Ningguang held a notebook, recording the type of dragon each person desired.
Unsurprisingly, dragons associated with the seven elemental powers were the most popular choices.
After all, it meant adding another element to one's arsenal.
However, Ryen, Zhongli, Venti, and Ningguang didn't choose elemental dragons.
Ryen had been fixated on the Aether Dragon for a while, while Venti, having experienced last night's grand dragon-slaying operation, found the Ender Dragon particularly cool.
As for Zhongli and Ningguang...
The elemental reactions involving Geo were far less effective compared to other elements. So for them, choosing an elemental dragon wasn't a necessity.
They hadn't yet decided what kind of dragon to hatch—planning instead to wait and observe the others first.
Taking the notebook Ningguang had filled out, Ryen stood up and walked toward the door.
"Let's go. You all should also take notes on how to hatch each type of dragon."
They walked all the way to the edge of the estate's villa, where a vast open space stretched out.
Originally, Ryen had planned to turn this area into a modern firearms shooting range.
But since he hadn't gotten around to it yet, it conveniently made a great spot for dragon-raising.
Casually tossing an Ender Dragon egg onto the ground, he gave it a light pat. Instantly, purple snowflake-like particles began to swirl around it.
The others looked on, bewildered by this strange action.
Venti scratched his head.
"Is that... hatching already?"
Ryen shrugged and smiled.
"What else? As long as you see those purple snowflake particles, it means the egg is incubating."
"It usually takes about a day to hatch into a baby dragon, and then you'll need to wait a bit more for it to grow up."
"Placing the egg directly on the ground like this initiates the default incubation process for an Ender Dragon."
Venti fell silent for a moment before giving a sheepish smile.
"Is it really... that simple? No special environment or elaborate process? I mean, aren't eggs usually kept in a nest at a controlled temperature or something?"
Ryen raised an eyebrow, catching on to Venti's thoughts and teasingly replied:
"Then how about... you lie on top of it to hatch it?"
Venti went quiet again, giving Ryen a dead-eyed stare. Ryen just chuckled and waved it off.
"Don't worry, the incubation method might vary, but the dragon's strength is the same regardless. The differences are mostly in appearance and attributes."
"For those of you with elemental powers—especially those who can trigger elemental reactions—elemental dragons are definitely stronger."
"But if you're not aiming for elemental reactions, then just go with whichever dragon appearance you like."
With that, he waved his hand, signaling everyone to follow him forward.
"Generally speaking, if you want to hatch a certain kind of dragon, you need to create the corresponding environment."
"For example, a Fire Dragon needs a 3×3 lava pool, with the egg placed next to it. An Ice Dragon requires a 3×3 ice patch, and a Grass Dragon needs a 3×3 area filled with plants."
"The more special ones are the Ghost Dragon and the Aether Dragon."
"To hatch a Ghost Dragon, you need to place the egg in total darkness at least 60 meters below sea level. Its entire body is skeletal, which is why it's also called the Phantom or Bone Dragon."
"The Aether Dragon, on the other hand, needs to be placed more than 100 meters above sea level—it's also called the Celestial Dragon."
Reaching the center of the open area, Ryen pointed at the ground and asked softly:
"You all know how to hatch the dragon you want now, right?"
Ningguang nodded thoughtfully and said softly:
"Sounds like it's not too hard. Ryen, I'll hatch an Aether Dragon with you."
Ryen smiled.
"Up to you."
"Then it's settled. Aether Dragon it is. Geo reactions with other elements don't really matter to me anyway."
Ningguang gave a light chuckle and stood beside Ryen.
Most of the materials were readily available—
Buckets of water, lava, and plants were all on hand.
Only the ice blocks were a bit tricky, but Ryen had Frost Walker enchantments.
He asked Hu Tao and the others to pour a bucket of water, then walked over it to form ice blocks.
Watching everyone start incubating their dragon eggs, Ryen also got ready to hatch his own Aether Dragon.
"Typically, the eggs will hatch by this time tomorrow. Then, you can use raw fish to tame them."
"After taming, just place a saddle on their backs to ride them. Also, just a heads-up—dragons can get hurt. Feed them raw meat to recover their health."
"Once hatched, dragons will normally follow you around. If you don't want them to, use bones to command them."
Seeing everyone nod seriously and take notes, Ryen turned and headed toward the sky island.
He was already at a high altitude, and with the added elevation of the floating island, it was more than sufficient for hatching the Aether Dragon.
Once he reached the floating island, he placed the dragon egg and began incubation. He and Ningguang then returned to the villa.
Everyone was still buzzing with excitement, showing no signs of fatigue.
Still, Ryen opened the two-way portal with a grin and said:
"If there's anything else, save it for later. Rest up, and come tame the dragons tomorrow."
"Thanks for your hard work these past few days."
Venti blinked and smiled mischievously:
"Actually… I could stay here and watch over the dragon eggs for you!"
"Don't even think about it!"
Ryen rolled his eyes.
"With your shamelessness, if we left you alone here, we'd come back tomorrow and you'd have tamed all fifteen dragons yourself!"
Venti, though exposed, didn't act embarrassed. He feigned heartbreak:
"So that's how little you trust me!"
