Genshin Impact: Dionysus reigns supreme, all demons retreat!

Chapter 582 Elemental Energy Exploration Machine

Everyone stared silently at the stone tablet in Tirzad's hand.

Tirzad's face turned pale and then red.

During the two days he was trapped in this pit, he complained and blamed everyone he met, taking advantage of his drunken state to curse the entire team. Little did he know that the blame would ultimately fall on his own shoulders.

Although he was looking down, he could clearly feel the gazes of those around him, like sharp nails piercing his skin.

"You lousy stone slab almost cost our entire team their lives!"

If Xu Ning hadn't been secretly observing the stone slab while standing beside him, Tirzad's sudden slam would have likely ruined the fastest way to enter the Crimson King's Tomb.

Fortunately, Xu Ning acted quickly enough and managed to retrieve the stone slab.

"Are you putting on a show of throwing Liu Bei's son to the ground before battle? None of us are blaming you, so why are you picking on this inanimate object?"

Xu Ning chuckled and teased the humiliated Tirzad, then lowered his head to examine the stone slab in his hand.

This was Xu Ning's first time encountering red sandstone slabs.

After getting his hands on it, Xu Ning realized that the stone slab was much heavier than he had imagined.

After all, the entire stone slab was edged with gold, making it look incredibly luxurious.

Several symbols of unknown meaning were engraved on the stone slab, and a green gemstone set at the top of the triangle emitted a faint light, as if it were breathing, echoing something in the tomb.

As Xu Ning was carefully examining the stone slab, he suddenly felt two hawk-like gazes pierce his face. Turning his head, he saw Jade's father standing three steps behind the group, arms crossed, staring at him.

Although both Jeberlele and Jade were wearing dark red eye masks with sun-shaped gold patterns, following desert custom, Xu Ning could still clearly sense a faint hostility.

Xu Ning intuitively felt that Jeberlele had realized that he wanted to get something from Tirzad, and thus became wary of his current behavior.

However, this vigilance and hostility came somewhat out of nowhere.

Logically speaking, this Tirzad was just a chance employer he met by chance, and his temperament was terrible. Even if he had some other thoughts about him, whether he wanted the stone tablet or wanted to deceive Mora, as long as he did not endanger Tirzad's personal safety, Jeberlele would not need to cause trouble for himself.

The thought only crossed Xu Ning's mind for a moment before he handed the stone slab back to Tirzad.

"Put it away; your research depends entirely on this!"

Seeing Tirzad's disgusted expression, as if he wanted to say that he didn't want to do such dangerous research at all, Xu Ning pointed to the ruins again, "Besides, we might need it to get out."

Hearing Xu Ning say this, Tirzad reluctantly took the stone slab and put it back in his arms.

Seeing that the two had finally finished talking, the restless little white-haired creature that had been flying around anxiously quickly raised its hand and said, "The door has been open for ages, let's hurry up and go in and take a look!"

Xu Ning chuckled, "What's the rush? It's not like we're eating. The treasure chest won't get cold if we leave it out a little longer."

Paimon blushed when his little scheme was exposed, snorted and ignored Xu Ning. He cautiously peeked inside from the doorway, and seeing that there was no danger, he slowly flew in.

Fearing something might happen to Paimon, Kong quickly followed him inside, and everyone else followed suit.

Wow! I never imagined there was such a large space underground!

Paimon's words expressed everyone's feelings, and Xu Ning was also silently observing the enormous palace in front of him.

Upon entering, one finds a perfectly orderly stone path leading to another door that is exactly the same as the previous one.

The only difference is that there are two huge eagle-headed human-bodied statues on either side of the inner portal.

The colossus is so large that it extends from the underground on both sides of the stone path all the way to the top of the cave, making people want to worship this towering and majestic figure.

Xu Ning slowly walked behind the crowd, looking at the eagle-head mask on the stone statue's face...

He didn't reject the possibility of the existence of a monster with an eagle's head and a human body from the bottom of his heart, but rather believed that the stone statue was actually a human wearing a strange mask.

Rather, it seemed that in his memory, he had seen someone wear such a mask in front of him, and he seemed to have mocked him harshly.

"This impression probably wasn't left by me; it's probably that guy Dionysus. It seems he did indeed stay in Sumeru and had some dealings with the Crimson King."

Xu Ning pondered to himself, "It's hard to imagine that a demon god-level figure who had interacted with my predecessor would be portrayed as a tyrant in later records who is not worthy of academic investigation. If the true history is distorted in its accounts, then the accounts related to me are likely to be even more biased. It seems I will have to focus on verifying it."

Walking slowly along the long stone path, Tirzad, urged on by Paimon and Jade, reached the next door. The stone door slid open again, revealing a small foyer.

"This place is quite well-preserved. It's hard to imagine what a magnificent sight it must have been back then. Belial, do you have such ancient ruins in your Liyue as well?"

Xu Ning watched with interest as Jade circled around Belial. It seemed that Belial was quite talkative when she was in male form, but after transforming into a woman, she became more and more like a reserved and aloof woman.

Does a change in gender mean that one's personality will also conform to the established persona?

Or is this actually his/her true personality, and his/her original appearance is just imitating his/her brother?

Jade seemed to be intentionally trying to get Belial to say more along the way, but unfortunately, Belial maintained a detached expression and never showed much enthusiasm.

When asked this question, she simply replied, "I rarely go out to explore ruins."

Jade laughed, "Me too. This is my first time coming to the desert with my dad. I didn't expect it to be so interesting everywhere... Hmm?"

Suddenly, Jeberle appeared beside his daughter, grabbed her arm, and warned, "Watch out!"

Xu Ning was slightly startled. He hadn't sensed any enemy presence at all, but Jeberlele, who was almost at the back like him, rushed out the moment Jade stepped into the hall.

As for Jeberlele's behavior, he was not too worried. The enemy's figure appeared out of thin air in an instant and launched an attack as soon as he appeared.

Two blinding beams of light crossed and slashed towards the crowd.