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[Genshin Impact] Chapter 435: The Ruin Serpent (2-in-1 Chapter)
🕑 Added 2025-03-23 16:27:28 +0000 UTC"You two have pretty good timing. I just discovered a massive creature—it’s highly likely to be the culprit behind the spread of the black mud."
Yelan recounted what she had just witnessed.
Listening to her, Nolan guessed that she had encountered the Ruin Serpent. However, he remembered that the black mud was actually seeping out from the Ley Line breaches.
Even if they defeated the Ruin Serpent, it wouldn’t completely solve the problem. They would have to find a way to seal those breaches.
In the game, this issue was resolved using the Pulsating Pinion, a device researched by the Sumeru Akademiya’s Amurta scholars, specifically by Hosseini.
But right now, they didn’t have access to such technology.
The best they could do was clear out the existing black mud to slow its spread.
Or perhaps, they could find another way to seal the Ley Line breaches.
Still, if that Ruin Serpent had been mutated and strengthened by the black mud, it was bound to be a powerful opponent—perfect for farming Adventure EXP.
Might as well check it out.
"A... a massive creature? Please, tell us more." Ganyu blinked her beautiful eyes and gestured for Yelan to elaborate.
"Sure. Follow me—we can talk as we go and clear out any black mud we encounter along the way," Yelan said, casually twirling a lock of her hair.
Nolan and Ganyu nodded in agreement and followed Yelan toward the cavern where she had spotted the Ruin Serpent.
According to her, it was quite a distance away. Even if she ran at full speed, it would take her at least half a day to get there.
To reach it, they would have to pass through the main mining area and then traverse a long, narrow passage.
"By the way, Miss Yelan, besides assisting with the investigation, I also wanted to discuss stealth techniques with you."
"Would you be interested?"
As they walked, Nolan activated his Ninjutsu: Hidden Mirage Domain, vanishing into stealth right in front of Yelan.
After all, if he wanted her to share her skills with him, he had to prove that he had something of value to exchange.
Otherwise, why would she freely give away her techniques?
"Oh?"
Yelan rested her left hand just below her partially exposed chest and gently touched her cheek with her right hand. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at the spot where Nolan had disappeared.
"Huh... Mister Nolan's stealth technique is truly impressive. Even though I can sense your position using my mental perception..."
"There’s still this odd feeling, as if my mind instinctively wants to overlook you. It’s like I have to constantly force myself to focus on you just to remain aware of your presence."
Ganyu, with her delicate fingers covering her lips in surprise, nodded in agreement. The two elegant qilin-like horns peeking through her blue hair twitched slightly.
"Indeed. While it doesn’t completely bypass mental perception, that effect—the way one subconsciously ignores your presence even when they know you’re there—it’s quite unique."
A glimmer of surprise also flashed through Yelan’s pupils.
"It’s impressive, but it has two flaws," Nolan admitted, deactivating his stealth and reappearing in his original position.
"First, it’s not very effective against people who can project their mental perception outward."
"Second, due to interference from elemental energy, I can’t launch attacks while remaining invisible. That’s why I wanted to ask if you had any insights on improving it."
"Heh," Yelan chuckled, crossing her arms, a playful smirk tugging at her lips. "Keqing mentioned something about this a few days ago. She wanted to discuss it with you, but she got too busy with work."
"I didn’t expect you’d come looking for me yourself."
"But you've definitely asked the right person. When it comes to evading mental perception and neutralizing elemental interference during attacks, I do have some expertise."
Yelan’s stealth abilities were something she had refined over the course of her work, and solving these exact issues had taken her a lot of time and effort.
At her current level, it was difficult to push her skill any further.
However, the ability Nolan demonstrated—reducing his presence to the point of being subconsciously ignored—gave her a new direction for improvement.
If she could integrate that into her own techniques, she might be able to elevate her stealth skill to the level of an Arcane Level!
"Oh? That’s great. How about we discuss this as we walk?" Nolan asked eagerly, knowing that Yelan’s stealth techniques could counter mental perception and remain stable even in the presence of elemental energy.
He was already excited to refine his own abilities.
"Mmm... that works," Yelan mused, pressing her lower lip slightly in thought before agreeing. It wouldn’t delay their journey anyway.
---
For the next stretch of their walk, the three of them exchanged insights on stealth while keeping an eye on the black mud spreading throughout the main mining area.
