At Dihua Marsh, two figures—one white, one teal—collided repeatedly. The clash of Anemo against Anemo had broken many blades of grass. A poor little Dendro Slime, unaware of what was happening, had half of the flower on its head sliced clean off.
"Brother Xiao's skills are still as good as ever."
Rubbing his reddened hand, Su Bai couldn't help but sigh. Time seemed almost irrelevant to the adepti. Xiao, who was several thousand years old, hadn't lost a step in his abilities—in fact, he seemed even sharper than before. After this exchange, Su Bai had at least four red marks on his body.
For example, he had never imagined that Xiangling's polearm techniques were taught by Madame Ping. According to Xiangling, despite her age, Madame Ping was incredibly formidable with a spear.
Xiao twirled his wooden stick. To be honest, he was quite dissatisfied with Su Bai's decision to abandon the sword and polearm in favor of a catalyst. Su Bai had shown great talent in both swordsmanship and polearm arts as a child. Xiao had once believed he would become an adeptus who excelled in both.
But after ten years apart, when they met again, Su Bai announced he wanted to use a catalyst as his weapon and asked if Xiao had any recommendations. The usually reserved Xiao had nearly exploded with frustration. In his eyes, Su Bai was wasting his talent.
"For an adeptus who has taken human form, basic martial skill is still necessary."
"I was planning to teach you some Anemo combat techniques, along with some martial training."
"You're kidding, Brother Xiao? I'll never need to use them."
Su Bai protested with a long face, but Xiao ignored him entirely. Seeing that Su Bai had caught his breath, Xiao charged forward again with his wooden stick.
"Brother Xiao, you're actually using Lemniscatic Wind Cycling? You're not holding back at all."
Su Bai's eye twitched. Lemniscatic Wind Cycling was Xiao's most commonly used technique. He had once witnessed Xiao use it to pierce straight through a small mountain. If that hit him, he'd be in for serious pain. It seemed he would have to show some real skill too.
"Brother Xiao, you'd better watch out. This move I came up with recently is hard to block."
He held his wooden sword horizontally in front of him, gathering Anemo energy onto the blade. To avoid accidentally hurting Xiao, Su Bai kindly warned him. Hearing that Su Bai had a new technique, Xiao deliberately slowed down his Lemniscatic Wind Cycling.
"Fox Return!"
A fox-shaped slash made of Anemo shot straight toward Xiao's wooden stick. Seeing the fierce-looking attack, Xiao felt a glimmer of anticipation. He also wrapped the wooden stick in a layer of Anemo energy.
The Anemo slash struck the stick in Xiao's hand. Xiao had expected a clash of equal force, but Su Bai's attack lasted only a single breath before dissolving into Anemo and vanishing into the air.
This sudden anticlimax made Xiao frown. How was this possible? Given Su Bai's control over Anemo, this slash shouldn't have been so weak.
Watching the dispersing Anemo and Xiao's puzzled expression, Su Bai's lips curled slightly. It seemed Brother Xiao was taking the bait. If this technique could actually hit him, then Brother Xiao might be too embarrassed to continue training him.
Unfortunately, the phrase "things don't always go as planned" seemed to permeate every corner of Teyvat. If it had been someone else, Su Bai might have succeeded. But his target was Xiao. And Xiao had been wielding Anemo energy for millennia. His perception of it was masterful.
The moment the Anemo dissipated, Xiao had sensed something amiss in the surrounding currents. He simply hadn't reacted immediately, lost in thought about why Su Bai's attack had been so weak.
Already puzzled, Xiao suddenly leaped toward Su Bai. Unbeknownst to either of them, a massive wind blade had materialized behind him. The blade's power was considerable—when it struck the grass, it gouged out a chunk of turf.
"Brother Xiao, you actually noticed that? I was planning to control it and stop it in time."
Su Bai rubbed his nose sheepishly. At his throat, a wooden stick was pressed firmly. On the other end of that stick was Xiao, who moments ago had looked so confused.
"This technique is powerful, and the second attack is hard to detect. But it has one fatal flaw."
"If someone knows how tricky it is, the technique loses its effectiveness."
"Brother Xiao, you can't say that."
Su Bai pushed the wooden stick away from his throat. He had already considered these issues when designing the technique. If someone actually knew its secrets, he would be in big trouble.
"Brother Xiao, what do you think of the power of my wind blade?"
"Strong."
"And what about its impact?"
"Great."
"So what if, during battle, I shout 'Fox Return' but actually use the wind blade?"
Hearing this, Xiao's gaze toward Su Bai grew complicated. This was a tactic he had never imagined. In Xiao's understanding, shouldn't you use the move that matches what you shout?
Perhaps a seemingly chaotic fighting style could achieve surprising results? Recalling Azhdaha's wild, unpredictable boxing, Xiao fell into thought. Maybe he could develop a technique that outwardly strikes with thirty percent force but secretly conceals seventy, catching the opponent off guard. But how would one develop such a technique for a polearm?
Back at Wangshu Inn, Lumine and Paimon had searched every corner of the place but found neither Su Bai nor the other adeptus.
Since Wangshu Inn was far from Liyue Harbor, even though Verr Goldet was one of Ningguang's trusted associates, she hadn't yet received word of Lumine's wanted status.
"Lumine, let's ask the boss. She seems well-informed. She might know where Su Bai and the adeptus went."
Paimon's suggestion resonated with Lumine. Paimon had been unusually clever twice in one day. Lumine thought about rewarding her with a nice meal, but after checking her coin purse, she decided that she would instead cook for Paimon herself when she had time, as a gesture of encouragement.
"You're looking for young master Su Bai and the Conqueror of Demons? The two of them left after breakfast. I have no idea where they went."
"Oh, I see. Boss, is there any way we could meet them sooner?"
"Little one, just so you know, it's 'boss,' not 'boss lady.' If you really want to see them soon, go to the kitchen and have Yanxiao make a plate of Almond Tofu."
Verr Goldet smiled as she corrected Paimon's wording. If it were any ordinary person, she wouldn't help. But this golden-haired girl had eaten with Su Bai before. Building goodwill with someone like her was certainly a wise move. If she ever needed a favor in the future, she believed this young lady wouldn't refuse.