Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

Ningguang and the others had made their intentions quite clear.

They had chosen to partially separate their own identities from that of Liyue.

Any resources Liyue needed in this world would naturally be handled by the workers sent to settle here.

As for them, they would operate as individuals alongside Ryen, forming an organization akin to an adventurer's guild—essentially becoming the true pioneers and explorers of this Minecraft world.

Once the Liyue workers arrived, concerns about resources would be largely resolved.

That way, Ningguang and the others could freely dedicate themselves to studying redstone technology, exploring the unique aspects of this world, and more—without any restraints.

Ultimately, they would take the knowledge gained from Ryen and use it to benefit Liyue.

This would create a perfect closed loop.

At the same time, it would also strengthen the bond between Ryen and Liyue, deepening their relationship through friendship.

Of course…

Whether it would remain just friendship or evolve into something else…

Well, that was something only time would reveal.

As they laughed and chatted, their camaraderie indeed grew stronger, and their interactions became much more natural.

At the very least, Ningguang and the others no longer addressed Xiao as the "Conqueror of Demons" but simply by his name.

Cloud Retainer's dissatisfaction with Keqing had mostly dissipated as well.

This subtle shift pleased Zhongli.

To him, this was the first perfect step toward a Liyue governed by mortals.

A system where humans took the lead, while the Adepti willingly offered their friendship—choosing to protect Liyue not because of their past obligations under the Geo Archon, but out of their own free will.

For Zhongli, this was an ideal outcome.

"By the way."

Ryen suddenly clapped his hands together, his expression turning slightly more serious.

"You all saw firsthand just how dangerous the mines were this time."

"So, your original plan—to send Liyue's workers straight into the caves once they arrive—needs to be put on hold."

"Keqing, the notes you've been taking are really valuable. You should compile them further and distribute them to every miner."

"For now, have them start by chopping trees and getting familiar with block mechanics on the surface. We can introduce them to mining later."

Hearing this, Keqing nodded solemnly.

"I understand. In fact, I was already planning to have Xiao and Zhongli each lead a team into the mines first—just to help them get familiar with the terrain."

"As long as we establish a solid foundation, things will be much smoother later on."

As she spoke, Keqing turned toward Xiao and Zhongli.

Neither of them had any objections.

Zhongli was more than willing to contribute to his people as a mortal.

As for Xiao…

He was simply eager to redeem himself.

Even now, just thinking about how he had fallen into lava made his face burn with embarrassment.

He was a Yaksha, with unparalleled combat instincts—how could he have made such a stupid mistake?

And right in front of Zhongli, no less.

It was utterly mortifying!

Thus, the moment Keqing made her request, Xiao immediately agreed.

After that, Ryen discussed tomorrow's worker deployment plan with Ningguang.

The first group of workers would consist of fifty people, accompanied by ten elite Millelith soldiers for security.

Ryen planned to send them to the western forest near the village first—to cut down trees and build a base of operations.

As for mining…

That would have to wait.

They spent another ten minutes or so fine-tuning the details for tomorrow.

Then, Ryen suddenly changed the topic.

With a curious tone, he asked:

"I remember Ganyu mentioning that Teyvat has a special flying tool called the Wind Glider?"

As soon as Ryen said this, Ningguang immediately understood his intentions.

He wanted to see if Wind Gliders could be used in this world.

However, Ningguang didn't have high hopes.

In Minecraft, each of them was carrying literal tons of resources on their person.

Would Wind Gliders really be able to lift them into the air?

Still, rather than voice her doubts, she simply smiled and nodded.

"I'll look for one when I return today. I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

"Great, I appreciate it."

Ryen glanced up at the sky.

The sun was still high, though slightly tilted westward—meaning it was probably around one in the afternoon.

After a brief moment of thought, he asked:

"Do any of you have anything urgent to do? If not, I could open a portal to send you back to Teyvat first."

"Hmm…"

Ganyu scratched her cheek, looking a bit hesitant.

"There's nothing pressing at Yuehai Pavilion… And don't you have plans for new construction this afternoon? I want to—um, I mean, I'd like to help!"

Hearing this, Ryen chuckled and nodded.

"This afternoon, I plan to redesign some structures using the resources we gathered. After all, this haul was quite substantial."

"Are you going to be using redstone?"

Cloud Retainer, who had been maintaining her usual elegant and composed demeanor, suddenly leaned in excitedly, staring at Ryen with eager anticipation.

Behind the red half-rimmed glasses, her eyes gleamed with an unprecedented brilliance.

Ryen felt a chill run down his spine. For a moment, he nearly thought Cloud Retainer wanted to devour him whole.

"Cloud Retainer!"

Before Ryen could say anything, Ganyu puffed up her cheeks in displeasure and glared at Cloud Retainer.

"You're way too close! That's improper etiquette!"

Cloud Retainer, however, merely cast Ganyu a glance and replied bluntly:

"Relax, little Ganyu. This immortal has no intention of competing with you for a man. After all, this is the first time in thousands of years you've ever felt something like this—"

"Cloud Retainer!!!"

Ganyu's face instantly turned an astonishing shade of red. She shot up from her seat, flustered beyond belief.

She stammered for a few moments under Ryen's gaze, before ultimately fleeing back to her room in a panic.

