Genshin Impact's Incense Burner Of Liyue [528]

"You have won."

Narcissus stood up, clutching his injured side. "Though you lack unwavering loyalty to a single weapon, you are still a warrior worthy of respect."

Loyalty?

Am I supposed to stick to one weapon for life or something?

Not happening.

Next time we meet, I might just rip a launcher off a Ruin Guard and blast you to bits.

"Alright, setting that aside—time is valuable. What’s the use of this thing?"

Gu Sanqiu held up the Ancient God Coin in his hand. "I got a prompt saying I can recruit you. Does it cost these?"

"Correct. Within the arena my god has built, the victor may recruit the defeated. As long as they have enough Ancient God Coins, they may fight alongside them—until the victor is ultimately defeated."

Gu Sanqiu nodded in understanding. "Let me guess—recruiting allies makes the opponents stronger?"

"Exactly. Many warriors recruit companions to challenge mightier foes, broadening their horizons through battle."

Gu Sanqiu tossed the coin in his hand. "By the way, what’s your recruitment price?"

"Ten thousand Ancient God Coins. But few ever manage to gather that much."

…?

Gu Sanqiu froze.

"One battle earns only a thousand, and you’re telling me you cost ten times that?!"

"It is a fair price—wait!"

Narcissus’ eyes widened in shock.

"Are you saying… you only have the thousand coins from this battle? You’re a newcomer to the arena?!"

"Yeah. Why?"

Why?

It’s a massive problem!

Narcissus collected his thoughts and began explaining at a faster pace.

"I have been training in the arena for five years. That is how I rapidly improved my strength—my reputation is not small, even among seasoned arena warriors."

"The fact that we were matched on your very first battle means only one thing—you’re already too strong to follow the usual, gradual progression."

Great. Starting off at hard mode.

Gu Sanqiu rubbed his chin. "You’ve been fighting here for five years, and you’re no pushover. Have you ever fought someone named Diluc? Red-haired, uses a claymore like you."

Narcissus corrected him. "That was not a mere fight. It was a battle. And yes, I have fought him before."

"He was a warrior descended from the god of Natlan, possessing extraordinary strength. The will of Natlan’s god still burned within his bloodline."

"Back then, the entire arena was engulfed in his flames—his blazing fighting spirit and sheer presence felt as though they would reduce the battlefield to ashes. I lasted less than twenty exchanges against him."

Gu Sanqiu’s eyebrow twitched.

He quickly did the math—calculating just how much elemental energy Diluc must have used to achieve that effect.

Then, he recalled Diluc’s performance back in Dragonspine.

…We may have a certain undercover operative in our supposedly 'pure' team.

Narcissus glanced up at the arena’s expanding flames.

"Time is almost up. You are a mighty warrior—I hope we may battle again in the future. I will continue to train."

Gu Sanqiu waved him off.

If the next ninety-nine fights are all at Narcissus’ level, this arena really isn’t as hard as people made it out to be.

He had literally just escaped a massive ambush, where multiple top-tier powerhouses had worked together to beat him half to death—only to immediately throw himself into one-on-one duels.

If he was struggling now, something would be seriously wrong.

"Time’s up. Data adjustment complete. Matching you with an opponent of equal strength."

A portal reopened.

From within, a blur of wind shot forward—before vanishing into thin air.

No sign of movement, no visible enemy.

Seems like an assassin.

As for whether this one had Narcissus’ level of sportsmanship—that was unclear.

After all, an assassin who announces their presence before attacking has to have something seriously wrong in the head.

Swish!

A dagger slashed forward.

Simultaneously, a shower of throwing needles filled the air.

Gu Sanqiu casually sidestepped, allowing the dagger and poisoned needles to collide mid-air.

But this was exactly what the assassin had planned.

Two poisoned claw daggers sliced toward his waist and throat at the same time!

"A kidney stab and a rapid bleed-out strike—your technique’s quite professional."

The Gu Sanqiu that had been standing there suddenly transformed into a paper doll—while his real body locked onto the assassin’s location and slammed them with a devastating punch!

The moment he had stepped back, he had already swapped places with a paper decoy, luring the assassin into striking.

