Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

That flame has never gone out since she obtained the Eye of God.

Over the years, she has become so skilled that she can easily conjure flames that can burn a large Hilichurl's corpse to ashes in a very short time.

After eliminating the monsters, they are cremated and their ashes scattered in one go, leaving no corpses behind.

Jiang Bai's eyes widened in surprise; he hadn't noticed it at all before.

The sect leader truly lives up to his name; he underestimated him!

Chapter 258 Significant Progress

After resting enough, the two masked themselves and quietly crept to the rear of the Fools' camp.

The Fools in this camp are not like the rabble Jiang Bai encountered in the cave in Mondstadt; these are all elite soldiers.

Even during their rest periods, they wore thick armor and carried weapons of various elements, making them look like formidable opponents.

Jiang Bai counted them quickly; there were six soldiers in total, each corresponding to one of the six different elements.

"The armor worn by these Fools is characteristic of the Winter Kingdom. Although they lack the Eye of God, they can still unleash elemental attacks using their weapons. They are not like mindless monsters; they have tactics, teamwork, and masterful use of elemental reactions. Defeating them will be quite difficult..."

Hu Tao quietly explained the situation of these foolish soldiers to Jiang Bai.

She had fought against these fool soldiers before and knew them quite well.

"See that musketeer? I'll snatch that musket from him later, I want to play with a gun too!"

Although the single-shot musket is far inferior to Jiang Bai's Bai Yuan, it is still a firearm, and it's great to snatch it and have some fun with it.

As for whether it's wrong to steal from the Fools...

What a joke! They're all after the Emperor, so what's wrong with stealing a musket?

"Go ahead, I'll back you up!" Hu Tao pushed Jiang Bai out. "Remember, you're not allowed to use your Bai Yuan!"

Jiang Bai was forced into the sight of the Fools squad. Seeing the Fools soldiers immediately grabbing their weapons and watching him warily, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

If Bai Yuan could be used, he wouldn't even need to show up; he could just hide in the distance and snipe them, and they wouldn't even know who attacked them before they fell.

But there's no way around it; if we use Bai Yuan's words, it wouldn't be called training.

"Halt! This is the camp of the Fools ahead. Unauthorized personnel are prohibited from approaching!"

The musketeer looked serious, his musket already aimed at Jiang Bai, ready to fire as soon as Jiang Bai made any move.

Jiang Bai, his face covered and hooded, used the mask to his advantage, exuding a roguish air. "Oh, I remember Tianheng Mountain is Liyue's territory, right? When did it become your Fatui territory?"

"Hmph, why waste words with this masked guy?"

Feng Quan was very annoyed by Jiang Bai's nonchalant attitude. He cracked his knuckles and launched an attack on Jiang Bai, who had stepped into their warning range.

Jiang Bai used most of his mental energy to maintain the stone mountain, so he didn't have much elemental energy left to manipulate.

But if he needs to use elemental power just to deal with the Fools' soldiers, then he can forget about challenging the Executor.

Feng Quan strode forward, leaped into the air, and unleashed a powerful punch straight at Jiang Bai's face.

Xue Zang's star silver appeared out of thin air, blocking his way. Jiang Bai flicked his wrist, and Feng Quan and Shi Kui were sent flying back several meters.

The bullet, saturated with heat, hurtled towards him with a strong gust of wind, filling the air with a scorching heat. Jiang Bai slightly shifted his body, and the bullet grazed his cheek, leaving a trail of intense heat.

Dodging the bullets, Jiang Bai didn't stop for a moment. He dragged his longsword and charged towards Feng Quan, who was closest to him.

The longsword slashed down, and combined with Jiang Bai's immense strength, even though he was wearing thick armor, the armor cracked instantly under this powerful attack!

In an instant, the wind shield that had been formed shattered, and the tall soldier was sent flying backward, his fate unknown.

The Rock Envoy gripped his staff, a thick rock shield enveloping his teammates. The others didn't stand idly by either; they unleashed a barrage of attacks at Jiang Bai.

Jiang Bai didn't put up a shield for himself. While running at high speed, he threw his longsword at the heavy guard who was constantly releasing ice elemental energy with an ice gun.

With the combined power of water cannons and ice cannons, if he gets even a little bit of a sniper, he'll be instantly frozen solid. Therefore, he chose to take down the one who posed the greatest threat to him first.

