A relentless barrage of explosions echoed nonstop.
All of Nantianmen trembled violently.
Waves surged in the lakes, mountains quaked and shuddered, and boulders rained down in chaos.
The juvenile Geovishaps that had been roaring to the sky moments ago were now thrown into complete disarray, scrambling for their lives in a panic.
They had no idea why the massive floating structure overhead was dropping things that caused such devastating destruction.
A single TNT block landed beside three Geovishaps—blasting them into ashes on the spot.
One nearby Geovishap saw this and hastily burrowed underground, but unfortunately, it underestimated the sheer destructive power of TNT in this world.
A massive crater, dozens of meters wide, was blasted into the earth. The Geovishap, fatally wounded, was buried in dirt and soon turned to smoke, vanishing from existence.
The Jade Chamber now hovered in the sky like an all-powerful aerial sovereign, leisurely dropping explosives on the fleeing Geovishaps.
It had practically become a flying bomber.
Wherever it flew, devastation followed—leaving no grass behind.
In Ryen's eyes, this had already evolved into a modern-era strategic strike operation.
Encounter an enemy? First, call in air support for fire coverage. Then sweep in to mop up.
And even better than real-world warfare?
The Jade Chamber had a TNT duplication machine running non-stop. The bombs just kept coming.
What was once a horde of juvenile Geovishaps had now been reduced to a pitiful few.
Only those that fled deep into the mountains survived.
That was because Ningguang and the others had chosen not to bomb the mountains—as they held special significance for Liyue.
Out of environmental consideration, those lucky few Geovishaps were spared.
The remaining ones, unable to retreat further into the mountains, had no choice but to charge headlong toward the Dragon-Queller Tree.
In their minds, only the great being beneath that tree could save them now.
But the mindless beasts couldn't hear Azhdaha's enraged roars:
> "GET LOST!"
"ALL OF YOU, SCRAM!"
"DON'T COME HERE! GO AWAY! GET OUT!!"
Azhdaha was livid.
Just moments ago, a dozen TNTs had exploded near the Dragon-Queller Tree—and it had clenched its metaphorical butt in terror.
Heaven bear witness: even though Azhdaha was sealed in a separate space, it was indeed sealed here by Zhongli all those years ago.
The Dragon Queller Tree… was his tail.
Just imagine—tail pointing up, and bombs going off around it.
Forget Azhdaha—even Zhongli would wince at that.
Though the explosions hadn't physically hurt him, the psychological terror was overwhelming.
What if a TNT accidentally landed directly on the tree?
He was a giant sealed underground—where was he supposed to find a colorectal specialist?!
But the panicked Geovishaps couldn't hear any of this.
The surviving dozen soon gathered under the Dragon-Queller Tree, burying their heads into the ground like ostriches in a desert.
> "DAMN YOU ALL! GET OUT!"
"I'LL KILL YOU! TEAR YOU TO SHREDS! DICE YOU UP!"
Once, these Geovishaps had been Azhdaha's loyal minions, guarding his precious tail and keeping adventurers at bay.
Now?
The adventurers hadn't even arrived yet, and the Geovishaps had already betrayed him by camping under the tree.
Helpless and unable to move, Azhdaha was nearly driven insane.
Worst of all, that massive aerial menace was slowly drifting this way...
And then, it hovered right over the Dragon Queller Tree.
Azhdaha's nearly-eroded consciousness suddenly snapped into clarity.
A powerful sense of doom suppressed his frenzied rage.
> "WAIT! MORAX! LEAVE THIS PLACE!"
"WE CAN TALK! ANYTHING CAN BE DISCUSSED, MORAX!"
"DON'T YOU DARE BOMB THIS PLACE!!!"
His divine power slipped through the seal and whispered into Zhongli's ears.
But Zhongli's expression remained unmoved—he had already taken over Ningguang's control of the Redstone Duplication Machine.
If Azhdaha had said this earlier, Zhongli might have stopped.
At most, he would've just cleaned up the Geovishaps.
But…
That furious, heartfelt roar earlier had shattered Zhongli's last shred of dignity.
He, Morax, had been publicly slapped through time, and right in front of the other adepti—and Venti!
Twice!
Even ancient rock has its breaking point.
Zhongli slowly raised his hand and placed it on the machine's lever.
Seeing this, a bead of cold sweat trickled down Ningguang's temple as she urgently spoke:
> "Mr. Zhongli, isn't that enough?"
"We've already bombed so much today, the landscape around Nantianmen is nearly destroyed."
"The Dragon Queller Tree is sacred. We can't keep bombing like this."
Zhongli fell silent for a moment.
His anger cooled slightly, and he considered backing off.
The remaining corrupted Geovishaps could be left to Xiao.
But just as he was about to release the lever—
Venti spoke up, solemnly:
> "Indeed, Zhongli. These are just some small fry Geovishaps. Is this really necessary?"
"It's not like they committed some unforgivable crime."
He looked sincere—but Zhongli could see it.
That guy was holding back laughter, his shoulders shaking.
> "I slap your ancestors!"
That piercing, passionate insult replayed in Zhongli's mind like a haunting melody.
He turned—and saw Ryen and Nahida had turned away, their shoulders trembling with laughter.
Xiao and Cloud Retainer stood nearby, awkward and speechless.
Zhongli… was once again seething.
He yanked the lever.
The sky lit up with fire. TNT ignited and fell in a massive wave.
> "MORAX!!!"
Azhdaha, cradling his rear in the sealed space, screamed in terror.
> "I sl—!"
BOOM.
