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[Genshin Impact] Chapter 493: Wholehearted Guardian Shield (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2025-06-22 07:44:55 +0000 UTCAfter lunch—
Zhongli had gone off to find the adepti, while Nolan prepared to send Barbara and Noelle back first. After all, Azhdaha's strength was simply too overwhelming.
If they followed along and got caught in the crossfire, it would be troublesome.
This wasn’t difficult for him—he could travel through space and send them back to Mondstadt in no time.
But before that, he could give them a “Waymark.”
With their affection levels already so high, Barbara and Noelle probably wouldn’t refuse such a gift. That way, once Azhdaha was dealt with and he continued adventuring through other domains, they could teleport over themselves without needing to wait for him to come invite them.
Since the Liuli Pavilion was still bustling with people, taking out the Waymarks here would attract too much attention, so it was better to step outside first.
With that decision made, Nolan took Barbara and Noelle and exited the pavilion.
As for the bill, Zhongli had already told the server earlier to put it on Wangsheng Funeral Parlor’s tab, so they didn’t have to worry about that.
Walking along the busy streets, Nolan led the girls into a quiet alley and opened an invisibility domain.
“This afternoon, I’ll be going with Zhongli to face a powerful elemental dragon.
“To keep you both safe from any potential fallout, I’ll send you back first. I’ll come find you again tomorrow when we go exploring.”
Barbara and Noelle understood they wouldn’t be of much help in a battle of that level, and nodded without protest.
“Mm, Mr. Honorary Knight, please be careful,” Barbara said, her tone filled with concern.
Hearing their worry, Nolan smiled warmly.
“Thanks. Actually, I have a gift for you two.”
He briefly explained the function of the Waymarks to Barbara and Noelle.
“Eh? You’re giving us teleportation powers?” the two girls said in surprise, covering their mouths in astonishment.
“That’s right. This thing only works if it’s given to someone else. So don’t hesitate—go ahead and accept it.”
Nolan pulled out two golden spheres of light and handed them to them.
The power of Interstellar Travel could only be used between individuals who had both exchanged Waymarks. So of course, it had to be given to others to be useful.
His words dispelled their initial hesitation. After all, it was a pretty valuable gift.
This was a power that ignored distance and all kinds of barriers—it allowed for instant teleportation between individuals.
“Thank you, Mr. Honorary Knight!”
Barbara and Noelle accepted the Waymarks happily and, following the guidance, fused them into their bodies.
At the same time, two consecutive affection notifications popped up on Nolan’s character panel:
【Noelle Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 360 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.10 (MAX)】
【Barbara Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 380 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (380/800)】
Whew, as expected, giving gifts generally increases affection—especially expensive ones.
Nolan thought to himself as he looked at the notifications.
Noelle had now reached max affection, while Barbara had progressed more than halfway through Level 8—not bad at all.
All those traits and titles that boosted charm and made it easier to gain others’ affection—especially girls’ affection—were really paying off!
Then another notification popped up on the screen:
【Through genuine sincerity and tireless effort, your once-unconnected fates have become deeply intertwined. From now on, her star of destiny shall shine alongside yours. 】
【You’ve obtained the ability: Wholehearted Guardian Shield.】
As soon as Noelle’s affection hit max level, a new affection ability—her constellation skill—was unlocked.
Nolan, a bit excited, immediately opened the ability description with his mind:
【Wholehearted Guardian Shield: Activating this skill summons a shield that can be used by yourself or placed on others. The maximum number of shields is equal to the combined levels of Nolan and Noelle. This shield can block all forms of damage. The total shield strength is also equal to their combined levels. All active shields share this same pool of durability. Any individual shield will consume one point of durability if it receives damage equal to the user’s physical limits in a short time or from sustained damage.】
It’s a shield skill?
Totally Noelle’s style!
Nolan wasn’t surprised at all. This ability was exactly what he expected—and the fact that it could block any type of damage made it extremely useful.
Basically, as long as the shield’s durability wasn’t fully depleted, he would not take any damage at all.
Even better, the shield could be used on other people too.
His current level was Lv.96, and Noelle’s was slightly lower at Lv.38.
Which meant...
