Genshin Impact: I Can Obtain Adventure EXP

The domains previously explored by the People of Salt, while now lacking treasure chests, still housed monsters that netted him about 500,000 Adventure EXP.

As for the unexplored domains, aside from the one he initially found in Bishui Plain, there were two more.

These two domains yielded a decent haul.

Among the most valuable were the Adventure EXP gained—he encountered Ruin Guards, Geovishaps, and even some monsters that didn't appear in the game.

After defeating them all, Nolan gained over 400,000 Adventure EXP.

In addition to EXP, he found a significant number of treasure chests, gathering plenty of Mora, artifacts, weapons, elemental materials, and more.

He dumped everything into the Wonderland space, which expanded by another three square meters, reaching a total of 433 square meters.

And just like that, the domains Havria had told him about were fully explored, taking a total of four days.

The next three days were spent exploring a few domains that Venti had mentioned. These domains had also been discovered several millennia ago.

With so much time passed, there was no guarantee others hadn't already found them.

Sure enough, when he visited the three domains, he discovered one had already been explored by adventurers and was recorded in the guild registry.

That one barely had any monsters left—pretty much a wasted trip. Fortunately, the remaining two were untouched.

The treasures found there even surpassed what he'd gotten from the domains in Liyue. After storing them in the Wonderland space, it expanded by another four square meters.

Now it had reached a total of 437 square meters.

But more than the treasures, the biggest gain was the EXP—600,000 points in total. And with the "Sword God of Lumine" having cleared up to Floor 6 of the Spiral Abyss...

He earned tens of thousands more Adventure EXP. The total now displayed on his character panel had once again soared past one million—reaching an astonishing 1.83 million!

[Adventure EXP: 1,836,101]

Just a little more and he'd level up twice in a row, hitting Level 99—a step away from the ultimate Level 100.

During this past week, thanks to frequently inviting Barbara and Noelle to explore with him, their relationship had naturally, though tacitly, been confirmed.

Hand-holding, hugs, and even snuggling were now commonplace. As for taking things further—well, both girls were quite delicate and shy.

Nolan hadn't made any reckless moves; otherwise, it would feel like he was bullying them.

The biggest gain in terms of affection came from Barbara. Her affection level had been close to max before, and in the span of the week, he triggered several more affection events.

Her affection level had gone from:

[Barbara's Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (600/800)]

To now:

[Barbara's Current Affection Level: Lv.10 (Max)]

Which meant Barbara's affection for him was now maxed out, same as Noelle's. She granted him a ridiculously powerful affection skill:

[Through genuine sincerity and unwavering effort, you have deeply intertwined your fate with one that was never meant to cross yours. Henceforth, the star of the girl's destiny shall shine alongside yours. Skill acquired: "All That Is Beautiful, I Give to You."]

In the game, once Barbara's sixth constellation is unlocked, her Elemental Burst can fully revive a fallen teammate.

The affection skill he received now had a similar effect—a resurrection ability:

[All That Is Beautiful, I Give to You: When a creature falls, this skill can be used to summon back the soul and return it to the body, healing both spiritual and physical wounds. The energy cost is equivalent to the energy of the fallen creature. The maximum level of revived creatures is the sum of Nolan and Barbara's levels, and only creatures that have fallen within (Nolan + Barbara's level) minutes can be revived.]

Currently, Barbara was Level 32 and Nolan was Level 97. Which meant—with this affection skill—

He could revive any creature that had died within 129 minutes and was no higher than Level 129!

While there were some restrictions, this was resurrection! A miraculous ability!

With this, Nolan basically no longer had to worry about anything bad happening to his close friends or loved ones.

As long as it happened within two hours, he could call the soul back, heal both soul and body, and bring them fully back to life.

After understanding how the resurrection skill worked, Nolan began to feel like maybe others could do something similar as well.

The main issue is that after death, the soul slowly dissipates. But if you retrieve the soul quickly enough and heal the body, the same effect could be replicated.

The hardest part would be retrieving the soul—since after death, the rate at which the soul dissipates varies based on its strength.

