The group moved the towering piles of cards away, leaving space for others to draw.
Jean and Lisa didn't touch the cards below four-star rarity, planning to let the Knights of Favonius sort through them later. After all, there were hundreds of thousands of low-tier cards—it would be exhausting for just one or two people to handle!
Compared to the massive number of low-tier cards, the few hundred four-star purple cards seemed much more manageable.
As the leader of the Knights, Jean needed to know exactly how many four-star cards they had and what effects each one possessed.
Lu Heng glanced over and estimated it would take them at least another ten minutes to finish sorting. After all, determining the best use for each card required careful consideration before deciding whether to dismantle it.
In the meantime, Lu Heng continued appraising cards for others.
The wealthy merchants, relying on their luck and deep pockets, were bound to pull at least one four-star purple card each.
At that moment, a lucky commoner drew a five-star gold card, causing a stir.
Unfortunately, the five-star gold card he pulled was a material card. Given his financial situation... Lu Heng felt it was a pity.
"You could consider selling it to someone who needs it," Lu Heng advised.
Alternatively, he could dismantle it. After all, a five-star gold card would provide a significant amount of experience for the Equipment Converter.
The choice was his to make.
"I'll sell it to Lady Tianquan!" the man replied excitedly.
A five-star gold card had to be worth at least tens of millions of Mora, right?
As for how much Ningguang would pay for it, that would depend on how she valued the material. If she needed it, she might spend hundreds of millions without hesitation. If not, the price would drop significantly.
Venti didn't help with the card sorting. Instead, he sat on a small stool nearby, resting his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
Lu Heng watched him for a while but couldn't figure out what he was pondering.
Just as Lu Heng was about to ask, Venti suddenly slapped his thigh and declared, "I think I can get in line too!"
"Huh?"
"You have Mora?" Lu Heng raised an eyebrow.
"Not that kind of line!" Venti's lips twitched.
Oh!
So the slacker was feeling motivated?
Was he lining up to challenge Morax?
"What's this? Feeling confident now?" Lu Heng asked curiously.
"Jean's card!"
Venti rubbed his hands together and grinned. "That card gives me at least a 10% boost! If the old man doesn't use any card powers, do you really think he can still beat me?"
"If you put it that way, then yeah, you've got a spot in line," Lu Heng conceded.
Venti loved slacking off, but that didn't mean he was weak!
He could laze around, but if anyone thought he was truly incompetent, they'd be sorely mistaken.
Venti was incredibly powerful.
Lu Heng recalled some discussions he'd heard:
"He's one of the only two original Archons still around—how could Venti be weak?"
"The strength of the first-generation Archons is guaranteed."
None of these comments really hit the mark.
Power and age weren't directly correlated.
The strong weren't necessarily ancient, and the ancient weren't necessarily strong.
The source of Venti's power was the Anemo Authority gifted to him by another.
The other part came from his people's faith in him.
But the latter was a bit tricky. Did it help? Not really—at least not in terms of combat prowess.
Faith mostly provided endurance.
For example, if Venti exhausted his divine power, he could convert his people's faith into energy.
Faith couldn't raise a god's upper limits. There were rare exceptions, but the increase was minimal.
Take the Gnosis, for instance. Was it useful?
Yes, it was. Embedded into a mech, it could grant power surpassing one's limits—even "comparable to a god," as some claimed.
Whether it truly rivaled a god's strength was debatable, but it did provide power.
For the Seven Archons, though, it wasn't particularly useful.
So, without relying on faith, Venti's strength remained largely unaffected.
His true power came from within!
And his strength was just slightly below Zhongli's.
With the boost from Jean's card, he really could defeat Morax!
But this comparison was based on the Morax of the past, before card enhancements...
Now?
Did Zhongli have any cards now?
Lu Heng suddenly couldn't hold back a laugh.
Zhongli still had no cards!
All his Mora had been given to Xiao for drawing cards, and even the low-tier cards had been used by Klee to upgrade the Equipment Converter!
Thinking of this, Lu Heng grinned. "You could give it a try."
"Haha, maybe not."
Venti waved his hand dismissively. "What if the old man holds a grudge? Next time, with card enhancements, he'd definitely come after me! I'll pass!"
"Ambitious, but not entirely."
Lu Heng shook his head.
Ding—
A notification sounded from his phone.
Lu Heng opened it to see a message from Furina.
"Equipment Converter and phone?"
Lu Heng forwarded the message to the Civilization Core.
Soon, a robot under the Core's control picked up the Equipment Converter and phone and headed to the pocket dimension via the teleportation array.
"What's that about?" Venti asked casually.
"For Greater Lord Rukkhadevata," Lu Heng replied.
"Ah, so that's why you personally ordered a robot to deliver it—wait, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata?!"
Venti spoke so quickly in his shock that he nearly bit his tongue.
He stared at Lu Heng in disbelief. "The same Greater Lord Rukkhadevata I know?!"
"Yep," Lu Heng nodded calmly.
"She's alive?!"
If anyone knew the truth about Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, it was Venti!
Zhongli knew as well.
But neither of them could do anything about her situation.
And now...
"How is she?" Venti asked urgently.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's role was too critical!
