Ayaka sat beside Stelle, naturally resting her feet on the stool.
Soon, Ayaka and Stelle started chatting while munching on sunflower seeds.
Before long, it was March 7th's turn to compete.
March 7th walked up to the stage with a swagger, hands on her hips, chest puffed out.
"Sharpshooter! March 7th! Coming through!"
March 7th's entrance was t with a wave of cheers.
March 7th was already a lively and cheerful young girl, and combined with her actual skills, she was quite popular.
As she listened to the cheers from the crowd, March 7th glanced at Stelle in the stands and gave a little nod.
Stelle imdiately sighed and, whispering to Ayaka, teased.
"Look at her, acting all proud now. Hmph~ If Jing Yuan hadn't stopped from participating, who could've matched the glory of my Galaxy Fire Hero?"
Ayaka smiled and playfully agreed with Stelle.
"Yes, yes, Stelle is the best."
On the stage, March 7th's opponent appeared — it was Scott.
March 7th looked at Scott, who was standing alone on the stage.
"Take out your weapon, let's finish this quickly," March 7th said dismissively.
Scott smirked slightly.
"Alright, I'll bring it out."
Scott pulled out a walkie-talkie.
"Co here."
In the next mont, a company's custom-made cha descended from the sky, and Scott imdiately climbed into it.
March 7th was stunned.
"What's this? This is a competition! What's with the cha???"
Scott sneered proudly.
"This is my martial way! What's the problem? In this era, fighting is just about brawling, and this cha is part of that fight!"
March 7th was about to argue against Scott's twisted logic when she stopped and thought for a mont.
"Hey, wait... you know, he actually has a point."
Scott chuckled arrogantly.
"See? Let's get started then."
As Scott prepared to control the cha and start the fight, several light arrows suddenly flew at the cha, piercing it through.
In an instant, the cha emitted loud alarms.
Warning! Warning!
The cha's limbs were pierced, and the whole thing was rendered completely useless.
Scott climbed out of the cha and pointed at March 7th.
"You don't follow martial ethics!"
March 7th pointed at the referee beside her.
"How am I not following martial ethics? The referee already said the match started. Bye!"
March 7th shot another arrow, completely destroying the cha.
The referee also announced the result.
"Congratulations to Miss March 7th for advancing to the top 8!"
The audience cheered loudly for March 7th, especially the people from Xianzhou. They had seen the Imperial Bow Destiny weapon! It was a longbow too!
March 7th walked off the stage amidst the cheers of the crowd.
Next, the referee announced the upcoming match.
"Second match of the top 16, Clara from Belobog versus Luka from Belobog!"
Clara, sitting next to Ye Yun, was stunned.
Luka on the other side was equally confused.
"Clara? Really? Is it the one I know?"
It wasn't until he saw Clara walk up to the stage that he realized it was the Clara he knew.
Luka was completely puzzled. How did Clara make it to the top 16?
The murmurs from the crowd soon explained the situation.
It turned out that Clara had entered the competition, and coincidentally, while Luka was leaving the stage, Clara had stepped up to compete.
"Luka, Luka, please get to the stage quickly!"
Hearing his na called from the loudspeaker, Luka snapped back to reality and hurriedly went up to the stage.
Luka was a bit at a loss. What should he do? He didn't want to hurt Clara.
"Clara, when the match starts, you can hit a few tis, then I'll trip you. Got it? The opponents ahead are strong, and I'm worried you'll get hurt."
Clara smiled softly.
"No need, Brother Luka."
As she finished speaking, a transformation device appeared in Clara's hand.
"Family Model No. 2! Co out!"
In an instant, a suit of armor appeared, enveloping Clara.
Clara glanced at Luka's weapon — just a pair of fists.
She decided to remove the large sword she was holding and stuck it in the ground, ready to fight in a brawling stance.
This scene felt vaguely familiar to the watching Hiko.
Clara jumped up and launched a flying kick towards Luka, who chose to take the hit, crossing his fists in front of his chest.
Clara's kick landed squarely on Luka's fists.
