Dashi had, of course, heard of the Slash Blades.
He had seen Ryen wield them many times.
Weapons capable of manipulating spatial power, divine instruments beyond ordinary arms. More than once, he had imagined what it would be like to hold one himself.
Now Ryen was saying the army would be equipped with them?
It felt like a blessing falling from the sky.
Dashi was momentarily overwhelmed with excitement.
Ryen immediately noticed the misunderstanding and waved a hand.
"Don't celebrate too early. The Slash Blades I'm giving you are only the most basic models."
"To forge one into something worthy of being called a divine weapon takes immense time."
"In the next few days, some Liyue smiths will return. I'll teach them how to craft and upgrade Slash Blades."
"When you enter the Twilight Forest, bring a few smiths with you."
"They'll guide you in upgrading your blades."
"How far they evolve will depend entirely on your own efforts."
Dashi nodded vigorously.
"I understand. I'll inform everyone!"
"Anything else?"
Ryen looked around. Seeing no further additions, he waved his hand.
"That's all. Prepare over the next week. One week from now, you'll officially enter the Twilight Forest."
"Don't neglect mining operations. Once arrangements are settled, study the Twilight Forest notes thoroughly."
Dashi quickly agreed and departed.
Soon, only Ryen and the others remained in the manor.
They basked quietly in the sunlight.
Ningguang and the others enjoyed the rare calm morning.
As for Makoto and the Tsaritsa,
They were troubled.
With Sumeru soon to join the alliance, and unlikely to lack manpower, the imbalance would only grow more apparent.
The shortage rested on their shoulders.
Lisa leaned against Ryen's shoulder, smiling faintly.
"So you're planning to have the Twilight Forest troops grind upgrade materials for us?"
"You're quite ruthless. Are you requisitioning the fruits of their labor?"
Ryen rolled his eyes.
"I'm not that exploitative, am I?"
"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?"
"Of course not."
He lightly pinched her nose.
"The new mod requires hundreds of different Slash Blade variants."
"If a thousand Millelith upgrade their blades properly, they can fulfill at least ten category requirements for me."
"And haven't you already been planning a dedicated Slash Blade unit?"
Jean blinked.
"You knew?"
"Is that surprising?"
Ryen spread his hands.
"I may not rely on Slash Blades personally anymore, but I've never underestimated spatial power."
"Equip them widely, and you have an elite force wielding spatial manipulation, combat power rivaling firearm divisions."
"In small-scale warfare, their strategic value surpasses even the Dragon Rider Corps."
"Could you possibly ignore that?"
Ningguang raised a brow.
"I hadn't thought that far."
"…Then what were you thinking?"
"I simply thought, since the mod exists, we should establish a new unit for completeness."
Ryen's expression grew complicated.
"You've really grown less inclined to think deeply."
Ningguang answered matter-of-factly.
"Against anything other than Celestia, we can simply overwhelm them. Why strategize?"
Ryen chuckled dryly and let the matter drop.
"In any case," Ryen continued, "the Slash Blades go directly to the army. Their evolution depends on the soldiers."
"We'll supply smiths to assist."
"As for our own blades, "
He pointed toward the mob towers in the sky.
"I'll build ten more towers."
"Kill counts and Proud Souls won't be an issue. Spend a day farming and it's done."
"This week we'll train smiths and craft higher-tier blades ourselves."
Everyone understood.
Ningguang added thoughtfully:
"I also plan to establish a thousand-member elite corps."
"A Mage Legion. Each equipped with at least advanced-tier staves."
Excitement flickered through the group.
The power of Witchery needed no explanation.
A thousand mages,
That was an army capable of threatening Celestia itself.
Perhaps even overwhelming the Dragon Riders.
Witchery encompassed control spells, summons, defensive barriers, battlefield manipulation,
A properly coordinated thousand-mage formation could unleash the combat potential of tens of thousands.
The Tsaritsa murmured softly,
"A Thousand Mage Legion… even Morax would fall before such a force."
"But it will be far harder to assemble than the Dragon Riders."
"Staff acquisition is difficult. Spell configuration is complex."
"Within a year or two… results may be minimal."
Ningguang smiled calmly.
"With planning, time is merely a variable."
"One thousand mages is the cornerstone of our future resistance against Celestia."
"We will assemble them collectively, each nation contributing."
"One thousand will be enough."
The matter was quietly engraved in everyone's hearts.
Ryen glanced at the sky.
"For now, Witchery remains stalled without the Infusion Altar."
"Until the Sabzeruz Festival, we'll prioritize promoting the Slash Blade and Furniture mods."
Ningguang nodded.
"I've summoned two batches of craftsmen."
"One for furniture. One for Slash Blades."
"The Slash Blade mod remains controlled."
"But furniture is different."
"It directly improves civilian life."
"Materials are common. Production can be mastered within a day."
"We can begin public sales immediately."
She sighed faintly.
"Originally, we intended to profit from this world's resources."
"But after forming the Four-Nation Alliance, that model changed."
Ryen blinked.
"Do you still find Mora insufficient?"
Ningguang smiled softly.
"No… it's just that citizens now lack little."
"Mora's importance has diminished."
"When Celestia falls, and Teyvat's link with this world deepens, necessities will be fulfilled through this world's properties."
"I worry whether ambition will fade."
Ryen laughed gently.
"Once Celestia is resolved, will you truly be satisfied?"
"The universe is vast."
"Teyvat is but one leaf upon the Imaginary Tree."
"There are countless worlds."
"If boredom ever strikes, I'll take you beyond."
"With the mods in this world, exploration is trivial."
"And if that fails, "
He shrugged.
"There are endless mods. Endless frontiers."
Unknowns never disappear.
One simply chooses which to pursue.
Ningguang suddenly frowned.
"Wait. You mentioned the 'Tree.' What is that?"
The group stiffened.
Even Lumine grew alert.
The term felt strangely familiar.
"Ah, the Imaginary Tree."
Ryen scratched his head.
"Think of it as the conceptual origin of infinite worlds."
"A collective existence."
"Every complete world is a leaf upon it."
"Teyvat is merely one among countless leaves."
"There's no need to understand it deeply. You're still far from it."
Rosalyne murmured thoughtfully,
"One leaf… one world. What a grand existence."
Ryen only smiled.
The Imaginary Tree was not something Teyvat needed to grasp now.
And truthfully,
He wasn't convinced it surpassed the Minecraft world.
With the absurd logic of mods,
The Imaginary Tree?
"Open a mod and I'll plant ten myself."
If one mod doesn't solve a problem,
Open another.
World Trees, Aether realms, interdimensional expansions, Void worlds, portal overhauls,
New universes appear in moments.
And besides,
He still possessed the Sword of Dominance of the Universe.
A weapon capable of making even gods bleed.
What more needed to be said?