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[Genshin Impact] Chapter 499: 9th Floor (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2025-06-29 16:42:28 +0000 UTCThe morning sun bathed the streets and nearby buildings in golden light, illuminating the entire scene in warmth and clarity.
Nolan walked along the roadside, slowly making his way toward "Third-Round Knockout." From a distance, across the wooden arched bridge, he could already see it.
Zhongli was seated on a chair, sipping tea and enjoying breakfast while listening to Iron Tongue Tian narrate a story.
Just as Nolan arrived, Iron Tongue Tian had finished a segment of his tale. He paused to take a sip of tea and spotted Nolan approaching.
With a clap of his folding fan against his palm, he greeted him with delight:
"Well, if it isn’t the famous Traveler himself! Welcome, welcome! Aren’t you usually busy exploring nations far and wide? What brings you to humble little ‘Third-Round Knockout’ today?”
Nolan smiled and replied:
“Just call me by my name. As for why I’m here—well, I got tired from exploring the wilds. Thought I’d rest up a bit and enjoy some good food. Nothing wrong with that, right?”
“Aiya! If you put it that way, then you’ve come to the right place! When it comes to breakfast, our chefs here are top-notch.
“They’re on par with the likes of Xinyue Kiosk and Liuli Pavilion, and most importantly—affordable! Even ordinary folks can enjoy them!”
Iron Tongue Tian hadn’t seen Nolan come to eat in a long time, so now that conversation was flowing, he took the opportunity to hype up his workplace.
If he could get someone as renowned as the Traveler to praise the food, then the next time someone asked how the dishes were...
He could say: “Delicious beyond compare! Even the Traveler himself says so!”
“Haha, well said. The breakfast here at ‘Third-Round Knockout’ is definitely reliable. After all, even the consultant of our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor comes here daily.”
Nolan nodded in agreement. If food could be endorsed by a millennia-old god, it was bound to be something special.
“Oh, so you came to see Mr. Zhongli.” Iron Tongue Tian nodded knowingly as he watched Nolan take a seat at Zhongli’s table. “Well then, I’ll get back to my story—today’s tale is about the Archon Emperor slaying demons!”
As Iron Tongue Tian resumed his storytelling, Nolan didn’t interrupt further. He waved over a server and ordered a plate of meatballs, chicken feet, and sweet rice balls in wine syrup.
“Heh, so what brings you to me today?” Zhongli asked with a knowing smile as he watched Nolan order so much food—clearly a sign he had something to discuss.
Ahem.”
Nolan cleared his throat and quietly released a wave of mental energy, causing nearby customers to instinctively tune them out and ignore their conversation.
Only then did he speak:
“Last time, we used a Command Seal to successfully bind the Earth Dragon King. I was hoping to ask if there are any sealed demon gods that I could reasonably handle.
“If possible, I could apply Command Seals to them too. That way, there’s no need to worry about them breaking free someday. What do you think of this idea?”
“Oh?” Zhongli looked at him with mild surprise before replying, “If you’re willing to step in, that would be most welcome. However…”
He paused in thought before continuing:
“Most of the demon gods I once sealed are confined deep beneath the sea near Guyun Stone Forest, and there are quite a few of them.
“Any attempt to break those seals could risk a demon escaping. It’s best you wait until you’ve grown a bit stronger.”
“…Fair enough.”
Zhongli had indeed once mentioned sealing many demon gods beneath the waters of Guyun. Osial had been among them.
If they were all on that level, and numerous on top of that, then Nolan truly wasn’t ready to take them on yet.
It seemed the demon gods beneath Guyun would have to wait a little longer. For now, if he wanted to grind EXP, he’d have to rely on the Spiral Abyss, or perhaps go see Raiden Ei to ask if there were any sealed demon gods in Inazuma.
Even if there weren’t any, clearing domains alone would still yield plenty of rewards!
That said, searching for those domains would take time. Besides, he had already cleared the sixth floor of the Spiral Abyss.
He figured it was more efficient to focus on pushing through a few more levels—the experience gain should be enough to level up.
As for the domains? He could always explore them after finishing up the Spiral Abyss.
Having made up his mind, Nolan chatted casually with Zhongli for a bit while enjoying his breakfast. Then, he got up and left.
