"Oh ho, I didn't realize Venti you were so combative!" Yu Jin leaped from the stands and landed in the central plaza.
"Haha, after sleeping for five hundred years, I want to stretch my limbs." Venti's face still held that inscrutable smile.
"Aren't you going to return the lyre of the heavens to them? Aren't you afraid the nuns will come looking for you?" Yu Jin looked at the lyre of the heavens, which had brightened again in Venti's hand, and complained.
How long has the lyre of the heavens been taken? Even if there was a lyre to front for him, it couldn't withstand not being returned for so long.
"Hehe, I kept it for so long precisely for this moment, didn't I?" Venti strummed the Star Iron strings a few times, and a series of melodious, lively notes echoed throughout the arena.
"I don't think you're the fighting type, so I won't use a weapon. Don't say I bully you then." Yu Jin sized up Venti. He was clearly a support, so why did he insist on rolling up his sleeves and fighting?
"That would be for the best. With my small physique, I'm truly afraid you might use too much force." Venti nodded, seemingly genuinely worried about being injured by Yu Jin.
As Yu Jin was doing his warm-up exercises, the crowd in the distant stands was also extremely surprised by Venti's words.
Everyone here knew Venti's true identity. Precisely because of this, they were even more puzzled as to why Venti insisted on competing with Yu Jin.
Although Yu Jin was also very powerful, compared to Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, he might, perhaps, probably, be a bit lacking?
Jean looked at Yu Jin, who was still warming up below, and suddenly doubted her own thoughts. It seemed Yu Jin had never been serious, and this time seemed to be no different.
Barbatos used to be in a league of his own in her heart. But now, she was a little unsure.
"Hey… hey! Big guy, do you know why the bard wants to fight Yu Jin? Could it be that they had some past grudge we don't know about?"
Paimon asked, looking at Dvalin, who was sitting obediently beside Lanssangx. She looked up at the docile Dvalin, not knowing where to begin complaining.
Should she say that such a large dragon sitting in such a small audience seat didn't feel awkward? Or should she say that the stone chair under his backside was sturdy enough?
Dvalin heard Paimon's words and stopped peeking at Lanssangx. He shook his head and said to Paimon, "I don't know, but Barbatos and Yu Jin shouldn't have any grudges. Perhaps he has deeper thoughts."
Although Dvalin and Venti had been good friends for thousands of years, Dvalin's understanding of Venti was still limited.
Firstly, Venti was always in slumber, so their actual time together wasn't much; secondly, as one of the The Seven Archons, there were many times Dvalin needed to avoid him.
"How strange, I now find the bard even harder to understand than Yu Jin." Paimon returned with a question mark, speaking to Lumine, who was staring intently beside her.
She completely forgot that Yu Jin caused trouble far more often than Venti.
Lumine looked at Venti and Yu Jin. She had forgotten many things after waking up. She only remembered that some god had taken her brother, but as for other details, she wasn't clear.
Now, she could witness Venti and Yu Jin sparring. This would be greatly beneficial, whether for her search for her brother or for improving her own strength.
"Don't talk, Paimon. Maybe Venti is just excited by the challenge and wants to spar?" Lumine held Paimon in her arms, carefully watching Yu Jin and Venti below.
Paimon looked at the expectant Lumine, her cheeks involuntarily puffing out. Lumine used to call her stupid and not quick-witted, so why, when she felt something was unusual now, did Lumine look unconcerned?
Darn it, she was fuming!
Paimon struggled a bit in Lumine's arms, then gave up. Well, the strength of one-fifth of a wild boar was equivalent to nothing in front of Lumine.
Lumine didn't even feel Paimon's struggles. In desperation, Paimon could only puff out her cheeks and watch the two below in a huff.
"It's about to begin!" Diluc saw Yu Jin stop his warm-up movements and couldn't help but clench his fists.
Diluc's desire for strength was no less than that of the Fatui, but he had always disdained the methods of the Fatui.
To gain the right power through the right means and do the right things, that was his pursuit.
But at his level of strength, how difficult was it to improve? The strongest ones he could most easily find were probably the Harbingers.
But he had a blood feud with the Fatui. Seek out a Harbinger? That wouldn't be improving his strength; that would be seeking death.
"Watch closely! Venti!" Just as Diluc's thoughts were racing, Yu Jin below finally moved.
Everyone only saw a gray-white light Bloom in their vision, then instantly dissipate.
"Whoosh!" After the light, there was a violent, surging roar of wind.
Pure white airflow was unleashed from Yu Jin's fist, swirling and intertwining as it surged towards the distant stands.
Then, a faint white barrier appeared in front of the stands, completely blocking the gale.
"That thing…" Lanssangx looked at the white barrier covering the entire battleground and felt it was strangely familiar.
"What is it?" Dvalin naturally picked up on Lanssangx's words. He was actually a bit curious about this barrier too.
In his opinion, Venti and Yu Jin were both very close and very far from them. Dvalin had never felt this sensation before.
"The Seal Prison. This is the Seal Prison." Lanssangx finally remembered what it was. This was the cage used by The Lands Between to imprison others.
"What is that?" Dvalin was still very confused after hearing it. But from the name, it shouldn't be anything good.
"This was a cage used in our old place to imprison people with special identities."
"Essentially, it strips away space and banishes the prisoner into it. Space and time are static there; once inside, you live forever, and can only live there."
Lanssangx couldn't help but shiver as she spoke. Humans were truly cruel, eternal banishment. No matter who it was, in such a long period of time and solitude, they would eventually go mad.
Unlike their dragon race, they never engaged in anything pretentious. They would just kill with one claw and be done with it, at most embedding the corpse into a wall.
Although they were all remnants of the past, Lanssangx still felt that the dragon race's character was somehow better than humans'.
This was the confidence the dragon race gave her!
"Your place really is…" Jean paused. She didn't know how to comment on The Lands Between.
It clearly had many powerful magics and technologies, but their uses weren't for proper purposes.
"It's cruel, isn't it? I think so too. But it's much better now, many things have changed." Lanssangx looked at Yu Jin. All these changes were because of him.
"Bang!" Another powerful punch, but it was like hitting the wind when it landed on Venti, nothing happened.
"The wind is elusive, you know." Venti, who had transformed into a thousand winds, appeared from a distance and raised an eyebrow, saying.
In fact, he wasn't as relaxed as he appeared. Every time Yu Jin threw a punch, he had to hold his breath and concentrate on his every move.
Yu Jin was too fast, so fast that Venti had to keep his mind taut to deal with his every strike.
"Alright!" Yu Jin took a deep breath, then said with a hint of cheerfulness in his tone, "In that case, let me see if the wind can blow these things away!"
"Ah—" An unknown surging wind spewed from the gaps in Yu Jin's armor, like a normal gale, yet also like human cries.
Pure white objects appeared out of nowhere with the wind Yu Jin stirred up. They floated around like specks of light.
They shimmered, they crowded… and soon filled the entire space. In contrast to the pure white was Yu Jin's body; his armor grew darker and stickier, as if molded from mud.
Under the shroud of pure white, the wind no longer flowed.
After all, nothing remained here but souls.
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