RedX43
patreon
[Genshin Impact] Chapter 495: Leveling Up Again (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2025-06-26 02:57:28 +0000 UTCLiyue – Beneath the Dragon-Quelling Tree
After Nolan successfully inscribed the Command Spell onto Azhdaha, Zhongli woke him up to observe the effect.
When they saw that Azhdaha, despite awakening in a rage, was now unable to attack them due to being bound by the Command Spell, Zhongli appeared quite satisfied.
Although Azhdaha was still tormented by erosion, which had drastically altered his temperament, at the very least, he could no longer threaten the safety and stability of Teyvat—or endanger humanity and bring further disaster.
For his old comrade, who had once fought alongside him, this was the best outcome: ensuring Azhdaha wouldn’t destroy the things he once vowed to protect.
“Though Azhdaha’s actions are now restrained, he still can’t be allowed to roam freely in this state. It’s best to reseal him and let him slumber,” said Cloud Retainer, who had already descended.
“There’s no other way,” Mountain Shaper agreed with a light nod of his deer-shaped head.
Nolan remained silent as he listened to the Adepti and Zhongli discuss the situation. But just as they were preparing to reseal Azhdaha—
A hazy white light suddenly appeared in front of the Earth Dragon.
As the light slowly condensed, everyone realized—to their astonishment—that it had formed into a black-haired man.
“Oh?” Nolan, recalling his knowledge from the game, quickly recognized him.
“...Azhdaha?”
Cloud Retainer’s tone was tinged with surprise, and the other Adepti, along with Zhongli, showed visible shock.
“It’s been a long time, old friends... and Morax,” said the black-haired man with a smile as he walked forward and greeted them.
“It really is you. But how…?” Cloud Retainer and the others were visibly confused.
Wasn’t Azhdaha supposed to have gone completely berserk under the effects of erosion? How could he still manifest a conscious avatar?
Seeing their confusion, the black-haired man explained:
“This is the final trace of good will left within me. Until now, it had been suppressed by the malice consuming me. Thankfully, your Command Spell prevented me from harming others—otherwise, even this last shred of myself would’ve been devoured.”
“If you had arrived just a little later... sigh, I fear even this remnant of my true self would’ve vanished.”
He sighed softly after finishing his explanation.
“So we basically saved you by accident, huh? Haha, looks like luck’s still on your side,” said Moon Carver with a chuckle.
So it was the Command Spell’s doing... Nolan was a bit surprised himself—this was the first time he’d seen anything like this.
But it did make sense. The wrathful Azhdaha and the benevolent Azhdaha were two sides of the same being.
Even though they were ultimately one and the same, they represented opposing wills. And when one side tried to destroy the other—well, that counted as wrongdoing.
Thus, the Command Spell triggered, halting the corruption of the benevolent side and allowing this faint trace of Azhdaha’s good will and clarity to resurface—even if just temporarily.
“Is that so...” Zhongli nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “Azhdaha, how stable is this remnant of your good will?”
“Without the malice eroding me, I feel much more at ease,” the good-willed Azhdaha replied, shaking his head. “But with only this one sliver of my consciousness remaining, I won’t be able to resist erosion for much longer.”
Zhongli had expected as much. After all, given the passage of time, even he himself couldn’t entirely escape erosion—let alone a mere fragment of good will.
Only by withdrawing from the world and living a quiet, detached life had he been able to endure.
“Then go into slumber,” he said. “As long as you sleep, erosion cannot touch you. To my knowledge, even the Raiden Shogun of Inazuma has used this method.”
The Adepti, unwilling to see their old friend fade into nothingness, could only offer this reluctant suggestion.
“I understand. If I were to truly die, it would only bring further erosion upon you,” said the good-willed Azhdaha with a smile. “Knowing the danger erosion poses, I could never let that happen to you.”
He continued:
“With my malice no longer threatening me, entering slumber won’t be an issue.”
“You can even come and visit me from time to time—so long as you don’t mind me being a bit loud.”
“Of course not,” Zhongli said, arms folded. For once, a rare smile appeared on his face.
Nolan glanced behind at the real Azhdaha, whose physical form was still growling and cursing Morax nonstop.
Yeah... definitely loud.
The Adepti and Zhongli were enjoying a rare moment of reunion with Azhdaha and didn’t seem like they would be leaving anytime soon. As for resealing the Earth Dragon, it wasn’t something Nolan needed to worry about.
He figured it was best not to interrupt their time together. Since there was still time left in the day, he decided to head off on his own and hunt down a few monsters.
