"Eh? We don't get to use our own characters?" Little Gui panicked a little. She had 2+1 Jun Bai—enough to handle any demon or monster—but now all four were trials.
As everyone knows, trial characters' builds are generally not as good as one's own.
And sometimes you get characters you're not good at using, which is quite frustrating.
And this time, the four trial characters weren't even a matter of being good or bad at them—she literally couldn't play two of them at all.
Hu Tao and Chongyun aren't even released yet…
Forget operating them—Little Gui, or rather all players, didn't even know Hu Tao and Chongyun's skills.
So Little Gui was very panicked.
Until she saw Zhongli's shield getting attacked—and her character was healing…
"C6 Zhongli?"
Opening the character screen— all four trials were C6.
[Four C6s? And one is clearly a 5-star—this is basically breakfast for last week's opponent?]
[With C6 Zhongli? This is a free win!]
[Used to be trial characters were C0—now all C6. Hard not to suspect this is because of Teacher Jun Bai.]
[Definitely. Didn't you see the enemy was charging straight at little Jun Bai? Someone wants to hit his own self—would Teacher Jun Bai tolerate that?]
With four C6 characters on hand, Little Gui immediately turned into Smug Dragon King mode.
At this moment, Silver Wolf requested voice chat to provide off-field assistance to Little Gui and the other streamers who couldn't use the two brand-new characters.
Impossible not to win!
——Teyvat
Compared to the earlier monsters, this shadowy figure was on a completely different level. Hu Tao judged it was a monster formed from god remnants—after being eliminated, it had been recreated under the influence of the chaotic Ley Lines.
So it was very hard to deal with.
But still the same as before—Hu Tao and the others' strength wasn't something ordinary people could compare to.
This shadowy figure was strong—but only relative to hilichurl-level monsters.
To Lumine…
Whether this thing could even clear the Cryo Regisvine was questionable.
And since it was formed from god remnants—that was Hu Tao's professional specialty.
Most importantly, Zhongli wasn't just watching this time—his Jade Shield remained on everyone the whole time. Absolute sense of security let them attack freely.
So in no time, this shadowy figure was about to be sent back to the Ley Lines by the group.
However, at that moment, another shadowy figure flashed past and appeared behind little Jun Bai.
Long braids lit up with golden light—golden flames burned in Zhongli's pupils—the Vortex Vanquisher appeared in his hand.
He was about to zero-frame strike and eliminate this sneak attacker.
[Actually daring to sneak attack—too bad, in this situation, sneak attacks just get you sent back faster.]
[Zhongli: If you'd attacked together with your buddy, you might have lived a bit longer.]
However, someone moved even faster than Zhongli.
Phoenix Perches on Demon Subjugation struck directly at the shadowy figure's back heart, piercing straight through.
The shadowy figure collapsed with a boom—flames ignited around its body.
Until it turned to ash, those flames would not stop burning.
Jun Bai walked out, retrieved Phoenix Perches on Demon Subjugation and put it away. The disguised black hair had already returned to its usual white.
Zhongli and Jun Bai met each other's eyes, then silently withdrew their divine power and Vortex Vanquisher.
[This thing came from the Ley Lines. According to Jun Bai, he could resolve it directly—but he chose to destroy the corpse… probably has a grudge.]
[Zhongli: You stole my kill!]
At the same time, the other shadowy figure was also subdued by the group and sent back to the Ley Lines for eternal rest.
The group returned to Zhongli and little Jun Bai's side. Then after sizing up Jun Bai for a moment, Hu Tao, Xingqiu, and Chongyun simultaneously clasped their hands in salute:
"Hu Tao / Xingqiu / Chongyun, pays respects to the Marshal!" ×3
"Consultant, don't just stand there—hurry up and pay respects to the Marshal! This is a big shot!"
Zhongli: "…"
[Pfft! Hahaha! This sudden development nearly sent me laughing straight to the morgue!]
[The only downside of Zhongli's retirement.]
[Hu Tao: Come on little Zhong—give the Marshal an early New Year's greeting.]
"He has already paid respects—Director Hu need not make things difficult for Consultant Zhongli." Jun Bai helped Zhongli out.
"Earlier at Fengdeng Lou, I failed to recognize the Marshal. If I offended in any way, please punish me, Marshal." Xingqiu said respectfully—he had already recognized that Jun Bai was the owner who appeared that day at Fengdeng Lou.
"I deliberately concealed my identity. If you had recognized me then, I would have been the troubled one." Jun Bai said nonchalantly.
"Jun Bai, why are you here?" Paimon asked.
"Later."
Jun Bai walked in front of little Jun Bai—his eyes both helpless and gentle, with a trace of nostalgia from time to time.
Little Jun Bai looked up: "We look so similar! Are you my family?"
"Family… in a sense, yes." Jun Bai crouched down, gave little Jun Bai a gentle smile, then reached out and rubbed the little phoenix's head.
"Now, little Phoenix is going home."
"Home… is Big Brother and Mother there too?"
"Of course—everyone is waiting for little Phoenix to return to the nest." Jun Bai held his palm toward little Jun Bai.
"Then… please send me home." Little Jun Bai raised his small hand and met Jun Bai's palm. "Future me."
Jun Bai nodded lightly. Nirvana flames ignited around the two figures—one large, one small. Matching fiery wings rose behind them simultaneously.
Little Jun Bai's body became transparent. Smiling, he waved goodbye to Jun Bai.
"Say hello to Mother and Second Brother for me."
Jun Bai said softly.
In front of him—there was already no one.
[So Jun Bai came all this way just to personally send little Jun Bai off?]
[Little Phoenix went back—sad~]
"Follow me." Jun Bai stood up and walked up the mountain.
"Eh?" Everyone was puzzled.
"You came all the way here specifically because you wanted to know the Qingce Sword Immortal's story, right? Follow me—I'll tell you." Jun Bai turned and said.
Hearing this, everyone hurriedly followed.
Qingce Village, cemetery.
In front of a simple stone tombstone were inserted a piece of decayed wood and a rusted sword.
The decayed wood vaguely retained the shape of a sword. Beneath the rust covering the blade was a faint blue-white.
A dimmed Vision was placed in the center.
And this was the group's final destination on this trip—the Qingce Sword Immortal's tombstone.