He could summon up to 134 Wholehearted Guardian Shields at once.
That was more than enough for him.
And the shield's durability mechanic was interesting too. According to the description, no matter how many shields he summoned—
They all shared a single pool of 134 durability points, equal to the sum of their levels.
Each point of shield durability was equivalent to Nolan's entire energy. Only when struck by an energy attack comparable to his own full power would a single point be consumed.
Well, that wasn’t exactly a lot, but not too little either.
For example, if Nolan attacked himself with his full strength, only then would a single point be depleted. From that perspective, the shield was quite powerful.
But if the opponent were a god-level being vastly stronger—like Zhongli, for instance—then even a casual strike might contain the energy of a hundred Nolans.
In that case, it’d be easy for them to break through his shield. Thankfully, the durability of the shield wasn’t fixed—it would continue to grow along with both his and Noelle’s levels.
And what’s more, as his own internal energy increased, the quality of each point of shield durability would also improve.
Which meant that enemies on the same level or only slightly stronger would practically never be able to injure him.
After all, if it took a full-power energy strike just to reduce the shield by one point, it’d take over a hundred such attacks to deplete his current 134 durability.
But who could even manage that?
Anyone using a full-power strike would be exhausting all of their energy. After that, they’d need time to recover.
Most beings couldn’t instantly regenerate all of their energy, and once they were weakened like that—
—they’d be at his mercy.
As expected from the ever-reliable Noelle. Her affection skill was truly excellent.
After reviewing the ability details, Nolan promptly teleported Barbara and Noelle—who had just finished integrating the Waymarks—back to Mondstadt.
2:00 PM
Zhongli had apparently finished informing the other adepti and now notified Nolan that they were ready to depart.
Nolan nodded lightly, and once again, with Zhongli’s "Step-Contraction" divine technique, he was instantly brought to the base of the Dragon-Queller.
This technique was likely an advanced application of Geo energy—something probably only the Geo Archon could master to such a degree.
Unfortunately, since he hadn’t mastered Geo himself, learning it would be difficult.
Then again, Nolan already had spatial traversal abilities, so he didn’t really need to care.
He first looked at the massive Dragon-Queller, then turned to observe the nearby adepti.
Mooncarver and Mountain Shaper stood to the left, while Cloud Retainer perched elegantly on one of the upper branches of the Dragon-Queller.
As usual, the aloof Xiao, the Conqueror of Demons, leaned against the trunk with arms crossed, silently awaiting orders from the Geo Archon.
“It's been a while, esteemed immortals. Greetings to you all,” Nolan said politely, raising a hand in greeting.
“It has indeed been some time, young adventurer. Your strength has grown tremendously—it seems you've now reached a level even we cannot fully perceive,”
spoke Mooncarver, his enormous stag-shaped form radiating a golden glow from his eyes, clearly surprised.
When they last fought the god Osial, this young adventurer had still seemed quite green. How had he grown so powerful so quickly?
No wonder Rex Lapis had invited him along.
“Just a bit of luck, really,” Nolan smiled modestly. Then he asked, “So, where exactly is our target? Do we have a specific plan?”
“The Geo Archon has just discussed this with us,” Cloud Retainer, still perched high on the tree, answered. “The four of us will maintain the sealing formation to suppress the Azhdaha sealed beneath the Dragon-Queller. You and the Lord shall handle the task of subduing him.”
Well... that made sense. Compared to Azhdaha, the adepti's power was too limited—so assisting with the formation was probably the most they could contribute.
Nolan nodded with a chuckle, then turned toward Zhongli and joked:
“Alright then, Geo Archon, I’ll kindly ask you, sir, to take the lead!”
“Haha... Very well. Let’s go,” Zhongli replied with a wry smile.
The whole scene reminded him of the Archon War days—leading the adepti into battle against the gods that once plagued Liyue. He couldn’t help but feel a wave of nostalgia.
The space beneath the Dragon-Queller needed to be unsealed before they could descend.
Naturally, the seal had been placed by Zhongli himself—primarily to prevent adventurous fools from accidentally breaking it and releasing Azhdaha.