The roar was cut off mid-curse as a thunderous explosion erupted.
The last of the Geovishaps were annihilated.
And the shockwave at the base of the Dragon-Queller Tree made Azhdaha howl in pain.
It might not have damaged his core…
But that tail, linked to the seal—and to his senses—felt everything.
And worst of all?
Azhdaha couldn't even move.
The bombardment lasted a dozen seconds.
Only then did Zhongli finally let go of the lever.
Azhdaha's voice vanished.
No more screaming. No more "I slap your ancestors."
Zhongli peered into the sealed realm.
That towering beast, Azhdaha, was now curled up on the ground, cradling his head—
trembling.
His terrifying face… was now full of bitterness and humiliation.
Heaven bear witness. Being sealed upside-down all these years was torment enough.
And now?
He'd been bombed in the butt with TNT.
Azhdaha's figure radiated a sense of resentment.
After a few rounds of bombardment, Azhdaha had completely shut down.
Zhongli felt refreshed and content. He removed the lever and handed it back to Ningguang before returning to his seat.
Noticing the strange looks from everyone around him, Zhongli calmly took a sip of tea.
"I simply felt that, since we could eliminate all those Juvenile Geovishaps in one go, there was no need to trouble the Conqueror of Demons to make a special trip."
"Wouldn't you agree, Conqueror of Demons?"
At that, Xiao's face froze slightly. He quickly regained his composure and replied stiffly,
"Mr. Zhongli is absolutely right. Thank you for your concern."
Ningguang put the lever away and shook her head.
To activate the Redstone duplicator, you only needed to place the lever at the designated spot. However, Ningguang would never allow the Redstone cannon to remain in a state where it could be freely triggered at any moment.
The lever must be removed after each use.
Sensing the odd tension between Zhongli, Xiao, and the others, Ningguang cleverly shifted the topic.
She directed the Jade Chamber to quickly leave the area.
Jean and the rest didn't fully figure out what Zhongli was up to. They were still immersed in the shock brought on by the TNT duplicator.
To be honest, from the first wave of explosions to the end of the second, excluding travel time, the entire bombing operation lasted only two to three minutes.
And in those few minutes, hundreds of high-level monsters—Juvenile Geovishaps—were effortlessly wiped out.
The entire Nantianmen was flattened by the blasts.
The once-spacious Nantianmen had been forcibly turned into a barren plain.
Originally, the area had been open, overgrown with weeds and scattered with rocks due to the lack of visitors.
But now...
The entire place had been overturned.
Where the Juvenile Geovishaps once gathered now lay a fresh basin.
It was horrifying to behold!
That was the only way Jean could describe it.
Imagining this version of the Jade Chamber deployed in a real battlefield—what kind of scene would that be?
It would calmly float overhead, and all enemies below would be reduced to rubble?
And what kind of power would that require?
Just a few people to operate the Redstone cannons, while Ningguang handled the navigation?
Jean had thought it through—no matter how strong the Knights of Favonius were, they'd be destroyed in minutes facing this Jade Chamber.
Even the Archons wouldn't be exempt.
At least Jean didn't believe she could survive that kind of dense bombardment.
You had to understand, those in Teyvat with aerial counterstrike abilities were extremely rare.
And the Jade Chamber? It flew hundreds of meters in the air—how could anyone attack that?
Even if someone could fly up to confront it...
Did they think the area-covering cannons and Mountain-Splitting Cannon were just for show?
In just a short time, Jean had figured it out:
The Redstone duplicator was used for wide-area ground bombardment.
And the coverage-type Redstone cannons...
In terms of weapons from Ryen's past life—they were like close-in defense cannons.
Once they activated, the entire Jade Chamber would become like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, releasing TNT in all directions, overwhelming everything below.
No one could get close.
And if a powerful enemy did launch an aerial attack—there was still the Mountain-Splitting Cannon for precision targeting.
All-around, no-blind-spot attacks. The strongest spear... and the strongest shield.
This was Liyue's ultimate trump card.
In peacetime, it symbolized Liyue's power and governance.
In wartime...
It was a war fortress suspended high in the heavens.
A deterrent to all enemies harboring ill intent.
The Jade Chamber flew off.
But compared to when it arrived, the atmosphere onboard now was eerily silent.
Only after this terrifying fortress had left Nantianmen...
Did a man cloaked in thunder-armored light quietly emerge from the ruins in the distance.
It was Tartaglia.
He had noticed the Jade Chamber's sudden movement away from Mt. Tianheng and deduced something big was happening.
He immediately activated the first phase of his Delusion and pursued it.
After much effort, he finally witnessed the Jade Chamber's bombardment.
Staring at the wasteland before him, Tartaglia broke out in a cold sweat.
Who would've thought that just a few minutes ago, this place had hosted over a hundred powerful monsters—an endless plain?
And now...
It was a basin. The monsters had completely vanished.
Recalling the overwhelming rain of explosions from earlier...
Tartaglia suddenly felt that those so-called modified soldiers of the Fatui were laughably weak in comparison.
Mass assaults? That was child's play to the Jade Chamber.
Even if thousands of modified soldiers came, the Jade Chamber could turn them all to dust in minutes.
Tartaglia didn't even think he could survive such a bombardment.
"Liyue... just what have they discovered?!"
In that moment, a sliver of fear surged in Tartaglia's heart.
He wasn't afraid of battle, nor of death.
But...
A completely one-sided, crushing defeat like that—
Tartaglia couldn't see it as honorable for a warrior.
He was afraid...
~~----------------------
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