"So the first step to saving Mondstadt is to borrow the Holy Lyre der Himmel? That's impossible, no matter how you think about it." Upon hearing Venti's first step, Eula immediately raised doubts.
Lumine and Paimon are travelers from another world; they don't know what the Holy Lyre means to the people of Mondstadt, but Eula does.
Just kidding, do you think they'll just lend you the Holy Lyre because you asked? How could that be possible?
And if Eula weren't somewhat familiar with Venti, she'd think he was some kind of scammer.
Even now, Eula still thinks so.
"So Venti, where did you learn all this? Are you really sure you can restore Dvalin's sanity with the Holy Lyre?"
"Of course! Because I'm the best bard in the world. Past, future, and present—there's no ballad I don't know. Look into my eyes, don't you think I'm trustworthy?" Venti opened his big eyes wide and looked at Eula.
"Emmm, if you hadn't said that last part, I might have found you trustworthy." As long-time drinking buddies, Eula does have some trust in Venti.
But having some trust doesn't mean she has to believe him completely.
"Sigh, if you don't believe me, you should at least believe A'Luo. A'Luo can testify that I absolutely have the ability to use the Holy Lyre to restore Dvalin's mind." Knowing he couldn't convince Eula immediately, Venti pulled Chen Luo out as a shield.
Lumine and Paimon witnessed him communicating with Dvalin firsthand, so they believe him.
Chen Luo knows he's Barbatos, the Anemo Archon, so Chen Luo believes him too.
But Eula knows nothing, so Eula doesn't believe him.
And if Venti tried to prove he's the Anemo Archon right now, it would actually be quite difficult.
So now it's necessary to use the simplest method to prove it.
"Well, Eula, I guarantee Venti can definitely do it. Trust me this once." Chen Luo looked into Eula's eyes and said.
"Uh, alright then." Feeling Chen Luo's gaze, Eula could only nod.
"See? The classic example of favoring romance over friendship." Venti pointed at Eula, feigning disappointment.
"Eh, wait, 'favoring romance over friendship' means... me?" Eula pointed at herself in surprise.
"Of course!"
He talked for so long without being believed, but Chen Luo says one sentence and she believes him? What kind of differential treatment is this?
"Alright, alright, stop messing around. You guys go get the Holy Lyre from the Favonius Cathedral quickly. Eula and I will keep watch for you." Chen Luo waved at Venti, his meaning quite clear.
"Ah, wait, what did you say? What do you mean?" Venti was suddenly startled.
What does this guy mean?
Just slacking off outright?
I haven't even started slacking yet, you can't do this!
"Aren't you here to help? How can you just leave like this? You should be helping! Didn't I already issue the commission?" Venti grew anxious.
He used to be the one slacking off and avoiding work; now, facing someone else slacking off, Venti could finally understand how others felt when dealing with him.
"...Ehe?" After a moment's silence, Chen Luo tilted his head.
"Ehe your head!" Venti roared at Chen Luo.
I thought I was lazy enough, but you're even lazier!
"Ehe, ehe—I hope you have the same attitude towards your life, always ehe-ing. What kind of ehe monster are you?" Venti said displeased.
"..." Chen Luo crossed his arms and looked up at the sky.
Being called an ehe monster by the ehe monster himself is truly a magical experience.
"What can I do? I did accept your commission, but I wanted to solve it with force, and you weren't willing." Chen Luo now looked quite innocent.
"And just talking about borrowing the Holy Lyre this time—Eula and I are completely unsuitable to show our faces. I'm a complete stranger, a traveler from another world; why would they lend it to me? Eula goes without saying. So all we can do is pray for you here in front of the Favonius Cathedral, hoping you can borrow the Holy Lyre."
"Young man and young lady, may Lord Barbatos guide you." Chen Luo said seriously to Venti, Paimon, and Lumine.
"..." And so, Venti left with a dark expression.
Chen Luo, let me tell you, you'll never receive Barbatos's blessing in your entire life.
"Can they really get the Holy Lyre?" Eula watched with some concern as Venti and the others headed towards the Favonius Cathedral.
"Definitely not. Isn't it obvious? It would be strange if they could." Chen Luo said quite bluntly.
What is the Holy Lyre? It's a sacred relic of Barbatos preserved in the Favonius Cathedral. How could it be so easily lent out?
