Genshin Impact: Dionysus reigns supreme, all demons retreat!

The Thousand Rock Army's base is not far from Liyue Harbor.

From the northwest of Liyue Harbor, it's located halfway up the northern slope of Mount Tianheng. It takes about an hour to reach the destination by following the main road.

This is an ancient building complex, abandoned at some unknown time. Now the Qianyan Army uses it as a base, and a simple renovation has saved a lot of construction expenses.

"How many students did Uncle Tian assign me to teach?"

Xu Ning sensed that Gan Yu seemed to be distracted the whole time, so in order to break the awkward silence, he had to speak first.

Gan Yu was troubled by Xu Ning's initial greeting of "wife" when they first met. Did he know her age and want to call her "old lady"?

But it seems to be Fontainebleau or somewhere else. Isn't this an affectionate term used between husband and wife?

Regardless of which meaning it has, this kid is infuriating!

"When we met just now, you were calling out... calling out..."

Gan Yu finally stammered as she tried to get some answers from Xu Ning.

Xu Ning hadn't expected Gan Yu to be so fixated on this, and quickly explained, "Oh, I thought at the time, uh, I thought Ningguang had come back. I just wanted to joke with her, hehe!"

Gan Yu breathed a long sigh of relief, as if she had suddenly let go of some serious worries. Her whole demeanor brightened, and she spoke much more fluently.

"So that's how it is. I misunderstood."

Gan Yu pointed to a flat area in front of her, where some young men and women were already waiting.

"Everyone is there, though I'm not entirely sure of the exact number. This will be your exclusive training ground from now on."

"If there's nothing else, I'll go back to work at Yuehaiting."

Xu Ning thanked him and then took out a small paper bag from his pocket.

"These are snacks I prepared for Beidou, heart-shaped pastries. I bought a lot, they're very delicious, please try some too. Consider it a thank you for guiding me, and also an apology for my previous slip of the tongue. Please accept them!"

"Ah? This..." Gan Yu looked at Xu Ning's sincere face and smelled the faint sweet fragrance that the paper bag couldn't hide. She wanted to refuse but was afraid of hurting Xu Ning's feelings, so she could only reluctantly accept it.

"Thank you."

Gan Yu thanked her and left with a heavy heart.

"What should we do? It's a gift he specially gave us, so we can't just throw it away or give it away. Maybe we should take one every two or three days... no, or maybe we should take one every three days."

After giving Gan Yu the snacks with a mischievous heart, Xu Ning felt great.

After all, in his previous life, he had a bad habit of making rare delicacies and feeding them to Gan Yu.

Xu Ning walked onto the field, and dozens of boys and girls turned to look at him.

They all knew that a drinking instructor would be coming today, and it was said that Beidou was the one who personally taught him.

Xu Ning's recognizability was so high that everyone recognized him at a glance.

Xu Ning, having lived two lives, wasn't nervous about such a small scene. He casually took a sip of his drink and lazily asked, "How many people are there in total?"

The group looked at each other, seemingly unsure of what was going on.

A little girl with purple hair stepped forward and said, "There are forty people in total, including the instructors, making forty-one."

"Oh? Quite a lot!"

Xu Ning sighed, "According to the normal procedure, it should be time to 'show our strength' now! I'll say, 'Come at me all at once,' then beat you all up, and then we'll all work together peacefully to become stronger."

As soon as Xu Ning said this, many people immediately became wary, and some of the more alert ones had already started to move towards the weapon rack.

"But let's skip those kinds of exciting scenes. Of course, if anyone thinks they can beat Beidou, they can come out and spar with me. If you win, you'll be the instructor."

The group of teenagers stood frozen in place, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Even within the official ranks of the Qianyan Army, no one dares to say who can reliably defeat Beidou, let alone those of us who have only recently come into contact with swords.

Xu Ning glanced around and, seeing that no one was coming up, said calmly, "Since no one is coming up, then I'll remain the boss."

"Next, we need to reach a consensus. Who can answer me? In Liyue, who is protecting us?"

A little girl with braided pigtails standing in front of the group answered matter-of-factly, "Of course it is Lord Rock King."

Xu Ning walked over and smiled, "Good answer!"

Then, his right hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the throat of a boy next to the girl, easily lifting him up.

Xu Ning looked at the terrified little girl and smiled reassuringly.

"Let's see if our Rock King Emperor can save him before he dies."

The group of teenagers watched as the boy with almost completely white eyebrows and hair struggled violently in Xu Ning's hands.

No matter how hard he tried to pry it open with his hands or kick it with his feet, the hand gripping his neck remained as firm as iron, without the slightest wavering.

However, after a short while, the boy's face turned red, and he seemed to gradually lose strength in his hands and feet.

The little girl's eyes welled up with tears as she cried out, "You'll kill him if you do this!"

Xu Ning raised his wine gourd, took a sip, and said calmly, "It's not that easy to die, and besides, the Emperor hasn't even arrived yet."

The little girl never imagined that her words could kill a companion. Wiping away her tears, she suddenly punched Xu Ning in the face.

Xu Ning raised his left fist, which was holding the wine gourd, and easily blocked the little girl's fist.

"Why are you taking action? Don't you trust our Emperor anymore?"

However, a sword light flashed from the side, even faster than Xu Ning's words.

The moment Xu Ning blocked the little girl's fist, the purple-haired little girl pulled out a sword from somewhere and suddenly appeared beside the braided little girl.

He turned and thrust his sword diagonally upwards from under the girl's ribs, aiming precisely at Xu Ning's wrist.

"That was a powerful sword strike!"

Xu Ning released the white-haired boy and smiled at the purple-haired little girl.

Seeing that Xu Ning had released the white-haired boy, the purple-haired little girl sheathed her sword behind her back and stopped attacking.

The white-haired boy fell onto the grass, gagged with some water, and gasped for breath.

Suddenly, he ran to the weapon rack, pulled out a halberd, and with a furious shout, thrust it fiercely at Xu Ning.

Xu Ning dodged to the side and reached out to grab the halberd shaft.

"You see, the Emperor didn't come to your rescue. The ones who can truly save you are your companions and the weapons in your hands."

Xu Ning flicked his wrist, loosening the white-haired boy's grip, and thrust the halberd shaft into his chest, knocking him to the ground where he remained for a long time.

"Lord Geo Archon is only protecting Liyue, but he cannot protect every single person in Liyue. These people of Liyue, our parents, brothers, and sisters, all depend on us, the Thousand Rock Army, to protect them."

"Otherwise, every Liyue citizen would have to call the Geo Archon to come when they are in danger. Our Geo Archon would be exhausted to death by you all."

Xu Ning made unrestrained jokes about the Emperor, completely ignoring the strange looks the boys were giving him.

"Then, who can answer this question for me? Who are the enemies of the Thousand Rock Army?"