this fake Cryotree is actually its root system.

Abedo continued, "But there's a problem now: it can actually transfer its core to any part of the body. In any case, for it, the so-called body can be arbitrarily reshaped and regenerated."

Han Fulai immediately understood: "That's why you said you needed me to help you block its movements. You wanted me to temporarily block its way of moving so you could take the opportunity to purify it."

“That’s right.” Abedo nodded.

"Then the pressure will be on you," Han Fulai said with a smile. "I can seal off its movements without any problem; the question is whether you can accurately pinpoint its core."

Abedo slowly twirled the longsword in his hand, striking several poses, just like a beginner swordsman learning to twirl a sword.

Then he nodded as if he had confirmed something.

"Don't worry, I know a little about swordsmanship," he said.

Abel had been in Mondstadt for three years, and people only knew him as the chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius, but few knew that this alchemist was also skilled in swordsmanship.

Several months ago, during the "Dragon Plague," the Traveler Ying, along with the leader of the guild, the red-haired "Night Hero," and a certain bard, traveled to "Old Mondstadt," the place where the Stormterror dwelled, which is now known as the "Stormterror Ruins."

At that time, Yura and others were still on a mission outside, and the cavalry captain Kaia and the librarian Lisa were also missing that day.

It can be said that Mondstadt lost all its high-end combat power at that time.

At a time when Mondstadt's military strength was unprecedentedly weak, the "Order of the Abyss" instigated an army composed of Hilichurls and various monsters to launch a major attack on Mondstadt.

In the critical moment, Abedo, the captain of the investigation team who was usually out of the loop, stepped forward.

He commanded the knights in the city to concentrate their forces at the east gate of Mondstadt, while setting up roadblocks to hinder the monsters' movements. He also single-handedly defended the north gate of Mondstadt, repelling a large-scale attack by monsters.

—It is said that on that night, Abedo's white robes were stained with blood, his longsword turned completely red, and he beheaded hundreds of enemies outside Mondstadt.

—There are even rumors that Aberdo, alone with his sword, cut his way from the north gate of Mondstadt back to the east gate, leaving the limbs and broken bodies of monsters scattered across the grass beside Cider Lake.

Guy, the Favonius Knight responsible for cleaning up the battlefield, later expressed his感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection). If we were to paraphrase the words of a Liyue poet, it would probably be something like:

"Demons and monsters need not fear, even a thousand armies and ten thousand horses will avoid the white-robed warrior."

Abedo later had an added problem—for some reason, a bunch of Knights of Favonius came to him, the alchemist, to ask him for advice on swordsmanship...

After discussing the matter, the two took action without any hesitation.

Han Fulai brandished the Salt Mourning Spear, and this divine weapon, obeying his command, traced a parabola like a mortar, piercing straight down into the crown of the frozen tree, piercing the huge frozen tree from head to toe.

Wherever Salt Alas passes, the trunks of the frozen trees turn to salt.

At that very moment, Abedo dispelled the crystal wall.

But then Abedo leaped up, stepping on his "Imitation Yanghua," and soared straight towards the Frozen Tree as if riding the clouds, his white robe fluttering in the wind.

While the Frozen Tree was still frozen and unable to react due to the effects of the Salt Spear, he had already thrust out the longsword in his hand.

"West Wind Sword Technique - White".

There are always some geniuses in this world who can learn a set of military boxing that everyone knows and become an unparalleled master. Aberdo is such a master.

He simply practiced the basic West Wind sword technique that every knight knew from the swordsmanship instructors in the Knights Order, and then figured out a swordsmanship style that best suited him.

Just as Yura combined her family's "Festival Dance" to create her own West Wind Sword Technique, Abedo also created his own West Wind Sword Technique—well, the technique he combined was anatomy.

As Abedo himself said, he initially practiced painting to understand the composition of objects and materials, and the reason his paintings were so lifelike was precisely because of his precise understanding of the structure of objects.

A precise understanding at the anatomical level.

He can now see the structural weaknesses of most objects with the naked eye—including the frozen tree in front of him.

The "Cinnabar Spindle" pierced through the roots of the Frozen Tree, striking the Corrosive Sword hidden deep within.

Chapter 144 Mutant Deceptive Flower

A brilliant golden light emanated from the longsword in Abedo's hand and flowed deep into the frozen tree, like a ray of sunlight piercing the darkness.

The trunk of the frozen tree, salted by the Salt-Staining Gun, burst open like a balloon punctured by a needle.

Before the tip of the "Cinnabar Spindle," the eerie, purplish-black straight sword unleashed its fiercest resistance ever.

Everyone saw the phantom of a giant black dragon.

Although not as large as the original Dulin as recorded in history, this black dragon was still the size of a small mountain. Its body was covered with black-gold scales, and it had two bat-like fleshy wings on its back. Black blood flowed from its crimson eyes, as if it contained endless resentment and poison.

It opened its blood-red maw before Abedo and let out a silent roar—although it didn't actually make a sound, everyone felt a ringing in their ears. Perhaps it was just that human ears couldn't understand the dragon's language?

However, the black dragon's phantom did not last long, because Abedo's sword tip had already struck the hilt of the Corruption Sword.

