Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

Around nine o'clock the next morning, Ryen and the others set off once again.

As for how they kept track of time in the pitch-dark mines?

Simple—just step outside through the portal for a quick look!

They even took the opportunity to eat breakfast outside and, while they were at it, dumped a massive pile of coal back into Teyvat.

That stuff was something everyone found annoying yet couldn't bear to throw away entirely.

As for the other ores, they would need to head back to the manor estate later to calculate the amount Ryen needed. Whatever was left, they would send back for Ningguang and the others.

Of course, before all that, Ryen actually made a golden apple for Xiao in the morning.

A golden apple worth several tons of gold—even someone like Xiao, who had little concept of wealth, felt a little uneasy eating it.

Unfortunately, just as Ryen had predicted last night, it did not completely remove Xiao's karmic debt.

But Xiao himself wasn't disappointed—on the contrary, he was invigorated.

Because…

His karmic debt had eased.

In the past, Xiao deliberately avoided close contact with others. It wasn't just because he wasn't skilled at social interactions—his soul, tainted by the corruption of his karmic debt, coupled with his adeptus nature, often brought disaster to those who got too close.

He himself had long suffered from the burden of karmic debt, sometimes losing control in battle, succumbing to violent, uncontrollable slaughter.

As the years went on, these episodes of madness only became more frequent.

Zhongli had once invited Venti to try purifying Xiao's karmic debt and even provided special medicines like the Cleansing Heart, but the results were negligible. They merely delayed the inevitable.

It was, in essence, the same effect as the golden apple.

Xiao could feel it.

Aside from the newfound vitality coursing through him, his soul, once deeply corroded by karmic debt, now felt as if it were being meticulously unraveled, purified thread by thread.

That ever-present agony had dulled.

And even those around him could tell that the oppressive aura—like a raging storm—was no longer there.

It was as if the karmic debt was being stripped away, layer by layer.

Xiao had done the calculations: though this single golden apple might not bring about a fundamental change, at the very least, it would give him decades—maybe even centuries—of clarity.

And with that time, he would have a chance to find a true solution in this world.

After all, in Teyvat, karmic debt was a terminal affliction—one that had claimed the lives of his siblings and remained an enigma even Morax couldn't resolve.

But now, seeing these results… Was complete purification truly impossible?

With renewed hope for the future, Xiao took the lead, iron pickaxe in hand, striking with such force that each swing triggered a chain reaction, collapsing massive sections of stone.

At this point, they had gathered so much iron ore that even after crafting seven full sets of iron armor, more than half of it remained. Not to mention, they had found another huge deposit while mining redstone earlier.

They were well beyond the point of worrying about supplies.

Breaking an iron pickaxe now? Not even worth fretting over.

And with everyone decked out in full iron armor, their combat capabilities had skyrocketed. Ryen no longer needed to remind them to tread carefully.

With a lineup like this—

Ryen, armed with the ultimate Steve physique, ranged weapons, and a deadly blade for close combat.

Zhongli, wielding the power of a god and his invincible Jade Shield.

Not to mention Xiao, Ganyu, and the others.

Ryen was confident that even if they stumbled upon a monster spawner filled with zombies, they could smash through it with brute force.

…Well, unless it was Creepers—then all bets were off.

With that confidence in mind, they mined more aggressively than before.

Fueled by the effects of the golden apple, Xiao was practically a human bulldozer, relentlessly clearing the way.

Ryen and the others kept an eye on their surroundings, placing torches along the path and chatting as they went.

At one point, Ryen glanced at Ningguang, who was walking to his left, her expression calm and composed. After a brief pause, he lowered his voice and asked,

"Heartbroken over the gold?"

Ningguang arched an eyebrow and gave him an amused look.

"Didn't you just help me shift my perspective yesterday? What, trying to make me go back on it already?"

Ryen waved a hand dismissively and chuckled.

"Nah, just joking. Anyway, there's still one ingot left—you should take it back to Liyue. That's still over two tons of gold, after all."

To his surprise, Ningguang simply shook her head, unfazed.

"Keep it for yourself. Didn't you say it? Resources in this world are endless. If I ever need gold, I could just find another mine."

She tilted her head slightly, the flickering torchlight casting shifting shadows across her face, lending her a mysterious, alluring charm.

"Besides, I'm far more interested in the knowledge you possess."

Ryen blinked but quickly broke into a smile.

"No problem. If you're willing to learn, once you master redstone mechanics, you might even help me out—or better yet, create your own advanced redstone technology."

Their gazes met.

And in that fleeting moment, an unspoken emotion seemed to take root between them.

Off to the side, Ganyu had been secretly keeping an eye on the conversation between Ningguang and Ryen. Seeing them chat so naturally, she pursed her lips in discontent.

No matter what, she had known Ryen for longer…

As she wracked her brain for a way to cut into their conversation, a sudden crack echoed through the tunnel ahead.

It was just the sound of cobblestone breaking—nothing out of the ordinary. However, the surge of heat and the blinding red light that followed made Ryen's heart tighten.

"Vigilant Yaksha!"

It seemed like Cloud Retainer had let out a sharp cry. Ryen's instincts kicked in.

Without a second thought, he yanked out his fishing rod and, faster than ever, cast it toward the front.

The moment he felt it hook onto something, he reeled back with all his strength.

A flaming figure shot out of the pit.

In the same swift motion, Ryen pulled out a water bucket and dumped it right over the figure's head.

