Genshin x Minecraft: Building the Temple of Virtue

"Hold on a moment, let me rebuild a more concealed ladder for you all."

As Ryen spoke, he began making his way to the edge to climb down the existing ladder.

"Wait!" Ningguang called out, her tone carrying a hint of awkwardness. She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "There's no rush. You should eat first…"

Ryen chuckled and shook his head. "I'm fully satiated, so there's no need for me to eat. Besides, rebuilding a ladder isn't a big deal. I'll have it done in no time."

With that, he climbed down the ladder.

Truth be told, Ryen was quite tempted to try a water bucket landing maneuver. After all, it was a skill that every Minecraft player had to master.

Climbing down ladders was tedious, slow, and inefficient. Why not make things interesting?

In his gaming days, Ryen had pulled off all sorts of advanced moves. Water bucket landings were just the tip of the iceberg. He'd done scaffold landings, lava boat jumps, mid-air water bucket saves, and even managed flawless descents from insane heights.

But imagining it in the game and attempting it in real life were two very different things. No matter how experienced he was, the thought of actually trying it here still sent a chill down his spine.

If he were in Teyvat, Ryen wouldn't think twice about jumping off a floating island without a bucket. But in this Minecraft-like world? Absolutely not.

Here, the rules were equal and unyielding. Even Xiao and Zhongli couldn't fly. If Venti himself were to jump from a high place, he'd probably fall to his death.

Elytra? Definitely a necessity. Ryen had already planned his strategy: once he had a full set of enchanted diamond armor, he'd stockpile TNT and head to the End to slay the dragon.

And if he gathered enough redstone and resources, maybe he'd even construct a space-based dragon cannon. At the current pace, it wouldn't take him long to reach that point.

As these thoughts filled his mind, Ryen wasted no time constructing the new ladder.

A concealed ladder wasn't particularly complicated—a simple 3x3 passage with torches for lighting would do. The key was ensuring the girls wouldn't have to worry about any awkward exposure while climbing.

In about five minutes, Ryen's swift hands had completed the new passage. A fresh, discreet ladder now stood tall.

Instead of climbing back to the high platform, Ryen headed to his room and crafted two signs. One was placed at the base of the old, uncovered ladder with the label "For Men Only." The other was placed at the entrance of the new concealed ladder with the label "For Women Only."

After finishing these tasks, Ryen finally climbed back up to the high platform, taking his time.

Before he could even catch his breath, Ganyu came running over excitedly, holding half a loaf of bread. Her bright, sparkling eyes seemed to shine as she offered it to him.

"Ryen, you must be tired. Here, have some bread. It's really delicious!" she said, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush.

As if realizing how it might sound, Ganyu quickly added, "This bread… I broke it in half! Don't get any weird ideas, Ryen! It's just that… I couldn't finish it."

Although Ryen's hunger bar was still full, there was no way he would turn down Ganyu's kind gesture. Taking the bread with a warm smile, he gently ruffled her hair.

"Don't worry about it, Ganyu. Even if this was a piece of bread you'd already bitten into, I'd happily eat it."

"That's not something troublesome at all—it's more like a bonus, don't you think?"

Ganyu's cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red as she lowered her head, mumbling shyly, "Bonus… Ryen, stop teasing me!"

Ryen raised an eyebrow, feigning innocence. "How is this teasing? Ganyu, you really underestimate your own charm. Don't you know? I like you quite a lot!"

At that, Ganyu's face turned crimson, and Ryen could almost see steam rising from the top of her head.

Finally, she mustered the courage to glare at him with embarrassment, pouting as she grumbled, "Ryen, you're too much! You can't just say things like that out of nowhere! I… I'm going to help Keqing and the others now!"

Watching her flee in a flustered rush, Ryen chuckled to himself and shook his head.

Taking a bite of the bread, he casually placed a wooden block beneath him and sat down to rest.

What he had said to Ganyu wasn't a lie.

Why would anyone need a reason to like someone? And why hide it?

Such reserved and bashful courtships were for kids. For Ryen, liking someone meant being straightforward about it.

After all, what's a man without a bit of boldness?

Ryen had never denied that he was a bit of a flirt. If he weren't, he wouldn't have spent the past year getting along so well with Ganyu and Keqing.