In just half an hour, they came across three separate locations where the black mud was oozing from the Ley Lines.
Strangely, these areas were often surrounded by monsters—Hilichurls and other creatures—that immediately went berserk upon spotting them, wildly swinging their weapons and charging in without hesitation.
There was no chance for negotiation or retreat.
Even worse, the black mud seemed to affect mental states. Any ordinary person lingering nearby would begin to feel its influence.
No wonder the entire area had been sealed off.
As for the waves of attacking monsters, Nolan—being the gentleman that he was—insisted that Yelan and Ganyu stay back and watch.
Heh, he would handle this himself!
Besides, with the monsters strengthened by the black mud, most of them were around Level 50 or 60. Leaving them alone would be a waste.
Three black mud zones, more than twenty monsters—
A total gain of over 60,000 Adventure EXP!
In addition to dealing with the monsters, Nolan conducted some simple tests on the black mud.
He discovered that elemental energy could be used to clear it out—
However, he estimated that only someone at Level 60 or 70 would have enough elemental power to completely remove it.
Otherwise, any attempt would be temporary, and the mud would regenerate before long.
Even if they managed to clear it away, as long as the Ley Line breaches remained open, the black mud would inevitably resurface in just a few days.
Overall... quite an annoying problem.
Nolan planned to defeat the Ruin Serpent first and then find a suitable reason to share the information he had obtained from the game with Yelan and Ganyu.
At the same time, he wanted to see if they had any way to seal the ley line breach.
Of course, he felt that the chances were slim.
From what he knew in the game, technology related to interfering with ley lines seemed to belong only to the now-destroyed godless nation, Khaenri'ah, and the Abyss Order, which had deep ties to Khaenri'ah.
Speaking of the Abyss Order, Nolan remembered that they were also scheming something in The Chasm.
Although he wasn’t sure if it was happening at this exact time, he had to stay alert to avoid being ambushed by them.
As time passed, Nolan, Yelan, and Ganyu passed through the main mining area and began heading deeper inside.
Ganyu’s legs, wrapped in black silk stockings, moved gracefully back and forth as her tied-up blue hair brushed against the exposed white skin of her back, visible through her black bodysuit.
While discussing stealth techniques with the others, she walked through a narrow stone passage. Suddenly, they found themselves in a much more open space.
Looking ahead, they saw a rocky cave entrance.
Ganyu turned her face slightly toward the other two and asked, “Miss Yelan, do we go through the cave next?”
“That’s right. Inside is a narrow path, and at the end of that path, you’ll find the Ruin Serpent.”
Yelan nodded slightly as she answered.
“I see… Looks like my adventurer’s spirit is burning now. Facing powerful foes is the true essence of adventure!”
Nolan half-jokingly declared.
“Hah, forget about the ‘true essence.’ If I had the choice to clock out and go home, I wouldn’t bother dealing with such a troublesome task.
"That being said, we’re almost at the Ruin Serpent’s location, and our discussion on stealth techniques won’t be finished so soon.
"Let’s deal with the Ruin Serpent first, and then we can continue.”
Yelan said with a smile on her fair-skinned face.
“That works for me.”
Nolan nodded. Since his Divine level fused skills didn’t include stealth techniques, he couldn’t grasp the subject as quickly as he did with archery when learning from Ganyu.
With no shortcut, he had no choice but to focus on completing the mission first and continue exchanging insights with Yelan on stealth when they had more free time.
The three of them stepped into the passage, encountering many monsters along the way.
There were Ruin Sentinels, Hilichurls, Geo Slimes, and even Rock Serpents that thrived in dim underground environments.
Following his belief that "even the weakest enemies shouldn’t be wasted," Nolan summoned two "Lumine's Sword Gods" and sent them ahead to clear the path.
All they had to do was follow at a steady pace.
Since they would soon be facing an unknown-level Ruin Serpent, it was wise to conserve their energy and maintain their best condition for the upcoming battle.
Before long, the "Lumine's Sword Gods" had eliminated the monsters blocking their way, earning Nolan over 80,000 Adventure EXP.
Finally, they reached the end of the passage.
Here, they found a "Teleport Waypoint."
If Lumine were here, she could activate it.
However, even if they did activate it, it wouldn’t make much difference. Unlike in the game, the Ruin Serpent here wouldn’t respawn every few minutes after being defeated, allowing him to farm unlimited Adventure EXP.
