Star actually didn't know much about some places around Liyue. The furthest she had traveled in all of Liyue was Wuwang Slope, and she had only walked on the main road, seeing no particularly unique scenery.
But Liyue was very large, and it was even said that many places were Adepti residences.
However, speaking of Adepti…
"Xiangling, I heard you're an Adeptus disciple?" Star asked curiously.
"Eh? Who told you that?" Xiangling was slightly startled, looking at Star with curiosity as she asked.
They were walking on the road from Liyue Harbor towards Mt. Aocang.
However, their destination wasn't necessarily Mt. Aocang itself; it was more like going wherever they ended up.
"Lumine told me, but I don't know where she found out," Star tilted her head, looking at Xiangling in confusion.
"Could it be that this is actually a secret?"
"It's not too big of a secret, but most people really don't know about it," Xiangling rubbed her head, explaining with a bit of embarrassment.
At most, she had only discussed this with her family and a few close friends.
And most people only knew that she was an Adeptus disciple, but they didn't know who her master was.
Granny Ping's identity was also rarely known in Liyue Harbor.
"I am indeed learning polearm arts from Grandmaster, so if you want to put it that way, I can barely be considered an Adeptus disciple."
Saying "barely" was, of course, Xiangling being modest. Even if Granny Ping only taught her polearm arts, she was still a legitimate Adeptus disciple.
"I see, that's impressive," Star couldn't help but say.
"It's nothing, Grandmaster has many disciples, and I'm just a very ordinary one among them," Xiangling shook her head and said.
"Many disciples? Are Liyue's Adepti very willing to take mortals as disciples?" Star asked curiously.
In her impression, Adepti should be reclusive beings who rarely showed themselves in front of mortals.
She didn't expect to hear from Xiangling that these Adepti didn't seem so aloof about interacting with mortals.
"Yes, Grandmaster has taken many disciples, but she doesn't take just anyone. Those who actively seek to become disciples are generally not accepted either," Xiangling thought for a moment, stroking her chin, then said.
"Adepti seem to look for an 'Adeptal affinity' when taking disciples. If someone has an Adeptal affinity, they might even actively seek them out."
"Adeptal affinity? What exactly qualifies as an Adeptal affinity?"
"That, I'm not sure either…" Xiangling Touched his head, she had asked her master the same question when she was taken in as an apprentice.
Granny Ping's answer was also very simple.
"Because you and I have a connection of hearts, we are destined to meet."
Of course, this sentence sounded simple, but Xiangling never really understood it.
"So, in simple terms, it still depends on the adepti's mood, right?" Aether slowly said.
"You could say… that's probably right." Xiangling nodded.
It depends on which mortal the adepti are interested in; as long as their conduct isn't bad, the adepti might consider taking them as a disciple.
"However, the adepti's personalities also differ. My master has taken many disciples, but other adepti may not be willing to interact with mortals."
"I see… I wonder how the adepti would feel about me." Aether couldn't help but think of Yanfei and Ganyu, with whom he had a brief encounter before.
If you were to say it, they should also be considered adepti, right?
He wondered if they had seen whether he had the so-called adeptal fate.
"I think the adepti would really like Aether too." Xiangling said with a smile; she was very confident in Aether's charm.
"If it's a female adeptus, then maybe…" Aether mumbled softly, but quickly dismissed the topic.
Anyway, most adepti lived in seclusion, and they might not encounter many during their two months in Liyue.
Perhaps there wouldn't be too much contact in the future.
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The place Aether and Xiangling went to was called Jueyun Karst. The scenery here was very different from the wilderness in Mondstadt.
Mountains piled upon mountains, peaks soaring into the clouds.
In Mondstadt, the highest mountain Aether had seen was probably Dragonspine, but the environment there was very harsh. Although the scenery was also good, it was accompanied by danger, which always made people not feel so good about the snowy mountains.
But it was different in Jueyun Karst. Aether was seeing such scenery for the first time; the environment was very good, and there were no monsters around. Being here was very relaxing.
"Xiangling, do you come here often?" Aether asked curiously, seeing Xiangling's familiar demeanor.
Although this was the border area of Jueyun Karst, it was still very far from Liyue. They even hitched a ride along the way.
Otherwise, it was uncertain whether they would have been able to reach Jueyun Karst today.
"Of course! I've traveled almost all over Liyue to find ingredients." Xiangling slightly raised her head, speaking with a hint of pride.
"So amazing… But finding ingredients here?" Aether turned his head and looked around, not seeing anything that could be used as an ingredient.
Could it be that there were some unknown animals or plants hidden here?
"Hmm, the Hilichurl in Jueyun Karst… *cough*, never mind." Xiangling was originally very happy and wanted to say something, but quickly stopped herself from saying what she had just intended.
"Hilichurl?!" Aether stared at Xiangling with wide eyes.
He couldn't imagine, could that kind of thing really be used as an ingredient??
If you said things like Whopperflower were plants, it could barely be explained, but Hilichurl…
For humanoid things, it should be very difficult for normal people to eat, right?
Just thinking about that scene was a bit terrifying.
"No! It's the wooden sticks the Hilichurl hold!" Xiangling knew at a glance that Aether had misunderstood and quickly explained.
Why would she be interested in Hilichurl? Besides, they were monsters, and it was hard to say whether they were poisonous or not.
"Oh, I see…" Aether finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"The Hilichurl's wooden sticks seem to be different from ordinary wooden sticks, so I once tried to incorporate the wooden sticks into a dish and made a Hilichurl Wood Grilled Fish!"
Unfortunately, the reviews weren't very good…
And some people, upon hearing that the grilled fish was made with wooden sticks from Hilichurl, simply didn't want to eat it.
In the end, this dish could only end in failure.
"Oh, Aether, how about you help me try a new dish? We're already in Jueyun Karst anyway." Xiangling didn't dwell on past failures but instead looked at Aether with anticipation and suggested.
On the surface, Jueyun Karst looked like only rocks and trees, but in reality, there were still many things that could be used as ingredients, even if you excluded things like Hilichurl wood.
"Okay." Aether nodded. Anyway, they were out to play, and they hadn't decided what to do.
However, it was already approaching mealtime, and it would be nice if Xiangling could find some ingredients to make a meal.
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