The Snow Burial's Star Silver Strike, accompanied by a whooshing sound, slammed straight into the head of the Ice Gun Heavy Guardian, causing him to stagger, see stars, and drop the Ice Gun from his hand.

Jiang Bai dodged the incoming fire bullets once again, and while avoiding the thunder hammer's strike, he turned around and kicked.

With a powerful kick, Lei Chui, clad in heavy armor, flew several meters backward, slamming his hammer into the mountainside, where he remained immobilized for a while.

Without pausing, Jiang Bai rushed straight to the water gunner who was trying to heal his teammate. He leaped up, and Xue Zang's Star Silver reappeared in his hand. He slashed down from mid-air, and the water gunner fell to the ground, dizzy and disoriented.

This entire attack relied solely on force, and was executed with remarkable fluidity and efficiency.

Walnut squatted on a large rock, cracking sunflower seeds as she watched, nodding as she spoke. "Not bad, not bad, much better than when you were fighting Hilichurls."

Although it still relies on brute force, the sheer power itself is an advantage.

The little ghost diligently burned the sunflower seed shells its master spat out into ashes, nodding along as it did so.

It doesn't understand anything, but if its owner says it's good, then it's good.

Jiang Bai didn't exert much effort to defeat the remaining few, easily taking them down one by one before they could recover. Before Hu Tao had even finished cracking the melon seeds in his hand, all six Fool's soldiers were already lying on the ground.

Seeing that Jiang Bai had finished, she dusted off her hands and swaggered into the camp.

"Not bad, not bad, you've improved a lot!" Seeing Jiang Bai unharmed, Hu Tao didn't hold back her praise. But the next moment, her tone changed:

"However, dealing with the Fools' soldiers is still too easy. Tomorrow, let's go fight the Giant Rock Dragon Lizard. Its elemental power is versatile, its shell is thick, and it can withstand a lot of damage."

Jiang Bai's shoulders slumped, and he suddenly lost all his energy.

He prefers to lie on a deck chair and sunbathe rather than fight.

Hu Tao didn't care whether he was listless or not. She took the musket from the musketeer's hand and went into their tent.

"Hehe, let's quickly loot them before they wake up and see if we can find anything good."

When it came to plundering, Jiang Bai immediately perked up. He was currently burdened with a huge debt and couldn't let go of any opportunity to make money.

"Master, leave some for me!"

Hu Tao opened the box that the Fools used to store supplies. The box contained a lot of things, but they were all miscellaneous items, including a lot of rice, flour, cooking oil, fruits and vegetables.

Walnut tossed him a bag of Mora, saying, "Here you go."

Jiang Bai took the money bag, opened it, and counted the money. There were about 40,000 Mora inside, which he estimated was the operating funds for these Fools' soldiers for a period of time.

Without any hesitation, he stuffed the bag of Mora into his pocket.

As for what will happen to these fools without the Mora, that's none of his concern.

"Master, do you have any other good stuff?"

Jiang Bai turned his head over and peered into the box.

"Generally, these small camps don't store anything valuable. Even if they find any treasure, they'll hand it over immediately, so don't get your hopes up too high."

Hu Tao shrugged, indicating that he should see for himself.

Looking at the pile of useless things in the box, Jiang Bai was a little disappointed, but thinking that he could make some money by collecting scraps, he put all the messy things in the box into his storage space, leaving nothing for them.

Chapter 259 The Hall Master Has a Childhood Betrothal?

Jiang Bai swept through various monster camps in the surrounding area, including the Fools' Camp and the Treasure Thief Camp.

Upholding the fine virtue of thrift, he collected a pile of garbage.

As dusk fell, dark clouds filled the sky, threatening a downpour.

Thunderstorms in Teyvat are often accompanied by heavy rain and are very likely to strike pedestrians traveling in the rain.

Jiang Bai and Hu Tao couldn't find a cave, so Jiang Bai used rock elements to hollow out a piece of rock and created a cave.

Compared to building a dark, murky house using rock elements, creating a cave would place a much smaller burden on Jiang Bai, who already had a heavy workload.

Not long after the cave was completed, the sky turned completely overcast. It wasn't dark yet, but the sky was already darker than night.

A thunderclap resounded in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour, filling the entire world with the sound of pouring rain.

