Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

”Team One has been busy building a new city on the plains. They’ve started repairing the foundation. Based on their manpower, it’ll take another two months to complete the blueprint design.”

”Team Two returned last night with a variety of materials—and eight Wither Skeleton skulls.”

”However, they didn’t find the ancient ruins that Lord Ryen mentioned.”

”Team Three is also progressing smoothly. They’re becoming quite familiar with this world and are preparing to expand toward the area surrounding the snowy mountain.”

”Also, Lord Ryen, Team Three asked me to check with you—do you want them to explore the desert?”

”As for the Lucky Block harvests, nothing particularly noteworthy was obtained.”

”This week, we’ve collected a total of 13,500 tons of resources, including iron ore, coal, wood, lapis lazuli, and so on.”

”They’ve all been stored at Base No. 1.”

”The Wither Skeleton skulls are being carried by me personally.”

With that, Dashi solemnly took out the Wither Skeleton skulls and handed them to Ryen.

He didn’t know what they were used for, but Ryen had mentioned they were very important.

Just last night, Ningguang also emphasized that the Wither Skeleton skulls must be centrally stored, and absolutely none must be left loose.

Dashi took that to heart, carefully checking everyone in Team Two’s backpacks.

Even though he trusted them not to hoard anything, this way, at least he could report with confidence.

Ryen accepted the skulls and casually stored them in his backpack.

”Eight, huh... Looks like one more week should do it.”

He murmured softly, then looked up and said:

”Got it. Tell Team Three there’s no need to explore the desert—keep expanding around the snowy mountain.”

”Once they finish there, have them help Team One with city construction.”

The desert was being saved for Mondstadt’s outpost.

From there, they could watch over Team Three on the snowy mountain, and support each other when needed.

”Also…”

Ryen paused and asked softly:

”Anyone want to go back and rest for a bit? I can still send people out right now.”

Dashi scratched his head sheepishly.

”Actually, I already asked them about that. But everyone’s still super motivated right now—no one wants to leave…”

Ryen chuckled and shook his head, but didn’t press the issue. He simply reminded Dashi to make sure everyone didn’t forget about the disconnect between the laws of the two worlds.

Otherwise, it might lead to disorientation upon returning.

With that, Dashi left.

Team Two had just returned from the Nether and was still resting at Base No. 1.

Even though they said they were fine, the Nether was a harsh environment—not suitable for long stays.

They’d need at least a day’s rest before heading back to mine resources again.

Jean and the others watched Dashi’s back as he left. Even though they’d learned yesterday that Liyue had three teams operating in this world, hearing a full week’s report today still made them feel envious.

In fact, they understood very well—

Those impressive results were despite the fact that Liyue hadn’t even begun large-scale resource extraction.

Team One was building a city, Team Two was collecting mob drops from the Nether.

These two teams mostly gathered resources like iron in their spare time.

Team Three was steadily mining more traditional resources.

And yet, they still managed to haul in over ten thousand tons—in just seven days…

No wonder Ningguang and the others always looked so casual when talking about resources.

Still, it was just a bit of envy.

After all, they were now onboard too. Once they became more familiar with this world, Mondstadt’s people would join in.

Then, they too could harvest resources on a large scale like Liyue.

They followed Ryen to the villager trading center.

Thanks to repeated trades, the villagers’ profession levels had maxed out.

And with Ganyu’s intervention and luck buffs, they’d managed to obtain quite a few great items again today.

The enchanted books were all highly practical.

After organizing the manor villa with Ryen, Cloud Retainer took her leave to continue shaping the mountain.

From the villa’s perspective, the mountain already bore some resemblance to Jueyun Karst.

Now came the hardest part—refining the details.

But Cloud Retainer seemed to enjoy it.

She even mentioned building a statue of herself.

This one was a true hardcore player—currently, she probably had the deepest understanding of this world among Ningguang’s group.

After saying goodbye to Cloud Retainer, Ryen led the group to Sky Island.

Yesterday had been a rushed visit. Jean and the others had still been dazed and confused at the time.

They had only glanced at the mob farm before heading back.

Today, Ryen took the time to explain the workings of automatic farms like the iron farm, using the mob farm as an example.

Judging by their expressions, they probably didn’t fully understand it yet—but Jean didn’t mind jotting it all down anyway.

Once Mondstadt settled in, they could just copy the designs.

It would take a while to fully grasp this world’s unique characteristics.

The group chatted as they walked toward the Nether portal.

The eerie purple-black shimmer made Jean and the others frown slightly.

”Even without your warning, I can already feel that this place is extremely dangerous,” Lisa remarked as she casually examined the portal’s structure.

”Just obsidian, huh… Looks simple, but I wonder if there’s more to it.”

Ryen noticed her curiosity and smiled as he explained:

”Place obsidian in a 4×5 arrangement, then light it with flint and steel. That’ll open a Nether portal.”

”Oh, and I almost forgot—obsidian is one of the strongest materials in this world.”