All of this happened in the span of mere seconds.

The others barely had time to react.

In fact, Keqing and the others hadn't even realized that Xiao had fallen into lava.

Yet, before anyone could process what had just happened, Ryen had already pulled him out and extinguished the flames.

"…What just happened?"

Xiao stared down at his hands in a daze.

Judging by his expression, even he wasn't entirely sure.

"Are you alright, Xiao?"

Zhongli stepped forward, concern evident in his usually composed eyes. In his haste, he had even forgotten to mask his identity, directly addressing Xiao by name.

"I… I fell into the lava?"

Xiao seemed to process Zhongli's words only after hearing them aloud. The moment of realization hit, and he finally felt the fading traces of searing pain.

Come to think of it… everything had happened so fast that he hadn't even felt the burning at first.

"Vigilant Yaksha, quickly take off your iron armor and check for injuries!"

Cloud Retainer urged anxiously.

They were Adepti, yes—but lava was lava.

Even Pyro Slimes, which were practically immune to fire, couldn't withstand it.

No matter how powerful an Adeptus was, against something like lava… The only one in Teyvat who could remain unscathed was Zhongli, as long as he had his Jade Shield up.

Cloud Retainer and the others had already braced themselves for the worst—that Xiao would be covered in severe burns.

But instead of peeling off charred armor, Ryen simply waved his hand dismissively.

"Relax, he's fine. Good thing he wasn't in there for long—otherwise, he'd be a goner for sure."

Everyone was still in shock when Xiao glanced at himself and, after a brief pause, spoke in a calm tone.

"I… I'm fine. I only lost six hearts."

"…"

Silence.

Keqing rubbed her temples before peering down into the pit.

Sure enough—boiling, molten lava.

This was—this was real lava. The kind that would incinerate anything on contact.

"You're saying…"

Ningguang, after a moment of thought, carefully chose her words.

"You fell into a pool of lava… but only lost six hearts? And you're still perfectly capable of moving?"

Even Xiao found it hard to believe. He hesitated before opening his personal interface to double-check.

"…Ah. I've already recovered one heart."

"…"

At this point, everyone had run out of ways to process this madness.

"Alright, that's enough shock for now."

Ryen chuckled, shaking his head.

"Don't forget, you all share part of my physique. Falling into lava doesn't mean instant death."

"As long as you get pulled out fast enough and put out the fire, you'll be fine. Xiao, take a break—eat something and get your health back up."

"And one more thing!"

Ryen raised a hand, his expression suddenly turning serious.

"When mining underground, especially when using Chain Mining, never dig directly below yourself unless you're absolutely sure it's safe!"

"This happened to Xiao just now—he made that mistake, and it nearly got him killed. From now on, all of you need to be more careful!"

Once he finished speaking, Ryen expected at least some kind of response—perhaps a few nods of agreement or words of reassurance.

Instead, silence stretched between them.

He glanced around, confused.

Everyone was still staring at Xiao, their expressions tangled with disbelief.

Ryen sighed. He understood now.

Falling into lava should've meant instant death.

Sure, Xiao had survived thanks to Ryen pulling him out in time.

Fine. That could be explained by the fact that they shared some of his game-world physique, which gave them certain resistances.

But still—

At the very least, his iron armor should have melted away, right?

At the very least, he should have some burns or injuries, right?

But Xiao?

Completely unharmed.

Not a single scorch mark.

In fact, his face even looked cleaner than before.

This wasn't survival. This was as if he had bathed in the lava.

If not for the waves of heat still radiating from the molten pit below, they might've thought it was just a disguised hot spring.

Zhongli, despite his best efforts to maintain composure, felt his mind flood with questions.

A thousand thoughts whirled in his head, but after much internal struggle, he managed to suppress them all.

Finally, he sighed and muttered under his breath:

"…Your world's laws truly are… unique."

Ryen couldn't help but grin at their reactions.

He understood—they had spent their entire lives in a reality governed by strict physical laws. But now, faced with such ridiculous, game-like mechanics, the shock was inevitable.

Chuckling, he said,

"Trust me, you'll see plenty more of this kind of thing soon enough."

"Anyway, this accident actually worked in our favor."

Ryen stepped to the edge of the pit and peered down into the lava lake below. The space was vast—so vast that he couldn't even see where the lava ended.

A location like this…

It was the perfect place to find diamonds.

After a moment of contemplation, he turned to the others.

"This entire area is covered in lava, which means this is one of the best spots to find diamonds. We'll head down and check it out."

"If we don't find any here, we'll just pack up and go home."

Ningguang and the others nodded in agreement—until, suddenly, something clicked.

"Wait a minute! Ryen—we're going down there?!"

Keqing's eyes widened as she stared at the vast, churning lake of molten rock.

Her throat felt dry.

"How exactly… are we getting down there?"

She swallowed hard. "You don't seriously plan on jumping in and placing blocks to build a bridge, do you?! That's way too dangerous!"

At her words, Ryen let out a laugh.

"Even if I don't die instantly from lava, I'd still take damage. What do you take me for, some kind of immortal?"

Nobody answered.

Instead, they simply looked at him.

The weight of their stares was enough to make Ryen clear his throat awkwardly.

"Alright, alright. Just wait a second. I've got a simple solution. We'll be down there in no time."

With that, he stepped to the edge of the pit, took out a bucket of water, and poured it out.

And then…

Before their very eyes, something even more absurd happened.

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