Nolan watched as Zhongli formed a sequence of hand seals. A flash of amber light shimmered across the seemingly ordinary patch of grass at the tree’s base—
—and a massive cavern entrance slowly revealed itself.
It seemed likely that this was the place where Azhdaha had been sealed.
The five of them followed the cave downward. The deeper they went, the darker it became. After walking a few dozen meters, they reached the bottom of the Dragon-Queller.
Deep in the lowest point, there was a clearly visible cavern entrance, sealed shut by an array of adeptal talismans.
Without disabling the formation, there was no getting through.
As expected of the Geo Archon—everything was handled with caution and thoroughness. A double-layered seal formation, ensuring that no reckless adventurer would accidentally break in and release Azhdaha.
“I’ll dispel the seal now. Be prepared—Azhdaha has likely sensed our presence,” Zhongli said calmly as he stood before the formation.
“Don’t worry, my lord. We’ll stay vigilant,” Mooncarver nodded slightly with his deer-like head.
Zhongli returned the nod, then raised his hand and effortlessly dispelled the talisman formation sealing the entrance. But before anyone could even glimpse inside—
A deafening roar thundered out, accompanied by terrifying pressure:
“MORAX!!”
“...”
Nolan ignored the oppressive aura and was instead somewhat speechless at the way Azhdaha roared.
Why did this feel just like that black serpent? First thing it did was scream Zhongli’s name. Was the hatred really that deep?
Geo Archon... did you bully them that hard back in the day? Nolan thought to himself with some amusement.
“Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, Conqueror of Demons—let's move!” Mooncarver called out, then transformed into a streak of light and charged into the cave.
The other adepti followed without hesitation.
Nolan entered last, following slightly behind Zhongli.
The sealed space beneath the Dragon-Queller was massive—easily the size of the central island in Musk Reef.
And in the center of that space was Azhdaha himself.
His body was enormous—just lying on the ground, he resembled a mountain. His form was somewhat turtle-like: small head and tail, massive midsection. His monstrous head had golden horns, and his eyes glowed an aggressive red, radiating raw fury.
At the moment, a massive sealing array was still suppressing him.
Unable to break through it, all he could do was roar from time to time and curse the name “Morax.” Beyond that, he couldn’t do much of anything.
“That’s him—Azhdaha, once an old friend of mine,” Zhongli said softly.
Seeing his old companion again—especially in this maddened, irrational state—brought a faint trace of sorrow to Zhongli’s usually impassive expression.
He wasn’t here to save Azhdaha… instead, it was to reinforce the seal, which only deepened his sense of guilt.
But “erosion” had no cure.
This was the best outcome—keeping Azhdaha sealed and unable to harm Teyvat again.
“A terrifying strength indeed,” Nolan muttered, having already activated his golden Eye of Judgment to assess Azhdaha’s level:
[Level: 118]
A stunning level 118, just two levels shy of the peak god-tier boundary at 120.
Thankfully, Zhongli had come. Otherwise, even if Nolan knew Azhdaha was sealed here, he wouldn’t dare come farm Adventure EXP.
Zhongli himself was level 122—slightly stronger than Raiden Shogun. But at such a high tier, those differences didn’t lead to overwhelming advantages in combat.
Still, since Azhdaha had been sealed for so long and likely weakened below level 120, Zhongli would be able to dominate him.
There was no doubt—this battle was a sure win.
“Everyone be ready—we’re about to loosen the seal,” Mooncarver reminded the others.
Each adeptus had taken a position at one of the seal’s four corners, assuming control of the formation. They would temporarily disable the seal,
then activate another formation to suppress Azhdaha’s power. After all, in his current state, there was no way to attack and knock him out through the barrier.
“Alright. Begin,” Zhongli said calmly, arms folded.
Soon, the adepti deactivated the seal.
But Azhdaha showed no joy at its disappearance—only a primal, instinctual struggle. He rose with a thunderous movement, smashing one of the rocky formation nodes with a stomp, and cracking the ground beneath him with another.
Opening his enormous maw, his blood-red eyes locked onto Zhongli, and he roared with fury:
“Morax... It is time—to settle EVERYTHING!!!”
(End of Chapter)
Comments
Msos
The fight is finally happening 😭🙏
