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[Genshin Impact] Chapter 522: Eye of Stormy Judgment (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2025-07-15 17:31:00 +0000 UTCUnder the starlit night sky, steam continued to rise from the hot spring bathhouse.
While the girls soaked in the hot springs, Nolan took the opportunity to try cultivating with them using the “Breath Circulation” ability.
He discovered that training with stronger girls indeed produced better results—but not as significantly better as he had imagined.
When training with Noelle for one hour, he gained over 12,000 EXP. With Jean, Lisa, and the others, he gained around 30,000 per hour total.
On average, it came to about 15,000 EXP per girl per hour—a noticeable improvement, but nothing groundbreaking.
Still, that didn’t matter much. Compared to someone like Ei, the strength difference between Jean’s group and her was enormous. The smaller boost with them didn’t mean he’d get the same from Ei.
Now that the timing felt right, Nolan spent a little more affectionate time with the girls before heading downstairs for dinner.
After the meal and a short rest, he went to the third floor’s meditation room to talk with Ei about training together.
When Nolan arrived on the third floor, he found Raiden Makoto chatting in the library with the Greater Dendro Archon and Guizhong.
Perfect timing—otherwise, it’d be pretty awkward to talk to Raiden Ei about “intimate” training in front of her older sister.
Nolan continued on toward the meditation room. He could already sense Ei’s presence inside.
Although staying in the Wonderland eliminated her worries about “erosion,” that didn’t mean she had nothing to do.
She kept up her habit of meditation, strengthening her mind and refining her power.
And with the Space constantly reinforcing her soul, her meditation here was far more effective than in the Plane of Euthymia.
But even so, because she was already incredibly strong, even the enhanced effects couldn’t produce immediate, visible growth.
Besides meditating, she also continued researching the power of time, though she had hit a bottleneck and wasn’t making much progress anymore.
Even if Nolan kept supplying her with time energy to comprehend, it didn’t seem to help much now.
Outside of training, Ei occasionally summoned the Raiden Shogun avatar into the Plane of Euthymia for practice sparring. It was more of a leisure activity than real training.
Overall, Ei’s life hadn’t changed much. She still liked staying in one place for long periods.
Once the “Akasha” system developed to a level close to Earth’s internet, if she got a terminal of her own, she really might turn into a complete shut-in.
That amusing thought made Nolan chuckle as he knocked on the meditation room door.
“It’s not locked, come in.” A voice came from inside—much gentler than that of the Raiden Shogun.
Nolan pushed the door open and walked in.
Since it was a meditation room, the lighting inside was dim. After all, bright lighting like daytime would disturb the meditative atmosphere.
“At this time of night, shouldn’t you be snuggling with your beloved girls? What brings you to me instead?” Ei asked with a faint smile, her arms folded across her half-exposed snowy chest as she emerged from her semi-floating meditative posture.
“I’m not doing all that just for fun, you know. Just like you, I’m training.” Nolan defended himself. “How else do you think I’ve been improving so fast?”
He organized his words carefully and continued, “It’s just that I’ve hit a bit of a bottleneck lately. Training hasn’t been as effective, so I wanted to try practicing with you.”
With Ei’s affection level toward him nearly maxed out, Nolan wasn’t worried about upsetting her, so he spoke candidly.
“...” Ei folded her arms and was silent for a moment. Her wide sleeves and pale lavender kimono tails gently swayed.
Her fair face showed a brief moment of surprise before the meaning dawned on her. She looked at Nolan with a knowing expression and said,
“Hmph. Bold of you. You actually set your sights on me—are you planning to defile a goddess?”
As a god, she did love humanity and her people, but it was more of a protective, idealistic kind of love.
It was precisely because of intelligent beings like humans that the world was so rich and vibrant. Gods longed to preserve and extend that beauty, hence their affection for humankind.
But in general, gods didn’t fall romantically for individual humans. The gap in their very existence was simply too vast. There was an innate sense of incompatibility, like a poor man falling for a rich heiress.
The difference in levels was just too great.
Not to mention the mortal’s short lifespan. That natural, chasm-like disparity meant that—even with the same form, intelligence, and emotions—the perspectives and values between the two could be worlds apart.
In other words, their "mental channels" weren’t aligned. No matter what, it was hard for them to truly see eye to eye.
That’s why while humans might fall for gods, it was rare for gods to fall for humans.
But it wasn’t impossible.
The “poor man” could try to close the gap—maybe by working hard and making money, or possessing incredible talents that elevated his status to a similar level as the heiress.
That way, when they met, they might actually connect—because they stood on similar ground.
Or perhaps the “poor man” had some unique trait that caught the heiress’s attention. That could also work, though the odds were low.
At least both are humans. But with gods and mortals, the gap was far greater, and the chance of mutual affection even slimmer.
Maybe it’s not a perfect analogy, but it got the point across.
In Nolan’s case, his high affection level with Ei had already closed the natural gap between them significantly.
On top of that, he possessed strength comparable to a god—while still a step below someone like Ei, he was undeniably already within the divine realm.
He also had the Wonderland and the ability to replenish his lifespan with universal energy. When it came to longevity, he was no different from a god.
Thus, he had truly and fully raised himself to the same level as Ei—barely enough to be considered a match. Now, he could finally claim to be worthy of standing by her side.
At that point, the logic was simple: if a “rich and beautiful heiress” held high affection for a man, and that man’s capabilities weren’t far off from her own, then when he expressed a desire to deepen their relationship, she would likely not reject him.
Naturally—everything would just fall into place.