The force sent Luka flying backwards, and just as he was about to fall off the stage, he stopped.
Turning around, Luka broke into a cold sweat.
This power... I'm in trouble.
Luka's heart raced as he charged towards Clara.
Seeing this, Clara responded.
"Family Model No. 2, activate automatic defense mode."
The light on Family Model No. 2's chest changed to red.
"Automatic defense mode activated!"
Luka threw punch after punch at Clara, but they were all blocked by the automatic defense mode of the cha.
This continued for over a hundred punches, with none of them breaking through the defense.
Exhausted, Luka gathered all his strength for one final punch.
"Ha!"
A burst of flas shot out, but Clara, wearing Family Model No. 2, stood perfectly unhard.
Clara's voice rang out.
"Sorry, Brother Luka."
Clara, controlling the cha, flew forward and knocked Luka off the stage.
On the stands, Hiko saw this and turned to Ye Yun.
"Ye Yun, did you provide Clara with the materials for that cha?"
Hiko couldn't help but think of Family Model No. 1, which had been so powerful because of the excellent materials Ye Yun provided.
Ye Yun smiled and answered nonchalantly.
"Of course, I gave her the best materials!"
Hiko was speechless. As expected, the materials for Clara's Family Model No. 2 were not ordinary.
The Family Model No. 2 was obviously overpowered.
Nearby, Stelle nudged Firefly.
"Firefly, which one is stronger, Clara's Family Model No. 2 or your Sam?"
Firefly shook his head.
"I'm not sure. We'll have to see them fight to know."
Stelle stroked his chin.
"I wonder when I'll get my own cha."
Firefly chuckled.
"You can go buy one from Ye Yun. He probably has them."
Welt, passing by, suddenly spoke up.
"Isn't the next issue of the lottery for an armor?"
Stelle suddenly rembered.
"Oh right, the next issue is for so Emperor's Armor or sothing. I'll buy a few tickets. I don't believe I can't win."
Firefly smiled.
"I'll buy a few too. If we win, I'll give it to you to play with, Stelle."
Stelle smiled widely.
"That's a great idea! Now, the chances of winning just went up."
***
The round of 16 ended quickly.
And the final top 8 were:
Clara.March 7th.Lumine.Yanqing.Yunli.And three strangers.
When Venti saw the top 8 list, he shook his head.
"We from Teyvat are completely wiped out."
Zhongli remained silent. It was true—Teyvat was entirely defeated.
Lumine? She doesn't count as a Teyvat native, okay?
Hu Tao, Ayaka, Itto, Shenhe, and the others were all knocked out in the round of 64 to 32, the second match session in the afternoon.
Hu Tao sat next to Zhongli, pouting unhappily.
In her round-of-64 match, she ran into Yunli. The raw strength difference between them was just too big.
Both Yunli and Yanqing had studied swordsmanship under Jingliu for a while—their strength was no longer what it once was.
"Guest Consultant, co with to Ye Yun's store later. I want to shop."
Zhongli nodded slightly."Alright, I'll accompany you."
Hu Tao planned to buy sothing to enhance her strength—it was ti for a major power boost.
With the top 8 announced, the day's matches ca to a close. Tomorrow would determine the ultimate winner.
Stelle, March 7th, Lumine, and the others greeted Ye Yun and then ran off to have fun.
Hu Tao, on the other hand, went back to the train with Zhongli and Ye Yun.
As soon as they returned to the train—
Hu Tao ran to the small bar to browse goods. She looked through item after item but didn't find anything she really wanted.
Leaning on one hand, she pondered what to buy.
She looked toward Noelle.
"Noelle, do you have any suggestions?"
Noelle was caught off guard.
"Huh?"
"I said—do you have any good suggestions?"
Noelle looked up and thought for a mont.
"How about opening a Golden Trash Can? That's how Stelle and the others mostly gained their strength."
Hu Tao didn't seem interested.
"That relies too much on luck. What if I get unlucky?"
Noelle nodded in understanding.