He always made time to listen to them, to comfort and guide them. Why?

Because it was all for the sake of winning a wife!

What else could it be? Surely not to loyally serve them like some overly dedicated fool. That'd be too naive.

Since he was here, wouldn't it make sense to pursue multiple wives? Otherwise, how could he call himself a man?

Of course, Ryen wasn't entirely fixated on women. Right now, his top priority was developing this Minecraft world. With mods enabled, the level of entertainment the world could offer in the future far surpassed anything in Teyvat.

Living, as far as Ryen was concerned, was all about having fun. Everything he did was to ensure maximum enjoyment later on.

"Once the mob farm is complete, that's mission one accomplished. The system better reward me with a decent mod after this."

Clapping his hands to brush off the dust, Ryen stood and headed toward the open space he'd reserved for construction.

As he passed Zhongli, he casually threw out an instruction, "I'll need some large-scale construction soon. Work with Xiao to quickly build a 50x50 platform, okay?"

Zhongli's eye twitched slightly at Ryen's commanding tone. After a moment of helpless resignation, he nodded in agreement.

Not far off, Ningguang and the others noticed Ryen starting to move and hurried over to join him.

"Ryen! Are you going to build that mob farm thing now? Can we help with anything?"

Keqing's excitement was palpable as she twirled her pickaxe, clearly ready to jump into action at a moment's notice.

Ryen first glanced at Ganyu, whose eyes darted away nervously. Her face was still tinged with redness, and she avoided looking directly at him.

He chuckled to himself, finding her reaction amusing, and shook his head. "There's no need for help right now, but you're welcome to watch. This will be a good opportunity for you to learn how I build it."

"When your expedition teams start exploring or constructing cities in the future, mob farms will be an essential structure."

"A mob farm helps you efficiently gather monsters in one place and eliminates them safely. Zombies can drop enchanted tools and weapons, skeletons provide bows and bones, and creepers drop gunpowder—which is perfect for crafting TNT."

As he spoke, Ryen began to muse aloud, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Now that I think about it, we're still missing a slime farm. That'll be necessary, too…"

"And pillagers… Why hasn't this village ever been raided by pillagers?"

"We haven't seen any witches either. What a shame…"

Realizing that Ningguang and the others were staring at him in confusion, Ryen slapped his forehead and chuckled. "Alright, let me give you a quick overview of how it's done."

"A mob farm relies on fall damage from high-altitude drops. Most mobs die from falls of 24 blocks or more, so we'll build it at a height of 23 blocks."

Before he could continue, Keqing raised her hand eagerly, asking, "Why not just make it 24 blocks and kill them outright?"

Ryen smiled and explained, "Good question. The reason is that killing them yourself allows you to collect experience points, which are essential for enchanting later on."

"There are other reasons too, but you'll understand those as you get more familiar with the process."

He continued, "To build a proper mob farm, we'll need stone, water buckets, trapdoors, chests, and hoppers. These ensure that when mobs are killed, the hoppers automatically collect their drops and deposit them into the chests."

"Unfortunately, we don't have the materials for hoppers right now, so we'll have to pick up the drops manually for the time being."

As Ryen spoke with methodical precision, Ningguang, Keqing, and Ganyu listened intently. Keqing even took notes, occasionally asking insightful questions to clarify details.

Before long, the four of them began working together to construct the farm. Their coordinated efforts were seamless—the perfect example of how "a mixed team makes the work easier."

Meanwhile, in the distance, Zhongli sat alone, painstakingly working on the massive platform Ryen had ordered. With a weary sigh, he muttered to himself.

"That man… Is he really treating me like some kind of laborer?"

His sharp eyes briefly darted toward Ganyu.

"And that child… She clearly has feelings for him. But at this rate, it's hard to say whether Ningguang or Keqing might develop similar feelings."

As an experienced observer, Zhongli could sense these subtle shifts better than most. Though he himself was often teased for his stoic demeanor and solitary lifestyle, even he could recognize the complexities of relationships.

"Ah, well… It's their choice to make."

Shaking his head, Zhongli turned his attention back to the half-completed platform before him. The sheer scope of the task made his scalp tingle with unease.

"I should've asked Liyue's masons to join. This workload is too much for one person."

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