Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

"Well, you can find Zhiqiong when you go to the Layered Rock Abyss. She'll tell you."

"Zhiqiong?"

"He is an adventurer working in the General Affairs Department and is very familiar with the Laminar Abyss."

"Okay, let's go then."

The strata abyss is divided into above-ground and underground mining areas.

Due to underground anomalies, only the surface mining areas are still operational. However, after thousands of years of mining, the mineral resources in the surface mining areas are decreasing year by year. It is now very difficult to find precious minerals on the surface, so the entire surface mining area is very deserted.

Sora and Paimon arrived at the office of the Layered Rock Abyss and found the person in charge of the General Affairs Department who was stationed there.

After a conversation that could only be understood implicitly, Kong successfully found Zhiqiong.

This is an adventurer who is not much different from the general public's impression. He is wearing the green clothes of an adventurer, carrying a large pack, and looks quite ordinary.

"Hey, you've finally arrived!" Zhiqiong waved to them when she saw them.

"You know us?" Paimon asked, puzzled.

"Of course! I've heard all about your deeds, whether it was suppressing the demon god in Mondstadt, the snowy mountains, or the Jade Pavilion... You are the heroes of Liyue!"

This adventurer named Zhiqiong knew these adventure stories like the back of her hand, clearly indicating that she was an adventurer who loved adventure very much.

"No...it's not that exaggerated." Paimon was a little embarrassed by her praise.

"In short, welcome to the Stratiform Abyss Exploration Team."

Are there any other people?

"Of course, the efforts of just a few people are not enough to investigate the anomalies of the Abyss."

Zhiqiong introduced their companions to them: a scholar from Sumeru, a security technician from the General Affairs Department, and a bard from Mondstadt.

How can we get to the bottom of the abyss?

"This seal is the Seven Stars Grand Array under the Seven Stars. It relies on the rocky rocks in the mountain to provide energy and maintain stability. All we need to do is destroy those keys to open the array."

"Is it okay to destroy these things?"

Zhiqiong shook her head. "Over the years, many strange polymers have sprouted in the bedrock of the Abyss. These polymers have properties similar to that thing underground, and they can also absorb the surrounding rock elemental energy, constantly weakening the seal. Even if we don't open the seal, it won't last much longer..."

"What is that thing you're talking about underground?" Kong asked.

"According to the records, that thing is a huge blue crystal with a very peculiar power. It's hard to describe exactly what it is, but you'll see when you see it. That's also our main target for this investigation."

"Blue crystal..."

Kong immediately thought of the Frost Nails of the Snow Mountain, which were also azure blue.

Could it be something similar to the Frost Nails of the Snow Mountain?

After much effort, they broke the seal and, carrying the Lumenite catalyst necessary for entering the underground, arrived at the underground mine.

The lumenite catalyst is quite bright, like a large flashlight in the dark underground, allowing people to see their surroundings clearly without obstruction.

"What's that glowing thing?" Paimon asked, pointing to a blue crystal floating not far away.

"We call this 'Lumen Crystal.' They must be fragments of that thing underground that migrated here along the veins of the rock."

Zhiqiong offered her opinion.

She felt that the azure crystals resembled the thing underground.

Jinwu refuted her conjecture, "No, according to our analysis, they are still local minerals from the strata rock abyss in terms of composition, but they have been affected by external forces and reconstructed into this peculiar crystal."

Chapter 599 Why is there abyssal power everywhere?

Paimon circled the crystal, then looked at the lumenite catalyst in his empty hand.

"This looks a lot like our Lumenite catalyst."

"They are the same thing. The Lumenite catalyst we carry is made from it. They can resonate with each other and have a purifying power that can cleanse the black mud. Collect as much as you encounter along the way."

……

"It's been purified..."

Looking at the purified black mud in front of him, Jiang Bai seemed to be deep in thought.

He had just brought the crystal closer to the black mud to examine it closely, but under the light of the lumen stone, the pitch-black mud appeared to be slowly being purified.

Looking at the azure crystal that was remarkably similar to the Frostfire Nail, Jiang Bai directly took out a fragment of the Frostfire Nail.

After the fragments appeared, the black mud dissipated at an instant, doubling in speed and disappearing without a trace in no time.

"As expected..."

Jiang Bai then tried to bring the crystal and the fragment closer together to see if they could fuse.

But there was no reaction.

After carefully examining the two crystals, Jiang Bai noticed that the fragments of the Frostfire Nail were bluer and purer, while the blue of the Luminous Crystal seemed diluted.

It's like a new polymer formed after the power of the Cold Heaven Nail is recombined.

"Xiao, take this." Jiang Bai handed the palm-sized fragment of the Frostfire Nail to Xiao.

He had previously wanted to study whether the fragments of the Frostfire Nail could purify karmic obstacles, and now this was a good opportunity to conduct an experiment.

Why?

"It has a purifying power; try it and see if it can suppress or alleviate your karmic obstacles."

Holding Xiao in his palm, he didn't feel any difference.

"It's no use."

Karmic obstacles are not the same as these defiled forces. They are accumulated from years of killing and cannot be purified.

"Whether it works or not can't be seen in a short time, so keep it with you for now."

Jiang Bai didn't know if it would work, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

Even if it's useless, it's safer for Xiao to move around underground with this fragment.

Jiang Bai thought the fragments of the Frostfire Nail were quite useful; they could both reinforce the space and purify the filth. He would have to go and collect more fragments to take with him, as they might come in handy sometime.

Jiang Bai put away the lumen stone, took an ordinary luminous crystal, squatted down next to another piece of black mud, and frowned as he observed it.

This black mud is not soil in the true sense; it is more like an aggregate of excreted filth, forming a state similar to black mud.

"Speaking of which, what exactly is this black mud?"

