Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

Six and a half stacks of iron ore, four hundred and sixteen iron ingots—what could that get you?

A full set of iron armor required twenty-four ingots.

With seven people here, that meant seven sets of armor, which would cost one hundred sixty-eight ingots.

That was barely half of what they had.

So, what about the rest?

At this point, Ryen felt like he had so much iron that he didn't even know what to do with it.

Forget about everything else for now—he was making seven sets of iron armor and gearing up for a full-on sweep of the mines.

Iron swords?

One for each person!

Iron pickaxes and axes?

One for everyone!

Funnels?

Uh… maybe later.

His backpack space was getting a little tight, and making those was going to have to wait.

As he planned it all out in his mind, a satisfied smile spread across his face. His mood only brightened as the process of smelting the ore accelerated.

In that moment, Ryen couldn't help but be thankful for having teamed up with Liyue. Otherwise, gathering this much good stuff on his own would've taken forever.

Especially now that Ganyu and the others were becoming increasingly familiar with this world—they were really able to contribute in ways that helped him immensely.

Take now, for instance.

There was just so much iron ore that everyone had to pitch in. Each wall was lined with twenty-five furnaces.

That was a total of one hundred furnaces.

Ryen didn't have to lift a finger—this entire furnace setup was entirely thanks to Ningguang and others. They worked in tandem, setting up and manning the furnaces.

Now, they were all busy tossing ore into the furnaces, pulling out freshly smelted ingots as they went.

At first, Zhongli and the others were silent, taken aback by the sheer simplicity of the process. But it didn't take long for them to get over the initial shock.

After all, in a world where common sense was often defied, this was practically business as usual.

After just a few seconds of watching ore turn into premium ingots, Zhongli suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for his miners and blacksmiths.

His people in Liyue were hardworking and diligent, but why couldn't they have access to such conveniences? Why did they still have to sweat it out with their hammers and anvil?

Zhongli's resolve hardened like steel. He was determined—he would bring every miner in Liyue, except those who had to extract elemental ore, to this world.

After a well-deserved rest, the group was back to work, and soon the four hundred ingots were neatly stacked in front of Ryen, shining with a brilliant silver-white glow.

Suspended in midair, the ingots gleamed like a small constellation of precious metals.

Ryen swore, this was the third most beautiful light in the world.

Diamonds were first, redstone second.

As for gold?

No one cared about that… or rather, only pigs would.

None of the group had any intention of bringing up the distribution of iron ore. They would have their own mining team in Liyue, but this trip was specifically to join Ryen in exploring the mines.

Besides, the contract was clear—all resources are to be chosen by Ryen first.

They valued the contract above all else, and none of them would break it just because they'd grown closer to Ryen.

Still, Ningguang couldn't help but feel curious about how Ryen planned to use all this iron ore.

After a moment of contemplation, she asked softly, "Ryen, with so many ingots, how do you plan to use them?"

Ryen didn't even hesitate before answering, "Of course, I'm making armor and tools!"

"..."

Ningguang was caught off guard by his blunt answer. She paused, then asked, "How many ingots will that take?"

"Let me think..." Ryen started counting on his fingers.

"First, seven sets of iron armor, one hundred sixty-eight ingots, and then seven swords, which will take fourteen more ingots."

"Seven pickaxes and seven axes, which adds up to forty-two ingots."

The more Ryen explained, the more concerned Ningguang's expression became.

Finally, Ryen clapped his hands together and said, "So, that's a total of two hundred twenty-four ingots. Just a little over half of what we have. The rest we'll save for later, though if you all need some, feel free to take them."

"And as for selling the ingots, we'll wait for your mining team to arrive before we talk about that. The iron we've mined is for our own exploration, after all."

Upon hearing this, Ningguang's expression softened slightly, though it was clear she still had her doubts.

But when she saw Ryen actually picking up the ingots and heading straight for the crafting table to start forging, her heart clenched.

Before she could stop herself, she reached out and grabbed his hand, disregarding any formalities between them.

After all...

"Ryen, please reconsider!" Ningguang's voice was filled with genuine concern, her face pleading.

"Two hundred twenty-four ingots—that's nearly two hundred tons of top-tier iron! If we sold that, we'd be swimming in Mora!"

"You're planning to use all that iron on armor and weapons? Isn't that a bit of a waste?"

At first, Keqing and the others hadn't really thought much of it, but when Ningguang mentioned the staggering figure, they started to feel the weight of the situation.

Sure, Liyue Harbor had a lot of Mora flowing through it every day, but... this kind of sum was something else entirely.

But...

That level of wealth didn't come overnight. It had been accumulated over three thousand years to reach this point.

They came to this world, seven people, zero cost, and within half a day they had over four hundred tons of iron.

That's billions of Mora.

Such an amount of Mora could easily shake even the largest banks in the northern nations.

And now, Ryen was about to use half of it for crafting?!

What a waste!

It was beyond wasteful!

However, before anyone could try to convince Ryen otherwise, he shook his head with a smile.

"See? You're doing it again."

Ningguang froze, confused by Ryen's words.

Ryen, with a knowing look, continued, "How long have we been in the mines?"

Ningguang hesitated for a moment, then answered softly, "Half a day?"