”This stuff can withstand TNT blasts. You can’t make tools with it, but it’s extremely practical. That’s why it’s a priority target for Team Three.”

Jean recalled last night’s TNT explosion that ripped up the ground, and clicked her tongue.

”This stuff can withstand TNT? That’s some terrifying hardness. Definitely the best material for city construction.”

Upon hearing this, Ningguang chuckled softly and shook her head.

”It’s not just about city-building. Besides, this material doesn’t have the best appearance, and it’s a bit troublesome to collect. It’s not really suitable as a construction material.”

”However, for now, our plan is to use obsidian for sealing and reinforcement.”

”For example, in The Chasm, it’s always been sealed with the power of the Qixing.”

”If we use obsidian to reinforce the seal, the effect might be far stronger than our traditional Qixing seal.”

Regarding the situation at The Chasm, Jean and the other higher-ups were naturally aware.

That was the main battleground during the invasion of the dark monsters five hundred years ago, and it had remained a dangerous place ever since.

But hearing Ningguang’s suggestion, Jean also felt that it made perfect sense.

If nothing else, back when they subdued Dvalin, if they had just used obsidian to seal off that high tower directly…

Dvalin flapping his wings? The Sky-Shattering Dragon?

Let’s see him try to shatter obsidian.

If he didn’t crash into it and give himself a massive bump on the head, then obsidian wouldn’t deserve its title as one of the most durable materials.

Obsidian!

Jean committed it to memory!

She quickly jotted down ”obsidian” in her notebook and circled it heavily for emphasis.

But Ningguang’s reminder also sparked more ideas among Jean and the others about how Minecraft world materials could be used.

If, back when they were dealing with Dvalin, they had used obsidian platforms suspended mid-air to counter his platform-shattering attack…

Dvalin’s dive might have just snapped his claws instead.

While Jean was deep in thought, Ryen had already called everyone to head into the Nether.

Jean had to temporarily suppress those ideas, planning to consult with Ningguang later once they got back.

The Nether portal was different from the bidirectional portal — Lisa could tell as soon as she stepped through.

The bidirectional portal didn’t have such an intense spatial distortion.

But this Nether portal, even though Lisa shared part of Ryen’s physique, was still overwhelming for someone with her weaker constitution.

The bizarre, twisted visuals made her nauseous.

As soon as they arrived in the Nether, Lisa turned pale and leaned against the portal frame, dry-heaving.

A large hand gently patted her back. When she looked up, she saw Ryen smiling warmly at her.

”Feeling awful, right? Because of the curse, your body is already weak. Even with my enhancement, the spatial distortion still affects you.”

”But you’ll get used to it after a few times.”

Lisa didn’t respond directly.

As for her physical condition — without elemental support, she couldn’t even match a regular Knight of Favonius soldier.

After all, she was a mage.

Plus, due to the curse, her vitality had been severely diminished. She had only just broken the curse a few days ago and was still recovering.

After a moment’s rest, Lisa straightened up and smiled at Ryen.

”You really are a considerate man… girls are totally weak to this type.”

Seeing she still had the energy to joke, Ryen chuckled.

”Then, do you count as a girl?”

Lisa raised an eyebrow and gave Ryen a meaningful look.

”No matter the age, a girl is always a girl, you know!”

No matter the age?

Ryen glanced sideways at Lisa.

With this lazy and seductive witch, who knows whether she meant her age… or her proportions…

But with Ganyu still watching, Ryen didn’t plan to start discussing any ”driving techniques” with Lisa.

Instead, he turned and scooped up Nahida and Paimon.

The two little ones also seemed a bit uncomfortable.

Watching Ryen’s retreating figure, Lisa’s gaze flickered, deep in thought.

A moment later, as if sensing Ganyu’s wary stare, Lisa smiled sweetly and nodded at her before looking away.

She began surveying the surroundings.

They were surrounded by the same pale concrete-like material used in Ryen’s villa.

Warm lights hung from the ceiling.

”It looks… just like your villa. Is this really the Nether?”

”No, no!”

Before Ryen could answer, Hu Tao earnestly raised a finger and wagged it.

”This is hell!”

”Hell?”

Jean was puzzled, looking around.

Aside from the portal’s slightly sinister vibe, everything else looked like a warmly lit, elegant villa.

Directly ahead was a long corridor stretching into the distance, its end unknown.

There was a door at the side, seemingly leading to a platform.

If anything felt off…

It was probably the lack of wide glass windows in the hallway.

”No matter how you put it…”

Jean pursed her lips and muttered:

”The atmosphere here still feels just like a villa…”

”You sure about that?”

Ryen smiled mysteriously and beckoned everyone forward. Soon, they reached the large door.

For some reason, what lay beyond the door gave Jean and the others a strange sense of unease.

Ryen turned and grinned at them, then — with a dramatic flourish — flung the sealed door open.

A wave of intense heat hit them in the face, followed by the distinct smell of molten lava.

Blood-red light instantly flooded their vision.

Ryen spread his arms, standing with his back to the crimson world, a playful look on his face.

”Welcome to Hell!”

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