Walnut snapped his fingers, and a warm fire was lit inside the cave, bringing both warmth and light.

Looking at the large tree struck by lightning not far away, Jiang Bai couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

"Master, do you think Hilichurls can get struck by lightning in this kind of weather? If they are struck by lightning, will they mutate or something?"

"How would I know such a thing?" Hu Tao shrugged. "Perhaps you can try being struck by lightning to see if you die or mutate."

"Goodbye, I don't want to die..."

Walnut set up the pot and prepared to cook.

Jiang Bai swallowed hard and snatched the kitchen knife from her hand.

"Master, let me do it. You go and rest."

He didn't want to be poisoned by walnut's bizarre cooking before he was even exhausted.

With his arms crossed, Hu Tao said sarcastically, "I thought you must be tired after a long day of training, so I was going to treat you. But it seems I was just being presumptuous."

"How could that be!" Jiang Bai looked at her with a surprised expression, as if to say, "How could you think that?"

"I just feel that such a small matter doesn't need the hall master to do it personally."

Jiang Bai conjured a reclining chair and pushed her to sit down. "Master, you can sit and rest. Although my cooking skills are average, I still have no problem making dishes."

"Alright, alright, good luck." Since Jiang Bai had said that, Hu Tao, who originally wanted to show off her cooking skills, had to give up the idea for the time being.

They weren't in a hurry to go back this time; they just needed to get back before the invocation ceremony.

There will be plenty of opportunities to cook, so this one won't make a difference.

Jiang Bai washed the cabbages and white radishes he had scavenged from the Fools' camp, chopped them into small pieces, threw them into the pot, added a few peeled potatoes, scallions, ginger, garlic, and other side dishes, and then added a few pieces of dried bamboo shoots and cured meat.

After simmering for about ten minutes, a hearty and nutritious stew is ready to be enjoyed.

Walnut took a spoonful and found the taste to be a jumbled mess, hardly delicious.

It's just enough to fill your stomach, but it won't kill you.

Jiang Bai took a bite and was fairly satisfied.

Although the taste was just so-so, it was better than the master's terrible cooking.

The heavy rain was still falling, and the two sat in the cave eating while watching the rain.

The crackling flames dispelled the cold and the dampness brought by the rain.

If you don't have any ambitions, this kind of life is quite pleasant.

Watching the rain falling continuously from the sky, Jiang Bai suddenly turned his head and looked at Hu Tao beside him:

"Master, did the old master leave any instructions? Did he require you to marry someone or find someone to marry into your family?"

Hu Tao glanced at him. "Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Just curious, isn't it? This concerns your life's most important matter, Master!" Jiang Bai grinned, looking completely unserious. "As your underling, of course I have to take care of it!"

Looking at his grinning face, Hu Tao felt inexplicably annoyed.

Her eyes darted around, and she pretended to think about it seriously for a moment before saying, "When I was little, my grandfather arranged a marriage for me..."

"what!"

Jiang Bai jumped up from his chair, almost spilling the vegetable soup in his hand.

"What arranged marriage? To whom?!"

Hu Tao put down the bowl, crossed her arms, looked at Jiang Bai who had jumped up, and said with a hint of teasing, "Why are you reacting so strongly?"

"Of course I care about the leader! As his subordinate, isn't it only natural for me to care about the leader's lifelong happiness?" Jiang Bai said in a grand and righteous manner, without showing any selfish motives.

Seeing his expression, Hu Tao perked up, "Oh? Since you're so concerned, then I'll have to tell you all about it."

“You’ve met Chongyun before, right? His family is a lineage of alchemists from Tianheng Mountain. My grandfather was the head of the Rebirth Hall, and he had a very good relationship with Chongyun’s grandfather, so good that they were practically inseparable.”

As Hu Tao spoke, she watched with interest as Jiang Bai's expression began to turn somewhat ominous.

Jiang Bai's alarm blared, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he nervously swallowed.

Hu Tao was quite satisfied with his reaction. She crossed her legs, shifted to a more comfortable position, and continued:

"They said back then that if both families had a son and a daughter, they would become in-laws; if they had both sons or both daughters, they would become brothers and sisters. And Chongyun and I just happened to be a son and a daughter..."

Jiang Bai's expression turned ominous, and he developed a strong hostility towards Chong Yun.