Cloud Retainer furrowed her brows slightly, looking somewhat puzzled.

"Did I say something wrong?"

She mused in contemplation.

"This child… Ganyu must be going through a rebellious phase. This immortal understands her less and less these days."

Sighing with the regret of a mother figure, Cloud Retainer brooded for a brief moment. Then, in the blink of an eye, she brightened up again and enthusiastically took the seat Ganyu had vacated, scooting closer to Ryen.

"Ryen, do you intend to make use of redstone technology? Is there anything this immortal can assist with?"

The others also set aside their own thoughts and turned toward Ryen with anticipation.

Ryen hesitated for a moment, thinking things through before answering with some uncertainty:

"Whether we use redstone or not… I can't say for sure. If we want to develop redstone technology on a large scale, I'd still need to take a trip to the Nether for additional materials."

Noticing the hint of disappointment on everyone's faces, Ryen quickly added:

"However, if you're really eager to see how redstone works, I can think of some small-scale redstone devices that we can build with our current materials."

Hearing this, everyone immediately perked up, their motivation rekindled.

Ryen found it amusing—none of them had even witnessed the true charm of redstone yet, and they were already so intrigued.

Perhaps it was because they had spent so much time around him.

Since he had been longing for redstone for so long, it was only natural that his excitement had rubbed off on them.

"Besides that, I still need to upgrade the mob farm."

As he spoke, Ryen looked up at the barely visible structure in the sky, his dissatisfaction evident.

"The mob farm can spawn monsters, sure—but that's just the most basic function."

"Right now, the drops don't automatically enter storage; we have to pick them up ourselves."

Ryen shook his head, then looked forward with a gleam of anticipation in his eyes.

"So this afternoon, I plan to upgrade the mob farm."

"I'll install hoppers to ensure that monster drops go directly into storage chests."

"And then, I want to experiment with a special mechanism—a trident killer that exploits world mechanics—to see if it can be integrated with the mob farm for full automation."

The moment Ryen started talking about construction, his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, and he took on the demeanor of a true infrastructure fanatic.

To be honest, he wasn't entirely confident about combining the trident killer with the mob farm.

The fundamental issue lay in the design conflict between the two.

The mob farm's hoppers were designed to collect everything that landed on them, funneling all dropped items into chests.

Meanwhile, the old trident killer worked by throwing a trident onto the ground, then using pistons to push both the monsters and the trident.

When the monsters were forced to move and collided with the trident, they would take damage and eventually die.

The key advantage of the old trident killer was that since the trident had been thrown by a player, any monsters killed by it would still count as player kills, ensuring that XP drops were preserved.

The problem was…

If the trident landed on the mob farm's hoppers, it would most likely get sucked up and sent straight into a chest.

On the surface, it seemed completely incompatible with the mob farm.

However…

There were many ways to build a trident killer. The piston-powered method was merely the most basic and resource-intensive version.

Fortunately, Ryen knew of another method—one that was absurdly simple, required almost no resources, and was foolproof.

After all…

Humans survived in this world using their intelligence and creativity.

And in this reality, unlike in the game, Ryen wasn't some stiff-limbed Steve with no visible fingers.

His flexibility and realism granted him far more possibilities within the world of Minecraft.

…

"I see…"

Cloud Retainer nodded deeply, her voice laced with a hint of awe.

The others froze.

After all…

None of them had understood a single word Ryen had just said!

So why was Cloud Retainer, who had never encountered proper redstone technology before, nodding as if she had just gained profound enlightenment?!

Xiao pursed his lips, wondering if Cloud Retainer's mastery of mechanism arts had allowed her to intuitively grasp Ryen's concepts.

"Cloud Retainer, did you actually understand any of that?"

Xiao asked in a low voice.

"Not at all."

Cloud Retainer answered with absolute honesty.

"…"

Xiao's mouth opened slightly, his earlier speculation completely shattered.

After a long silence, he finally asked in confusion:

"Then why did you…"

"Empathy."

Cloud Retainer responded calmly. Then, her gaze softened slightly, touched by a hint of sorrow.

"In the past, whenever I crafted a new mechanism, I always wanted Guizhong to see it—to have her acknowledge my work."

"I understand the joy of having one's mechanical innovations recognized. So…"

She paused, as if trying to push old memories of Guizhong out of her mind.

Then, she regained her usual composure and added matter-of-factly:

"Besides, even if that weren't the case, I still think a fully automated monster farm is a fascinating invention."

"Perhaps… I might even be able to design an automated machine for clearing demons one day."

Her reasoning was flawless.

The others didn't even know where to begin to argue.

For a moment, even Ningguang and the others found Cloud Retainer… surprisingly considerate.

After a brief silence, Ryen stood up and stretched lazily.

"Alright, it's getting late. Since we've finalized our afternoon plans, I should get started."

He turned to Ningguang and the others.

"Are you sure you don't need to go back to handle any official matters?"

Ningguang stood up as well, stretching just as comfortably as Ryen.

"No need. I planned for two days off, and I still have half a day left. Besides…"

"We built this floating island together. If you're going to improve it, that's something I definitely can't miss."

Ryen shrugged and started heading toward the floating island.

"Suit yourselves—but if you're staying, you're helping me work."

"Looks like by tonight, not only will the mob farm be upgraded, but we might even have an iron farm up and running…"

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