TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!
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Two consecutive hours of fully focused, high-precision operations left Nahida showing a hint of fatigue, but the promised task had been completed. Victor Wang was happy, and she felt equally gratified.
She also said, "Regarding elemental purification, the part you do not yet understand is roughly this: a dragon's elemental power contains a unique elemental authority. Indeed, only by fusing it with their elemental power can a completely aberrated elemental energy be activated, giving it the possibility of reversal."
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Victor Wang nodded. "So that's how it is."
Thus, elemental purification has only three key conditions: first, finding an executor capable of judging and extracting aberrated elemental energy; second, preparing sufficient materials to prevent death during the process; third, possessing a dragon's elemental power to achieve the most crucial step of 'purification.'
So, it is not strictly necessary to seek the help of the Seven Archons. It is just that to accomplish the first point, one's understanding and control of elemental power must at least reach the level of the Seven Archons.
Asking an elemental dragon for help… that should be possible too, right?
Fontaine was close at hand. What he wanted to do, and how he wanted to achieve his goals, were things he had to start considering now.
After thinking for a moment, Victor Wang spoke again. "May I ask a few more questions?"
"What questions?"
"For example, what is the 'secret about the truth of the world' that 'The Doctor' spoke of?"
"Sorry, I can't say right now. Perhaps one day you will know."
"…Then what about the 'truth' you mentioned when speaking with Apep? What does that refer to?"
"Sorry."
Although he had expected as much, Victor Wang still couldn't help letting out a sigh.
Still, he had obtained the Dendro element, and the main objective of the Sumeru journey had already been achieved. There were only three nations left. As long as he kept moving forward, all mysteries would eventually be revealed.
Telling himself optimistically not to be troubled by such matters, Victor Wang bade farewell to Nahida and quietly teleported to a vast, desolate desert. Aside from uncovering those secrets, what he most wanted to do right now was to try out the newly mastered Dendro element.
Previously, the elements he had mastered were Anemo, Geo, and Electro. Among them, Anemo indiscriminately spread all elements except Geo and Dendro, while Geo indiscriminately crystallized all elements except Anemo and Dendro. When used alone, Swirl was barely effective, and Crystallize was even more perfunctory, so even with the most active Electro element, it was still like one hand clapping.
Dendro was even more exaggerated. Aside from being unable to trigger reactions with Anemo and Geo, it also could not trigger reactions with Cryo.
[Advanced Elemental Reaction Theory – Elemental Reaction Diagram.]
If the seven-element reactions had a ranking of indifference, Dendro would undoubtedly take first place, with Anemo and Geo tied for second, Cryo in third, and the remaining Hydro, Pyro, and Electro bringing up the rear together.
Fortunately, Dendro and Electro can react with each other.
According to [Advanced Elemental Reaction Theory], when Dendro and Electro are both applied to the same target, they produce a Quicken reaction, converting the application into Quicken energy.
With Quicken energy present, if the target comes into contact with Electro again, it triggers an Aggravate reaction, which increases Electro power. If it comes into contact with Dendro again, it triggers a Spread reaction, which increases Dendro power.
But… aside from elemental lifeforms, where in reality is there long-lasting elemental application?
Moreover, for non-elemental lifeforms, elemental application is basically only a surface-level phenomenon. For example, an object soaked by rain gains Hydro application, but that does not mean it becomes a Hydro body inside and out.
Electro-Charged, Vaporize, Freeze, Melt, Overloaded… these reactions can only act on the exterior of a target. To put it plainly, Pyro and Electro can cause Overloaded just by touching, Hydro and Cryo can cause Freeze just by touching—these reactions do not even need to be applied to a specific target to trigger.
So, can the Quicken reaction be triggered purely through the interaction between elemental powers?
For example, if Dendro and Electro merely come into contact without being applied to a target, can they produce Quicken…? This is probably feasible. The real question is whether the resulting Quicken energy changes the nature of the target, making it "vulnerable," or whether it changes the nature of subsequent Electro and Dendro, enhancing their power.
