Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

The Wither Storm rose to its peak—then burst apart like a firework in the sky.

Heaven and earth fell into solemn stillness.

A strange, gem-like object dropped to the ground. Ryen stepped forward and picked it up with a faint smile.

”Nether Star... Took quite a bit of effort to get this.”

The others returned to the chamber and quickly lit torches.

They had been able to see clearly just now only because of Night Vision potions.

In reality, this pitch-black cavern had no light source at all.

Without torches, monsters would start spawning any moment now.

”So this is the Nether Star? The core of a Beacon?”

Ningguang asked curiously.

Ryen nodded slightly.

”That’s right. Combine it with glass and obsidian to craft a Beacon.”

”But… let’s leave the Beacon for tomorrow.”

Putting the Nether Star away, Ryen turned to the group with a grin.

”We worked together perfectly this time. Took the Wither Storm down before it could evolve into Phase Two.”

”Ehe~!”

Venti shrugged in mock regret.

”Should I be sad we didn’t get to see it transform?”

Ryen rolled his eyes.

”You’re the last person qualified to say that. You got hit and ended up with the Wither effect.”

”If we hadn’t taken it down fast, it would have evolved, thanks to you.”

Venti’s smile froze. He pouted.

”Come on, everyone slips up now and then!”

Ryen shook his head, letting it go.

In the end, the fight went smoothly.

Now that everyone knew what to expect, handling future Wither Storms using this kind of teamwork would be much easier.

As for not seeing the evolution stage?

This wasn’t a video game. Who goes out of their way to make a separate save file just to see a boss’s final form?

If someone wants to see it, they’re welcome to fight it themselves.

As far as Ryen was concerned, the first-phase Wither was the cutest version.

That final form? A grotesque abomination of tentacles and monstrous eyes.

And worse—whether you slay a Phase One or Phase Seven Wither, it only ever drops one Nether Star.

Even if it dropped ten at once, Ryen wouldn’t bother letting it evolve.

Life comes first.

”By the way, Ryen—when did you learn that sword technique?”

Keqing looked at him with curiosity.

In Teyvat, her Elemental Burst somewhat mimicked the rapid movement he had just performed—

but hers was powered by Electro-enhanced agility.

Ryen’s attack, on the other hand, had clearly been executed using the power of space itself—

a near-instantaneous flurry of strikes across the battlefield.

Keqing’s words reminded the others too.

That gorgeous katana in Ryen’s hand—none of them had ever seen it before.

Even Lumine was wondering if this weapon might be a high-tier synthetic item from this world.

If it was, she had to craft at least ten of them.

Why?

Spatial manipulation—instant teleportation!

How world-breaking would it be to bring that kind of weapon back to Teyvat?

If they’d had such a thing back when fighting the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles, would they have been sealed so easily?

Ryen casually waved the blade—the Yama Blade—and explained with a chuckle:

”I use the Yama Blade’s Phantom Slash to anchor my spatial shifting ability—

by scattering a large number of phantom blades, I can rapidly teleport and attack across a defined zone.”

”I call it... Flying Thunder God. Flashy, right?”

Ningguang and the others couldn’t help but nod.

This wasn’t just about style. Each swing of that Yama Blade earlier had dealt more damage than any of their best hits.

When the Wither Storm had about a third of its health left, Ryen’s flurry of slashes had visibly shredded it.

Even more terrifying was the Phantom Slash at the end—

unassuming in appearance, yet capable of tearing through space itself.

It made Venti recall the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles.

That entity also wielded the power of space.

And yet… Ryen’s slash had given Venti a bone-deep sense of doom.

It felt like—even with all his divine power—he would not survive that one strike.

”That weapon… the Yama Blade, was it?”

Lumine’s eyes burned with interest, but before she could ask more—

Cloud Retainer gently shook her head.

”Don’t even think about it. That’s Ryen’s exclusive weapon—one of the highest-tier items from a mod.”

”You can’t craft it. At least, not yet.”

Diluc’s eyes narrowed slightly.

”Not yet, huh? Then... what about later?”

Ryen smiled and nodded.

”Once the mod is unlocked, while we can’t mass-produce it, we can forge a few.”

Lisa, deep in thought, turned to Ganyu.

”That explosion earlier… I don’t recall Ganyu having that kind of firepower.”

After all, as the secretary to the Liyue Qixing and a half-adeptus, Ganyu had been on her fair share of battlefields.

Mondstadt still had some records of her combat capabilities.

”You’re right.”

Ganyu gave Ryen a happy glance and retrieved her weapon.

”This is what Ryen gave me—a Barrett anti-materiel sniper rifle.”

”Its power is immense. In Teyvat, one charged shot with elemental infusion could flatten a small mountain.”

”Also from a mod.”

Ryen chimed in.

