Adventure EXP jumped from six thousand to over eighty thousand—this was the harvest of the "Lumine's Sword God" during his time in the Beast Realm.
Speaking of which, the "Blessing of the World Tree" not only granted him control over the Dendro element, but also the ability to manipulate ley lines.
But to what extent could he control them?
And could he possibly shut down the clogged ley line nodes in the Chasm that were oozing out that black sludge?
If he could, then he wouldn't have to wait for that scholar from Sumeru in the original storyline to come help. He could head to the Chasm himself and completely solve the problem there!
There were still three days left before the banquet to celebrate Ningguang's reconstruction of the Jade Chamber. Since there wasn't anything urgent in the meantime, he figured he might as well take a trip to the Chasm.
And maybe grind a few more monsters while he was at it.
Yes, that settles it… Nolan closed his eyes and prepared to sleep.
Suddenly, he felt a warm and soft hand press against his stomach. A slight pressure, and then something lifted the blanket.
Lisa had both hands resting on his abdomen. Her legs, wrapped in black lace-trimmed stockings, were bent slightly. Her soft backside, snugly wrapped in a pair of sheer, lacy triangle shorts, pressed against him.
She ran her tongue slowly along her lips, then leaned forward, lying against Nolan's chest. As her hands reached behind him, she whispered into his ear:
"Hehehe, you brought so many girls home again today, little adventurer. As punishment… you're not allowed to resist~!"
As she spoke, Lisa untied the halter-neck undergarment made of the same black lace. The knot tied at the back came undone.
She took the garment's strap and gently laid it over Nolan's face, covering his eyes.
His vision went completely dark.
Since Lisa wanted to take the lead, he had no intention of objecting.
He simply placed his hands on her thighs, slowly running them along the black stockings, gently kneading the soft flesh of her legs.
Then he gave her ear a light bite and chuckled softly.
"Jean just fell asleep. Be careful not to—mmph!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Lisa's kiss silenced him completely. The rest of the word died in his throat.
Lisa's kiss swallowed his protests, fierce and insistent. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she pressed herself closer, molding every curve to him.
She moaned softly, a sound that resonated in his chest and made his hands grip the softness of her thighs with intent.
He felt the heat of her through the lace barrier, a teasing promise of more. She rolled her hips slowly, dragging herself deliberately along his length.
Nolan could do little but groan, fingers curling around the edge of her stocking, tracing the line where silky lace met warm skin.
"You like that, don't you?" she murmured against his lips, her breath a warm caress. Her rhythm quickened slightly, a wicked glint in her voice.
Nolan's only reply was a low growl as he bent upward, lips tracing a line down her neck, tasting the salt of her skin.
Lisa's fingers danced along his jaw, traveling lower, teasing over his collarbone. Her movements were languid but purposeful, each action calculated to draw him deeper under her control.
She pulled back just enough to breathe, eyes glinting with mischief as she looked down at him, able to revel in his enraptured state even as he remained blind under the makeshift hood of lace and silk.
Nolan's hands skated up her sides, fingers trailing the delicate fabric, finding the curve of her breasts, kneading them gently, thumbs circling the hardened peaks.
Her sharp intake of breath was gratification enough, urging him on even as he tilted his head back into the pillow with a satisfied hum.
As Lisa slid back, adjusting herself again on top of him, a daring hand trailed down between them. He felt her fingers graze him, confident and exploring, drawing breathy gasps from both of them.
Each movement was deliberate, each shiver of pleasure amplified by her whispers, which filled his ears with promises and threats of what was yet to come.
"Don't hold back now, little adventurer," she taunted, draping herself forward, her body a soft, deliberate weight against him.
Their dance continued, a game of domination and yielding, each movement pushing them further into intoxicating oblivion.
...
The Next Morning
Nolan awoke to the faint fragrance lingering from the girls beside him. Lisa was on his left, and Jean on his right.
In the end, they had woken Jean up last night, and since there was no helping it, he had wrapped his arms around her too.
Now, both women were still sound asleep, likely a bit worn out.
But it was a holiday, so they wouldn't have work today. Nolan decided not to wake them and got out of bed quietly.
After a simple breakfast, by nine in the morning, he brought Lumine and Paimon with him and teleported to Liyue Harbor.
This time, they teleported directly to Ningguang's location, who was currently at the "Sweet Flower Merchant Association" overseeing follow-up commercial plans.
After all, it was now almost certain that the company's operations could expand into Mondstadt, Inazuma, and Sumeru.
So, preparations needed to be thorough. Once formal partnerships were established with those nations, the business could quickly scale up.
