The moment Jiang Xuan placed the final Wither Skeleton Skull, everyone within dozens of kilometers felt a heavy stone press down on their chests.
The sky was originally at dusk, with the sunset glow still very beautiful.
But at this moment, the sky suddenly turned dark.
It wasn't the gloomy darkness accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain.
Instead, the entire sky...
Turned a blood-red color, tinged with black.
Liyue's First Battalion, currently building a new city on the plains, panicked slightly.
Millelith Captain Dashí immediately mounted his horse.
"Everyone remain calm! I will go find the esteemed adults! Millelith, prepare for attack!"
With that, he galloped towards Jiang Xuan's Manor Villa.
At this moment, Nahida, who was playing with Paimon in her garden, suddenly stopped.
She looked up at the sky, a worried expression on her face.
"Nahida..."
Paimon pulled Nahida's sleeve, a little scared.
She was even shorter than Nahida, which was one of the reasons Nahida liked playing with Paimon.
She finally wasn't the shortest.
"It's alright, Jiang Xuan will handle it."
Nahida shook her head. Although her worry deepened, she wouldn't show it.
Besides, she trusted Jiang Xuan.
"Esteemed Adults!"
From afar, Dashí's shout reached them.
Nahida snapped back, turning and walking towards the entrance.
Dashí was startled to see Nahida, but still nodded:
"Lady Nahida, this..."
"It's nothing, Jiang Xuan and the others summoned it. It will be fine soon, you can continue your work."
Nahida didn't elaborate, knowing that the Millelith wouldn't be able to help anyway.
Dashí also knew these matters were beyond his interference.
Moreover, it seemed Jiang Xuan and the others had all left.
After a pause, Dashí asked with some concern:
"Do you need me to bring in the Millelith to guard the villa?"
Nahida shook her head.
"No need, everything as usual."
Dashí said no more, nodded, and left.
Nahida turned her gaze towards the Mine Shaft No. 1 direction.
"Has it started already?"
"Jiang Xuan..."
Nahida lost the desire to continue playing with Paimon. The two returned to the villa, went up to the third floor, and stood on the balcony, gazing into the distance.
...
Under Mine Shaft No. 1.
The moment Jiang Xuan placed the Wither Skeleton Skull, everyone saw it.
The base forming the Wither suddenly glowed with an eerie light.
A fatal sense of crisis descended from the ethereal realms, felt by everyone.
Even the most carefree Venti's expression turned serious.
This thing felt no less terrifying than Khaenri'ah's technology back then.
"Be careful..."
Venti gravely reminded Diluc, who, after a moment's愣神, nodded with a serious expression.
Even Lisa felt that only her unsightly Enchanted Diamond Armor could give her a sense of security at this moment.
An unknown amount of time passed in silence, each second feeling like a year.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion erupted.
It was even more damaging than a TNT explosion.
A strange creature materialized in that space.
Everyone could see a health bar appearing above the Wither Storm's head.
It was rapidly rising.
The Wither Storm glowed with an eerie blue light, flickering, somewhat alluring.
Under the dual pressure of immense crisis and dread, Jean and the others involuntarily reached for their bows.
"Don't attack! The Wither is invincible right now!"
Jiang Xuan's voice echoed distantly again.
"Wait for it to fully recover!"
Hearing this, everyone took a deep breath, suppressed the throbbing in their hearts, and each drank a strengthening potion.
They watched in silence as the Wither Storm grew stronger amidst the flickering blue light.
After some time, the blue light on the Wither Storm subsided, and its health returned to its peak.
"Ranged attack!"
Jiang Xuan's pupils contracted.
As his voice fell, Ganyu behind him, who had already aimed, unleashed a thunderous roar from her Barrett.
The bullet whistled out and exploded on the Wither Storm.
Its ample health bar suddenly dropped a small segment.
"What was that!"
Jean jumped in surprise.
Jiang Xuan hadn't said that the Wither Storm would still explode if not attacked after its birth explosion.
"Relax! It's Ganyu! Keep attacking and spread the aggro!"
Jiang Xuan put down his AK-47.
The Wither's aggro had been drawn by Ganyu, and it retaliated with a Wither Skeleton Skull that destroyed a section of the mine shaft.
If Jiang Xuan continued to attack and maintain aggro at this point, the depth of his mine shaft wouldn't be enough.
Although Jean and the others were still puzzled, they followed Jiang Xuan's command, continuously firing arrows from their bows.
Under their concentrated fire, the Wither Storm's health rapidly decreased.
The enemy was a rigid program and wouldn't focus on bombing a single mine shaft.
By sharing the aggro, they managed to hold it off for a while.
Coupled with Ganyu's occasional shots.
In less than a minute, the Wither Storm's vitality had dropped to nearly half.
By now, everyone had been forced to retreat ten meters back, so Jiang Xuan's shouts might not reach them.
He immediately activated remote communication.
"Stop ranged attacks! Switch to Diamond Swords, Ningguang prepare healing potions, we're going in for melee combat!"
"Strike once and immediately retreat! We'll wear down the Wither Storm!"
No one responded, but Jiang Xuan knew they had all heard.
He immediately exchanged a glance with Ganyu, switched to an Enchanted Diamond Sword, and rushed forward.