So, when Ei mentioned “defiling a goddess,” Nolan didn’t take it to heart. She was merely waiting for a reasonable explanation.
He smiled and continued,
“My training method has recently seen some breakthroughs. When cultivating together, not only do I benefit—you will too.”
“As for how effective it’ll be... we’ll have to try and see.”
“Oh?” Ei raised an eyebrow. “Even if that’s true, I doubt training with you would benefit me much. After all, isn’t there still a large power gap between us?
“How about we spar? If you earn my approval, I’ll agree to train with you for a while.”
She chuckled lightly.
At her current level, even with intense training, the progress she could make was negligible. Without hundreds or even thousands of years of accumulation, significant improvement was unlikely.
The fact that Nolan had reached a godlike level within just one year was truly astonishing. Maybe constantly sleeping next to women was the secret to his rapid growth.
And the women themselves did indeed grow stronger after becoming intimate with him.
But from Ei’s perspective, such marginal improvements were insignificant. Trying to barter a god’s chastity with something so trivial? That was disrespectful and irreverent.
Still, Nolan was one of the very few men she respected. Even though she had no romantic or physical needs, she was willing to give him a chance.
“Spar, huh?” Nolan fell into thought.
The difference in strength between them was enormous. Even if he gave it everything, he knew the odds of winning were slim. But he had no intention of backing down. If he did, she would look down on him.
And then, how could he ever have the face to ask Ei to train together again?
“Alright. No problem.” Nolan nodded resolutely.
A satisfied smile spread across Ei’s fair face.
“Good. Come at me with all you've got.”
【Raiden Shogun (Raiden Ei) Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 300 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.9 (800/900)】
Before he could celebrate the affection gain, the scenery shifted around him—and he was already inside the Plane of Euthymia.
Standing before him, Ei now held her blade: Musou Isshin.
Nolan exhaled, summoned the Frostlight Descending Blade, and backed up a bit, facing her with a serious gaze.
The next second, Ei vanished from sight—danger surged from behind him.
So fast—! Nolan spun around and blocked with his ice-white greatsword, but the force still sent him flying like a bullet.
The sky above, painted in deep red, suddenly tore open. A massive purple arm holding a proportional Musou Isshin descended—
"Musou no Hitotachi!"
Nolan’s pupils shimmered gold as he unleashed his spiritual pressure to halt his body midair.
He locked onto a weak point in the purple blade and summoned the colossal Sword God, its golden longsword thrusting toward the weak spot!
With the “Sharp Intent” trait enhancing it, the golden sword effortlessly pierced the massive purple blade—cracks radiated out like spiderwebs.
Boom!
The purple sword and arm shattered completely, leaving only a starry rift in space behind.
Ei looked stunned. The last time he blocked a strike from the Raiden Shogun, it had taken him considerable effort.
Yet now, facing an even stronger strike from Ei herself, he had countered it head-on.
She had underestimated him.
“Heh… Not bad. You’ve piqued my interest a little,” Ei smirked, a faint curve tugging at her lips.
Nolan said nothing. With a light tap of his foot, he dashed toward her, while the colossal Sword God also unleashed a Musou no Hitotachi.
Enhanced by the “Sharp Intent” trait, this slash looked even stronger than Ei’s just now. Wherever the golden blade passed, the wind howled and the void trembled!
Even the Plane of Euthymia began to quiver.
“That slash… it's at 60% of my full strength,” Ei muttered, her deep violet eyes reflecting the golden light.
And she wasn’t exaggerating—if she said his slash was 60% as strong as hers, then it truly was.
That meant Nolan was now fighting at 60% of Ei’s power!
“Humans can burst out unimaginable strength at key moments—like when facing crisis… or when the reward is especially tempting.”
Nolan was determined to train with Ei, so he was giving it everything he had.
Aside from certain restricted skills like Land of Dandelion (which needed Jean present) or Together in the Flower Room (for all-out emergencies), he had already activated every support and enhancement he could!
“But that’s… all you’ve got!”
As Ei’s voice rang out, she raised Musou Isshin high into the air.
Suddenly, cracks split through the sky, the ground, and every corner of the void.
One by one, countless “Eye of Stormy Judgment”—purple and evil-looking—snapped open in midair.
Their irises spun like windmills, then all locked their gaze onto the Sword God, staring unblinking.
The golden Musou no Hitotachi froze midair. Even the god’s body halted.
Even the air surrounding it stopped moving—the entire space had been frozen.
Having drawn close, Nolan now sensed something familiar from the Eye of Stormy Judgment—the power of time.
As he’d guessed, Ei had fused her mastery of time into this move. But she hadn’t frozen him along with the rest.
Most likely… because she didn’t want him to lose too quickly.
Nolan smiled wryly. Only a top-tier god like Ei could afford to hold back on someone like him.
With those thoughts swirling, he pressed forward, swinging Musou no Hitotachi toward Ei again.
Every strike carried the full force of the real technique. Thanks to his traits, it cost him very little energy.
“In terms of technique, you’re not inferior to me,” Ei praised aloud, though she effortlessly dodged every attack.
Still, Nolan—through his understanding of Musou no Hitotachi, and from lessons learned from Yae Miko on countering the Shogun’s style—was holding his own.
After all, his swordsmanship had reached max level, and since Ei and the Shogun shared the same techniques, it made sense he could match her in skill.
If not for the raw power difference, he might’ve even had the upper hand.
The Plane of Euthymia remained unchanged, yet within it, time flew by rapidly as their fierce duel raged on.
(End of Chapter)
