In a hidden corner of the abandoned village at the foot of Wuwang Hill, Chen Mo and Hu Tao lit a campfire, hoping to earn themselves a brief moment of rest.
The flames burned through the firewood, crackling sharply.
Chen Mo stared at the small cluster of light before him, and a sense of melancholy rose in his heart.
That was because the Stand he had just awakened, Gold Experience, was also a Stand that could only deal physical damage.
Worse still, it was more of a healer.
Compared with Star Platinum, its damage was simply far too lacking.
Chen Mo let out a soft sigh.
His gaze then fell on Hu Tao in front of him, and he subconsciously stuck out his tongue to lick the lip she had bitten earlier.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Hu Tao shrank her neck slightly and repeatedly twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
The young director had lived until today, yet this was the first time she had ever received a confession from the opposite sex.
Deep down, she still had not fully adjusted to that strange, fluttering sensation.
When she thought about how she had lost her head just now and done something so embarrassing, the flush on her face surged all the way to the tips of her ears.
“Is… is there a bug on my face?” “No.” “Then why do you keep staring at me?” On the surface, Hu Tao was playful, clever, and difficult to read, but in truth, her thoughts were more delicate than anyone else’s.
In Chen Mo’s memories, he had never seen such a bashful and awkward little Hu Tao before.
He deliberately chose not to answer, focusing instead on carefully recording this adorable expression before him.
The girl’s embarrassed complaints played on repeat beside Chen Mo’s ears.
The word “bug” made him instinctively think of the ladybug ornaments on the fifth JoJo.
Gold Experience’s ability… If he remembered correctly, it could use non-living matter to create life.
Chen Mo picked up a branch from the ground, and a pale golden glow began to shine from his hand.
In his mind, he imagined turning the branch into a living vine.
Then, he activated Gold Experience’s ability and injected life energy into it.
“This is…?” “A Geo Slime?” Hu Tao’s eyes widened in disbelief.
One second, Chen Mo had clearly still been spacing out.
The next, a Geo Slime had appeared out of thin air in his hand.
Although this slime was only the size of a palm, much smaller than the ones commonly seen in the wild.
“Is this also your guardian spirit’s ability?” Chen Mo remained silent.
Even he himself had no idea what was going on.
He tossed the slime into a nearby puddle and observed what kind of reaction it would produce.
When the water splashed up, a blue Geo crystal bounced out of the puddle.
Immediately afterward, a touch of fresh green followed.
“A Dendro seed?” He fell into thought.
He had clearly only wanted to create a vine, so why had it turned into a Geo Slime carrying Dendro energy?
Picking up a second branch, Chen Mo once again imagined a vine in his mind.
Cold sweat appeared at his temple.
He was afraid that the life energy he injected might be too abundant.
Gold Experience’s light continued to flicker.
After a single breath, the branch did not turn into a slime.
Instead, it changed into a vine exactly as he had imagined.
“So the branch’s transformation really is related to the amount of life energy injected.” Chen Mo came to a sudden realization.
When using Gold Experience’s ability, if he failed to properly control the amount of energy injected, he might lose control and create a more active elemental life-form.
As for why it had become a Geo Slime, perhaps it was because the land of Liyue was especially rich in Geo energy.
He placed the vine into the small puddle as well.
Just like the previous time, shortly after the vine came into contact with the water, it also produced two Dendro seeds.
Chen Mo became puzzled again.
Could Gold Experience’s life energy trigger Dendro-related reactions on the continent of Teyvat?
“Gold Experience!” At Chen Mo’s call, a golden humanoid Stand appeared beside him.
Seeing this “guardian spirit,” which was completely different from the large purple one from before, Hu Tao was utterly confused.
“Who is this now!?
Where’s the big guy?” Her plum-blossom pupils slowly widened.
The meaningless sound of “Muda” rang beside her ears again as the golden humanoid punched toward the small puddle.
The accumulated water splashed into the air before scattering everywhere.
Hu Tao felt as if she had been teased again.
She stormed over to Chen Mo’s side, grabbed the corner of his clothes, and questioned him.
“Wasn’t your guardian spirit purple?
What is this golden fellow supposed to be?
A Mora spirit?” Gold Experience’s figure quickly disappeared.
In the small pit on the ground where the water had vanished, aside from a vine and a branch, there were now several emerald-green Dendro seeds lying there.
The corners of Chen Mo’s mouth rose along with his slightly lifted head.
He was now certain that Gold Experience’s life energy really did contain Dendro energy.
Although the amount of Dendro energy was probably even less than the emergency savings Paimon could hide under the sole of her shoe, it was still more than enough to deal with an Abyss Herald.
Filled with confidence, he looked at Hu Tao and replied, “What Mora spirit?
This is clearly the crystallization of our love!” “Y-you… What nonsense are you saying!?
How… how could it crystallize that quickly…” Chen Mo picked up the red-faced Hu Tao and chuckled teasingly.
“I’m done messing with you.
We’re going back now to deal with that Abyssal evil.” “You have a way to deal with it now?