As he approached the mine shaft entrance, even with mental preparation, Jiang Xuan couldn't help but gasp.
The previously small space had been bombed by the Wither Storm, and it was still absorbing blocks.
It had now become a small plaza.
This somewhat affected Jiang Xuan's kiting tactics.
Fortunately, the ground was still relatively flat.
The arrow barrage had become increasingly slow, roughly keeping pace with the Wither Storm's health regeneration.
Jiang Xuan glanced at the other side; Zhongli was already in position.
Jiang Xuan nodded, tightening his grip on his Diamond Sword.
At this moment, the Wither's aggro was on Ningguang and Jean's mine shaft.
Jiang Xuan took a deep breath, burst out of the mine shaft, rushed behind the Wither, and swung his sword.
The Wither's health dropped below half, and after a momentary flicker, all arrows became ineffective.
The Wither Storm slowly turned, a Wither Skeleton Skull about to be fired.
But before it could do anything.
Zhongli from the other side rushed up and gave it two more strikes.
In gaming terms, the aggro had transferred.
The Wither Skeleton angrily blasted Zhongli's mine shaft.
But Zhongli had already retreated deeper.
Before the Wither could catch its breath, Diluc emerged from behind and struck it several times.
Jiang Xuan observed for a while, seeing that everyone was indeed proceeding in an orderly fashion, as planned.
He then breathed a sigh of relief.
The Wither was indeed powerful, but as long as they kept it from evolving, it would be simple to defeat.
Their mine shafts formed a circle around the Wither Storm.
Every moment, the Wither Storm was under attack.
But the good thing was, the Wither Storm hadn't injured anyone, and its health bar was visibly decreasing.
But then.
Perhaps seeing the Wither Storm about to be defeated, Venti relaxed slightly.
In that instant, he was blasted by the Wither Storm's head right next to him.
"Venti!"
Diluc exclaimed in shock, immediately turning and pulling him back into the mine shaft.
Venti's face was contorted in pain.
Recalling Jiang Xuan's explanation, he opened his personal panel.
Just that one explosion had drained three health points.
And on the side panel, the Wither Effect was still active, his life force rapidly draining.
But Venti could feel that the life force wasn't just dissipating; it was being transferred to the Wither.
"Drink milk! Immediately remove the Wither Effect!"
Jiang Xuan's communication rang in Venti's ear, and the latter immediately took the milk Diluc handed him.
The Wither Effect couldn't be endured.
Not to mention whether it would lead to Wither-induced death.
If the Wither Effect persisted, the Wither Storm would also regenerate health.
Fortunately, they were well-prepared for this mine shaft expedition.
One bucket of milk and a Golden Apple, and Venti was instantly back to full health.
Diluc glanced outside. Although everyone had been a bit flustered when Venti was blasted,
They quickly stabilized their formation and continued to carefully kite the Wither Storm.
"Are you alright?"
Diluc asked with concern as Venti prepared to move forward again.
Here, Venti wasn't pretending.
Venti's strength in this world was not much stronger than Diluc's.
"No problem, don't underestimate the characteristics of this world..."
Venti stared intently at the Wither Storm.
"Besides, that guy just blasted me. Damn it, I get angry too, you know!"
Diluc said no more, taking out a healing potion.
"You go melee, I'll throw potions!"
Venti nodded.
Finding an opportunity, he immediately charged forward and struck the Wither Storm with a sword.
This time, Venti channeled all the power he could muster.
His speed, enhanced by a speed potion, reached new heights.
He struck once and immediately ran, never lingering.
Diluc's healing potion also landed neatly.
The damage from the healing potion was not much less than a Diamond Sword's attack.
Ningguang and the others also remembered Jiang Xuan's instructions about healing potions.
They stopped holding back, throwing one potion after another.
At this, the Wither Storm's health plummeted rapidly.
Soon, only a small sliver remained.
"Stop attacking!"
Jiang Xuan's communication rang in everyone's ears. Despite their confusion, everyone stopped.
Jiang Xuan switched to the Yamato, his gaze fixed on the Wither Storm.
"For the final strike, let's make it a bit more spectacular..."
He lightly swung his sword, and several slightly transparent short swords embedded themselves throughout the space.
"That's..."
Zhongli paused, then sighed with emotion.
"What?"
Xiao, beside him, was still confused.
The next moment, under everyone's gaze, Jiang Xuan's figure seemed to multiply into thousands.
Flickering throughout the entire space.
The Wither Storm's health rapidly bottomed out.
Before anyone could understand this bizarre sword technique.
Jiang Xuan's figure suddenly appeared before the Wither Storm.
Having found an enemy, the Wither Storm flashed its body, and a Wither Skeleton Skull howled out, directly targeting Jiang Xuan.
But the latter merely took a deep breath, slowly wielding his magnificent Battōjutsu Sword.
"Dimensional Slash!"
The space seemed to rip apart, carving out a massive, black spatial blade.
It swiftly passed through the Wither Skeleton Skull, obliterating it into green smoke.
Then, unimpeded, it pierced through the Wither Storm and vanished into the earth.
The Wither Storm froze.
Immediately after, before everyone's astonished eyes, the Wither Storm slowly floated upwards, and its body erupted with thousands of lights.
Jiang Xuan chuckled softly.
"Wither Storm, taken down!"
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