"Then maybe a better weapon? Or items that boost your abilities?"
"That's what I was thinking, but I just haven't found anything I like."
Noelle poured her a glass of water.
"No rush. Take your ti—there's plenty of rchandise."
Hu Tao continued flipping through the shop nu.
Eventually, her gaze stopped on an item.
[Item: Spirit of the Phoenix]Description: A spiritual entity ford from a phoenix. Grants the user control over flas. By devouring higher-grade flas, the user's fire-controlling abilities will increase.Highly destructive against demons and evil spirits.Price: 880,000 Star Coins.
Hu Tao really liked it.
But—she was just a bit short. She only had 800,000 on hand.
She was short 80,000...
She fell into deep thought, brainstorming ways to get the extra Star Coins.
After a while, seeing how late it was, she decided to head back to Liyue Harbor first.
At the entrance of the internet café, she saw Calestia personally buying food.
"Calestia? Why are you down here buying food yourself? Don't you usually have Nahida bring it up for you?"
Calestia sighed helplessly.
"Nahida and Aether went back to Suru, so I had to co get it myself. You eaten yet, Hall Master? Want to join ?"
Hu Tao patted her stomach.
"Sure, I haven't had dinner yet either."
Calestia pulled out 5,000 Mora and asked the boss to make another seafood fried rice.
She handed the box to Hu Tao and noticed the gloomy look on her face.
"Hall Master, you look kinda down."
Hu Tao sighed.
"I want to buy sothing to boost my power, but I don't have enough money. I'm 80,000 Star Coins short."
Calestia thought it was sothing serious. That's it?
She pulled out a small wooden box.
"Here, Hall Master. Should be about 100,000 Star Coins in here. Take it."
Hu Tao opened it—sure enough, there were 90,000.
"Where'd you get this from?"
Calestia glanced sideways toward the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
"Don't worry about it. Just take it. Go buy what you want. I'm heading back up to keep gaming."
She dashed upstairs.
Hu Tao counted the money. 90,000."That's enough—plus extra!"
She happily headed to Wanmintang.
Midnight.
Zhongli returned to his room in the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
He opened his storage cabinet and reached for a secret compartnt out of habit.
As he felt around, his eyes suddenly widened.
He checked again, frowning tightly.
He leaned in to look—
Where's that big box?! Where are my 90,000 Star Coins?!
He focused his senses—and detected a familiar aura.
Following the trail, he arrived at the front of the internet café.
One more scan—and he found the culprit.
Calestia!!!
Taking a deep breath, Zhongli entered the café.
He went straight to the third floor, opened the door, and walked over with a dark face.
Calestia was squatting on her chair, headphones on, both hands on the keyboard, munching on seafood fried rice while gaming.
Zhongli removed her headphones.
"Where did my Star Coins go?"
Calestia, irritated by the sudden interruption, turned—and saw it was Zhongli.
"Oh, those? I gave them to the Hall Master. She didn't have enough money and wanted to buy sothing. I saw you had so, so I took it and gave it to her."
"You eat, drink, and wear everything on the Hall Master's tab. What's wrong with her taking a little from you for once?"
Zhongli was speechless.
If it was really for the Hall Master, then... he supposed it was fine.
Still, those were his private savings—ant for ergencies in Liyue!
"...I understand."
Zhongli sighed, looking defeated as he walked out of Calestia' room.
Back in the courtyard, he happened to run into Hu Tao returning.
"Guest Consultant, Guest Consultant! Look what I just bought!"
She spread her arms—flaming wings appeared behind her.
With a small hop, Hu Tao took off and flew a short distance before landing beside Zhongli.
"I asked Ye Yun about it—this Phoenix Spirit is super powerful~ I feel like I wouldn't even be scared if Osial showed up again!Guest Consultant, from now on, if Liyue is in danger, let go first! If I lose, then you step in. You've protected Liyue for so long—it's ti you got so rest."
Zhongli looked at the lively, cheerful Hu Tao in front of him and smiled warmly.
"Very well. I'll be counting on the Hall Master from now on."
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