The placement of the End Crystals went very smoothly.
Without any Endermen interference, everyone had already taken off their carved pumpkin helmets.
As for why there were no Endermen…
The entire End mainland—especially the area where the Ender Dragon spawns—had already been wiped clean by the massive TNT explosions from earlier tests.
Much of the ground had completely collapsed.
Forget Endermen—just walking here now felt like traversing rugged mountains.
In any case, manual dragon-slaying had become several times more difficult.
But they had now entered the era of fully automated dragon-slaying.
The Ender Dragon was summoned once again, its form gradually taking shape.
It had just begun to rear its head, preparing to roar and assert its dominance—
When suddenly, a massive beam of light shone down upon it, and in the next instant, an arrow that pierced through space slammed straight down.
The Ender Dragon froze in midair. A moment later, a brilliant purple light erupted from within its body before it dispersed into smoke.
Around it, the End Crystals on the obsidian pillars remained completely untouched.
The first official shot of the Orbital Dragon-Slaying Cannon had instantly killed the Ender Dragon.
All that remained above the End Fountain was a single, pitch-black dragon egg.
Cloud Retainer dove down again, collected the dragon egg, placed fresh End Crystals, and returned to the sky platform to wait for the next dragon respawn.
As the only one in this world currently capable of flying freely, Cloud Retainer had become their official errand-runner.
"So this is the dragon egg? These dragons hatch from inside this thing?"
Tartaglia asked with great interest, leaning in to get a closer look—only for Cloud Retainer to immediately store it away.
Tartaglia's expression fell flat.
"Was that really necessary, Immortal Cloud Retainer? I contributed to the Orbital Dragon-Slaying Cannon, didn't I? I didn't say I wanted it—can't I even take a peek?"
Hearing him say that, Cloud Retainer clicked her tongue and reluctantly brought the egg back out.
Tartaglia leaned in and carefully examined every detail of the egg, his eyes gleaming with admiration.
Although he'd always believed that true power comes from oneself…
Something like an Ender Dragon—a creature that would allow him to fly into battle—Tartaglia definitely didn't mind raising a few.
He recalled the scene just days ago: a sky full of dragons circling the Jade Chamber. That majestic display had made a huge impression on him.
Now he imagined what it would be like to raise a dozen dragons of his own. That would be pure joy.
What's more, once grown, each of these dragons would wield power on par with a god's envoy.
With the resources of this world, building a dragon-rider army of over a thousand soldiers was only a matter of time.
And such a force would be one of the greatest assets in the Cryo Archon's war against Celestia.
If he could be the one to push that plan into action…
And the Cryo Archon, pleased, made him the general of that legion…
Wouldn't that be bliss beyond imagination?
Tartaglia had already inquired: there were eight elemental types of dragons.
Four of them could generate Elemental Reactions within Teyvat.
So he could raise an Ice Dragon, a Fire Dragon, and a Dendro Dragon.
And since he already wielded Hydro and Electro, Tartaglia envisioned himself as—
The Master of Elemental Reactions in Teyvat!
Freeze? Done.
Overload? Easy.
Aggravate? Why not?
The Five-Element Master — Tartaglia!
Lost in his daydreams of a glorious future, Tartaglia looked earnestly at Cloud Retainer.
"Immortal Cloud Retainer, are you willing to sell the dragon egg?"
"..."
Cloud Retainer gave him a strange look.
Why did Tartaglia suddenly look like a nouveau riche trying to buy a rare pet?
But she wasn't short on Mora. Calmly, she stored the dragon egg and replied:
"Mora is useless to an immortal like me. You'd better go collect your own."
Tartaglia was a little disappointed, but not too discouraged.
They were already in this world, and the Orbital Dragon-Slaying Cannon had been completed.
From here on out, all that remained was repetitive work.
"Let's continue."
Ryen didn't pay the dragon egg much attention. He noticed the Ender Dragon down below was about to respawn again.
He glanced at the progress of his achievement task—this would be the twenty-seventh dragon.
At this rate, they'd collect all the dragon eggs and complete the task in no time.
And so, the great dragon-slaying campaign resumed with full force.
Compared to their first trip to the End to fight the dragon, they had now entered a semi-automated assembly-line workflow.
Back in Liyue Harbor—
Ningguang sat in the Jade Chamber, a weary look on her face as she processed endless official paperwork.
While Ryen and the others had been completely immersed in building the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Cannon and hadn't felt the time pass…
In reality, it had already been five full days since they entered the Minecraft world.
At first, Ningguang had assumed Ryen would definitely return for at least one night—he had promised, after all.
But to her dismay, five days had passed with no news at all.
He hadn't even opened a portal back.
At first, she was a little worried that something might have gone wrong.
But then she remembered—Ryen knew that world like the back of his hand.
And with him were three Archons—Anemo, Geo, and Dendro, plus numerous adepti, thousands of Qianyan soldiers and Knights of Favonius…
Not to mention their advanced firearms, and the powerful women like Ganyu, each of whom carried seven or eight Totems of Undying.
If even they ended up in danger, then Ningguang doubted there was anything she could do by going in herself.
So logically, there was almost no chance anything had gone wrong.
Most likely, they were up to something grand and explosive again…
And had left her behind.
That thought made Ningguang's mood worsen considerably.
Especially after just getting a taste of "meat"… and then suddenly being put back on a vegetarian diet.
She felt unbearably miserable.
She didn't even sleep in the Jade Chamber at night anymore—she had to go to Ryen's courtyard to sleep.
Finishing the last stack of documents, Ningguang finally put down her brush and gently rubbed her sore wrist.
The noble Tianquan Star showed a rare girlish side for the very first time.
Back when Ryen had been around, if she got tired from work, she could just curl up in his arms for a nap.
Ryen would even massage her wrists and help her relax.
But now… she was all alone again.
Ningguang sighed bitterly.
"Damn man… I knew I couldn't trust you!"
Standing nearby, Baiwen couldn't help but chuckle slightly, the corners of her lips curling.
"What are you laughing at?!"
Ningguang snapped, irritated.
~~----------------------
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