Genshin Impact: I Opened Blind Boxes in Liyue

The morning mist at the Kamisato Estate swirled with cherry blossom petals, and delicate golden light filtered through the wind chimes hanging from the eaves, casting dappled shadows on the wooden floor of the corridor. Ayaka knelt on the veranda of the tea room, her slender fingers tracing the new Liyue celadon tea set. The crackled glaze reminded her of the letter her brother had sent from The Chasm—**"Liyue artisans temper their craft with thousand-year-old permafrost to achieve this jade-like elegance."** Across the courtyard, Ling Feng was checking the blind box inventory with Thoma. The wooden crates were filled with intricate contraptions shipped from Liyue, while Sayu, curled into a ball behind a crate, dozed off with a half-eaten Sakura Mochi clutched in her arms. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through, and Sayu rolled down the slope in her sleep, plopping into the courtyard pond with a splash. The startled koi fish leaped out, their splashes freezing into dewdrops on the gentian flowers Ayaka had just arranged. 

"New Shuumatsuban infiltration technique?" Ling Feng handed her a towel, trying not to laugh. Sayu puffed out her cheeks and pointed to the roof—a gilded blind box was wedged between the tiles, its surface shimmering with the words **"Elegance of Tea"** written in Ningguang's calligraphy. Ayaka raised her fan, the ice crystal tassel swaying gently. "Is this the 'Liyue Tea Ceremony Blind Box' you mentioned, Mr. Ling? I heard Sumeru scholars praised it as 'a box that captures the essence of tea from all seven nations.'" Before Ling Feng could stop her, she used her Cryo powers to retrieve the box. The moment her fingers touched the lid, a refreshing tea aroma wafted out, and twelve ice-carved tea pets sprang to life: a crane holding a bamboo scroll fluttered over the tea table, a tanuki rolled into the tea kettle, and a drowsy fox curled by the brazier, its tail swishing. Thoma's freshly brewed Gyokuro tea suddenly boiled over, the liquid forming *Genshin Impact* elemental trails in the air, coalescing into a mirage of Luhua Pool's landscape. The stone lantern's flickering light made the elemental cores in the tea pets' eyes sparkle like stars. 

"My lady! The teapot is doing the *Genius Invokation TCG* battle dance!" Thoma struggled to restrain the agitated kettle, its spout spewing steam that condensed into notes of *Inazuman Folk Songs*. Sayu's tail accidentally brushed against the ice tanuki, and the courtyard was instantly dusted with snow. Pine branches donned frosty coats, and the koi fish leaped out of the pond wearing ice crowns, knocking the drying haori into a snowman resembling *Frozen*'s Olaf. Ayaka chuckled, her sleeves fluttering as she froze the spilled tea into a crystal curtain, the surface reflecting silhouettes of past Kamisato heads enjoying tea. "Mr. Ling, your blind box is more dramatic than Yae Publishing House's light novels." 

Ling Feng pulled out an appraisal compass, its needle spinning wildly near the tea pets' hydro cores. "This is thousand-year-old permafrost from The Chasm! No wonder the elements are going haywire—" Before he could finish, the ice crane let out a melodic cry, plucking the camellia hairpin from Ayaka's hair and using it as a shamisen pick, turning the Kamisato sword manual into a nursery rhyme. Thoma tried to thaw the frozen clothesline with Pyro energy but accidentally singed the family head's haori into a *Demon Slayer* Flame Hashira-style pattern. The smell of burnt fabric mixed with tea wafted into the streets, drawing curious children to peek over the wall. Sayu chased the tea-stealing tanuki around the courtyard, only to have her ankles frozen by a spray of tri-colored dango, leaving her looking like an ice mushroom sprouting from the snow. 

"Such whimsy is rather charming," Ayaka said with a smile, her Mistsplitter Reforged spinning lightly in her hand. The sword's tip drew a bridge of tea mist, guiding the unruly tea pets to a corner of the courtyard. Ling Feng seized the moment to pull out Yae Miko's special **"Fried Tofu Calming Talisman."** The crimson talisman transformed into a miniature fox statue upon touching the ground, and the tea pets immediately formed a circle to perform the Grand Narukami Shrine's sacred dance. Even the aggressive crane bowed its head in reverence. Ling Feng deftly replaced the hydro cores with Inazuman Crystal Marrow. "Now they'll focus on tea ceremonies instead of mischief!" The improved tea pets obediently returned to the tea table: the tanuki whisked matcha, the crane strung coral beads from Watatsumi Island into a tea curtain, and the fox used its tail as a blanket for Sayu, who promptly fell asleep drooling on the warm fur. 

