Polishing.
One of the most crucial pieces of the puzzle for Tetra module weapons.
Blade, quenching, hilt-wrapping—each process meticulously refines the weapon's material properties to their utmost potential.
By expending the weapon's durability in combat, and strengthening it by quenching it with the enemy's blood, that is the meaning of polishing.
But that's in the conventional sense.
For the Tetra module, which was transplanted from a game system, it is not strictly necessary to kill monsters to polish weapons; Jack has a faster method.
Relying on the Chain Mining module.
By maximizing the chain block area and hitting dirt or cobblestone with the Dreadsteel Greatsword, hundreds of durability points could be consumed in one go.
Other people's swords were forged with the blood of their enemies.
His, however, were covered in dirt and rocks.
Afterward, Jack chose to return to the Dragonspine Mountains to undertake the great task of polishing.
It was close to home, the mountainous terrain could be freely destroyed, and it wouldn't affect the city's appearance.
Having the experience of polishing the Netherite Greatsword before, Jack skillfully completed the polishing of the Dreadsteel Greatsword this time.
However, standing on the mountaintop, he was troubled by the inability to test his divine weapon.
"Skeleton King, Netherite Colossus, Glutton, Infernal demon are viable. Son of the Sun and Void Lord are out. So, which one should I choose?"
Jack gently stroked the sword, recalling information about these un-conquered Bosses.
Skeleton King, belonging to the Undead Rising module, can be summoned by placing a Skeleton Skull with a King's Crown in the Desert.
Defeating him grants a helmet that allows one to command the undead.
While it says commanding the undead, it actually just means charming a few Skeletons and making undead view him as an ally. It might have miraculous effects in some Western Fantasy worlds in the future, but for now, it's truly useless, so pass!
Netherite Colossus, belonging to the Cataclysm module, spawns in the special Forge biome of the Nether. It's equivalent to a large Cyclops, a war machine from ancient Nether wars, with strength comparable to a typical Archon in Teyvat.
However, despite its name, Netherite Colossus, it doesn't even drop Netherite Ingots, let alone Ancient Debris!
Plus, Fischl left in a hurry and didn't leave a teleport anchor, so it would take time to find, and by the time it was found, the enthusiasm for testing the sword would have passed, so that's also a pass!
Glutton, belonging to the Deep Dark Garden module, is summoned in the dragon adventure integration pack by using Evil Essence to ignite a Memory Block. The dropped Glutton Scales can be used to craft Nether Dust. With enough quantity, all accessories can be refreshed with a +4% damage stat, marking the beginning of explosive data and a must-farm Boss for later stages.
However, the Deep Dark Garden lacks the stone to craft a portal, so it can only be created in creative mode, regretfully a pass.
Finally, only his good brother Infernal demon remained.
Its location, the Blazing Arena, is extremely conspicuous in the Nether. The summoning conditions are also very low; one can simply use local materials, kill a Soulflame, and it will drop the summoning item, truly too friendly to players (not).
"Although it's a bit early to tackle the second-to-last boss of the Nether storyline, this is what befits a graduation weapon's prestige!"
Having made up his mind, Jack dusted off his pants and prepared to immediately set off for the Nether.
Just then, a dragon roar echoed through the empty sky.
Roar! (Wretched, as if on the verge of death) —
"Hmm?"
The trait of affinity with all things allowed Jack to understand the language of monsters, but a roar so distant and seemingly meaningless, he still couldn't translate.
But since this guy was roaring so loudly and so miserably, something must have happened.
Jack immediately changed direction and flew towards the source of the dragon roar.
...
"Thanks, Savia, but I'm a little curious, what did you tell Jack?"
On the back of a giant Ice Dragon, a girl with purple twin-tails sat, conversing with the dragon.
Savia pondered for a moment, then awkwardly scratched a line of text onto the wall with her front claw.
[I didn't say anything, I just howled a few times]
"Huh? Then how can you be sure Jack will come back? Don't you usually just roar in the valley anyway?"
Savia continued to write.
[I tried very hard this time!]
She even added an exclamation mark...
Keqing suddenly felt Savia was quite cute. "Alright, then you can roar a few more times, even louder, to make it seem more urgent."
[Okay, Big Sister Head!]
"Still Big Sister Head… You're quite something, kid."
Keqing sighed helplessly. She was happy that this giant dragon, whom she had watched grow up, was so close to her, but this particular address always made her feel like the leader of some delinquent organization, which was very strange.
Thus, after Savia roared several times, she successfully summoned her master, Jack.
Whoosh~
A gentle breeze rose, and Jack landed on Savia's back, stomping a few times on the husky-like Ice Dragon who seemed to be going crazy.
"You're roaring as if you're about to die; I thought you ran into some Outer God! Speak, what's the matter?"
"Roar! (Big Sister Head told me to call!)"
"You're even feeling wronged when I'm talking about you!"
"Alright, Jack, don't be so strict with little Savia. I have something to tell you."
The two people and one dragon interacted like a strict father, a kind mother, and a mischievous daughter.
Jack glared at Savia, who had turned her head to look at them. The little fellow, weighing over a thousand tons, immediately shrank back in fear.
"It's like this, something was discovered in Liyue's Chasm…"
Keqing told Jack about the special Geo Slime. He listened intently to the long description at the beginning, but when she mentioned that Zhongli's attacks couldn't harm the monster, Jack couldn't hold himself back.
"That old man, he's gotten addicted to slacking off!!"
"Uh… but from what I witnessed, Zhongli indeed had great difficulty damaging that Geo Slime. His Geo-elemental attacks actually seemed to be healing it."
Healing after being attacked by Geo elements? What kind of operation is that?
Jack had truly never heard of that before.
Had he really misunderstood Zhongli?
"It seems Teyvat's elemental monsters do have some unique qualities. Not only do they absorb the stats of war machine Bosses like the Netherite Colossus, but they also awaken some peculiar characteristics."
As far as he knew, at least Zhongli's true form and Venti's true form were both beings purely composed of elements.
So, strictly speaking, both of them are genderless.
"I generally understand the situation. I'll go with you to the Chasm."
"En! Without further ado, Yelan is already waiting for you at the entrance of the Chasm!"
"Yelan? Aren't you coming?"
Keqing blinked and said, "I still need to evacuate Liyue's residents. There are many people around the Chasm, and Yelan is not openly one of the Qixing, so it's not appropriate for her to handle these matters."
"Alright, I'll follow our wife's arrangements."
Jack hugged Keqing and gave her a peck, not asking for details.
It was nothing more than Keqing trying to set him up, inviting Yelan to join Sky City and such.
Even Keqing would be somewhat embarrassed to find women for her husband, and asking more would be impolite.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"