Shifting his gaze away from the "Teleport Waypoint," he looked ahead and saw a massive abyss.
The depths below were shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see the bottom.
The Ruin Serpent was on a platform across the canyon, burrowing in and out of the ground repeatedly. Every now and then, it would surface, summoning dark mud to absorb its power.
"Miss Yelan, is that the big guy you were talking about?" Ganyu asked as she gazed across the canyon.
Even though it was just a mechanical construct, it still gave her a strong sense of danger.
It was indeed something to take seriously.
"That's right. The Ruin Serpent is strong, but with you here, Ganyu, it should only take a moment to deal with it."
Yelan pressed her hands against her waist as she spoke.
If Ningguang had come instead, she wouldn’t have been so relaxed. But since it was Ganyu—a warrior who had once fought alongside the Geo Archon against gods—she could remain at ease.
That was why she had the leisure to discuss stealth techniques with Nolan along the way.
"It's not that exaggerated..." Ganyu’s fair cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment.
Nolan coughed and said, "Miss Ganyu, when you attack later, could you hold back a little? Give me a chance to show off too."
Activating his golden Eye of Judgement, he looked toward the Ruin Serpent from afar.
He noticed that the dark mud had strengthened it, raising its level to 91—matching his own.
That was quite strong, but compared to Ganyu, it was still far behind.
Even though her level hadn't changed from the last time they fought Osial together—remaining at 96—after level 90, each level-up created a massive gap in strength.
Aside from people like Nolan, who had "cheat" abilities, or those who had mastered some special secret techniques, fighting above one’s level was extremely difficult.
If Ganyu fought seriously, she could indeed take down the Ruin Serpent with ease.
But that would mean he wouldn’t earn any Adventure EXP. So it was better if he did the hard work while Ganyu watched from the side.
"Oh? Our adventurous soul-burning adventurer… don’t tell me you plan to go over there and duel the Ruin Serpent one-on-one?"
Yelan looked at Nolan with amusement.
"Stop teasing me. I’m not about to take on that iron-clad monster head-on. If I get knocked around, it’d hurt like hell."
Nolan controlled his two "Lumine's Sword Gods," sending them flying toward the Ruin Serpent while pulling out a bow.
With a smile, he continued, "Alright, my sword avatars will handle the frontal assault. How about we stay here and snipe from a distance?"
"That’s actually a good plan. Cautious and clever!"
Yelan brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, retrieved her own bow from her Vision space, and nodded approvingly.
As an intelligence agent, caution was a fundamental trait—without it, she wouldn’t have survived in her line of work.
"Alright then, I’ll keep an eye on our surroundings and infuse the serpent with Cryo. Miss Yelan, you can attack with Hydro.
"Once it gets frozen, it should be effectively immobilized. Then, Mister Nolan, you can go all out with your attacks."
Ganyu proposed a reliable strategy that wouldn’t require excessive energy expenditure.
Despite her great strength, she wasn’t fond of combat. Compared to fighting, working overtime actually brought her more joy.
"No problem." Nolan and Yelan both nodded in agreement.
While they were discussing their approach, Nolan’s two "Lumine's Sword Gods" had already arrived at the platform across the canyon.
Before they could act, the Ruin Serpent, which had been burrowing in and out of the ground, immediately detected the "intruders."
Without the slightest hesitation, it seized the moment it leaped out of the ground to form a massive sphere of dark mud and hurled it at the two sword avatars.
Nolan split his focus, controlling the "Lumine's Sword Gods" to dodge the attack by shifting through space, one moving left and the other right.
Then, they raised their golden longswords—no probing attacks, no hesitation—each one unleashing a massive golden sword wave straight at the serpent.
Since sword waves could also shift through space, ignoring the distance to their target, the Ruin Serpent had just begun to dodge when—
The golden slashes had already reached its body.
It was too fast. There was no time to burrow underground—the only option was to block with its dark mud-reinforced steel body.
Its programmed intelligence calculated that its own structural integrity was immensely strong, capable of withstanding even the force of shattering mountains and splitting stones.
Blocking two attacks from the intruders shouldn’t be an issue.
But what happened next nearly caused its processing core to overload and crash.
The two golden slashes—
Sliced its body clean in half!
(End of Chapter)