For ordinary people, the soul vanishes quickly. Even if someone could theoretically revive them, it'd be incredibly difficult—

Because the soul would already be gone.

Stronger individuals, however, could hold on longer. So if you act fast enough, there's still a chance.

What made Nolan's affection skill so powerful was that he could summon back the soul as long as it had been gone for under 129 minutes.

There might even be a time-based aspect to it.

Perhaps it allows him to call back the soul from the moment of death—before it had time to disperse.

Nolan hadn't used this skill yet, so the exact mechanism remained unclear.

Maybe he could try it on some small animals later. After all, he was still curious about this miraculous power of resurrection.

And just like that, a week passed.

Nolan originally planned to ask Zhongli if there were any other ancient gods he had sealed away in Liyue.

But Barbara and Noelle said they were a bit tired after a few days of adventuring and needed to rest for a while.

Since that was the case, Nolan didn't want to push them. He decided to head to Liyue on his own to find Zhongli. He had also wanted to bring Lumine and Paimon along.

However, they had been taken away by Nahida to help her out. After all, managing a newly reclaimed nation wasn't easy—it was understandable that she needed help.

Of course, Nolan had also been invited, but he was just shy of reaching Level 100. His heart was set on leveling up as quickly as possible.

So he decided to spend a few more days grinding EXP before heading over.

Liyue Harbor, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

When Nolan teleported over, the first thing he saw was a girl sitting on a wooden chair with a backrest, happily munching on pastries.

Perched on her head was a hat adorned with a red plum blossom. Her smooth, reddish-brown hair spilled out from beneath the brim.

Her fair cheeks puffed out under her bangs as she chewed, food crumbs clinging to her lips.

Hu Tao quickly swallowed what was in her mouth, licked her lips, then looked at Nolan and said:

"Aiya, perfect timing! I picked up some red bean cakes at the morning market—want to try one?"

With that, she grabbed one from a paper box on the table and offered it to him.

"Oh, red bean cakes?" Nolan didn't take it immediately. He smiled and said, "Sure, thank you for the treat, Hall Master Hu."

Then, without hesitation, he leaned in and took a bite—along with the two pale fingers holding the cake.

"Hey, you idiot!"

Hu Tao's face flushed red. She yanked her hand back, wiped it off on his clothes, and gave him a shyly annoyed glare.

"Hmph! You scoundrel, what did you come here for?"

"Hehe."

Nolan sat down right next to her, squeezing her so much on the shared chair that her rear was nearly hanging off. Then he scooped her up and sat her on his lap.

"I saw our dear Hall Master sitting here all bored, so I came to keep you company!"

As he spoke, he placed his hand gently on her snowy white thigh and began stroking it softly.

"Ugh… jerk."

Hu Tao placed her hands against his thigh in protest. When he didn't respond, she huffed in frustration and said:

"This Hall Master isn't always bored, you know! I was perfectly happy eating my red bean cakes. Who said I wanted to go out and play with you?"

Clearly, she wasn't too pleased about Nolan casually touching her thigh again, and she busied herself with eating to avoid responding to him.

"Alright, alright. Actually, I'm here to see Zhongli."

Nolan's hand slid forward, now resting on her knee, gently massaging it as he said:

"Consultant Zhongli is incredibly knowledgeable about all sorts of ancient lore. I wanted to ask if he knows about any hidden domains worth exploring."

Feeling the tingling sensation spread from her knees to her thighs, Hu Tao put her red bean cake back into the paper box.

She grabbed both of his wandering hands and even gave him a little pinch with her nails before saying:

"That guy Zhongli ran off early this morning to 'Third-Round Knockout' to listen to Iron Tongue Tian's storytelling. If you want to find him, go on your own, you scoundrel!"

She had originally considered tagging along, but just thinking about how this guy showed up first thing in the morning to tease her made her too annoyed to bother.

She wasn't going to play with him today!

"Alright, alright!"

Nolan smiled and nodded, then tested the waters by asking, "Then I'm off?"

