By noon the next day…

After staying behind closed doors for half a day, Ryen and Ningguang finally emerged.

Ningguang had fulfilled her promise—but the result was that she could barely walk straight.

Strangely enough, her complexion looked exceptionally good, as if she had become seven or eight years younger.

Just as they stepped off the floating stone and began walking toward Ryen's courtyard, Ningguang suddenly covered her mouth and dry-heaved.

Ryen raised an eyebrow and teased with a smile:

"Already feeling the effects that fast?"

Ningguang shot him a glare.

"I went to Bubu Pharmacy—I'm not pregnant."

"Then what was that about…?"

"Still going to play dumb, are you?"

Ningguang glared at him again. Ryen gave her an innocent look.

"Hey, you're the one who insisted on testing your limits. How is that my fault?"

"How was I supposed to know you were this…!"

Ningguang grumbled and muttered to herself:

"Ugh, that Ying'er really talks nonsense sometimes…"

She had trusted Ying'er's so-called "expertise," believing in that infamous saying:

"There are only overworked bulls, never broken fields."

But last night, the "field" was practically destroyed—

while the "bull" was still full of energy and ready to plow several more acres.

If she hadn't fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion, he might've kept going this morning… and she'd be completely paralyzed by now.

Still, deep down, Ningguang was happy.

A man that strong—how could she not feel lucky to have him?

"You should know what my constitution is like by now,"

Ryen chuckled teasingly.

"If I really used my full strength, your whole Jade Chamber would've come crashing down. Did you forget how Ganyu and I nearly destroyed a house back then?"

Hearing that, Ningguang gave him a dark, meaningful stare.

"Do you really think now's the time to be reminding me of your 'fun times' with Ganyu?"

"It was just a figure of speech. Don't take it so seriously,"

Ryen laughed it off, then quickly changed the subject:

"We're almost there. Can you still walk on your own?

Zhongli and the others are probably itching to head to that other world and revive the Adepti."

Ningguang smacked him lightly.

"I'm not that weak! Maybe not as strong as Ganyu, but way better than the average person!"

Her slightly jealous response made Ryen chuckle. With a meaningful look, he said:

"So… does that mean you'll be inviting me up to the Jade Chamber again tonight?"

Ningguang's expression shifted, and she hurriedly shook her head.

"Go find Ganyu or Hu Tao tonight! I have to oversee the expansion of the Millelith!"

Ryen laughed softly and muttered under his breath:

"Little rookie…"

But the floating stone was small, and Ningguang naturally heard him. She fumed inwardly but had no way to refute it.

After all, if she wasn't as skilled—she just had to admit it.

If she dared argue, Ryen might sneak up to the Jade Chamber again tonight…

And she truly couldn't handle another round.

Before long, the two returned to the courtyard gate. As expected, when they pushed the door open—everyone had already arrived.

Jean and the others were still calmly sitting around, drinking tea and chatting.

But the adepti couldn't sit still at all.

Especially Cloud Retainer, who was pacing around the courtyard over and over—clearly anxious out of her mind.

"Everyone's here, I see."

Ryen greeted them. In a flash, Cloud Retainer appeared directly in front of him.

"You're finally here! Come on, come on—take us into your world already!"

"That eager?"

Ryen chuckled helplessly and said softly:

"Looks like you managed to recover quite a few soul fragments last night."

Zhongli stepped forward and nodded.

"We found Yixiao and Tongque near Mount Tianheng. The others are still missing for now."

"But most of them are likely in the places where they perished."

"Yixiao's soul fragment is extremely faint—it could vanish at any moment. Tongque's consciousness is still intact enough to think freely, but… it probably won't last long either."

"We plan to revive Yixiao and Tongque first, then immediately resume the search for the others."

Seeing even Zhongli with a trace of urgency in his eyes, Ryen didn't waste time. He snapped his fingers and opened a teleportation portal.

"Let's wait a bit," Ryen said with a small smile.

"We'll head straight to Base One. Dashi and the others should've collected enough Wither Skeleton Skulls by now to summon a Wither Storm."

"Also, we need to assign people to explore the world and go to The End to slay the dragon."

Zhongli nodded absentmindedly, his eyes locked on the portal, waiting for it to stabilize before rushing through.

Meanwhile, Lumine walked over to Ryen and said softly:

"Ryen, I'm planning to head to Inazuma with Ayaka sometime soon."

"You've decided?"

Ryen paused, then nodded.

"That's fine. You've got dragons—you can come and go easily. Worst case, just use a teleport anchor and let Ningguang handle the travel permits."

"It's still a ways off," Lumine said with a grin.

"At the very least, we'll wait until we've found some good loot in the Twilight Forest."

Just as she finished speaking, the teleport portal fully stabilized—and Zhongli and the others rushed through without a word.

Seeing that, Ryen shook his head and sighed.

"Let's go too. We've got a lot to do today. Hopefully, we can finish everything before dinner."

As Ryen stepped through the portal, he saw that Zhongli and the other Adepti hadn't gone far—they were still standing there awkwardly.

He raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Weren't you all in such a hurry? What are you waiting for?"

Moon Carver replied sheepishly:

"We don't have the physique boost…"

Ryen couldn't help but laugh. With a thought, he shared his enhanced physique with everyone.

He understood they were anxious, so he didn't waste time.

Without delay, he turned and led the group to mount their dragons, flying straight toward Base One.

~~----------------------

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