He was only a few tens of thousands of EXP short from leveling up, and that thought was itching in his heart—he didn’t want to wait until tomorrow.
So he approached Zhongli and the Adepti to take his leave.
“Oh? You’re leaving already? We haven’t even introduced you to Azhdaha properly yet,” Cloud Retainer said with a hint of surprise.
“I’ll pass on that, I don’t want to interrupt your reunion—and I’ve got something small to take care of,” Nolan replied with a shake of his head.
Since he had other business, the Adepti didn’t press him to stay. But just as he was about to go, the good-willed avatar of Azhdaha called out to him.
“Wait a moment. I was only able to meet my friends again thanks to your help. As a token of my gratitude, let me give you something.”
Saying this, the good Azhdaha turned to his main body and waved. From a distance, something that resembled a branch flew toward them.
As it floated before Nolan, he got a clear look at it.
It was a one-meter-long, bone-like branch with a core of blood-red veins and a surface of icy white. If he wasn’t mistaken, it looked like it came from Azhdaha’s tail.
“This was knocked off during the battle earlier,” said good Azhdaha. “It has been nourished by my power for many years, and after being severed, it was bathed in dragon’s blood.
“It’s now considered an extremely rare and valuable material in this world—top-grade, whether for alchemy or weapon forging.
“I now offer you this Bloodjade Branch as a sign of my thanks.”
He moved the Bloodjade Branch closer to Nolan as he spoke.
“Oh?” Nolan hadn’t expected to receive such a valuable gift—an actual relic from the body of an elemental Dragon.
A five-star, gold-tier treasure!
He remembered from the game that defeating Azhdaha sometimes dropped this Bloodjade Branch, which was nourished by both “Earth Dragon’s Power” and “Earth Dragon’s Blood.”
This made it even more valuable than ordinary gold-tier items. Storing it in the Wonderland would very likely grant a powerful new space trait.
And since the branch was over a meter long, he could even consider taking part of it to request Raiden Ei to forge a powerful five-star weapon. After crafting it, he could store it again to increase its overall value.
Doing this would cause the Wonderland to expand further and possibly generate an entirely new trait.
After all, a newly crafted weapon using part of the Bloodjade Branch and other rare materials would count as a new treasure—it wouldn’t be considered a duplicate entry.
Of course, because a portion of the Bloodjade Branch would be used, the spatial expansion from the original branch would shrink proportionally.
But with such a tempting reward, Nolan didn’t hesitate. He accepted good Azhdaha’s gift with a bright grin.
After all, he really did play a major role in today’s events—receiving a gift like this felt more than justified.
“Hehe, thanks!”
Nolan happily took the Bloodjade Branch.
Hiss—so heavy!
Though it looked only about a meter long, the moment he held it in his hands, he could feel it easily weighed over a dozen tons. That was a bit outrageous!
“No need to be so polite. It fell off anyway—bringing it back wouldn’t do much. I’ll grow a new one,” good Azhdaha said with a casual chuckle.
Wait, it can regrow? Nolan blinked, stunned. That meant this was a potentially renewable source of five-star-tier material...?
He thought back to how, in the game, Azhdaha could also drop other items like the Dragon Lord’s Crown and Gilded Scale...
Alright, let’s not get greedy. One Bloodjade Branch was already more than satisfying. If there were other opportunities in the future to help Azhdaha again, perhaps he could earn more.
Surely Azhdaha wouldn’t let him go empty-handed then.
Nolan nodded to himself, then opened the Wonderland and stored the Bloodjade Branch inside. With that done, he bid farewell to the Adepti, Zhongli, and Azhdaha.
He activated Interstellar Travel, teleporting himself back to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters in Mondstadt. Earlier that noon, he had dropped off both Barbara and Noelle there.
It was now around 3:30 PM. He wondered if they were still around?
With a brief shift in space—
Nolan was transported from the dark depths beneath the Dragon-Quelling Tree back to the bright, sunlit office of the Acting Grand Master at the Knight Headquarters.
Sunlight streamed in through the windows, filling the room with warm light.
At that moment, only Acting Grand Master Jean was in the office, leaning over her desk handling paperwork. Neither Barbara nor Noelle were around to disturb her.
Jean didn’t acknowledge Nolan’s arrival, staying focused on her work.
He looked at her fair profile, then leaned down to give her a soft kiss before sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her waist.
Jean wiped her cheek with the back of her pale hand, letting out a sigh as she said, “You’re distracting me from work.”