You’re not going to run away again in the end, are you?” Hu Tao questioned him with her mouth, but the expectation in her eyes could not be hidden.
“Relax.
This time, I’m absolutely confident I can handle it.” With Star Platinum attached to his body, Chen Mo charged toward the mountaintop at his fastest speed.
Wuwang Hill was still as damp as before, which meant the Abyss Herald had not yet left the area.
Moisture condensed into beads on Hu Tao’s bare legs.
When a cold mountain wind blew past, the girl felt an icy chill around her lower body and could not help but shiver.
“Are you cold?” He stopped and put Hu Tao down.
Then, he took off his own coat and draped it over her shoulders.
“Th-thank you.” Warmth wrapped around both Hu Tao’s body and her heart.
The warmth between the two had not yet faded when a shockwave attacked them from behind at the worst possible moment.
Star Platinum appeared in time and blocked the attack with an Ora punch.
Water instantly scattered in every direction.
“Stop hiding.
I’ve already seen you.” Chen Mo stared at the bushes behind and to the right, his brows furrowing tightly.
A tall humanoid monster walked out from the shadows.
The Abyss Herald remained completely calm, showing not the slightest shame over its despicable sneak attack.
“You actually have the courage to return.” “Don’t assume everyone is like you, hiding and skulking around the moment they’re hunted down.
You’ve completely disgraced the people of Khaenri’ah.” “What did you say!?” The Herald raised its voice, clearly having been struck where it hurt.
Seeing that the provocation had worked, Chen Mo decisively stepped in front of Hu Tao.
“Leave the rest to me.
I’ll call you when I need your help.” “Then be careful.” “Mm.” Chen Mo took out Prototype Crescent and fired several arrows at the Herald in succession.
The arrows struck the Herald like young birds crashing into the Great Wall.
Not only did they fail to cause any real damage, they all fell to the ground instead.
“Laughable!
How could such feeble arrows ever shake the Abyss?” The Herald’s water blades emitted a blue glow.
It bent forward and charged toward Chen Mo at high speed.
When the distance between them was still more than three meters, Chen Mo summoned Gold Experience to block in front of him.
“Gold?
Shouldn’t it be purple?” The Abyss Herald stopped its charge and retreated several steps in succession.
It did not know what difference there was between this golden figure and the purple one from before.
But its instincts told it that this golden humanoid was definitely not simple.
It had to be the reason Chen Mo dared to return and face it.
“The tide has come!” From a distance, the Herald released a Hydro cross slash.
This was its strongest long-range attack, making it perfect for testing the golden humanoid’s ability.
However, to its surprise, when faced with the cross-shaped shockwave charging directly toward him, Chen Mo decisively chose to withdraw Gold Experience and instead used Star Platinum’s high-speed iron fists to defend.
“So they are two different entities.” The Abyss Herald believed it had understood everything.
Since the other party chose to summon the purple humanoid for defense, that meant it was far stronger than the golden one in terms of raw power.
By the same logic, the fact that he had summoned the golden humanoid in advance meant that its speed was also inferior.
The Herald tensed its entire body.
Swift as the wind, it accelerated and thrust toward Chen Mo.
The golden humanoid did not possess the purple one’s strength or speed.
The purple humanoid, meanwhile, did not possess the ability to break through its Hydro shield.
Most importantly, the other party seemed capable of summoning only one humanoid to fight at a time.
“In that case, what have I to fear?” “You finally came a little closer.” “What…?” The Abyss Herald noticed a sly smile flash across Chen Mo’s lips.
It realized that it had fallen into a trap.
But now that it had already entered Gold Experience’s range, it was too late to escape, even if it wanted to.
“Gold Experience!” Golden light surrounded Chen Mo’s entire body.
The golden figure rushed out from within him and launched a fierce barrage of high-speed punches at the Abyss Herald.
“Muda, muda, muda!” Gold Experience’s power was far inferior to Star Platinum’s, but in terms of speed, it was on the same level.
Its fists were wrapped in abundant life energy.
The small amount of Dendro energy contained within reacted with the Herald’s Hydro shield, triggering Bloom and producing one Dendro Core after another.
“Muda—!” Gold Experience gathered power and threw one final punch, forcefully sending the Herald flying several meters away.
“Dendro Cores… You can actually use Dendro energy!?” It supported itself against the ground and tried to stand back up, only to discover that it could not get up no matter how hard it tried.
“Look at the ground.” The space beneath the Herald’s mask was filled with horror.
It tremblingly lowered its head and saw that the ground was covered in vine-like green plants.
“What is this…?” “This is creeping ivy, commonly known as wall-climbing ivy.” Chen Mo bent down and picked up one of the ivy stems, speaking with complete ease.
“This type of plant has extremely strong toughness and adhesive power.
As long as the conditions allow it, it will grow and spread over a large area.” As he spoke, he used Gold Experience to continue sending life energy into the green plants, causing the ivy binding the Herald to become even thicker and denser.
“Why would such plants appear here?
Clearly…” “Clearly, they weren’t here at the beginning, right?” Chen Mo spun the bow in his hand and asked in return, “Why do you think I shot those arrows at you in the first place?”