---
Nolan opened the Starsea Manifestation World, pulling himself inside. Then, through it, he remotely commanded the Sword God of Lumine in the Spiral Abyss to open a portal to the Starsea Manifestation.
The Starsea Manifestation served as a transit point, allowing him to instantly appear beside the Sword God.
Currently, she was on Floor 7 of the Spiral Abyss, a place still filled with ancient architecture like the previous floors.
But unlike before, not a single person remained—only a horde of monsters roamed the corridors.
There were snow wolves with white fur and blood-red eyes, and red-feathered crows circling in the skies in flocks. The snow wolves averaged around Level 70, while the red-feathered crows, though numerous, were only around Level 40.
Even so, their presence on Floor 7 meant they were quite formidable.
Nolan didn’t attack them immediately. Instead, he planned to first transfer all the treasures and materials the Sword God had collected over the past few days in the Abyssal Corridor.
He wanted to move them back into the warehouse and see how much space he could expand.
The Sword God had stacked it all up inside the Starsea Manifestation World—practically a small mountain of Mora, artifacts, weapons, and all kinds of items.
Nolan opened the gate to 4th floor of the Wonderland’s warehouse, and then created a slit at the top of the door to bridge it with the Starsea Manifestation World.
A torrent of treasures began spilling through the rift in the Starsea Manifestation, falling into the Wonderland’s storage gate below.
Nolan could clearly feel the Wonderland expanding rapidly—one square meter at a time:
437... 438... 439... 450 square meters!
By the time all the treasures from the Starsea Manifestation had been deposited, the space had grown by 13 square meters, reaching a total of 450 square meters!
Moreover, thanks to two golden-quality artifacts among the loot, the space also gained two new spatial traits.
---
The first was a trait called “Phantasmal Scene”, which allowed him to project any kind of illusion within the space based on his imagination.
Though the illusions were purely visual and couldn’t be touched, they had enormous utility—especially for technical demonstrations.
For instance, when introducing Earth technology to Lisa, Ningguang, and the others, this trait would allow him to manifest a full-scale visual model of any object—even component by component, like 3D modeling.
That meant everyone could observe detailed structures more clearly, which would be extremely useful for their research and elemental-tech reproductions in Teyvat.
---
The second spatial trait was “Sound Retention”, a simple but elegant ability that allowed him to record any sound and replay it at will.
He could use it to archive music and replay it anytime he wanted—which Nolan found quite delightful.
He was particularly fond of this one.
As for the artifact that granted this trait, he recognized it immediately: a blue-and-white hourglass with a harp-like handle.
Without a doubt, it was the “End of the Line” hourglass from the Wanderer’s Troupe artifact set in the game!
Its association with sound made perfect sense.
---
After organizing all the treasures the Sword God of Lumine had gathered from the Abyssal Corridor, Nolan had her scout ahead.
He followed from a slight distance as they officially began exploring Floor 7.
Now that Nolan was personally involved, progress through the Seventh Floor of the Abyssal Corridor was far quicker than when the Sword God was working solo.
The snow wolves and red-feathered crows wandering the area were no match for them—any creature that dared to attack was swiftly eliminated.
On his character panel, EXP notifications popped up like a waterfall:
- Adventure EXP +3622
- Adventure EXP +564
- Adventure EXP +3214
- Adventure EXP +612
They flew by so fast, he could barely read them in time.
His total EXP surged upward rapidly.
At this rate, reaching Level 100 was only a matter of time!
---
Soon, he and the Sword God reached the deepest part of Floor 7, where a Level 75 Snow Wolf King and its pack stood guard.
Upon seeing intruders, the Snow Wolf King immediately exhaled a blast of icy air, freezing everything in its path into glistening white frost.
Nolan didn’t even bother dodging. A mere Level 75 monster couldn’t even scratch his defenses—he could stand there and let them attack all day with zero concern.
Once the enemies had spent their strength, the Sword God transformed into a rain of glowing blades, instantly slicing through the entire pack.
[Defeated 20 Powerful Enemies. Obtained 72,365 Adventure EXP.”
With the monsters from earlier plus this final wave, Nolan’s total EXP had now surpassed 2 million!
[Adventure EXP: 2,063,412]
That was enough to level up twice in a row!