"Go ahead!" Hu Tao crossed her arms and turned her head away—no way she'd take back her words now.

"Sigh~"

Nolan let out an exaggerated sigh and prepared to stand up and leave.

Just as Hu Tao stood up with him, Nolan suddenly pulled her back into his arms, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

Hu Tao instinctively turned her head slightly, lips just barely parting as if about to say something—only for her words to be completely sealed.

Her mouth was blocked before a single syllable could escape!

"Mmph!"

Her plum-blossom-colored eyes widened slightly in surprise. On reflex, she raised a hand to push him away—but he was holding her tightly, making it impossible to move him.

She quickly realized she could still turn her head to the side. But before she could act on it, Nolan raised his hand and gently pressed her cheek, stopping her from turning away.

She had no choice but to let the kiss continue. After a short moment, Hu Tao couldn't hold her breath any longer and instinctively opened her mouth for air.

Nolan seized the opportunity and successfully broke through her last line of defense!

"Mmph!" Hu Tao flailed, lightly hitting him to try and push him away again—but it was no use.

In the end, despite how embarrassed and annoyed she felt, she had no choice but to let him do as he pleased.

Of course, Nolan didn't go too far. After a few minutes of kissing, he finally let her go.

Even so, Hu Tao looked like she'd just run a marathon, slightly out of breath. Blushing furiously, she clenched her fists.

She felt like even the Hall Master was being bullied now—she was ready to punch him. But after catching her breath, she only gave him a flustered "Hmph!"

She didn't actually hit him. Instead, she shot him a glare and muttered softly:

"You wicked jerk!"

So, it had finally come to this. They had finally taken that step. Though Hu Tao had long seen Nolan as her lover…

Still, couldn't he at least give her a heads-up before doing something like that? A little warning so she could prepare herself? That sneak attack was just so unfair!

The more she thought about it, the more indignant she became. Eventually, she stood up and shoved Nolan back down into the chair, straddled him, and grabbed his cheeks, giving him a proper dose of revenge!

By the time he left, his cheeks were flushed red and burning hot, as if he had a fever or heatstroke.

But it wasn't a loss—he had successfully filled the last gap in Hu Tao's affection meter, reaching the maximum level:

[Hu Tao Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 300 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.10 (Max)]

Looking at the affection notification on his character panel, Nolan felt deeply satisfied. Even though his face had been mercilessly squished until it turned red—

It was totally worth it for that affection gain!

Unfortunately, Hu Tao was still too shy to head out with him after all that.

As he walked out of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, rubbing his cheeks, he couldn't help but replay her flustered expression in his mind. It was really cute.

Nolan chuckled to himself and turned his attention to the new notification that had just popped up on his character panel:

[Through genuine sincerity and unwavering effort, you have deeply intertwined your fate with one that was never meant to cross yours. Henceforth, the star of the girl's destiny shall shine alongside yours. Skill acquired: "Together in the Flower Room."]

Together in the Flower Room? It sounded like a sleep-related ability. Nolan was a little surprised and tapped to read the full description:

[Together in the Flower Room: Enter the "Crimson Plum Fragrance" state during battle. Consumes user's HP to greatly increase attack power. For every 1% of HP consumed, final attack power is increased by 10%. Duration equals the sum of both characters' levels. Cannot be interrupted. Upon depletion of HP, enter the "Afterlife Beyond" state: the user disappears into an unobservable space and slowly regenerates HP.]

Well, looks like he'd read too much into the name. Nolan chuckled awkwardly.

Not that he needed "that kind" of ability anyway. With his stamina, he didn't require any skill-based help—unless it had some special effects, of course.

That said, Hu Tao's affection skill was quite powerful—sacrificing just 1% of HP for a 10% final attack boost?

That was insane, especially since it boosted final attack—the value after all multipliers and effects are already calculated.

And the added effect of becoming untargetable in another dimension after HP runs out made it a perfect escape move!

If you unleash your entire burst combo and the enemy still doesn't die, you definitely need a way to bail out.

(End of Chapter)

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