Jiang Xuan pursed his lips into a smile and teased, “Keqing never really leaves her work mode, does she?”
Keqing let out a slightly melancholic sigh.
“There are simply too many matters to attend to. Every aspect of Liyue Harbor requires my personal inspection—all for our transition to human rule.”
“Didn’t you say it yourself? Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth, and mere slogans can never build a glorious nation.”
“I need to compile the feedback from Liyue’s citizens on human governance and draft a comprehensive plan to present to Rex Lapis during this year’s Rite of Descension.”
As she spoke, Keqing caught the helpless look in Jiang Xuan’s eyes.
Her face instantly flushed red.
“Sorry, I went on again…”
“It’s fine, let’s get out of here first!”
Jiang Xuan shook his head.
Pushing off with his legs, he bounded upward using the counterforce, leaping cleanly out of the deep crater.
Although Steve in the game couldn’t jump very high and took damage from falling, sheer physical strength logically enhanced jumping power here.
As for taking fall damage… that brought up the second greatest strength of the Steve Physique.
As long as his hunger bar was full, and as long as an impact wasn’t instantly fatal, even a lost arm would fully regenerate.
Once he enchanted Feather Falling later on, he could do whatever he wanted.
Worst case, he still had Yamato.
Besides, with such immense physical strength, it wasn’t as if Jiang Xuan would actually fall to his death playing high-altitude bungee jumping in Teyvat—unless he was fool enough to take a leap of faith from the false sky.
He just needed to be careful when traveling to the Minecraft world.
The laws of physics between the worlds were different after all…
A flash of purple lightning gleamed, and Keqing materialized beside him, her expression filled with pleasant surprise.
“Jiang Xuan, your explosive power is truly impressive.”
Jiang Xuan chuckled and spread his hands.
“So, you believe I created that pit using pure raw strength now?”
Keqing covered her mouth with a light chuckle and shook her head.
“Joking is a fine way to relieve work stress, but we still have a lot to do. Let’s go to The Chasm to find Ganyu first.”
Jiang Xuan had expected her reaction and didn’t bother explaining further.
He simply asked out of curiosity, “Ganyu came too? That’s rare. The last time I saw her was a month ago, wasn’t it?”
“As the secretary to the Liyue Qixing, she has many duties to attend to personally.”
As Keqing spoke, a look of admiration gleamed in her eyes.
Bringing up Ganyu was like mentioning a soulmate; their workaholic tendencies were cut from the exact same cloth—the kind that would make the King of Hell shake his head in defeat.
Suddenly, Keqing let out a rueful sigh.
“If only Ganyu understood the essence of human governance as well as you do…”
“Well, Ganyu did fight alongside Morax on the Archon War battlefields, after all,” Jiang Xuan offered comfortably.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the wooden blocks from earlier were gone.
He had already gathered all the wood back into his inventory.
Carrying seventy or eighty tons of weight without feeling a thing was utterly absurd.
Jiang Xuan planned to craft a crafting table once he found a new place to stay, make a set of wooden tools, and head straight into the mines.
As for the Monster Hunter achievement… he could farm that underground.
Who knew how long it would take to kill a hundred monsters on the surface?
Besides, the first law of Minecraft was etched into his very bones: *To get rich, chop wood first; dig three blocks down and seal yourself in to mine.*
By a stroke of luck, after a year of exploring the Minecraft world, he was currently located in a village right next to a mountain and a cave system.
Even better, there were blast furnaces in the village!
Although making a furnace didn’t cost many materials, there was lava near the villager’s furnace!
Didn’t that save him wood and coal?
Having chopped trees for a year, Jiang Xuan knew full well how hard wood was to come by; he had to save where he could.
Currently, Jiang Xuan’s foothold in Minecraft was inside a villager’s home.
Unfortunately, that villager also possessed the Steve Physique.
Jiang Xuan couldn’t beat him in a fight and had been forced to sleep on the floor.
But now things were different—he possessed the Steve Physique too.
The moment he returned, his first order of business would be crafting a wooden sword, slaying the villager, and claiming the bed without hesitation.
Well… before, Jiang Xuan couldn’t even beat a sheep, so he naturally couldn’t craft a bed.
It was a humiliation he intended to avenge fully upon his return!
“Jiang Xuan, are you listening to me?” Keqing puffed her cheeks slightly, stepping in front of him to block his path.
“You’ve been spacing out this whole time. What on earth are you thinking about?”
Jiang Xuan snapped back to reality, chuckled apologetically, and asked softly, “Sorry, I was thinking about some personal matters. What were you saying, Keqing?”
Keqing palmed her forehead and let out a helpless sigh.
“I said! Your house is destroyed. Instead of continuing to live out here, why don’t you come back with me to Liyue Harbor?”
Keqing knew he would usually refuse, but seeing the subtle changes in Jiang Xuan now, she thought asking again might yield a different answer.
She immediately began her long persuasive speech.
“Don’t be so quick to say no, Jiang Xuan! I know you dislike traveling, but don’t you have a Vision now?”
“Since you can manipulate elemental energy, you can use Teleport Waypoints! Moving from here to Liyue Harbor takes just the blink of an eye.”
“Plus, if you come with me to Liyue Harbor, it will be convenient for me to consult you anytime… Ah, sorry, poor phrasing.”
“What I mean is that life in Liyue Harbor is far better. Staying out in the wilderness every day is unsafe, and you miss out on basic conveniences.”
“You just arrived in Teyvat, so you should see the customs of different nations! As the most prosperous port, Liyue Harbor’s thriving commerce will definitely open your eyes.”
“You don’t need to worry about lodging either. My family owns several properties. You’ve helped me so much, so letting you stay in one is no trouble at all.”
“Besides, the Rite of Descension is coming up in a few months in Liyue Harbor. You can come experience our grand festival!”
“Oh, and Liyue has so much delicious food—Wanmin Restaurant, Xinyue Kiosk…”
Keqing rattled on persuasively without pause, touching Jiang Xuan’s heart.
Having arrived in this unfamiliar world and risking his life daily to chop trees, Keqing and Ganyu were the only two friends who cared about him over the past year.
In that case, he didn’t want to disappoint them.
Seeing Keqing listing dishes off like a menu, Jiang Xuan smiled softly and said, “Alright…”
“I highly recommend the Golden Shrimp Balls at Wangshu Inn, but once you reach Liyue Harbor… Huh?!”