At the very least, they'd need a permit from Acting Grand Master Jean, right?
Speaking of which, Venti is quite interesting too. As Barbatos himself, wanting to retrieve his own lyre yet having to steal it like a thief—it's quite amusing.
Is it like a student whose phone was confiscated by the teacher, stealing it back only to have to return it later? Although the analogy isn't perfect, the situation is somewhat similar.
"What should we do next?" Eula asked.
"Well, I was actually wondering if I could climb onto the hands of this Statue of the Seven." Chen Luo stood in the square, looking up at the huge statue of the Anemo Archon with its outstretched hands.
"What do you want to do? If you're caught, the nuns will scold you." Eula pointed to the black-clad sister at the base of the statue in the distance.
"Mainly because I think sitting on the Statue of the Seven might give a reward." Chen Luo muttered quietly.
"What kind of reward could there be? A day's worth of prison food?" Eula looked at Chen Luo with some annoyance.
"No, there really should be a reward. I'll try it tonight." Although Chen Luo wanted to try right now, looking at the bustling crowd in the square in front of the Favonius Cathedral during daytime, he gave up on experimenting now.
Speaking of which, Chen Luo's talent isn't a commission talent, nor a kill-and-loot talent, nor a friendship talent. Chen Luo's talent is called [Traveler]—the talent to travel through various worlds.
In fact, after Chen Luo's 7-day event in the Honkai world ended, when he went back to Chiba Academy, he received a check-in reward.
20 Primogems—not much, but it was indeed a Primogem reward.
The same happened with ME Corp.
And when Chen Luo left Nagazora and followed Raven to other cities, he also received a 50 Primogem reward for achieving the Nagazora exploration achievement.
So Chen Luo guesses that if he goes to important places in a world and checks in, he'll receive travel rewards. Not much, but who wouldn't want free Primogems?
It's just... you don't automatically get rewards just by arriving at a place; you need to go to a specific spot.
And this spot, outside of event periods, is directly shown to Chen Luo.
For example, earlier when Chen Luo was at Windrise, his talent panel hinted that stepping on the Anemo Archon statue's head would grant a check-in reward.
But Venti was right there at the time...
And now Chen Luo received a hint that sitting on the hands of this Anemo Archon statue would grant a reward.
Well, then the question is: how many rewards could Chen Luo get if he sat on Venti's head?
That's truly a thought-provoking question.
While pondering this, Chen Luo opened his talent panel and simultaneously opened the Herrscher of Sentience's ability exchange interface.
Herrscher of Sentience
[Herrscher of Sentience Authority (Heart Demon) · Modified]: 4095 "Original price 13,000 Primogems" 65% off]
"Sigh, it's gotten more expensive again." Chen Luo sighed inwardly.
After the Herrscher of Sentience consumed the Heart Demon Essence, her authority had been continuously evolving, which also made the Herrscher of Sentience authority increasingly expensive.
The previous price was 13,000 Primogems, which was the result of a 65% discount followed by an additional 10% off.
Because the 7-day 10% discount period hadn't expired yet.
And Chen Luo currently has 23,625 Crystals.
Should he buy it or not?
Since the Herrscher of Sentience is currently at home babysitting, she isn't by Chen Luo's side, which made Chen Luo realize that the Herrscher of Sentience couldn't always be with him, as there might be more and more children to look after in the future.
Buy?
Not buy?
Buy!
If he doesn't buy it now, it'll be even more expensive later!
Only after giving the favorability gift yesterday did Senti's discount reach 65% off. One can imagine how difficult it would be to increase this discount further.
With the current 10% discount available, if he doesn't buy it now, it'll be even more expensive later.
Anyway, having more skills isn't a burden. Of course, the most crucial point is that Senti's Herrscher of Sentience authority is a growable authority. Additionally, according to the Herrscher of Sentience herself, absorbing negative energy can enhance mental power.
This is one of the reasons why Chen Luo wants to buy it now.
[Ding! Talent purchased successfully]
With a ding, Chen Luo's 4095 Crystals instantly disappeared, and simultaneously, another Herrscher of Sentience talent appeared in Chen Luo's talent list.
Chen Luo didn't feel any special sensation about this—no surge of power, no body heat, nothing of the sort. He just felt as if he had gained another instinct.