"Oh? You've come to collect your dividends?" Ningguang asked, crossing her right leg over her left. A faint smile graced her fair face.
Last month's financial report was already finalized, and their share of the profits was ready to be distributed.
She continued:
"After a month of growth, the net profit for last month wasn't bad—just over 50 million Mora. Your share comes to 15 million."
Truth be told, it wasn't a huge sum. It was about equivalent to what her Wangshu Inn made in three days.
Most of the revenue had come from the company's bicycles and card game products. To quickly expand market reach, she hadn't set the profit margins too high.
Once products that paired with steam engines were developed, profit would likely increase.
"Wow! Fifteen million Mora in a month! Looks like we don't have to worry about money anymore!" Paimon cheered excitedly.
"Ahem, just pocket change," Nolan coughed lightly, trying to act more mature. He turned to Ningguang and said:
"For the dividends, just drop the bank notes into the Wonderland space next time. Today, we're actually here about the Chasm."
"Alright." Ningguang nodded. "Regarding the Chasm, we've already sent in a few ley line scholars to investigate.
"They've confirmed the black sludge is indeed seeping out of the ley lines, but they haven't found a reliable way to deal with the clogged nodes yet.
"Why? Do you have some good news?"
Nolan nodded confidently and said:
"Yeah, I recently gained a bit of control over ley line energy thanks to the 'Blessing of the World Tree.' I might be able to do something about the clogged ley line nodes that are leaking the black sludge."
"Oh?" A flicker of surprise shone in Ningguang's ruby-red eyes. He had actually received the blessing of the legendary "World Tree"?
She figured he must have done something major in Sumeru. After thinking for a moment, she said:
"Yelan doesn't have any current assignments. She's probably at her teahouse on the cliffs. You should find her and go together."
"Got it. We'll go find Yelan first."
Nolan, Lumine, and Paimon said their goodbyes to Ningguang and left the Sweet Flower Merchant Association, heading toward the cliffside teahouse.
Although the two places weren't exactly close, with the spatial traversal ability granted by "Lumine's Authority," it didn't take long for them to arrive.
When they found Yelan, she was upstairs, leisurely admiring the river view below.
"Oh, it's you guys. Judging by the look of things, you must be here specifically to find me?"
Yelan took her hands off the railing, turned to face Nolan and the others, and folded her arms across her chest.
"Yelan! Long time no see!" Paimon and Lumine waved cheerfully in greeting.
Nolan answered her question directly:
"Ningguang asked you to come with us to the Chasm. I've recently acquired a new ability, and we want to see if it can influence the ley line clogs."
He explained the whole situation to her.
"Alright, that woman Ningguang really knows how to boss people around," Yelan sighed as she leaned back against the railing. "Tch… I wasn't planning on working at all today."
The weather was particularly pleasant, making her feel lazy and relaxed—perfect for lounging at home and enjoying the stillness of the day.
But since this was an assignment from Ningguang, there was no helping it. She was, after all, the one paying her salary.
"Don't worry. With my spatial traversal ability, if we're lucky, we'll be back in Liyue Harbor before noon," Nolan said with a grin, adjusting his collar.
"Mm." Yelan gave a small nod. As an intelligence agent, everything she needed was already stored in her Vision.
Since she was always ready, there was no need to prepare—she could depart immediately.
And so, using "Lumine's Authority," Nolan brought Yelan, Lumine, and Paimon with him and traversed space directly toward the Chasm.
With such a convenient ability, no matter where they went, travel time was barely a concern.
Within a few minutes, they had already arrived at the Chasm.
Thanks to the "Lumine's Sword God" Nolan had stationed in the Underground Mines, most of the visible black sludge had already been cleaned up.
With the danger level significantly reduced, mining operations had temporarily resumed.
Still, compared to peak manpower, the Chasm was clearly less crowded now—there were far fewer miners, and productivity had inevitably slowed down a bit.
Nolan and the others soon made their way to the entrance of the Underground Mines, a path they were quite familiar with by now.
Just as they were about to head inside, a guard stationed at the entrance spotted them and lit up as if he had just seen a savior. He called out to Nolan:
"Fantastic! Legendary adventurers—it really is you! Finally, we might be able to figure out what's going on!"
"Paimon can already smell the scent of a quest," Paimon sniffed the air with her tiny nose, then shrugged helplessly.
"Did something happen?" Lumine asked curiously.
Since they were already heading into the Chasm, lending a hand along the way wouldn't be a problem.