Ryen paused, gave Venti a long, careful look, then nodded with certainty.
"That's right."
"Ehehe! You really have no sense of humor, Ryen!"
…
In these past two days, the Minecraft world had gone through some major events.
The modern firearms mod had gone live, and so had the Dragon Rider mod.
Ryen had created guns and launched a full-scale dragon-slaying operation, which escalated into a modern weapon war.
He'd ended up with fifteen dragons.
Meanwhile, at Base One, the toughest battle so far had taken place—over 200 wolves had died in the fight.
As Ryen had expected, the Qianyan Army soldiers and miners who returned to Liyue had fallen into depression.
They shut themselves in, as though doing penance.
Thankfully, the chaos hadn't reached Liyue Harbor itself.
As always, Liyue Harbor enjoyed days of prosperity and peace.
It had been five days since the dragon egg hatched.
The dragon successfully emerged and was tamed by everyone.
One day to hatch, one day to grow—certainly quite a marvel.
Still, in a world as colorful and diverse as this one, such things weren't exactly unacceptable.
Since the dragon hatched, flocks of dragons had been circling above Ryen's estate every day.
Especially Venti.
That guy had stopped doing anything else—he just flew around on dragons all day.
Though, it was obvious he truly loved riding dragons.
Interestingly, Zhongli had hatched a ghost dragon.
Like a massive dragon skeleton, it didn't unsettle him at all.
Even Hu Tao, as the director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, was reluctant to approach the ghost dragon—Zhongli's taste really was unique.
The hatched dragons weren't quite as large as the Ender Dragon, but their combat strength was by no means inferior.
Ningguang and the others had quietly run some tests back in Teyvat.
At present, even a Geo Childe Lawachurl couldn't withstand a single breath attack.
And that's without accounting for the elemental attacks from Ganyu and the others.
As Xiao put it, these dragons possessed power no weaker than the adepti—in other words, comparable to divine familiars.
Of course, even the adepti had their own hierarchy!
Xiao and Cloud Retainer were undeniably among the strongest of them.
With the addition of elemental energy and adeptal power, they were indeed stronger than the dragons individually.
But trying to kill one of these dragons in Teyvat? Not a simple task.
All in all, Liyue now had a sizable addition to its top-tier combat force.
However, for now, Ningguang and the others weren't planning to reveal the dragons publicly. Even thermal weapons weren't allowed to leave the MC world.
These were Liyue's trump cards at this stage and naturally couldn't be shown casually.
In this regard, Liyue was quite similar to Ryen's country in his past life.
One batch would be demonstrated, another kept in reserve, and another under development.
What the world saw was always the fully mature and mass-producible technology.
For example, alchemy potions and enchantments.
Over the past few days, Ningguang and her team had been holding meetings, discussing whether to open the sale of alchemy potions and enchantments.
Chances were, there would be another major move before the Rite of Parting.
Five days passed.
The wolf pack cemetery Hu Tao requested had been completed.
No materials from the MC world were used—only those from Teyvat, built entirely by the people of Liyue.
It had progressed quickly because many in Liyue had heard about what the wolves did.
In the face of an unprecedented large-scale monster attack, over two hundred wolves gave their lives to protect everyone.
As a result, not a single miner or Millelith soldier died despite the overwhelming number of monsters.
To the people of Liyue, this was a story worth singing for generations. In fact, it had already begun spreading among the storytelling stalls.
Loyal wolves had always been beloved in Liyue, and after this event, the people felt both sorrow and admiration.
Many came voluntarily to help with the construction, and thus the cemetery was completed in just a few days.
Today, a light rain was falling from the overcast sky, casting a heavy mood over all who came to pay their respects.
The cemetery was located at the foot of Mt. Tianheng, a bit on the outskirts.
Each wolf had its own dedicated gravestone.
Hu Tao had done this part very thoroughly.
Though it must be said, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor had earned quite a bit from it too.
At the very front stood those who had taken part in the battle that day, all silent, quietly staring at the gravestones.
Buried there were the wolf packs they had raised and cared for.
Scenes of fighting side by side with the wolves, of the wolves charging into bandit fire just days ago, came flooding back.
Their emotions, barely recovered, sank once again.
Outside stood many other Millelith soldiers and Liyue citizens—even many foreigners.
Low murmurs of conversation drifted among the crowd, filled with sorrow and regret.
Ryen, Ganyu, and the others stood nearby, quietly observing. This was Ryen's first public appearance in Liyue.
Moreover, Ningguang and the others occasionally exchanged glances with him.
Naturally, many people noticed—especially Tartaglia, who was hidden among the crowd.
But he merely etched Ryen's face deeply into memory.
He had no intention of approaching Ryen.
He wasn't stupid. Seeing both Liyue and Mondstadt clustered around him, with even the great Yaksha standing at his side—
You didn't need brains to realize Ryen was likely tied to all the recent changes in Liyue.
In that case, it was practically impossible to get close to Ryen.
So the best point of entry…
Was Lumine!
Eyes flickering, Tartaglia withdrew his gaze and quietly watched Hu Tao, who was making preparations in the distance.
It was unclear how much time had passed when Hu Tao raised her Staff of Homa.
"The auspicious hour has come! Let the souls pass on!"
~~----------------------
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