”Unlike my Yama Blade, Ganyu’s Barrett can be mass-produced. But it requires a lot of resources.”

”And not just anyone can wield it. Without the right physique, firing a single shot could shatter your bones from the recoil.”

”Fortunately, Ganyu and the Barrett are a perfect match.”

”T-That’s not true!”

Ganyu pouted.

”I and Ryen are the perfect match!”

Ryen blinked, then chuckled and patted her horns.

Their occasional flirting was so common now, no one batted an eye anymore.

Lisa, recalling what Ryen had once mentioned back at the villa, spoke up.

”You said before—you needed to slay the Wither Storm to unlock a new mod...”

”So that was the real goal all along.”

”Compared to that, a Beacon seems kind of... trivial.”

Ryen gave a noncommittal nod.

”Mods are the real mystery of this world.”

”That Lucky Block you saw before, and the huge excavation from Xiao’s single pickaxe strike—that was from vein mining.”

”Both are already unlocked mods.”

”I can tell you this—only with mods does this world’s ceiling truly start to rise.”

Looking at Jean and the others’ stunned expressions—

even though they’d seen plenty already today—Ningguang still found their reactions amusing.

She picked up the conversation.

”The enchanted armor, the heavy cavalry, the alchemical light infantry—all that’s just our current phase.”

”In the future, our entire focus will shift to mod and tech exploration. Resources? Barely a concern anymore.”

Her gaze softened as she looked at Ryen, then continued:

”During this time, Ryen has told us a lot about the features of different mods,” Ningguang said softly. ”And I’ve been dreaming ever since.”

”In those dreams… Liyue soars above the skies.”

”The Millelith each wield a blade that draws power with a single unsheathing… and wield vampiric scepters that drain the life from their enemies.”

”On the battlefield, the Millelith charge forth in tanks, the navy commands battleships across the oceans. And when facing hordes of monsters, they first call in aerial strikes from fighter planes for a bombing run—”

”Then the steel tide of modern firepower follows close behind.”

”Liyue would obtain a crushing advantage—what Ryen called a dimensionality-reduction strike against Teyvat.”

”By then, whether it’s the Heavenly Principles or anything else, Liyue will have the strength to wipe out all its enemies on its own.”

”We’ll continue to work hard… until that dream becomes reality.”

Ryen chuckled softly and nodded.

”I’ll help you get there.”

”I’m looking forward to building a transcendent nation with my own hands.”

Listening to Ningguang’s words, Jean and the others couldn’t help but start envisioning that future too.

Unfortunately, they’d only just arrived in this world recently and didn’t yet fully grasp its many intricacies.

To put it simply—they lacked imagination.

Still, that didn’t stop them from fantasizing about a better future for Mondstadt.

Even if they didn’t yet understand what ’modern firepower’ or ’unsheathing blades’ truly meant…

If Mondstadt could follow in Liyue’s footsteps and export cheap yet potent resources in mass—

Its economy would flourish.

They didn’t need to match Liyue entirely; even reaching half that standard would vastly improve the quality of life for every Mondstadt citizen.

If Mondstadt could achieve a military strength equivalent to Liyue’s current force…

Forget defending themselves—

They could even strike back at the Fatui.

They could storm into Fatui bases in Mondstadt, slap the local overseer across the face, and tell them—

”If you want to do business in Mondstadt, pay your protection fees first.”

Then, effortlessly wipe out every enhanced soldier stationed there.

The enmity between Mondstadt and the Fatui runs deep.

More precisely—

The hatred between Mondstadt and the Harbinger known as The Doctor goes back a long time.

Diluc would never forget—

His father, betrayed and ambushed by the Doctor, perished beneath the claws of a corrupted dragon.

Nor could he forgive the time the Doctor manipulated Mondstadt, stealing away countless children…

In his travels across Teyvat, Diluc had found many of those missing children in various Fatui research bases.

Those boys and girls, who should’ve bloomed like flowers, had instead been turned into cold corpses through inhuman experimentation.

Some were even turned into war machines—

Blades now aimed at their own homeland.

From that moment on, Diluc swore a vow:

Family vengeance… national hatred… all upon his shoulders.

Even if it cost him his life—

He would one day force the Doctor to kneel in Mondstadt for all eternity, repenting to the souls he had destroyed.

The memories of those children came flooding back.

Diluc’s eyes grew bloodshot, and he clenched his fists tightly.

Then, with deep sincerity, he bowed toward Ryen.

”Mr. Ryen… perhaps you don’t realize how important this is to Mondstadt… to me.”

”You’ve given me hope for revenge. A chance to fulfill our dreams.”

”From this day forward, if you ever need anything—”

”Whether it be from the underground intelligence network, or the Dawn Winery—”

”We will spare no cost, sacrifice everything, to support you.”

”Even if it means losing everything… thank you.”

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