The Weapon Master Shall Never Die Bare-Handed in Genshin Impact [419]

"Old Dai, let me tell you — my friend here is no joke."

Jia Changjiang took a step forward, smiling broadly. "Not just geology and minerals — Liyue’s customs, legends, history — he's dabbled in all of it. But today, we'll stick to just minerals."

"My friend here..." Jia Changjiang declared, "if he’s second in the world, then there is no first!"

Zhongli remained as composed as ever. "You flatter me. I merely have some small insights."

Hearing their boasts, Old Dai grew a little stubborn too. "Well, the one I found isn't any worse, I'll tell you that."

"Once he arrives, you’ll see for yourselves." Just as Old Dai said that, a black-haired man wearing glasses approached from the distance. He looked mild-mannered, even a bit frail, with a somewhat lost expression.

"Is... this the place?" the man asked uncertainly.

"Perfect timing!" Old Dai said, delighted. He grabbed the man and brought him over to Jia Changjiang and Lumine. "This is the helper I found — Kun Jun."

"Xiao Kun, these three here are the adventurers I hired. And this gentleman... is Zhongli, a guest consultant of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor," he said, introducing them.

As Zhongli and Kun Jun’s eyes met, Zhongli’s brows furrowed slightly — and Kun Jun’s face, in turn, grew even more bewildered.

"Hmm?"

Jia Changjiang raised an eyebrow as he studied Kun Jun.
Something felt... off.

Was it just his imagination?
This soft-spoken, harmless-looking man... gave off an aura of incredible strength.

Is my radar malfunctioning or something?

"I’m Jia Changjiang," he said after a moment, stepping forward and firmly grasping Kun Jun’s hand, which still hung awkwardly in midair. "Weapon Master Jia Changjiang."

"A pleasure," Jia Changjiang added with an easy smile.

No matter what’s going on with him... if someone feels this strong, it’s always a good idea to make friends first!

Once we’re on good terms, we can spar later…

Cough cough,

I mean, we can ‘exchange techniques’ in a friendly way. Naturally.

Thinking this way, Jia Changjiang treated Kun Jun with such enthusiastic warmth that it left Kun Jun visibly stunned.

Kun Jun had still been puzzling over why Zhongli felt so strangely familiar, when suddenly Jia Changjiang burst forward and gripped his hand, grinning and pumping it up and down…

Do we know each other?
Did we meet before?

Kun Jun fell deeper into confusion.

Meanwhile, Lumine, staring at the seemingly ordinary Kun Jun, was also puzzled.

He did feel vaguely familiar... like she’d seen him somewhere before.

And if she remembered right... the last time she saw Kun Jun, hadn’t he been a lot more aggressive?

Huh...
Lumine shook her head. She couldn’t quite figure it out.

Whatever! One step at a time.

"Old Dai, Old Dai, aren’t you going to test them?" Paimon said excitedly. "Let’s see who’s the real expert!"

"Ahh... I wouldn’t even know where to start," Old Dai said with a helpless laugh. "I don’t know the first thing about this stuff."

"Then why don’t you guys come up with a contest yourselves?" Paimon chirped happily. "If Zhongli wins, he’ll help out too... and if he loses... wait, no way! Zhongli won’t lose!"

Her voice was brimming with absolute confidence.

"?"

Watching Paimon, Lumine couldn’t help but mentally put up a giant question mark.

Since when did I end up with a Zhongli stan following me around?

Then again, Liyue was full of people who worshiped their former Archon...

Come to think of it, hadn’t Lumine caught Paimon sneaking glances at Zhongli’s backside before?

Remembering that, Lumine openly turned to look for herself.

Hmm... yep. Definitely shapely.

"A competition? Sure, I’m happy to play along," Kun Jun said, his interest clearly piqued.

"This gentleman seems quite eager," Zhongli remarked, a smile playing on his lips.

"Haha... you seem like you know your stuff just from your face," Kun Jun said. "But whether you’re better than me — that’s still to be seen."

"Now that’s a bold claim!" Jia Changjiang’s fighting spirit lit up. "Mind if I join too?"

"You again?" Lumine gave him a curious look. "You don’t know anything about stones."

"I don’t know stones... but I can cheat!" Jia Changjiang said righteously to Zhongli and Kun Jun. "If I use my own method while competing, that’s fair, right?"

"No problem," Kun Jun said, nodding. "Though I don't remember much, when it comes to minerals, I’m very confident. It’s about the only thing I am confident in."

"Brother Kun, are you an appraiser?" Zhongli asked.

"No... actually, I’ve forgotten what I wanted to do," Kun Jun replied, shaking his head. "Old Dai just saw me handling some rocks one day, asked a few questions... and here we are."

"He knows more than I do, and I’m a miner by trade," Old Dai added proudly.

After all, he had stumbled across this gem of a talent purely by chance — definitely something to brag about.

"You forgot what you wanted to do... sounds more like memory issues to me," Lumine said thoughtfully. "Maybe you should visit Bubu Pharmacy?"

"Maybe... but I think I’ll be fine," Kun Jun said, a little uncertain. "When it comes to stones, though, I can definitely help."

After reassuring Lumine and Paimon, Kun Jun turned to Jia Changjiang and Zhongli and pulled out a stone.

"Gentlemen — this is a piece I bought nearby. What do you think?"

Zhongli studied the stone carefully. Jia Changjiang, meanwhile, immediately reached out with a big grin.

"Can I have a look?"

"Of course."

Kun Jun handed it over without hesitation.

Lumine stood behind Jia Changjiang, watching with skeptical eyes.

She refused to believe it.

This guy, whose brain was filled with nothing but fighting techniques and brawling strategies, was going to appraise a stone?

If Jia Changjiang actually knew how to identify valuable stones, Lumine would’ve dragged him off to gamble on raw jade long ago.

She had heard Liyue’s stone gambling business could be extremely profitable.

Of course, the risks were just as high. There was even a local saying:

"One cut for ruin, two cuts for fortune, three cuts and you’re wrapped in mourning cloth."

Jia Changjiang weighed the stone in his hand, which looked like an unremarkable chunk of scrap.

"Hmm... good rock. Heavy enough to make a decent brick weapon."

As he tested the weight, ideas started popping into his mind — natural, instinctive ones — about how to use the stone as a weapon.

After all, it’s not cheating if I use my own skills during the contest, right?

This is what we call... leveling the playing field!

---

T/N: IQ over 9000

This is a fan translation of 武器大师在原神绝不死于徒手 by 徐人双 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!