Chapter Thirty-Seven: Flower of the Earth Veins

Having left the cave where Haypasia practiced, Tighnari finally finished his investigation report. The only issue was that, due to his overly concise phrasing, the word count was still slightly short despite the extensive research. Unable to use punctuation to pad the length, Tighnari had no choice but to sit at his desk, meticulously racking his brain to fill in the final missing bits.

"Done!"

After polishing the text, Tighnari looked at the paper in his hand—which had just crested twenty thousand words—with a sense of relief. Having finally completed his task, he stretched his arms wide in his seat and stood up, looking slightly weary. After one final check to ensure there were no errors or omissions, Tighnari went out to find a nearby messenger and sent the investigation report, which he had been working on for many days, to his mentor, Nafis.

With a light heart and nothing left to do, Tighnari felt everything around him looked exceptionally bright and charming; even the sunlight at his doorstep seemed more brilliant than usual.

"Finally finished. Surely there’s nothing left for me to do now, right?"

With the report taken care of, Tighnari felt he could finally relax for a few days. In high spirits, he decided to treat himself by cooking a hearty mixed-mushroom stew that evening.

...

Lin Feng, who was nearly two-thirds of the way through his progress, remained diligently busy within the Ley Lines. As his energy reserves increased, Lin Feng’s consciousness drew ever closer to that of a true god. Curious about his current state, he brought up his panel for the first time in a long while:

[Individual Information: @￥%&—Lin Feng]
Level: 71 → 75 + 15 (Insufficient conditions) (Possessing a complete authority, the chasm between god and man is, for you, not worth mentioning.)
Attribute: Dendro
Traits: [#%*&], Elemental Mastery - Dendro (Connecting to Ley Lines, temporarily unlocking), Blessing of Dreams 7 (Insufficient conditions), Elemental Resistance 7 (Insufficient conditions), Elemental Affinity 7 (Insufficient conditions), Robust Physique 7 (Insufficient conditions), Dexterity 7 (Insufficient conditions)
...

The initial 4-level increase was due to the feedback Lin Feng had received from the Ley Lines after clearing various Withering Zones. As for the additional levels that followed, that was the fruit of his labor during this period.

Through his recent work, Lin Feng felt more and more that the Ley Line system of Teyvat was truly a miraculous thing. Clearly, the energy flowing within it was impossible for the vast majority of living beings to absorb or utilize; if it leaked out, it would even cause severe pollution to the surrounding ecosystem. Yet, once other lifeforms completed the challenge of a Petrified Tree or cleared a Withering Zone that eroded the world, the Ley Lines would act as if they possessed their own will, converting the violent energy into rewards and bestowing the challenger with the gifts they deserved.

And what Lin Feng was doing now could be summarized in one word: exploiting a bug.

If a god is defined as having complete authority plus sufficient divine power, then by extension, if Lin Feng possessed complete authority plus sufficient divine power, he should be able to call himself a god without issue.

Theoretically, gods are born, not made; non-god individuals can never master a complete authority, let alone imbue elemental energy with their own will to refine it into divine power. However, the problem—or rather, the advantage—was that Lin Feng happened to possess a complete authority. Though he didn't know where it came from, that didn't stop him from using it. Previously limited by his level and energy reserves, his authority over vegetation had remained in a partially locked state. Now, connected to the Ley Lines and under a sufficient power supply, the authority over vegetation was temporarily unlocked.

This "loaned" authority could, in turn, convert more elemental energy into divine power, storing it temporarily within his body. By "stepping on his own left foot to lift his right," as long as he finished converting all the power within him, Lin Feng would be a fully-realized god—temporarily. As for the system level, that was even simpler: "I have the authority and the divine power; if you don't give me level 100, are you looking down on me?"

Having confirmed the feasibility of his plan, Lin Feng intended to continue his bug-exploiting journey. He gained power, the rainforest received blessings; without a doubt, this was a win-win situation.

—As for how much fur poor Tighnari lost to cover for Lin Feng, buried deep in the soil, he obviously had no way of knowing.

...

Liyue, Guili Plains.

The endless plains were overgrown with weeds, and sparse shrubs were scattered everywhere. Aside from Hilichurls dancing around iron pots, the only other residents of these plains were the massive boars that roamed at will. Yet, on this peaceful land, dozens of young people of various builds now stood in a dense crowd.

"Big brother, surely we aren't going to lose to this Ley Line Blossom, right?" Among the crowd, a small young man looked at his senior with concern.

"Sigh, rest easy. When I first joined the trade, I was just as timid about everything as you are."

"This ailment is easy to cure. Just stay in the gang for two honest days, and you won't make that mistake again."

The Treasure Hoarder senior, with his weather-beaten face and stubble, gave a melancholic comfort to the newcomer.

"Oh? Does that mean our boss's strength is... very strong?"

Hearing the senior's claim, the young man who had just joined the Treasure Hoarders looked at the robust, chubby leader, a glimmer of admiration in his eyes.

"No, aside from being foolish and wealthy, our boss is quite average." The senior ruthlessly shattered the young man's fantasy.

"Then... are there other experts?" The young man looked at the skinny fellows beside the boss, sighing that appearances could be deceiving.

"No, everyone in our Treasure Hoarder gang is quite average, aside from our talent for bragging."

The senior once again extinguished the young man's unrealistic illusions.

"Then why?" the young man asked, bewildered.

The senior went silent for a moment, looked up at the sky, and said with a pained expression:

"Because you'll find that being afraid is useless; everyone is just as pathetic as you."

The young man: "..."

Realizing he had accidentally dampened the young man's enthusiasm, the senior comforted him again:

"Although most of us in the Raven gang are a bunch of bottom-tier losers, even a rotten ship has three pounds of nails. With so many people fighting one Ley Line Blossom, it’s highly unlikely that anything major will go wrong."

Looking left and right to ensure no one was nearby, the senior leaned close to the newcomer's ear and whispered: "If things look bad, run immediately. Don't listen to the nonsense the boss fed you before you joined. The people in my batch are either six feet under or behind bars. The reason I’ve lasted this long is entirely thanks to this skill of slipping away the moment things go south."

The young man: "..."

*It's over.* What if this isn't the extravagant life of eating meat and drinking wine by the bowlful that I imagined? Can I quit?

The young man, who had been full of excitement just a moment ago, seemed to lose his youthful innocence after the senior's teachings. Together with the stubbly, weather-beaten senior, he looked up at the empty sky with a sense of melancholy.