The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

"Good weather and abundant harvests?" Yu Jin pondered, resting his chin on his hand. Haiqi Island seemed to have no shortage of rain, nor water.

If he remembered correctly, the Water of No Form seemed to be located beneath a large cliff on Haiqi Island.

If it's really short of water, just poke it with a stick, and it'll probably be able to swim right away.

"Sorry to bother you, you can go back to sleep!" After thinking it over, he realized that Dvalin was not the dragon he was looking for, so Ember waved his hand and disappeared with Abyss, Luminous, and Paimon.

"What happened again?" Dvalin wondered, seeing the hurried appearance of Ember and the others.

But he quickly put that doubt aside. Maybe it was just Yu Jin's sudden whim to cause some big commotion?

Thinking of this, Tvalin dozed off and lay down again.

……

Liyue, Tiger Rock Street.

Tiger Rock remains bustling with activity, offering all sorts of businesses, including numerous stalls selling jade, a specialty of Liyue.

The "Jie Cui Xing" (解翠行) is a well-known name in the jade gambling industry.

"Take a look! This is fresh ore, just collected from the Layered Rock Abyss, all top-quality rough!"

Stone shouted loudly at his stall, and people, upon hearing that the goods came from the Layered Rock Abyss, walked over regardless of whether they had any desire to buy them.

This made Shi Tou beam with joy. With so many people, there were bound to be one or two who couldn't resist making a purchase. If he could get a few more of these generous customers, he could leave work early today.

“This is a stone. It’s not from the Deep Abyss or the Great Abyss. It’s just something you dug up randomly from Mount Tianheng near Liyue.”

"Judging by its color, it was probably just dug out of the ground less than half a day ago!"

A deep, resonant voice rang out, causing Shi Tou's expression to change drastically.

A burly figure squeezed in from outside the crowd. Upon seeing the newcomer's distinctive horn ornaments and thick glasses, Stone's last remaining hope vanished.

"Brother Jiu, no! Master Jiu, please don't take this seriously. I know your ability to judge stones is unparalleled in Liyue, but the thing is, I just said it offhand, who would believe me?"

Do you all believe it?

When Shi Tou saw Ruo Tuo picking up the stones from his stall and examining them closely, he told Ruo Tuo everything about them before Ruo Tuo could say anything.

"I don't believe it! Anyone who believes it is a fool!"

"That's right, that's right. The mineral deposits from the Layered Rock Abyss are all sent to the General Affairs Department first. How could you possibly sell them here!"

"But speaking of which, Stone, you're really being unfair, aren't you? It's one thing that you can't even get the stones from the Layered Rock Abyss, but why can't you even put the stones from ordinary mines on it? You're just using some crooked and broken stones to fool laymen?"

……

Upon hearing Shi Tou's words, the crowd erupted in a series of boos, making him extremely embarrassed.

"Haha, it seems you all have good eyesight. I'm just making a fool of myself." Seeing that no one had brought any letters, Ruotuo laughed a few times.

"No, no, no, Master Jiu, you're too modest. We only know that this is definitely not from the Layered Rock Abyss. But we had no idea that this stone came from Tianheng Mountain."

"Yes, if it weren't for you, Master Jiu, someone might have been fooled."

The surrounding crowd immediately waved their hands, finding the name "Ajiu" quite incongruous on Ruotuo's robust physique.

However, due to Ruotuo's superb skills in identifying and finding stones, the people of Liyue have come to call him Master Jiu.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ruotuo turned to Shitou, whose face was flushed, and admonished him: "Shitou, it's not easy for you to have built up your reputation in the Jadeite Craftsmanship. Don't ruin your business by being greedy for small gains."

"Yes, yes, yes, you're right, Master Jiu. I'll take these eyes off them right away!" Stone nodded hurriedly and then took all the newly dug stones from his stall.

"Come, come, everyone! Look! This is the ore that I personally led and had people dig out from Mingyun Town. It's no surprise that we can find old amber stones."

"Everything is being sold at half price today, as an apology to everyone!"

Stone's shouts rang out again, but Ruotuo couldn't hear them because his attention was now completely drawn to several familiar people.

"Brother Yu Jin, what brings you here to have some fun?" Ruo Tuo saw Yu Jin darting out from the roadside green belt and wisely refrained from asking why he had jumped out of the bushes.

Yu Jin craned his neck to look around, but didn't respond to Ruo Tuo's words. He waved towards the bushes and whispered, "Nobody's here! You can come out!"

As soon as he finished speaking, an aura that made Ruotuo feel uncomfortable emerged from the grass, but it only lasted for a short while before weakening.

Then, Fuchigami, wearing an Inazuma robe, crawled out of the bushes.

"Ha...haha, hello, hello!" Yuan Shang saw Ruo Tuo's arms, which were as thick as his own thighs, and immediately awkwardly imitated the Liyue people's gesture by cupping his hands.

[Where did this guy come from? Am I no longer an Abyss Singer? How come everyone can step on my foot?]

Yuan Shang was roaring inwardly. Even though the Abyss Singer could already be considered a strong person, ever since he traveled all over the world with Ember, he felt that anyone could kick him.

And it's the kind of stomp that can completely crush you into silence with a single step.

"Wow! Ruo... Ruo Tuo?" Ying and Paimon also crawled out of the bushes. They looked at the figure in front of them and said uncertainly.

"Yes, it's me. It's good to have a human form when settling in Liyue." Ruotuo nodded, no longer focusing her attention on Yuanshang.

Although the aura emanating from Yuan Shang was unsettling, with Yu Jin present, Ruo Tuo felt that she could simply ignore the strangeness about Yuan Shang.

Seeing that everyone had come out, Yu Jin ran to Ruo Tuo's side and asked him the exact same question as Dvalin.