Judging from the fact that Quicken energy can react with Electro to produce Aggravate and with Dendro to produce Spread, it is most likely the latter. It acts as a form of energy that alters the properties of Electro and Dendro, rather than altering the properties of the target.
Actually, after all this thinking, Victor Wang only cared about one thing: whether the Quicken reaction could skip the need to apply elemental infusion to a target. That process was such a hassle…
In situations where multiple people cooperate and each can only use one element, having one Electro and one Dendro user, it is far more efficient to go with "I see you attack, so I follow up with an attack" than to guess a teammate's timing. That way, Quicken is easily achieved.
But he was alone. Since he could release both Electro and Dendro at the same time, why complicate things?
Let's try it.
Victor Wang controlled Electro with one hand and condensed an equal amount of Dendro with the other, first firing them separately at the Jade Shield he had set up, recording the energy consumption required to maintain the shield for comparison.
Next, he mixed the two clusters of elements together and fired them out. The moment Electro and Dendro touched, the glow of both elemental powers intensified. They gradually seemed to melt into each other, producing traces of yellow-green electric arcs. Then, before reaching the Jade Shield, they completely consumed each other—truly nothing was left behind, both disappearing entirely…
All consumption and no effect—this won't do.
With no other choice, he decided to simulate a real situation first. Victor Wang found a rock, applied a layer of Electro to it to simulate Electro application, and then attacked it with Dendro. This time, something different happened—
Because the attacking Dendro was invested in greater quantity, after contacting the thin Electro layer, the Electro was exhausted by the Quicken reaction. The remaining Dendro, carrying the intensified glow and yellow-green electric arcs of Quicken, struck the rock. Astonishingly, the rock was blasted with a pit by Dendro, an element not known for sheer destructive force.
"Directly produced Spread… is it the quantity of elemental power?"
Victor Wang immediately grasped the key point.
Pyro–Electro reactions manifest as explosions, Hydro–Cryo reactions manifest as freezing, Anemo Swirl manifests as self-conversion into the corresponding elemental attribute. The Electro–Dendro reaction leaves no obvious residue, so its effect is not immediately apparent.
However, the Quicken energy produced by Electro–Dendro allows Electro and Dendro that come into contact with it to trigger Aggravate or Spread again, increasing their power. Quicken energy changes the properties of Electro and Dendro—the earlier hypothesis was correct.
In that case, there was no need to apply Quicken to the target. He could create Quicken energy himself, then trigger Aggravate or Spread afterward.
After multiple further experiments, Victor Wang reached the following conclusions:
When Electro and Dendro are present in equal quantities, they consume each other. Even if Quicken energy is produced, no effective attack occurs.
When their quantities differ, the lesser element is exhausted in the Quicken reaction, and the remaining element can react again with the Quicken energy.
If Electro exceeds Dendro, Aggravate can be created directly. If Dendro exceeds Electro, Spread can be created directly.
To find the most suitable ratio of Electro and Dendro, he continued fine-tuning. In the end, he determined that when the auxiliary element reached half the quantity of the primary element, it was just right.
Under this ratio, condensing one unit of Electro supplemented by half a unit of Dendro, upon release, green entwined with purple. The purple light intensified as the green faded, leaving yellow-green electric arcs wrapped around violet lightning. A thunderbolt of greatly enhanced power shot out, easily piercing through a stone that had withstood a thousand years of wind and sand.
"Aggravated Electro's basic attack… let's call it 'Thunder Surge.' Then the reverse, Spread-enhanced Dendro's basic attack… 'Verdant Surge'?"
Just as wind blades are a basic offensive method that any Anemo Vision holder can master, projecting a bolt of lightning is likewise a basic technique for Electro Vision holders. Now, with Dendro as support, it became something extraordinary.
Although the consumption was slightly higher, the total cost was only that of one Palm Vortex. The destructive power, however, was something Palm Vortex could never hope to match. The speed from release to impact was also extremely fast, far surpassing wind blades.
The advantage of controlling multiple elements and triggering reactions by oneself was finally truly revealed at this moment.
===BREAK===
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