Three days later, the Kamisato Estate's **"Ice Blossom Tea Party"** commenced. Before dawn, Thoma and the Shuumatsuban had laid out twenty reed mat seats in the courtyard, each equipped with Ling Feng's custom **"Elemental Resonance Tea Stove"**—its body embedded with Liyue's Floating Rocks and Inazuma's Naku Weed, the steam conjuring different illusions based on the tea served. Ayaka personally adjusted the Cryo mechanisms, freezing morning dew from Chinju Forest into teacups so thin they were translucent, each holding half a blooming cherry blossom. Sayu was tasked with supervising the tea pets but ended up riding the ice tanuki around the courtyard. The maids stifled giggles as they arranged Sakura Mochi into *Genius Invokation TCG* card shapes, with the central **"Judicator Raiden Ei"** card secretly replaced with Ayato's hidden liquor-filled chocolate. 

At the appointed hour, the first waft of tea fragrance drifted over the flower wall. Yoimiya's **"Tea Aroma Fireworks"** burst in the sky, Pyro energy outlining a teapot pouring rainbow tea that harmonized with Ling Feng's elemental stoves to form a gradient mist rainbow. Sangonomiya Kokomi arrived, her sleeves releasing phantom jellyfish that carried a **"Watatsumi Peace Tea Pact"** scroll, imprinting its seal on the icy mist. Yae Miko made her grand entrance, her fried tofu skewer transforming into a microphone. "My, my~ Little Ayaka's tea party is livelier than Tenshukaku's council chamber!" With a flick of her tail, the tea pets performed *Heron's Song*, the ice crystals forming an illusion of the Kamisato ancestor sharing tea with Saiguu 500 years ago. Kujou Sara, who had been about to fire a thunder arrow for "disturbing the peace," froze at the sight—the ancestor's figure overlapped with the Shogun's. 

At the climax of the tea party, Ayaka lightly tapped her ice teacup. The twelve tea pets lined up and bowed as Thoma wheeled out a three-tiered lacquered food tray: the top layer featured Liyue osmanthus cakes shaped like the Seven Archons, with Zhongli's hood adorned with sugar-frosted dragon scales; the middle layer showcased Inazuma's golden Kintsuba shaped like Sacred Sakura branches, each petal filled with different Sakura Bloom flavors; the bottom layer revealed Ling Feng's secretly added **"Mechanical Blind Box Dessert Tower,"** where biting into a dango released a tea pet-shaped malt candy figure. Sayu tried to sneak three candies but was caught by the ice tanuki, their chase reflected in the tea, prompting Yoimiya to launch a **"Tea-Scented Rocket"** that exploded into Sayu's fleeing silhouette at dusk. 

As twilight dyed the tea room red, Ayaka presented Ling Feng with the improved blind box. Opening the gilded box revealed tea spirit phantoms dancing with freshly picked Sakura Blooms, adorning the shop's sign with an **"Ice Blossom Emblem."** In the night sky, Yoimiya's **"Tea Aroma Fireworks"** intertwined with Ayaka's **"Ice Blossom Mist,"** and Yae Publishing House's *Teyvat Tea Spirit Chronicles* sold out instantly, its cover illustration depicting Thoma chasing the ice tanuki. Ling Feng leaned against the shop door, sipping cold tea, as Sayu curled into a ball on the shelf, the tea pets taking turns tucking her in. Moonlight filtered through the ice tea pets' eyes, casting starlight patterns on the ledger. He flipped to a new order—**"Thirty Ice Blossom Tea Boxes for the Yashiro Commission"**—and added a note: **"Includes one anti-sleep tea pet for Sayu."** In the shadows, the Shogun's puppet placed a crystal cherry blossom on the Grand Narukami Shrine's offering box, Miko's laughter echoing faintly: "Next tea party, let's have Ei try the dango automaton."