"Yes. For the past few days, we've seen some strange hilichurls heading toward the Underground Mines.
"Even when attacked, they don't stop or fight back—they just keep walking deeper in. It's extremely bizarre and has scared the miners so badly they don't dare stay down there for long.
"This has seriously disrupted mining operations, so we're hoping you can investigate and, if possible, resolve the situation.
"As for your reward, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will arrange compensation after you submit a report."
The guard of the Millelith stationed at the Chasm's Underground Mines gave a clear explanation of the recent strange occurrences.
"I see. Well, the reward doesn't really matter. Our main concern is everyone's safety," Nolan said with a smile.
He more or less knew what was going on—this was the start of the original Chasm storyline.
Those hilichurls heading into the mines were actually being drawn by an inverted spring deep inside that could suppress the "Curse of Immortality."
The Abyss Order was planning to use that spring for their own ends—and now, it seemed, they were about to walk right into that plot.
If he remembered correctly, Lumine's brother had also appeared in this storyline, doing preliminary work for their grand plan.
He wondered if they'd get the chance to run into him this time.
If they could meet, then Lumine and her brother would finally be reunited—though no one really knew what secret lay behind his transformation into the Prince of the Abyss.
What was it all for?
And if he knew full well that his sister was searching the world for him, why wouldn't he at least show himself and explain what was going on?
"We'll leave it to you, then!"
The guard nodded, then stepped aside and allowed them entry into the Underground Mines.
...The Chasm – Underground Mines...
After accepting the guard's request, Nolan and the others descended into the Underground Mines. The environment was just as dim and oppressive as ever.
Without the illumination from Lumenstone lamps, it was practically impossible to see clearly—let alone conduct any kind of mining.
"It was quiet for so long, and now suddenly we've got so much going on. So, what do we do first?" Paimon looked at Nolan and Lumine with a puzzled expression.
"We haven't run into any of those strange hilichurls yet, so we should stick to the plan and deal with the black sludge first," Nolan said after a moment's thought.
He hadn't forgotten the main reason he'd come to the Chasm—to test whether the power he received from the "World Tree's Blessing" could actually affect the leyline clogs.
Lumine, Paimon, and Yelan had no objections to that.
With her arms crossed, Yelan said, "You all should have maps of the mines, right? I was here not long ago assisting scholars with their leyline research.
"I know the locations of several leyline clogs that are generating the black sludge. I'll guide you there."
"That's great." Nolan nodded lightly.
Then he, Lumine, and Paimon followed Yelan, occasionally pulling out the map to double-check their path before continuing onward.
Before long, they reached the first leyline clog.
It was located at the edge of the main mining area. Despite being labeled a "leyline clog," to the untrained eye, it appeared as nothing more than an empty stretch of ground.
Beyond it lay uncharted ruins.
To anyone unable to sense leyline energy, this place would seem entirely ordinary. Whether one wanted to shut it down or harness the "surging" leyline energy here—it would be impossible without the proper ability.
After all, ordinary people couldn't interact with leyline energy at all.
Take Nolan, for example. Before he received the "World Tree's Blessing," when he was controlling the "Lumine's Sword God" to clean out black sludge all over the Chasm…
He had also been to this very spot. But even then, the Sword God hadn't detected just how turbulent the leyline energy here was.
It was like a breach in a dam during a flood—the "flood," in this case, being leyline energy—was surging out uncontrollably.
Spreading throughout the entire mining zone.
Clearly, this was the true reason why the black sludge kept reappearing throughout the area, no matter how many times it was cleared.
The main leyline clogs were spewing out too much energy, effectively fertilizing the creation of the sludge.
Now, however, with the World Tree's Blessing, Nolan could not only sense the leyline energy…
He could even try to take control of the flow emerging from the clog before him.
But the energy here was immense—so immense that even Nolan, at level ninety-four, couldn't force it back on his own.
It was obvious that he needed help.
Thinking it over, Nolan reached out to Raiden Ei in the Wonderland, asking if she could lend a hand. After all, he couldn't suppress this wildly surging leyline energy on his own.
But with Ei—a top-tier Archon—by his side, success seemed assured.
Ei didn't refuse his request. While she wasn't injured, she was still operating in a conscious-spirit state.
Coming out without the Shogun's physical vessel made her feel uncomfortable.
So she asked Nolan to open a small spatial rift—just large enough for her to extend her hand through. She would place her hand on his back.
And in that way, she would transmit the energy he needed.
With the support of a top-tier Archon, Nolan was finally able to begin gaining control over the leyline energy before him!
(End of Chapter)
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