Under the jagged spine-like mountain range lay the entrance to a cave.
Two figures slowly made their way inside.
The moment she stepped into the cave, Eula winced, her body prickling with pain.
Not far ahead, a massive heart throbbed visibly, black blood coiling within it.
Eula gazed at the cave illuminated by its red glow. Just like before, getting any closer made her feel deeply uncomfortable.
Previously, she'd only ever peeked in from the entrance. This time, at Su Xuan's request, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and press on.
"The price of showing off is steep. If you're feeling unwell, you should just say so."
Su Xuan's voice suddenly reached Eula's ears, followed by a glow that enveloped her body, forming a protective barrier.
Eula remembered—this was the protective shield formed by Su Xuan's telekinesis.
In an instant, she felt much more at ease.
"As I said before, the corrupted blood in Dvalin's body came from swallowing Durin's blood."
"It was born from Abyss power, a force you can't touch."
Su Xuan explained as he walked toward the heart.
Eula murmured a quiet thanks and followed close behind, her long legs keeping pace.
Reaching the heart, Su Xuan gently touched it with his hand.
The heart's violent throbbing shook his arm.
The entire cave echoed only with the sound of its beating—no other noise.
Seeing Su Xuan fall silent, Eula didn't interrupt. She simply stared at the man's back, her thoughts drifting back to the teasing from moments ago.
First day: the Witch of Roses, Lisa. Second day: the Dandelion Knight, Jean. Third day: her, the Spindrift Knight?
Hah! This was too ridiculous.
She'd heard of playboys, but never one this outrageous.
Even light novels about romance wouldn't dare write something like this.
Was this any different from outright abduction? Not one bit.
"And he had the nerve to say if I was in a hurry, he'd schedule me early?" Eula grumbled inwardly. "This is definitely a grudge worth remembering."
With that thought, she snuck a glance at Su Xuan.
"Good thing his attention's all on Durin's heart."
But seeing the transparent energy ripples around her, Eula felt a warmth in her chest.
Suddenly, she grew intensely curious about Su Xuan's earlier proposal.
She wanted to ask just how this man planned to make her yield as easily as Lisa or Jean.
Just as Eula's mind wandered to possible scenarios, the diary replica suddenly glowed.
Her interest piqued, she hurriedly flipped it open.
[The Authority of Lexicon is powerful enough to affect life itself.]
[For example, it can manifest cells, skin, organs, and more using specific DNA data.]
[As expected, for an alchemical creation like Durin, the Authority of Lexicon can fully comprehend and analyze it.]
[Durin's core—this heart—is the complete repository of all its data as an alchemical creation.]
[To birth a dragon like Durin, you just need to wait for the data to evolve on its own.]
[Simply put, create the heart, then patiently wait.]
[It's like placing prepared cells in a petri dish and letting them evolve naturally.]
[Next, I'll briefly outline two key pieces of data from this heart.]
[One is flesh from Teyvat's native dragon clan, and the other is Abyss power.]
[The flesh of Teyvat's dragon clan has a unique ability: it can spawn countless species and lifeforms.]
[Abyss power's role here is to stabilize the dragon flesh, ensuring that when lifeforms emerge, they can only be dragons.]
[Then fix the emergent dragon's data as Durin, closing the loop.]
[That's why Durin can revive endlessly—as long as the heart remains intact.]
[For me, the only pity is that while I can understand its principles, I can only manifest the heart.]
[The reason? Durin's birth is a growth process unique to dragon flesh, empowered by Abyss forces.]
[During this growth, genetic codes recombine to form its massive body.]
[This recombination is a variable in the growth process, not fixed in the heart's database.]
[If I want a dragon like Durin, I'd have to manifest the heart and wait for it to grow into one.]
[What a hassle, and utterly useless.]
[Finally, a solution for dealing with this heart.]
[The dragon flesh can't be removed, but purify the Abyss power within, and the heart becomes useless...]
[Now that I've obtained the heart's structural rights, it's of no further use to me.]
[Durin is an Abyss creation, so Abyss power isn't 'negative' to it—Qiankun Mirror's debuff removal doesn't work.]
[No matter. That's not a problem for me. Just rewind the heart's time to before it fused with Abyss power.]
In the heart's cave.
Eula stared wide-eyed like a country bumpkin who'd never seen the world, watching a radiant treasure mirror appear out of thin air.
In mere breaths, the black blood threads inside the heart vanished.
Eula blinked in astonishment and couldn't help blurting, "That mirror in your hand is unbelievably miraculous."
"If you shone it on Mondstadt's land and adjusted its time, the whole land would..."
"Smart," Su Xuan grinned at her. "That's how unreasonable this mirror is."
After all, with no power boosts and its functions limited, Su Xuan would be furious otherwise.
"Uh..." Eula's mouth twitched.
Su Xuan's own power was already freakish, but his gear seemed even more so.
"This heart is essentially fused with dragon flesh, so it can't be excised. The only way is to sever its data loop by removing the Abyss power."
"As for the heart itself—valuable alchemical material with dragon flesh in it. I'll take it back for Lisa."
Su Xuan rambled on, then, under Eula's speechless gaze, wrapped the heart in telekinesis and stored it in his system space.
"So you made this whole trip to Dragonspine, and Lisa's the real winner?" Eula pursed her lips.
She remembered him saying the heart was nothing but trouble and useless in his hands.
"What, jealous?" Su Xuan chuckled.
"Me? Jealous?" Eula huffed, trailing off.
It'd be a lie to say she wasn't.
Especially carrying the name of a sinner—no one pitied or cared for her. Not getting cursed or shunned was already a blessing.
"Hm?" Eula blinked, noticing Su Xuan's diary had updated again.
[There was a little hiccup when I retrieved Durin's heart.]
[The wild Spindrift Knight mocked me for coming to Dragonspine at night and only getting a ruin machine.]
[Came to Durin's heart cave, but the prize can't be directly manifested into a dragon—troublesome and useless.]
[But her mockery? I felt nothing... and even wanted to laugh.]
At the Knights of Favonius.
Lisa glanced calmly at Amber. "See? I told you Eula would be fine. You think Su Xuan's heart is that small?"
"Would he kill her over a catchphrase?"
Amber nodded with a smile. "And they seem to get along pretty well."
But right now...
Eula panicked inwardly and quickly said, "When did I mock you? Don't pin hats on me and come after me for it."
"And why would you want to laugh?"
Seeing Su Xuan ignore her, Eula rolled her eyes and looked back at the diary replica.
[As for why I felt nothing and even wanted to laugh...]
[Because I was laughing at Eula for not knowing Dragonspine's real treasure.]
[I'm certain I can comprehend and replicate it.]
[The divine punishment fired from Celestia at Dragonspine's peak.]
[The Firmament Nail!]
Eula: "The Firmament Nail?"