The eyeball on the sword hilt was shattered.

The black dragon's phantom was like a genie in a fairy tale, its entire body twisted into a braid shape, then twisted into a thin rope, and was sucked into the "Cinnabar Spindle" in a flash.

On the hilt of the "Cinnabar Spindle" sword, the "Sunflower" seemed to bloom even more brilliantly.

The purplish-black straight sword fell limply to the ground, no longer spewing poison or creating illusions, remaining motionless, just like an ordinary longsword.

In fact, apart from its unique shape, this Corruption Sword is actually just an ordinary longsword.

Because the remnant soul of Dulin residing in the sword has been absorbed by the "Cinnabar Spindle".

Abedo silently knelt down and collected his brother's last belongings.

Han Fulai waved his hand, summoning his Salt Sorrow Spear back, a leisurely smile on his face.

Amber and the others watched his movements with amazement in their eyes—not because his ability to control a spear from a distance was particularly remarkable, but because, in their eyes as onlookers, it was this one shot that ended the battle.

Although Han Fulai seemed to have only made one move throughout the entire battle, that one move was crucial.

Even if the Cryo Tree is cut into ten or eight pieces, it can regenerate on its own, something Yura and the others witnessed firsthand. Although Abedo used all sorts of high-level alchemy to fight the Cryo Tree to a standstill, everyone knew that it didn't fundamentally damage the Cryo Tree.

What truly defeated that frozen tree was Han Fulai's shot.

After he made his move, the Ice Tree's ice array, elemental torrents, and the bizarre "cheat code" of infinite regeneration all disappeared, without even moving an inch, as if they had turned into fossils that had been dead for thousands of years.

—Han Fulai casually threw a shot that emptied all the "health bars" of the Frozen Tree with "infinite health bars"!

It was precisely because of this that Aberdo was able to seize the opportunity and deliver the finishing blow.

Conversely, if Han Fulai hadn't been present, could Abedo have purified the Corrupting Sword so easily? Absolutely not.

Moreover... judging from Han Fulai's effortless manner, it's quite like a master easily defeating a novice, finishing the job and calling it a day—this makes one wonder if Mr. Han made his move early enough to end everything.

Yura felt this particularly deeply.

She was, after all, someone who had actually fought against this Frozen Tree formed from the remnants of Dulin, and she knew all too well just how powerful it was. The remnants of the demonic dragon Dulin, which she couldn't defeat even with all her might, were merely a minor character that this Deputy Minister Han could easily deal with?

Yura even thought of Grand Master Falgar.

After joining the Knights, Yura sought to improve her swordsmanship and once challenged the Grand Master to a duel, which ended in a draw... but only in name.

Yura still remembers the relaxed expression and carefree attitude of Falgar when they sparred... He was definitely holding back! Yura has always held a grudge against the Grand Master for holding back, and one day she will get her revenge in the arena.

She felt like she'd been reassigned as Grand Master Falgar's personal bodyguard... Seriously? That guy needs a bodyguard too? Who's protecting whom here?

More importantly, Han Fulai only made his move after she had been defeated...

The idea of ​​a knight being protected by someone you're supposed to protect is so shameful... Yura felt her cheeks burning just thinking about it.

—So Yura kept this grudge in mind, and remembered it as Kaeya's.

Abedo sheathed his two longswords and walked back with Han Fulai to where the other three were.

"Everyone, are you all alright?"

Amber nodded, then hesitated, "Yes, we're all fine... but could you please explain what happened? I... I don't quite understand..."

First, the fake Abedo was forced to reveal his true form by Yola, then the real Abedo betrayed the fake one, and then illusions of the Cryo Tree and the dragon appeared... After experiencing so many changes in a short period of time, Amber's simple little mind was in complete turmoil.

Bennett was equally puzzled: "Mr. Abedo, what was that thing just now? One minute it was a person, the next it was a plant, and now it's a sword..."

Yura crossed her arms, her expression unfriendly: "Abedo, I also want an explanation, an explanation of where you went before."

Aberdo was well aware that people had many questions about this matter, and he had already prepared his explanation.

“Well, let’s start with that avalanche… As you all guessed, that avalanche wasn’t an accident, but rather the work of that monster impersonating me. As for its purpose in doing so…” Abedo pointed to his face, “it was to replace me.”

"And its true form has actually been shown before. Do you remember? Before it became a frozen tree, the last thing it appeared in was a liar flower... That's right, it's an extremely rare mutated liar flower."

Abedo's expression was incredibly sincere, and his voice was remarkably serious, almost reminding Han Fulai of the UMA (Unidentified Aquatic Creatures) compilations he'd seen on television before. Those eyewitnesses who so confidently claimed to have spotted "kappa," "water monkeys," or "mothmen" spoke just like Abedo…

Okay, so "mutant swindler flower" can also be considered a type of UMA, right?

"Huh, can a flower turn into a person?" Amber exclaimed in shock.

"Normally not, but this is Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain, which is a special case. The corpse of the demon dragon Dulin is hidden in this snow mountain. Perhaps the blood of the demon dragon accumulated in this land was transmitted to the demons through the ley lines, causing them to mutate rapidly. If life phenomena beyond imagination could appear somewhere on the continent, it would most likely be here."