At the same time, Chen Luo also sensed that the entirety of Mondstadt seemed enveloped in great fear. Within the whole Mondstadt area, there was an abundance of negative energy like fear, dread, worry, and anxiety, which naturally came from Stormterror Dvalin.
And Chen Luo could naturally feel his talent's craving for these negative energies.
Chen Luo's heart stirred, and with a snap of his fingers, countless invisible threads of consciousness instantly spread throughout the entire Mondstadt square. The threads gently probed into everyone gathered in the Mondstadt square, and then the mostly black negative energy slowly flowed along the threads into Chen Luo's body.
"Ah, power is surging up." This time, Chen Luo truly felt the tangible effect brought by the Herrscher of Sentience authority.
How exactly Senti absorbs these negative energies, Chen Luo doesn't know, but he thinks it probably isn't as convenient as his method. Chen Luo doesn't need to contact those people at all; as long as his [Consciousness Threads] can touch those people, the negative emotions can flow into Chen Luo's body via the threads.
These negative energies strengthen Chen Luo's Herrscher authority on one hand and enhance his mental power on the other. But at the same time, the residual negative emotions contained within these negative energies also assail Chen Luo's mind.
Only now did Chen Luo understand why the Herrscher of Sentience didn't dare to touch the dark emotions in the Children's Funland.
The warm current Chen Luo obtains after completing commissions comprehensively enhances all his attributes, including mental power.
And after becoming the Herrscher of Sentience, Chen Luo felt his mental power had increased by a small margin.
The people in Mondstadt square are generally not very strong, almost no different from ordinary people. Even so, Chen Luo felt his emotions were considerably affected when absorbing their negative energy.
If Chen Luo dared to absorb the darkness in the Children's Funland, wouldn't he be overwhelmed?
These days, being a heart demon isn't easy either.
Upon obtaining the Herrscher of Sentience authority, Chen Luo simultaneously gained something similar to a Heart Demon physique, allowing him to infiltrate others' mental worlds for inspection.
However, Chen Luo's Heart Demon physique can only achieve this much at best.
Senti's physique type is far from just a Heart Demon Physique; she can transform between reality and illusion, something Chen Luo cannot learn.
Unless Chen Luo is willing to abandon his current body, he might achieve that effect.
Otherwise, Chen Luo can only obtain another semi-conceptual physique [Heart Demon Physique].
The Heart Demon Physique can improve certain mental strength and resilience against mental attribute attacks, while also allowing Chen Luo to infiltrate others' consciousness seas.
If Chen Luo wants to gain abilities like Senti's size-shifting and reality-illusion transformation without abandoning his original body, he would need to purchase Senti's custom-made Herrscher Physique.
"Tsk, headache." Chen Luo rubbed his temples somewhat uncomfortably.
After absorbing the negative emotions of all the ordinary people in Mondstadt square, his mental power had indeed improved significantly, but it came with troubling mental haziness.
This was Chen Luo's mental power resisting the influence of those residues.
Of course, you could choose not to resist, in which case this situation wouldn't occur at all, and you could recklessly devour negative emotions and negative energy without restraint.
It's just... in the process of continuous devouring, you might no longer be yourself.
[Ding! Spend 1 Primogem (Crystal) to dispel the effects?]
"A'Luo, what's wrong?" Seeing Chen Luo suddenly show an uncomfortable expression for some reason, Eula beside him couldn't help but ask concernedly.
"No, it's nothing." Chen Luo shook his head and instantly returned to normal.
People's physiques cannot be compared equally. The Herrscher of Sentience became Fu Hua, and similarly, her spirit became extremely resilient, so this level of impact is negligible to the Herrscher of Sentience.
To shake the Herrscher of Sentience, you'd need centuries of obsession, pain, and torment.
But Chen Luo is different; he's only 17 years old now, and his mental power isn't that resilient yet. So Chen Luo can only use his own method to remove the effects.
Although the residue of negative emotions at this ordinary person level doesn't affect Chen Luo much, it's just one Crystal—just spend it.
A mere one Crystal—if I go kill a Honkai beast, I can get 5 Primogems.
But if wasted like this, wouldn't resisting 1000 times cost a thousand Crystals or Primogems?
So, he needs to think of a good solution.