Chapter 231: Invitation to Join

Hey, friend.

You came too.

Luo De didn't suppress his own movements, so naturally as soon as he entered he was noticed by Dadalia, but he didn't go over, instead continuing to focus entirely on helping these soldiers clear the monsters near the mechanism.

Seeing that it was someone known to their own executive.

The Foolish People's soldiers who had originally been on guard also relaxed, continuing to dismantle the first mechanism sealing the Cold Heaven's Nail according to Dadalia's orders.

"Didn't you tell Yelan to delay him for a day?"

Seeing Dadalia suddenly appear here, busy as a bee, Luo De couldn't help but frown.

He indeed didn't directly say to delay Dadalia for a day at that time.

But given Yelan's comprehension ability,

she shouldn't fail to understand his meaning, right?

Unless

Luo De quietly approached Xiao, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Great Sage Who Subdues Demons, is anyone else here?"

Xiao gave an affirmative answer.

"Yes."

"Someone is at the highest cliff to the northwest of the Crystal Stone."

After pointing out that there were outsiders here, Xiao didn't take any defensive action; instead, he focused his gaze entirely on the Foolish People.

Yelan was also monitoring here.

She just didn't show herself.

"He's been spotted by Dadalia, huh."

Luo De roughly understood what was going on.

No matter how you say it.

Dadalia is the Eleventh Seat Executive of the Foolish People, a master who fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and within the Foolish People he is also known as an executive who prefers to act alone.

In terms of single-soldier combat ability,

Although Yelan is indeed renowned across Teyvat for intelligence work, she may not be able to continually mislead Dadalia, who is likewise a national elite.

It seems Dadalia either discovered Yelan's trail or found the genuine marker left by the Ninth Battalion, thereby shaking off Yelan in one fell swoop, locating the Ninth Battalion's people, and successfully bringing them here to the Cold Heaven's Nail.

"Tsk, good thing the Emperor gave a reward."

Luo De muttered a sentence.

Earlier he had Yelan delay Dadalia's steps because he didn't want complications, fearing that when releasing the Cold Heaven's Nail's restraint, he might be dragged into that sealed land where Fushe and the Thousand Rock Army soldiers perished.

Fortunately.

Zhongli gave a reward.

He explicitly sent Luo De the message to bring Xiao along into the sealed land.

So now it doesn't matter whether Dadalia is here or not.

Even his being here is better.

Fushe's burial ground is fraught with danger everywhere, and moreover countless heroic souls of the Thousand Rock Army linger there.

Upon entering the sealed land, they don't care.

But wanting to leave is not that easy.

First, one must find the Immortal's treasure, the Grand Might Instrument Disk, hidden within the sealed land.

This treasure originally belonged to the Immortal Minghai Qixia Zhenjun, who later gifted it to a human cultivator who was his close friend; the two then jointly remade it into a powerful artifact requiring both immortal and mortal power to operate.

This item was originally used during the Archon War to seal evil beasts.

Non-Archons, once trapped within it, find it hard to break free.

Moreover, after the transformation, the sealing power of this artifact has increased even further.

During the black disaster five hundred years ago,

Just as Mondstadt was similarly embroiled in a bitter struggle, Liyue, in order to utterly eradicate the beast tide, at that time the newly sobered Immortal Yaksha Fushe and the mortal Fangshi Boyang led the Thousand Rock Army, drawing all of the monstrous beasts ravaging Liyue into the depths of the Stratified Rock Abyss, and using the Grand Might Instrument Disk, they sealed themselves together with all the monsters here, utilizing the power of the Cold Heaven's Land, painstakingly helping Liyue survive this disaster.

Now that seal is temporarily in a dormant state.

Once the Cold Heaven's Nail is touched, the reverberating shockwaves will reawaken the seal.

At that time, everyone present here will be sucked into the seal.

The only way to break it is to locate the Grand Might Instrument Disk, the source of the seal, then activate it jointly with immortal and mortal power, and finally have a strong individual control the Disk to bring everyone out of the sealed space.

"I don't know if I can withstand the consumption of the Grand Might Instrument Disk."

Thinking of this, Luo De unconsciously glanced at Xiao.

Fushe and Boyang are outstanding among immortals and mortals.

The seal they jointly laid down, at the very least, if Xiao were to operate it while injured, relying solely on himself would still be insufficient.

However.

Now Xiao is uninjured; theoretically his condition should be better, and he should be able to bear the consumption of the Grand Might Instrument Disk.

Of course.

Even if Xiao couldn't hold up, it wouldn't matter.

Zhongli is just outside watching; if anything goes wrong, he'll step in to help.

Looking at it this way.

This, which should have been the most troublesome problem, now the only remaining difficulty is how to find the Grand Might Instrument Disk.

Besides that.

The heroic spirits sealed in the geography are also a big trouble.

Those heroic souls retained no consciousness from life; what they kept was an obsession similar to that of a Black Snake Knight—namely, they would not allow any living thing to leave the sealed place.

Thus, leaving the sealed place would inevitably provoke their frenzied attack.

"Should we call someone else to help?"

After considering all these issues.

Luo De is currently thinking about whether to expand the team entering the sealed place.

Strong enough and still trustworthy.

The first person he thought of was Cyno.

Tinari's martial skills are still lacking compared to Cyno, who inherits the Archon's legacy.

But after repeated consideration.

Luo De still gave up that idea.

Cyno cannot come.

The safety of the scientific expedition team also needs to be guaranteed; if Cyno were to leave, not to mention the monsters hidden in the darkness causing many troubles, even just the lady alone, capable of crushing the expedition team, would pose a significant safety hazard.

Luo De doesn't believe in any joint scientific expedition agreement that promises mutual safety.

If, midway through the march, the Ice Empress issued another order and the lady fled, with Cyno absent, relying solely on Tinari would hardly suffice to guarantee the expedition team's safety.

Just as Luo De was pondering.

On Dadalya's side, the first binding of the Frigid Heaven's Nail has already been successfully undone.

And that's how the problem could be resolved so quickly.

All credit goes to Dadalya, the fearless Executor who resists the Abyss's corrosion.

The Ninth Regiment's previously prepared machinery had long broken down, now discarded like scrap metal; only thanks to Dadalya's formidable strength does the Ninth Regiment have a chance to fulfill its mission.

While the soldiers were resting.

Dadalya leapt over with excitement, and upon meeting him, he first stared for a moment, then immediately didn't bother talking to Luo De, stroked his chin, and said to Xiao, "This friend looks strong—care to spar?"

"."

Xiao naturally ignored such an unnecessary invitation, still standing with arms crossed, giving him a cold stare.

"Don't bother with that useless talk."

As for this martial maniac, Luo De could do nothing but grab him, then feigned mystery: "By the way, there's a relic down below where a Liyue Immortal‑level expert left a remnant soul—interested in exploring it together?"

(End of chapter)