"Hey, hey, hey! What are you trying to do?!"
Childe was tightly bound by slender Golden Tree roots from head to toe. At this moment, only his head could move freely.
He was secretly exerting force, but found it was useless. Not to mention breaking them, he couldn't even see any marks from trying to push the roots apart.
The Golden Tree's roots lifted Childe, then swung him, throwing his entire body into the upright pill furnace.
"Thump!"
"Clang!"
The Golden Tree closed the lid of the pill furnace, and the sounds of Childe struggling inside instantly quieted down significantly.
"Thump thump thump!"
Large face and foot imprints kept appearing on the surface of the pill furnace. It seemed that even when Childe was bound, the damage he could cause was quite considerable.
Seeing this, the Golden Tree didn't indulge him. It directly wrapped the pill furnace with its grown fine roots, reinforcing it.
Now, no matter how much Childe thrashed, no more imprints appeared.
"Bang!"
Below the pill furnace, a small flame suddenly appeared. Lumine's face instantly paled in shock. Could it be that this Golden Tree wanted to stew Childe?
As the flame rose, the pill furnace, which had been emitting muffled banging sounds, quieted down.
The noisy Golden House suddenly became much quieter, making Lumine feel a little unaccustomed.
"Hey, Lumine, do you think Childe will be stewed until he's cooked?" Paimon covered his eyes, seemingly afraid to see a cooked Childe.
"I don't think so. With his physical strength, he could probably thrash around in lava for a long time. Instead of worrying about him being stewed, you should worry about him drowning in water!"
Lumine shook her head, crossing her arms. She was completely relaxed now, treating Childe with the mindset of watching a good show.
Anyway, she didn't think Childe could defeat the Golden Tree; the tree canopy that occupied half the Sky made Lumine's scalp tingle just thinking about it.
"Boom!"
Although Childe couldn't break the pill furnace, which was tightly reinforced by the Golden Tree, he could flip open the lid!
Escaping from the furnace, Childe half-crouched on the ground. Steam was still rising from his body; that was the hot water from inside the furnace.
"You think you can control me with just this? Who are you looking down on?!" Childe flung his arm, shaking off all the water droplets from his body, and spoke to the giant Golden Tree root, holding his weapon.
His aura began to surge, and countless purple lightning bolts and light blue water waves began to swirl around Childe's body.
"Hoo—" Childe took a deep breath, the earthy scent filling his chest, so fresh.
He could even feel some splashed dirt particles hitting his face.
Childe's solemn expression faltered for a moment. Wasn't he wearing the Foul Legacy Transformation mask?
He touched his face, the sharp fingers covered by the transformation scraped Childe, causing a stinging pain.
He suddenly turned his head and found that, at some unknown point, a new arm had appeared on his left shoulder!
And in the palm of that arm's hand, his Foul Legacy Transformation mask was clenched.
Childe's pupils contracted and trembled. This newly grown arm completely ignored his commands.
Without time to ponder what the Golden Tree had done to him, Childe immediately extended his right arm to grab the new arm, only to find his arm blocked by something.
He looked down and saw another pair of arms had extended from his armpits, tightly gripping his own arms.
"Damn it!" Just as Childe was about to struggle free, he felt an unbearable itch suddenly spread across his right shoulder.
The flesh there churned, as if something was trying to grow out.
"Bang!"
The dark purple armor of the Foul Legacy Transformation was torn open, and another new arm burst out.
Then it began to punch, punching wildly! Punching his face, punching his abdomen, punching every part of Childe's body.
"Hiss! Ouch! So ruthless!"
Lumine watched Childe, who was clearly demonstrating what "two fists are no match for four hands" meant, and enthusiastically shouted for him.
"Wow! Is this the 'Three Heads and Six Arms' divine ability from Liyue mythology?" Paimon exclaimed in surprise, seeing Childe with six arms.
"But he doesn't have three heads, and he can't control the other arms," Lumine said, gloating as she watched Childe being brutally beaten by "himself."
That's what you get for being so arrogant just now! Now you're getting a beating!
"Then he's either not skilled enough, or he learned a pirated version," Paimon speculated seriously.
If he weren't afraid of being accidentally injured by Childe's arms, he would have run over to examine Childe's extra arms already.
"Pah!" Childe twisted his head, dodging a punch aimed at his face, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
He looked at the weapon discarded on the ground for a long time, stomped hard, and the dark purple double-bladed polearm flew up.
"Swoosh!" The turbulent airwaves echoed in the Golden House. Childe delivered a front kick, sending the double-bladed polearm flying out.
The weapon, now a purple flash, struck the hard, smooth inner wall of the Golden House and immediately bounced back.
"Pfft—" Blood splattered out, and a strong arm rolled limply on the ground, leaving a large trail of blood, its hand still clenched.
Childe seized the opportunity, and his free arm immediately grabbed the double-bladed polearm, which had lost its force and was stuck in the earth.
After a few flashes, three arms detached from Childe's body.
"Hmph... hmph..."
Childe's face was pale, and large beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, dripping from his jaw.
Looking at his four gushing, gruesome wounds, Childe pressed his lips together, the muscles in his cheeks rippling a few times.
Flickering lightning began to crackle in his palms. Then Childe snorted coldly and swiftly swept his hands over his wounds.
"Hiss—"
The smell of burnt flesh, mixed with the faint scent of earth, wafted in the air. Childe didn't utter a single scream. By the time he moved his hands away, both sides of his body had already turned charred black.
"How... how terrifying this person is." Paimon spread his hands, his wide eyes taking in the scene through the gaps in his fingers.
"Harbingers are indeed not to be underestimated!" Lumine took a deep breath, looking at Childe with awe.
She was somewhat relieved now that she hadn't continued fighting Childe. Although Lumine was confident in her current strength, seeing Childe's tenacious will, she felt that even if she could defeat him, it would come at a great cost.
At the very least, being covered in wounds was a certainty.
Picking up the mask from the ground, Childe put it back on.
"Although I really don't want to do this, I still have a mission from the Tsaritsa..."
"So, will you continue to waste time with me here? Or will you go stop the monster from the sea!"
"Come forth! Slumbering God!"
Childe raised his hands, and countless yellow talismans of everlasting moral restraint swirled around him. These talismans seemed to form a unique rhythm, and immense adeptal energy pierced through the dome of the Golden House, reaching straight into the Sky.
"Those are the talismans of everlasting moral restraint he gave us! Why are there so many?!" Paimon exclaimed in shock, looking at Childe, who was enveloped in an orange-yellow glow.
"Did you forget? The ones Ningguang showed us in the Jade Chamber." Lumine gripped her weapon again, her eyes constantly searching for Childe's weakness.
"Replicating the talismans of everlasting moral restraint was to awaken the God!" Paimon suddenly understood, recalling his previous Adventure.
"Haha, don't be so surprised. I'm a Harbinger; using any means necessary is quite normal, isn't it!"
Seeing Lumine and Paimon's panicked expressions, the frustration in Childe's heart finally dissipated a little.
He looked up at the still-standing giant Golden Tree root, seemingly wanting to know what this behemoth would do.
That was an ancient God, a terrifying entity capable of destroying an entire nation.
The Golden Tree stopped moving. Not only that, but the fine roots extending from the ground also seemed to freeze.
Just as Childe thought the Golden Tree had been scared silly, he saw the Golden Tree, along with its dense roots, retract back.
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