She guarded Irminsul!
If anything happened to Irminsul, the entire world of Teyvat would be affected—even gods like Venti and Zhongli wouldn't be spared!
"She's doing great."
Lu Heng said, "It's a long story, but don't worry. She's perfectly fine now—I brought her back to life."
"What?!"
Venti looked as if he hadn't heard correctly.
"You resurrected her?!"
"What about the Forbidden Knowledge?"
"Purged it, of course. What else?" Lu Heng shrugged.
Just then, his phone buzzed.
Seeing a friend request, Lu Heng said, "Oh, she's here. I'll forward her contact to you—you can add her and ask her yourself."
"Sure!"
Venti was extremely curious and immediately added Greater Lord Rukkhadevata as a friend.
He also forwarded her contact to Zhongli.
A supposedly deceased colleague had returned—of course they needed to reconnect and catch up!
A few seconds later, Lu Heng received a message:
[Greater Lord Rukkhadevata]: Barbatos asked me how I came back to life. Should I tell him?
[Lu Heng]: He's right next to me. I don't mind—it's up to you.
Half a minute later...
Venti looked at Lu Heng with admiration. "Boss Lu, you're the real deal! You're the true god!"
He sighed. "Six-star potential...!"
His former coworker now had potential on par with the highest echelons!
Venti suddenly asked, "Bro, can you break me down and rebuild me too? I don't need much—just six-star potential as a baseline!"
Seriously?
Was six-star potential that enticing?
Lu Heng thought about it and realized—yes, it really was!
Seeing Venti's eager expression, Lu Heng pondered for a moment before smiling. "Sure, if you can afford it."
"Ah..."
Venti sighed deeply.
Six-star potential... Millions of draws couldn't guarantee it—the current card pool didn't even have items of that tier!
"Feels like I'd have to work for you for a lifetime to earn a six-star card," Venti mused.
"Hey, don't say that."
Lu Heng shook his head. "When the time comes, we'll introduce a card pool with six-star cards. But for now... it's still early."
"Six-star... Never mind, I shouldn't think about it." Venti patted his head.
The more he thought about it, the more he wanted it.
But his wallet was thin.
Forget six-star red cards—he didn't even have a five-star gold card!
Venti decided that given his financial state... it was better to just lie back and be a carefree slacker.
Once you embrace laziness, the world feels vast.
At that moment, Jean and Lisa finally finished sorting the four-star cards.
Jean hesitated but then turned to Venti. "Lord Barbatos, regarding the distribution of five-star gold cards, I'd like to offer a suggestion."
"Hmm?"
Venti immediately waved her off. "No objections here!"
"Please hear me out first."
Jean said seriously, "You're aware that the Knights have a member from the Lawrence clan, right?"
Venti asked, "Eula?"
"Yes."
Seeing that Venti knew, Jean continued, "Eula is an outstanding Knight of Favonius. Although she comes from the Lawrence family..."
As Jean prepared to launch into a lengthy justification, Venti cut her off. "You don't actually think I have any issues with Eula, do you?"
He went straight to the point: the Lawrence clan.
Once glorious, then fallen from grace—like the dragon-slayer who became the dragon. Now, they were in decline.
Venti only took issue with the Lawrence clan's past tyranny. After that era passed, he held no further grudges.
At the very least, he didn't believe in permanently blacklisting someone for their family's misdeeds.
Besides, Eula was merely born into the Lawrence clan—she wasn't carrying its "sins."
"Boss Lu, what do you think?" Venti turned to Lu Heng.
Lu Heng had deep knowledge of many people.
Venti knew that Lu Heng was familiar with every playable character in the game.
"Me?"
Lu Heng was puzzled. "Isn't this an internal matter for you guys?"
"I'd like to hear an outsider's perspective," Venti said earnestly.
Jean nodded. "I assume you're familiar with Eula too. How would you evaluate her?"
Evaluate Eula?
A relic of the old era? The queen of physical damage? A "primitive" character?
Lu Heng replied, "Judge by actions, not words. Don't listen to what she says—watch what she does."
"The Eula I know is undoubtedly an outstanding Knight of Favonius."
"Though she comes from the Lawrence family, she bears no stains from its past. Her catchphrases might sound harsh, but she possesses a unique charm."
Lu Heng added, "If you're considering whether to allocate a five-star gold card to Eula and want my opinion, then I say yes. She's an excellent knight and deserves our trust."
After hearing Venti and Lu Heng's words, Jean felt reassured.
She had no negative views of Eula. Despite Eula's constant threats to challenge her or "take revenge" on the Knights, Jean recognized her talent and integrity.
With these two leaders' endorsements, Eula would likely face no further resistance within the Knights.
"Thank you, Boss Lu. Outstanding knights like her are treasures the Knights must cherish," Jean said solemnly.
"Well said."
Venti nodded, then stood up and headed for the door. "Now that the excitement's over, I'm off to mooch some lunch. You handle the rest."
Before leaving, he asked, "Boss Lu, coming?"
Lu Heng shook his head. "I need to check on Fontaine."
"Ah, busy men are hard to pin down." Venti sighed and left.
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T/N:
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