This guy—he was always interrupting her.
“Hehe, I just saw how hard you were working, so I thought I’d give you a massage,” Nolan said with a chuckle, slipping his hands under her shoulder cape to gently stroke her smooth, bare back.
His fingers traced along the curves of her shoulder blades, wrapped in soft skin.
A faint, nearly invisible blush crept up Jean’s fair cheeks. She bit her lip, holding back the tingling sensation along her back. “That’s your idea of a massage?”
She playfully pressed the heel of her white long boots against Nolan’s foot in mild retaliation.
“Hiss—ow, okay, I was wrong,” he said with practiced apology, shifting his hands up to massage her shoulders more seriously.
“About that thing you asked me—helping Noelle improve her ability to distinguish good from evil—it’s probably not going to be so simple.
“I was originally planning to get her a suitable trait for that, but during the process, she ended up really liking a different trait that came up, so I let her keep it.”
Jean tapped her arm lightly, and Nolan took the hint, moving his hands from her shoulders to gently knead her arms instead.
She thought for a moment and said, “In that case, just find another way to teach her. I’ve already entrusted her to you, and there are still a little over ten days left. You’ll need to figure it out.”
“Alright, alright.” He’d mostly just wanted to inform her ahead of time so she wouldn’t be disappointed if he didn’t finish the task in time.
As Jean continued working, he helped her relax with a massage while shifting most of his focus to the “Sword God” currently deep inside the Spiral Abyss.
She had already pushed through to the end of Floor 4. The portal to Floor 5 was just up ahead.
The enemies guarding it this time were four Geovishaps and six Juvenile Geovishaps, all around level 65.
Defeating them should give him just enough experience to level up.
Against “Sword God,” who was far stronger than that, they stood no chance. Nolan found a good angle and casually sent out a golden wave of sword energy—instantly wiping out all ten enemies!
Adventure EXP +3566
Adventure EXP +3621
Adventure EXP +3720
Soon, a series of notifications popped up on his character panel. Each of the ten monsters gave over 3000 Adventure EXP, totaling more than 36,300 points.
Added to his existing 937,000+ Adventure EXP, he now had:
[Adventure EXP: 974,203]
974,000 EXP—definitely enough to level up again. Nolan’s hands, continuing their massage, wandered to Jean’s lower belly and thighs.
Jean, still focused on her work, didn’t bother reacting. She was long used to his antics.
This kind of mild distraction wouldn’t affect her at all.
Seeing that Jean didn’t intend to stop him, Nolan was quite pleased. He rested his chin on her shoulder, gently massaging her soft lower belly and thighs, snug beneath her tight white pants.
At the same time, he dumped a large amount of Adventure EXP into his level-up panel.
Lv96 (0/960,000) → Lv97 (0/970,000)
Like a volcanic eruption, a wave of heat surged through his body, spreading to every cell.
He instinctively tightened his embrace around Jean. She rolled her eyes, unsure of what he was doing now. If she weren’t busy, she might’ve bitten him in frustration!
Soon, the warm current was fully absorbed by his body and soul. Nolan felt overflowing strength welling up inside.
He glanced at his character panel:
---
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: Lv97 (0/970,000)
Race: Human
Titles: Honorary Knight, Outstanding Citizen of Liyue, Legendary Adventurer, Honorary General of Watatsumi Island
Innate Talent: Entangling Affection
Skills:
- Lumine’s Authority: Divine Level Lv.10 (Starsea Manifestation, Boundless)
- Musou no Hitotachi: Divine Level Lv.10 (Musou State)
- Abysswalker: Arcane Level Lv.10 (Deep Space Warp)
- Flowing Sky Shot: Awakening Lv.10 (Frostglow Arrow)
- Anemo Manipulation Lv.10 (Max Level)
- Martial Arts Lv.10 (Subtle Mastery)
Specialties:
- 【Descender】
- 【Maiden Savior】
- 【Monster Slayer】
- 【Abundant Life】
- 【The Gospel of the Sky】
- 【North Wind】
- 【Harmony】
- 【Spiritual Threads】
- 【Millennium Body】
- 【Blue Vortex】
- 【Battery Body】
- 【Elemental Immunity】
- 【Command Seal】
- 【Spiritual Core】
- 【Thoughtless Thunder】
- 【Blessing of the World Tree】
Adventure EXP: 14,203
---
(End of Chapter)
Comments
Msos
Can you add like stat points like in genshin to know how strong he is?
