Standing on the open platform in the middle of the mine, Xiao had already eagerly placed down the soul sand.

Childe stretched his body and said excitedly:

"Are we finally about to go all out? They've always said the Ender Dragon and the Wither Storm are among the strongest monsters."

"But the Ender Dragon got instantly obliterated by the Orbital Dragon-Slaying Cannon—I didn't even get a chance to test my strength against it."

"This Wither Storm… surely we can fight this one, right?"

Standing on the open platform in the middle of the mine, Xiao had already eagerly placed down the soul sand.

Childe stretched his body and said excitedly:

"Are we finally about to go all out? They've always said the Ender Dragon and the Wither Storm are among the strongest monsters."

"But the Ender Dragon got instantly obliterated by the Orbital Dragon-Slaying Cannon—I didn't even get a chance to test my strength against it."

"This Wither Storm… surely we can fight this one, right?"

Ryen raised an eyebrow and clapped his hands.

"You saying that actually reminded me!"

"You, Rosalyne, Beidou, and Ayaka—stay back and just observe. Don't engage."

The smile on Tartaglia's face immediately froze.

Beidou also frowned slightly and said,

"You praised my strength just yesterday. Now you don't trust me anymore?"

Ryen shook his head helplessly.

"The Wither Storm is unlike anything you've fought before. We have to destroy it before it fully develops."

"If we don't, it could destroy the entire world. You can never take a Wither lightly."

Beidou wasn't one to push back unnecessarily, but she still clicked her tongue in disbelief.

"It's that strong?"

Ganyu nodded seriously.

"It really is, Captain Beidou. The Wither has seven stages, and we must defeat it before it reaches the third."

"Also, if it injures someone, it inflicts the 'Wither' effect—draining our life while healing itself."

"If the Wither kills anything, its evolution speeds up even more."

"That's why we chose to fight it in this lifeless mine—no mobs, no animals—nothing for it to feed on."

"Plus, as it evolves, it absorbs every type of block except bedrock. Even obsidian isn't safe."

"Honestly, I think the Wither is way tougher than the Ender Dragon."

Hearing this, Beidou reluctantly nodded.

"Alright then… if that's the case, I won't interfere. Watching from a distance should be fine, right?"

"No problem," Ryen said with a smile.

"You can observe how we handle it this time—and later, join in future battles."

"As long as you grasp the basics, defeating a Wither isn't that hard."

He glanced at Tartaglia.

"Of course, that's assuming no idiot decides to charge in and 1v1 it like some kind of hero."

Tartaglia spread his hands innocently.

"I wouldn't be so reckless... you really don't trust me?"

"Absolutely not," Ryen said firmly.

Tartaglia sighed, looking dejected.

Rosalyne quietly said beside him,

"I'll keep an eye on him. He won't run off."

"Even better."

Ryen nodded, then turned to Ningguang and asked softly,

"Did we happen to have any Nether Stars left from before?"

Ningguang shook her head.

"All the Nether Stars have already been synthesized into beacons. I happen to have one with me—do you need it?"

"The beacon won't work…"

Ryen sounded a little regretful as he said softly:

"The effect of the Totem of Resurrection only activates when you kill a Wither while holding a Nether Star. That Nether Star then becomes a Totem of Resurrection."

"You must then kill a Wither while holding the Totem of Resurrection. Only then will the Totem absorb the Wither's soul and convert into a resurrection charge."

Zhongli frowned slightly and said in a deep voice:

"So, first we have to kill a Wither to get a Nether Star. Then, we kill another Wither while holding the Nether Star to turn it into a Totem of Resurrection."

"And finally, we must hold the Resurrection Totem and kill a third Wither to absorb the soul and obtain a resurrection charge?"

Ryen shrugged.

"Feels kind of like a nesting doll setup, doesn't it?"

Zhongli shook his head.

"Well, it's not as complicated as the firearms mod, at least."

"But this way, we'll only be able to get two resurrection charges…"

Ryen glanced at his inventory and said softly:

"It's fine. We just happen to have enough materials to summon four Withers. We'll kill them all."

At that, the immortals let out a sigh of relief.

Right now, they only had the souls of Yixiao and Tongque. If all went well, they could resurrect both of them today.

"Um… excuse me."

Ayaka looked at Ryen with a bit of concern.

"Those powerful beacons on top of the Jade Chamber—the ones that maintain wide-area battlefield effects—were those also made by killing Withers?"

Rosalyn and Tartaglia also looked at Ryen, clearly curious.

He nodded and said with a chuckle:

"Isn't it obvious? But if you want to have a large-area enhancement like the ones on the Jade Chamber, you still need an enormous amount of resources to build the beacon base."

Ayaka thought back to the diamond blocks and other structures she had seen on the Jade Chamber.

She had originally assumed that it was just Ningguang showing off how wealthy she was.

So that's what it was really for.

But on second thought, the resources required for the beacon base were astronomical.

To get that kind of buff, the materials couldn't possibly be gathered in a day or two.

Or rather… it wasn't something one person alone could collect.

~~----------------------

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