Jiang Bai tried to reach out and touch it, but Xiao stopped him immediately.

He grabbed Jiang Bai by the collar and dragged him away from the black mud.

"Abyss, filth, do not approach!"

"Abyssal power again?"

Jiang Bai felt a little tired, as if the power of the abyss was omnipresent.

The poisonous blood that pollutes Dvalin possesses the power of the abyss. Those dark monsters come from the abyss, and even this giant rock abyss is spurted with so much abyssal pollution.

It felt like the entire Teyvat was surrounded by an abyss, on the verge of collapse.

At this rate, he felt that Teyvat would be finished in less than 100 years.

Jiang Bai broke free from his restraints. "It's alright. If it's the power of the abyss, it won't affect me."

He doesn't have the energy to purify the power of the abyss like Kong, but the power of the abyss can't affect him either.

Xiao frowned, but still did not stop him.

Jiang Bai returned to the black mud and reached out to touch it.

The texture of this black mud is somewhat similar to silt. It might have an effect on ordinary people, but to him it was just touching a lump of mud.

Jiang Bai tried to use his elemental power while touching the mud, but his fingers, which came into contact with both elemental power and mud at the same time, experienced a needle-like pain.

These two forces cannot coexist and are in fierce conflict, resulting in severe pain in the fingers.

Jiang Bai took out another fragment of the Frostfire Nail, and the black mud on his fingers was quickly purified, and the stinging sensation disappeared.

"The power of the abyss is incompatible with elemental power..."

It's like two completely opposite substances; once they appear at the same time, they will clash fiercely and cannot coexist.

"I remember the information I gathered said that this black mud has been there for a long time, but in recent years, when the miners were mining, they dug up something and the black mud started to appear in large quantities. In addition to the black mud, there is also a kind of red mist, which is also very dangerous..."

Jiang Bai thought that it might not be because the miners had dug up something, but rather because the boundaries of Teyvat were getting thinner and thinner, and the erosion of the abyss was intensifying.

Xiao lowered his eyes, thinking of Fushe.

Fushe was already affected by karmic obstacles, and in this giant abyss of rock, he would inevitably come into contact with these unclean forces, making his already bad situation even worse.

He couldn't help but feel even more urgent.

"Let's put these aside for now and continue to dig deeper to find the source."

If Fushe discovers these abyssal impurities, he will surely find a way to locate the source and seal off these impure forces from the source to prevent those active in the mine from being affected.

Jiang Bai followed Xiao deeper into the abyss. The abyss was so vast that the roads dug by the miners were interconnected, and there were also many caves whose destinations were unknown. The two of them had no specific way to find their way and could only wander around by feeling.

What Jiang Bai found somewhat absurd was that he actually saw members of the treasure-hunting gang underground.

Despite the fact that the Abyss of Rocky Lair has been sealed off for a long time, these treasure-hunting groups are still able to operate there.

Unable to resist his curiosity, Jiang Bai asked them some questions and learned that they had actually bypassed the Qianyan Army and secretly dug a tunnel on the surface to enter the underground so that they could mine for treasures.

Jiang Bai could only express his admiration.

After extracting the location of their tunnel from them, Jiang Bai planned to report them when he got back, and then pick out a few pieces of high-quality ore from their camp.

Seeing Jiang Bai's bandit-like behavior, the members of the treasure-hunting gang who had been taught a lesson dared not speak out against his anger.

The demon hid in the shadows, pretending that it hadn't seen anything.

Besides the members of the treasure-hunting gang, there are also some Fools soldiers operating underground.

These foolish soldiers were pitiful, really.

Originally, the Winter Solstice was an ally of Liyue and came to help Liyue solve the problem of the Laminar Abyss, but they ended up being trapped underground and surviving on moss, mushrooms, and groundwater.

A team that once had more than a dozen members has now dwindled to just a few.

While they were trapped underground, the outside world had undergone tremendous changes.

Their commanders intended to unleash the suppressed demons to wreak havoc on Liyue, causing relations between the two countries to deteriorate rapidly. Although diplomats later attempted to salvage the relationship, these soldiers became expendable pawns.

Chapter 600: Why are there so many treasure-hunting groups?

This reminded Jiang Bai of the soldiers who had been sent to their deaths at the Qunyu Pavilion.

The executive officer's single sentence decided the lives of many soldiers.

They are so insignificant, yet they are also people with names, flesh and blood.

Jiang Bai didn't criticize them; he simply left them some food and told them the location of the treasure-hunting group that had dug the tunnels.

In the darkness of the underground, it is difficult to tell time, and clocks are practically useless here.

As a celestial being, Xiao has abundant stamina, so neither traveling nor exploring poses any burden to him. But Jiang Bai is different; he needs to eat when he's hungry and sleep when he's tired.

Sometimes Jiang Bai felt a little embarrassed to ask Xiao to keep watch for him at night, because if he hadn't accommodated Xiao, Xiao would probably have already reached the deepest part of the underground by now, given his speed.

But it's impossible to walk alone. There's an unsettling force underground, and he was afraid that Xiao would be affected. He also happened to run into his karmic affliction, so he just stood there.

After all, he still had to bring Xiao back intact.

"Strange, why are we encountering more and more treasure-hunting groups as we go deeper?"

Jiang Bai was a little unsure if they had taken the wrong turn.

At first, they only occasionally encountered members of treasure-hunting groups on the outer layer, but as they ventured deeper underground through a natural canyon, they encountered treasure-hunting groups more and more frequently.

This is somewhat unusual.

After all, it's understandable that you would dig a tunnel to avoid the seal and enter the shallow part of the abyss, but digging this deep is a bit too outrageous.

After thinking about it, I decided to ask a lone member of the treasure-hunting group in a friendly manner.