That split-second mistake sealed the assassin’s fate.

Once forced out of stealth, the assassin was no match for a brute-force brawler like Gu Sanqiu.

One punch later, they were on the ground, retching up bile.

Another 1,000 Ancient God Coins acquired.

Upon checking, Gu Sanqiu discovered this assassin’s recruitment price was also 10,000 coins—which nearly made him slap the guy for good measure.

"Data recording error detected. Auto-correcting… Auto-correcting…"

"Combat profile updated: Versatile Warrior. Matching process continues."

Gu Sanqiu dug a finger in his ear.

Don’t care. I’m only here because of the old man’s task.

The portal reopened—this time, out stepped a middle-aged man, his entire body draped in bizarre trinkets, looking every bit like a wandering charlatan.

The arena rumbled, suddenly expanding by several times its original size.

The distance between them widened dramatically.

For once, Gu Sanqiu had to admit—if he and this guy set up shop in Liyue Harbor as fortune tellers, his stall would be empty while this guy’s would have a line down the street.

"Close the distance first."

Gu Sanqiu drew his longsword and unleashed waves of sword energy, tearing through the battlefield—while concealing his approach.

After all, mages are notoriously fragile.

Even if this guy was some kind of hybrid fighter, the best strategy was still getting in close and beating him down.

"Hmm. A correct choice."

The middle-aged man nodded approvingly.

He raised his right hand, summoning a weathered wooden branch.

There were no ornate carvings, no engravings—it looked like it had been picked up off the ground.

Boom!

Lightning struck—again and again, crackling in a continuous barrage around the shaman, creating a thunderstorm that expanded outward like a tribulation from the heavens.

The sheer density of lightning forced Gu Sanqiu into the open.

With his shield activated, he charged forward, tanking the storm head-on!

The shaman’s expression shifted in surprise.

Some of his trinkets glowed blue, conjuring a wave-like boar infused with lightning, which charged directly at Gu Sanqiu!

"[Electrified. Chain reaction]."

Another trinket glowed green—a gust of wind-elemental energy swept across Gu Sanqiu, expanding the electrified area to increase damage and disrupt his movements.

"So this matching system is just designed to mess with me? It’s picking exactly what I struggle against?!"

Gu Sanqiu gave up trying to make sense of this arena’s intelligence.

It was either brilliantly adaptive or stupidly annoying.

Fine.

He’d just break through it head-on.

Gu Sanqiu exhaled sharply, then opened his mouth—a burst of Geo energy erupted outward, scattering in all directions.

The incoming elemental attacks crystallized instantly, forming layers of protective shards that reduced their damage.

At the same time, he continued his relentless charge toward the shaman.

From the way this guy had reacted earlier, Gu Sanqiu had already guessed—the trinkets on his body were some kind of alchemical tools, capable of channeling different elements.

A valuable asset.

But more importantly—they had a weakness.

They needed time to activate and redirect energy.

There had to be a brief vulnerability in between activations.

If he exploited that gap, this fight would be over immediately.

"The laws of nature are the one true justice. All sinful beings must bow their heads in reverence, offering their devotion to the return of the natural order!"

The shaman suddenly threw his head back, shouting toward the sky.

"This is the world's decree! Pure elements and untainted nature shall bring forth divine judgment!"

"[Embrace annihilation—Elemental Convergence Impact]!"

Half of his trinkets began to glow, forming a floating orb in midair—a seething fusion of Cryo, Electro, and Pyro.

Thick chains of crackling ice-lightning wrapped around a blazing core, spiraling toward Gu Sanqiu!

If that attack landed, it would trigger multiple elemental reactions—a chain explosion with unpredictable status effects and lingering damage.

Gu Sanqiu narrowed his eyes.

Now this… this is interesting.

A system that allowed someone to wield multiple elements through external objects…

Not only did it expand the possibilities of alchemical research, but it also suggested the shaman himself had some kind of refined elemental theory behind his techniques.

That knowledge alone made this battle worthwhile.

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This is a fan translation of 原神之璃月奉香人 by 淡白蛋清. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!