"Can you make a place very prosperous?"

"?" Ruotuo looked completely bewildered.

Chapter 556 Useful Dragons and Useless Dragons

2024-03-20

"Affluent..." Ruotuo pushed up his glasses. The super nearsighted lenses, which were several times thicker than ordinary lenses, became a blurry white due to the angle, making it impossible to see Ruotuo's eyes.

Yu Jin suddenly felt that Ruo Tuo looked like a mad scientist, and wondered when he could let him meet the doctor.

"If you're talking about making the people in a place rich directly, I don't think that's possible, but if you're talking about making the land prosperous, then you've come to the right place."

Ruotuo put down his glasses, and he returned to his normal appearance, only now he was a little too strong.

"Great! You're much more useful than Tvalin!" Ember immediately clapped happily, and secretly nudged Tvalin.

"Dvalin? Looks like you're in a hurry." Ruotuo was somewhat surprised by Yu Jin's words. So they had looked for Dvalin before?

"Forget about that useless dragon, let's discuss the soil modification first." Ember waved his hand, indicating that he didn't want to waste time on Dvalin.

"Tell me where it is." Ruotuo nodded and readily agreed.

Yu Jin had done him a favor, and now that he needed help, Ruo Tuo naturally had to do his part.

"Have you heard of Inazuma's Umijima Island?" Yu Jin leaned closer and asked Wakatō.

"I've heard of Inazuma, but not Umijima." Wakato shook his head. His knowledge of Inazuma was limited to knowing the name Inazuma; he knew nothing else about it.

"Could it be that the land there is very barren?" Ruotuo pondered for a while, now considering how to change the structure and composition of the soil layers.

Have you ever seen a desert?

"I've seen it. Keep heading west towards Liyue, and you'll see the Great Desert." Ruotuo pointed out a direction to Yujin. Keep going in that direction, and you'll reach an endless sea of ​​sand.

“The land of Haiqi Island is almost like a desert,” Yu Jin nodded in response.

"Is that so? No problem, take me there, I can help with this!" Ruotuo thought for a while and then prepared to set off.

He couldn't handle the vast desert of Mount Sumeru, but if it were just an island, it would be much easier.

"Wait, wait! Don't be in such a hurry! I haven't finished speaking yet!" Seeing Ruotuo's anxious look, Yu Jin immediately reached out and stopped him.

“Brother Yu Jin, please speak.” Ruo Tuo gestured to Yu Jin, indicating that he should continue.

"Let me tell you, there's a huge group of dragon lizards causing trouble on Haiqi Island right now!"

"Dragon lizards? They're actually on Haiqi Island?"

Ruotuo was immediately alarmed. "How did they end up in a human settlement?!"

The most intense period of conflict between dragon lizards and humans is now too distant to be verified; that era is even further back than the war between demons and gods.

Regardless of what happened in between, the boundary between humans and dragon lizards is now almost definitively established.

The lizards roam the wild, while humans live in their cities. Occasional conflicts occur, but these are between individuals and don't warrant much attention.

This balance, with the first generation of Dragon Kings passing away and the new generation of Dragon Kings now bound to humanity, is almost the best possible outcome.

But why would the dragon lizards on Haizhi Island clash with humans, and from what Yu Jin said, it was on a large scale?

“Ask him.” Yu Jin pushed Yuan Shang in front of him.

Meeting Ruotuo's menacing gaze, Yuan Shang forced a smile and said, "You...you shouldn't look at me like that. It was my superior who did it. Didn't I just turn to the light?"

"Go on," Ruotuo said, her eyes darting around, lost in thought.

“The dragon lizards originally lived underground, but my boss threw them all onto the surface.”

"Yes, it is like that."

Yuan Shang kept his words brief, then immediately shrank back. Ruo Tuo's gaze was simply too intense for him to bear.

"Is this so..."

"Isn't this troublesome?" Yu Jin shrugged, seeing Ruo Tuo's conflicted expression.

For dragons like Ruotuo and Dvalin, who have formed bonds with humans, it's difficult to help either side in this situation; they're truly caught in the middle.

"So you want me to make a deal with Inazuma's people?" Ruotuo understood what Yu Jin meant.

"Yes, that's it!"

“You fix the soil on Haiqi Island, and they’ll pack up the dragon lizards and send them to you. It’s a win-win situation! It’s absolutely amazing!” Yu Jin clenched his fist, feeling proud of his brilliant idea.

"Pack them up for me..." Ruotuo glanced at Liyue. The number of dragon lizards that caused the commotion on Qi Island was probably quite large.

If you pack them up for him, where can he put the dragon lizards? Underground? Ruotuo has experienced the dark underground days before. If Zhongli hadn't given him the eye-opening touch, he would probably still be living in darkness.

The dragon lizards have probably experienced that feeling before. Now that they see the light, can they still go back? And as a dragon, can I really feel at ease leaving my subjects and my companions in such a place?

Liyue? Ruotuo shook his head again. There were already too many rock dragons in Liyue because of him. If he brought in the dragons from Haiqi Island, it would probably incite conflict between humans and dragons.

"Okay! It's settled then!" After thinking for a moment, Ruotuo gritted her teeth and nodded emphatically.

So what if it's a dragon lizard? Bring on as many as you want! At worst, he can carve out a space underground that's exactly the same as the surface, then chop off one of his horns to connect to the ley lines and use it as a sun, and that's it!

"Um... actually, it's not that urgent. You can wait a bit." Yu Jin saw Ruo Tuo's resolute expression. It was just a matter of delivering the dragon lizard, but it was being treated like a suicide mission.

After saying goodbye to Ruotuo, who was gesturing something, Yu Jin led Yuan Shang and the others away.