Without hesitation, he began advancing to Floor 8 while channeling the EXP into his level-up:
Adventure EXP - 1,950,000
Lv97 (0/970,000) → Lv99 (0/990,000)
A massive surge of energy erupted within him. Every cell in his body seemed to elevate and evolve, reinforcing his strength exponentially.
After leveling up twice in succession, he felt immensely more powerful—like he could flick his old self away with a single finger.
After all, the higher your level, the greater the increase with each new one.
Glancing at his character panel, Nolan noted he still had around 110,000 EXP remaining.
Reaching Level 100 required 990,000 EXP, so he was still about 880,000 short.
But with five more floors of the Spiral Abyss left to clear, that wasn’t going to be a problem.
As expected, once all the dangerous monsters on each floor were cleared, the Adventure EXP gained would not only be enough—but likely exceed the requirement.
Nolan felt a quiet surge of anticipation and, acting with due caution, had the “Sword God of Lumine” teleport to the 8th floor of the Abyssal Corridor first.
Only after confirming there was no danger did he teleport there himself.
The environment on this floor was similar to the 7th, but the monsters roaming the area had changed. Now there were Ruin Sentinels, Ruin Hunters, and Ruin Graders.
Their average level hovered around 78 to 79, just shy of Level 80.
Clearly, these Ruin-class monsters—with their glaring weaknesses—were no match for Nolan.
What surprised him, though, was that the energy cores of these mechanical enemies emitted a faint signature that could be detected by Moonveil Tianquan.
Nolan couldn’t help but grin. This meant there was no need for the Sword God to waste effort fighting—he could just pluck their cores remotely.
Every Ruin monster that entered Moonveil Tianquan’s range collapsed to the ground before it could even attack, its core stripped away.
This held true throughout the entire 8th floor. Wherever Nolan walked, not a single Ruin machine remained standing.
He tossed all the collected energy cores into the Wonderland’s storage, expanding the space a little more.
By the time he cleared the 8th floor, he had gained around 250,000 Adventure EXP.
[Adventure EXP: 381,456]
Seeing the EXP bar nearly halfway full, Nolan was quite pleased. With a little luck, clearing the 9th floor might be enough to reach Level 100!
Without delay, he sent the Sword God ahead to scout. Once it was safe, he teleported after her.
He had officially crossed from the Abyssal Corridor into the legendary Spiral of the Abyssal Moon.
From this point on, only a handful of adventurers had ever set foot here.
Those with average strength had no hope of making it this far—Legend-rank adventurers were the bare minimum requirement.
---
Spiral Abyss – Floor 9
Right away, Nolan noticed a stark contrast in the environment compared to the previous floors. The Corridor had mostly architectural settings, only shifting near the depths.
But here on Floor 9... there was no stone ceiling overhead.
Instead, a true sky stretched above—and hanging in that sky was a crimson, glowing full moon.
What is this?
Nolan narrowed his eyes. Under the blood moon’s glow, he felt his power suppressed—by nearly 30%!
What’s more, the Sword God hadn’t noticed anything strange when she entered earlier...
Tch... this is suspicious. Very suspicious.
Still, he wasn’t one to cower. Though the situation was unclear, as long as there was no immediate danger, a little exploration was necessary.
Adjusting his collar, he looked around. His boots pressed into damp, grayish soil.
Sparse, withered weeds grew here and there, their lifeless color making them seem long since drained of vitality.
He stepped forward, leaving faint footprints in the muddy earth.
As usual, the Sword God stayed ahead, scouting for danger. Nolan prepared to extend his spiritual sense to scan the surroundings.
But something unexpected happened again.
At Level 99, his spiritual perception normally extended over 100 kilometers—but now it was being forcefully compressed to just 1 kilometer!
A hundredfold reduction, and it even felt mentally taxing to maintain!
This red moon... is way too terrifying!
Nolan could tell that it was the crimson moon’s light actively suppressing his spiritual energy. It was his first time encountering such a phenomenon.
After a moment’s thought, he decided not to force it and withdrew his spiritual perception for now.
That meant if he wanted better visibility, he’d need the Sword God to fly high into the air—
—perhaps to see if she could block the moon’s light.
(End of Chapter)
