Chapter 146: It's Klee After All
"Wow! What is this?" Klee's eyes widened with curiosity as she accepted the beautifully bound book.
Paimon puffed out her chest, buzzing with excitement as she began her grand introduction. "This is the 'Grand Encyclopedia of Teyvat's Rarest Fish'! It's a complete record of every single rare fish Lumine and Paimon have caught since we started our adventure!"
She zoomed around Klee's head, pointing at the cover. "Not only does it have pictures of all the super, super hard-to-catch fish, but it also has detailed notes on where to find them, and even Paimon's personal taste-test reviews! Isn't it super professional?"
Lumine smiled softly, adding, "The section on Natlan isn't finished yet, since we're still exploring there. I hope you like it, Klee."
With bated breath, Klee eagerly opened the album. The pages were filled with vibrant, lifelike photographs of all manner of aquatic creatures. Next to each image were detailed location markers, and beside those were Paimon's playful, hand-drawn expressions and fun commentary like "Delicious ★★★" and "Warning: So Many Bones!"
For a girl whose favorite pastime was "blast fishing," this was a treasure map of untold proportions. It was a dream come true.
"I love it! Klee super, super loves it! Thank you, Big Sister Honorary Knight! Thank you, Paimon!" The gift had struck a chord deep within her heart. She hugged the album to her chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world, her small face beaming with a happiness so pure it was radiant.
She even spun her little backpack around to the front, pointing to the fluffy Jumpy Dumpty doll hanging from it and the treasured Dodoco beside it. "Look! Jumpy Dumpty and Dodoco are already good friends! They'll definitely love this encyclopedia, too!"
Seeing Klee's innocent smile and how dearly she cherished their gift, a genuine warmth spread through Lumine and Paimon.
Standing a short distance away, Venti, the Anemo Archon in his mortal guise, observed the entire exchange. A flicker of understanding passed through his emerald eyes. He connected this scene with the recent, unbelievable rumors he'd heard about Xiao and Azhdaha, and Paimon's casual mention of "pausing time." A hypothesis began to form in his mind: Lumine and Paimon must have stumbled upon some unstable spatial singularity, accidentally connecting to other worlds and gaining extraordinary powers and opportunities in the process.
It was just like Fischl's miraculous adventure in another world not long ago. That experience had been so deep that she later created the highly acclaimed light novel, Fischl, Prinzessin der Verurteilung: A Tale of the Otherworld - Fragment, to commemorate it.
Yes, Venti mused, his guess felt entirely reasonable.
With the matter of the gift settled, the sky began to darken. Lumine and Paimon decided to spend the night in Mondstadt rather than rush back to Natlan.
"Oh, right!" Paimon suddenly zipped to a halt, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She flew directly in front of Klee, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Klee, to thank you for your blessing, Paimon and Lumine are going to perform a super-duper amazing magic trick for you later!"
"Magic?" Klee's curiosity was instantly reignited, her big red eyes sparkling.
"That's right! A magic trick that can conjure all sorts of interesting things out of thin air!" Paimon cleared her throat with an air of immense importance, all while secretly manipulating the chat group's lottery interface in her mind.
After all, each ten-pull was guaranteed to come with a large number of common-quality daily necessities, snacks, and small toys. They would be perfect little gifts for Klee, serving as both a thank-you for her blessing and a way to clear out their "inventory." It was a flawless plan.
Bolstered by the pure, fervent power of the "Spark Knight's Lucky Blessing," Lumine and Paimon felt their confidence soar. The two exchanged a determined glance and nodded. Then, they simultaneously focused their minds, sending their commands to the lottery interface.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Brilliant, mysterious lights flashed before their eyes, one after another, before rapidly converging into solid forms in front of them.
Paimon eagerly scanned her haul.
When the light finally dispersed, the glorious purple glow she had been desperately hoping for was nowhere to be seen.
"Hmm... no purple this time..." Paimon's little face fell, but she quickly bounced back, planting her hands on her hips and comforting herself. 'But that's normal! Even someone with the luck of the gods can't get the best stuff every single time, right? Paimon's never seen anyone that lucky! And Klee's blessing must have worked, let me see what I got...'
She carefully took stock. This ten-pull had yielded only one blue-quality item, but it came with several green ones and far fewer of the usual white-quality knick-knacks.
The most striking of the lot was the single blue item—an ancient jade box, its surface carefully carved with deep cloud patterns and the faint imprint of a sword.
[Shushan Disciple's Enlightenment Box] (Blue Quality)
This box does not contain a physical item. Instead, it stores a complete system of basic immortal cultivation knowledge in the form of information-infused jade slips. It includes:
- Shushan Basic Mind Method: An orthodox cultivation technique covering the realms from Qi Induction to Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and all the way to the Golden Core stage. It even includes the theoretical knowledge required to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Its primary characteristics are its neutral, peaceful nature and its focus on building a solid foundation.
- Shushan Sword Art Primer: Includes the art of controlling a flying sword, basic sword forms, and several practical sword techniques.
- A Brief Discussion on the Six Arts of Immortal Cultivation (Foundation Establishment Chapter): Briefly covers the foundational knowledge and introductory exercises for alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting, formation arrays, beast taming, and divination. As this is intended to help disciples discover their interests, the knowledge is not in-depth, preventing cognitive overload.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a "Beginner's Immortal Cultivation Gift Pack" tailor-made for a novice. Its value was immense.
However, Paimon's eyes glazed over as she read the descriptions about "seclusion and meditation," "tempering the mind," and "controlling alchemical fire." A headache was already starting to form.
'It sounds so hard and troublesome...'
If possible, she would much rather wait and see if she could pull some magical method that let one become stronger just by eating and drinking, with no arduous cultivation required. Paimon's little head was already starting to fantasize about all sorts of delicious foods and the wonderful scenes where devouring them would cause her power to skyrocket.
In addition to the box, Paimon had also drawn several green-quality items. One was an ordinary, even somewhat old-looking circular disc with a person drawn in a very strange stance on its surface. The other, however, was perfect for Klee—it was practically a custom-made gift.
'As expected of Klee's blessing!' Paimon thought, delighted. This haul was quite fruitful after all.
She glanced at Lumine, who was still focused on her own draw, and decided to wait for her to finish so they could "conjure" the gifts for Klee together.
At that same moment, the light from Lumine's lottery pull fully converged.
The most significant item she received was not a physical object, but a constantly shifting, deep halo of light that seemed to contain a swirling galaxy within its depths. This halo emitted an indescribable allure, as if it could devour all surrounding light and perception, yet it also carried a strange, paradoxical sense of stability.
[Ectoplasmic Space · Devour] (Purple Quality)
This is a special, ability-type item that will automatically bind to the user, Lumine.
An Ectoplasmic Space is a unique inner world manifested through the fusion of a living being's spirit and energy—an extension of their power and existence. This ability grants the host the power to open and control an Ectoplasmic Space with the 'devouring' characteristic.
- Characteristic 1 · Material Devour: Can devour and absorb physical matter of a certain volume and strength, breaking it down and transforming it within the space.
- Characteristic 2 · Energy Absorption: Can devour and absorb incoming energy-based attacks, weakening or nullifying their damage. This ability is subject to a devouring limit and cannot absorb energy that far exceeds the host's own endurance.
This is a growth-type ability. As the host's spiritual power and cultivation level improve, the scale, strength, and devouring efficiency of the Ectoplasmic Space will increase proportionally.
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