"And how many of us are there?"

"Uh... seven."

Seeing Ningguang's thoughtful expression, Ryen playfully tapped her forehead and teased, "Seven people, half a day, zero cost, nearly four hundred tons of coal, over four hundred tons of iron. Do you really think resources here are valuable?"

Ningguang felt a slight warmth rise to her cheeks from Ryen's affectionate gesture, but she quickly focused on his words.

It suddenly hit her—Ryen had been emphasizing the unique characteristics of this world.

So, it was her who had been overthinking things.

Ningguang exhaled deeply, her expression regained its usual confidence and grace, though her gaze softened as it lingered on Ryen.

"Resources are incredibly valuable!" she said, leaving Keqing and the others in a state of confusion.

After all, Ryen's point had been crystal clear, and they understood it. Seven people working for half a day had managed to gather so much—it was clear that in this world, resources weren't truly worth much at all!

Though they might be needed, there was no reason to cling to them with the kind of preciousness they were used to in their own world.

"Ningguang..." Ganyu hesitated, biting her lip as if she wanted to argue.

But Ningguang spoke softly, "For Teyvat, all resources would be considered priceless, but for us... they mean very little."

"This world is driven by creativity, innovation, and an unyielding spirit of exploration."

Seeing the carefree look in Ningguang's eyes, Ryen smiled.

"You've finally understood, Ningguang... You won't need me to convince you anymore, right?"

"Not so fast."

Ningguang shook her head gently and said, "You've awakened my sense of extravagance, so naturally, you have to help me keep it in check."

"By the way, can I take the iron armor set back to Liyue Harbor for collection?"

Ryen smiled warmly and replied, "Of course, but it's best to bring it with you when you come to this world. And…"

Ryen's voice grew more serious for a moment.

"A full set of iron armor costs twenty-four ingots—do you understand what that means?"

"It weighs nearly twenty-one tons, so be careful. Don't just casually take it out and wear it. After all, in Teyvat, you don't have my physique."

Of course, Ryen wasn't referring to Zhongli when he said this.

Even without Ryen's enhanced physique, Zhongli was the Geo Archon, a being who had once toppled mountains in the Archon War and crushed gods. Twenty tons wouldn't even faze him.

But…

If any of them dared walk around wearing the armor, with each step they took, they'd likely end up embedded in the ground of Liyue Harbor.

Everyone kept reminding themselves, as they left the Minecraft world, to be sure to remove the iron armor before leaving.

In the meantime, Ryen quickly finished crafting everything he needed.

He handed out the iron armor, piece by piece, to everyone.

But now, they were faced with a dilemma.

This thing…

"Look how square it is, Ryen!" Ganyu pouted, her face scrunched in frustration. She stood between Ryen and Ningguang, subtly inserting herself into their space.

Ever since Ryen had snapped Ningguang out of her overthinking, Ningguang had been unintentionally sticking close to him.

Ganyu was getting a little upset.

Ningguang didn't seem bothered at all as Ganyu squeezed between them. She maintained her usual calm, graceful demeanor, always managing to hide her true thoughts and intentions.

"How are we supposed to wear this blocky armor? Are you really going to waste all those iron ingots?" Keqing said, flipping the iron armor in her hands, clearly concerned as she glanced at Ryen.

Ryen thought for a moment, then consulted the system before responding.

"No problem. It works like the sacred relics of Teyvat. All you need to do is touch the armor and silently wish to wear it, and it'll be equipped."

"To take it off, just open your personal panel and deselect the armor, and it'll return to your inventory."

Upon hearing this, the group immediately began to experiment.

Before long, everyone was wearing a full set of shimmering silver armor.

Because they weren't blocky characters, the armor had adapted to fit them better.

It was no longer rigid and square-shaped.

Instead, it resembled a more tailored, form-fitting general's armor—still practical but with a touch of elegance.

This made everyone feel a little more satisfied.

If it had been those clunky, blocky pieces, no matter how useful, they would have worn them only for mining purposes.

But once they were out of the mine...

Sorry, no way—too ugly!

Keqing tentatively hopped around and discovered that, despite wearing over twenty tons of armor, she felt completely normal. Her movements weren't hindered at all.

The most absurd part was...

With all the resources she was carrying, she was practically wearing sixty or seventy tons of weight, and yet she moved as if there was nothing on her at all. When she jumped and landed, the ground didn't even flinch.

Zhongli even commented that the stones here were beyond his understanding as the Geo Archon.

As for the armor's defense...

That didn't need any questioning.

Without any mods, the iron armor provided the highest protection, second only to Netherite or Diamond sets.

As for the gold armor…

Ryen truly couldn't understand why anyone would use such a fragile material for armor.

Was it just because it looked pretty with its golden shine?

But then…

Wasn't the real use for gold about crafting golden apples, golden melons, or trading with Piglins?

Of course, gold was also considered hard currency in Liyue. If Ningguang and the others wanted to sell it, they could easily make Mora.

However...

As of now, they hadn't found anything useful in the mines.

Suddenly, Keqing seemed to have a realization and couldn't help but laugh.

Looking around at the others, she teased, "So, what you're saying is, we're all wearing armor worth tens of millions of Mora, right?"

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