"What are you all talking about?"
Just as Marani was left speechless by the question, a woman with a Pyro Vision hanging from her waist walked over: "The weather is so nice. It would be a shame not to take the time to soak in the hot springs."
"Auntie Aghata!"
Seeing Aghata come over, a smile immediately spread across Marani's face: "Auntie Aghata, don't tell me you want to go soak in the hot springs again?"
"Marani, when did you become so smart?" Aghata wore a look of surprise. "To think you could actually predict my next move."
"In the People of the Springs, who doesn't know you're the one who loves hot springs the most?" Marani said with a light chuckle. "Especially after your injuries healed, you've wanted to soak in them even while sleeping."
Since Aghata returned from the Sacred Flame Arena, she had taken the potion Caelus gave her. Not long after drinking it, the Abyssal corruption that had troubled her for so long completely vanished, and even her body gradually recovered, as if she had never been harmed by the Abyss at all.
As Marani said, after Aghata fully recovered, she wanted to soak in the hot springs all day long.
And so, on her way to the hot springs, she ran into Marani and the others.
"Does anyone want to join me for a soak?" Aghata invited.
"I already soaked today, so no thanks."
"I've already soaked twice too."
The people of the People of the Springs waved their hands in refusal.
"Then I'll accompany Auntie Aghata." Like Aghata, Marani could never get enough of soaking in the hot springs.
So, the two changed into swimsuits, found an empty hot spring, and began to enjoy themselves.
After entering the hot spring, Aghata learned the content of their previous conversation from the young girl and immediately giggled: "Marani, you child, to think you'd have moments like this too."
"Auntie Aghata, stop teasing me." Marani lowered her eyebrows slightly. "I didn't expect Caelus to be so incredible, even able to bring back souls from the Night Kingdom. Now everyone is going to him for help."
In the end, Marani was the only one who hadn't seen Caelus yet, which was truly embarrassing.
"Marani, you grew up with Caelus. You know that boy has his own unique insights into the use of power; even the elders in the Tribe aren't as thorough as him."
"What's more, he now holds the power of the Pyro Archon. Being able to do these things isn't exactly unacceptable."
Marani was still young back then and didn't know how outstanding the old Caelus was.
But as someone who watched them grow up, Aghata knew exactly how Caelus had left everyone's jaws on the floor.
"I've always known Caelus was amazing."
Marani curled up, hugging her knees to her chest: "Auntie Aghata, do you think I'll ever see Caelus again?"
Aghata was amused: "Marani, when did you become so pessimistic? Caelus is right there at the Sacred Flame Arena. If you want to see him, can't you do it anytime?"
"But I'm afraid that when I go to the Sacred Flame Arena, the doors to the Affairs Office still won't open for me." Marani was indeed acting unlike her usual self.
Thinking about the potential future, she lost her nerve and hadn't dared to go.
Aghata could see the girl had something on her mind, so she sighed: "Young people these days..."
After sighing, Aghata continued: "Isn't the Holy Night of the Return of Flame coming up soon?"
"With Caelus's personality, he'll definitely come to watch your individual match."
"Really?" Marani's eyes lit up.
"Of course it's true," Aghata said. "He can't be bothered to watch anyone else's individual matches, but he'll watch yours and even clap after you finish."
"Even after becoming the Pyro Archon, he won't change in that regard."
"Okay—" Marani instantly perked up. "In the upcoming Holy Night of the Return of Flame, I'm going to fight brilliantly and make Caelus's palms hurt from clapping."
Seeing the girl regain her energy, Aghata said with a smile: "Marani, add me as another teammate for your team competition."
Marani was stunned: "Auntie Aghata, you're participating in the Holy Night of the Return of Flame too?"
"Of course," Aghata smiled. "Before I was injured, I was an excellent warrior too."
"It's also time to let the kids in the Tribe know that I'm not just an old auntie who only knows how to scold them."
---
Player World
Xiao Mu moved the mouse, opened Genshin Impact, entered the game, exited the game, and repeated the cycle.
"Why aren't the servers open yet?"
Xiao Mu clicked the mouse anxiously.
[Why is Xiao Mu in such a hurry?]
[Isn't the first banner of 5.0 that guy Kinich? You're not into guys anyway.]
Seeing how anxious Xiao Mu was, his fans were a bit puzzled.
It wasn't the first major version update; was there a need to be this excited?
"You don't understand," Xiao Mu said while clicking the mouse. "This server opening is full of rewards. They're giving away a free standard five-star character."
This was what HoYoverse said during the Special Program livestream, so it definitely wasn't wrong.
The players were so excited when they first saw this news.
[Even if we can choose a standard five-star, it's pointless.]
[Their multipliers have long since fallen behind the current version. Even if they're given for free, they can't be used in Spiral Abyss and can only sit on the bench.]
The fans still didn't understand why Xiao Mu was so excited.
"Heh heh, then you're wrong." Xiao Mu curled his lips into a smile.
For a whale like Xiao Mu, whose standard five-star characters were already at C6, the free five-star character had another use.
"All my standard characters are at C6. If they give me another one, it'll convert into 25 Masterless Starglitter."
"Then I'll exchange those for 5 Intertwined Fates."
"That's 5 free pulls right at the start."
Hearing Xiao Mu's explanation, the confused fans suddenly understood.
[Holy crap, there's actually a trick like that?]
[This is a method only someone who has maxed out their standard characters could think of.]
[To have all standard characters C6... what kind of despair must one have experienced to say something like that?]
[One painful 50/50 after another.]
After a brief moment of surprise, the fans began to tease Xiao Mu about his "good luck" in maxing out all his standard characters.
"Sigh, I shouldn't have told you guys about this," Xiao Mu recalled the painful memories. "Talking about it just brings tears to my eyes."
Having C6 standard characters didn't mean you wouldn't pull them again.
It was precisely because he had experienced getting ten Keqings and seventeen Qiqis that Xiao Mu knew an extra five-star standard character could be exchanged for five more pulls.
At this moment, he clicked the mouse and entered the game once more.
This time, the black pop-up box no longer appeared. Instead, the scene before him turned into a vast expanse of white, so bright it was blinding.
Genshin Impact 5.0.
The servers are open!
...
Read advance chapters on p@treon
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GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.