On the floating island, Ryen didn't have to wait long.
Or rather, during the wait, his mind was preoccupied with thoughts of last night's dream.
The grasslands beyond his base—his initial plan had been to establish a city there after activating some modernized mods.
But now, a new idea had taken root.
That area was already a perfect match.
It looked nearly identical to the grasslands in his dream.
If that was the case, then it was the perfect place to fulfill his promise to Nahida.
A garden, a floral carriage, the Sanctuary of Surasthana.
If Sumeru could not provide a home for Nahida, then Ryen's Minecraft world would.
He would personally create a little paradise for her.
Nahida had endured five hundred years of suffering. Ryen would make sure to make up for all of it, one way or another.
Lost in thought, he barely noticed the arrival of Zhongli and the others on the floating island.
Cloud Retainer had already gone off to study architectural blueprints, while Xiao—
The miners were heading into a newly discovered cave today, and Xiao had decided to accompany them for a survey. If there were monster spawners inside, he would be the best one to deal with them.
Of course, there was another important reason for Xiao staying behind.
Ryen had enchanted a diamond pickaxe with Fortune earlier, leaving behind an iron pickaxe with Silk Touch as well.
Mining gold ore and diamond ore required these two tools.
"Ryen, I brought a full stack of grilled pork chops, and Ganyu brought a full stack of bread. That should be enough, right?"
Ningguang walked up to Ryen and asked in a soft voice.
At this moment, the entire group stood clad in full enchanted iron armor, equipped with either enchanted iron swords and longbows or enchanted iron pickaxes.
By now, they could be considered a decently well-prepared team.
"The food is fine," Ryen said with a grin, then his tone grew slightly more serious.
"But I still need to remind you all—be prepared to go a long time without sleep."
He looked around at the group and warned, "Never bring a bed into the Nether. If you try to sleep there, it will explode instantly."
This was something Ryen had already explained countless times.
Under normal circumstances, there was a crucial item that players should bring before heading to the Nether—
A Respawn Anchor.
Whatever else it could do wasn't important. The only thing that mattered was that it allowed you to set a respawn point in the Nether.
Ryen really wanted to craft one.
But while Glowstone was easy to get, Crying Obsidian was a different story.
As of now, since they hadn't explored beyond their immediate surroundings, there was no way to obtain it.
"Hee hee, don't worry about it!"
Hu Tao grinned mischievously and patted her completely flat chest.
"We've already burned that into our minds! It's just a little sleepless trip—no big deal for us!"
And she was absolutely right.
Just look at this group—
Ganyu? She was infamous for pulling several all-nighters in a row when overworking.
Hu Tao? She walked the boundary between life and death every day—her constitution was unlike any other in Teyvat.
Zhongli? Come on. He was the Geo Archon. Why would a god need sleep?
The only one with a weaker constitution was Ningguang.
But then again…
Ningguang was currently benefiting from Ryen's physique synchronization.
And what kind of physique did the legendary Steve have?
Let's just say—in the Nether, there was no Phantom spawning mechanic due to lack of sleep. Even if they didn't sleep for a full year, it wouldn't matter.
Seeing how eager everyone looked, Ryen decided not to say anything more.
He simply smiled and nodded.
"This time, our primary objective in the Nether is to locate the portal's entry point."
"After that, we'll focus on gathering as many different minerals as possible."
"The miners won't be able to enter the Nether anytime soon, so for now, our goal is to fill every available inventory slot with resources before we leave."
"And, if possible—"
Before Ryen could even finish speaking, Hu Tao interrupted excitedly:
"Yeah, yeah! We know! Blazes and the Hell Fortress, right? You've told us like eight hundred times already!"
"It's called a Nether Fortress! Stop saying 'Hell Fortress'—sounds way too ominous!"
Ryen shook his head helplessly.
He understood Hu Tao's perspective—she had long since come to terms with the cycle of life and death, so she didn't care about such things.
But Ryen wasn't like that.
To him, death was still something best kept at a distance.
"How's the gold ingot supply?"
Ryen turned to Ningguang, who answered in a calm voice,
"I've prepared half a stack of gold ingots. That should be enough for trading with the Piglins, right?"
Half a stack of ingots—that was about seventy-one tons of gold.
In the past, spending such a fortune would have made Ningguang's heart ache for days.
But now? It didn't matter anymore.
There were still four or five gold blocks sitting in the Golden House.
A few days ago, she had even considered experimenting with gold tools just to see what made them special.
Extravagant, to say the least.
Lost in thought, Ryen waved a hand.
"Zhongli, shields up. Let's go take a look."
Zhongli nodded slightly, activating his Jade Shield, then raised his shield and stepped forward.
Ryen, meanwhile, pulled out his fully enchanted bow.
"Zhongli and I will go in first. If we don't come out in five minutes, the rest of you follow."
Ganyu looked like she wanted to say something but ultimately nodded silently.
Ryen exchanged a glance with Zhongli—one leading the defense, the other covering from behind.
They both stepped into the Nether portal, fully alert.
The swirling purple light enveloped them, and from the others' perspective, their figures seemed to distort and warp.
But from Ryen and Zhongli's perspective—
For the first time, truly stepping into the portal, the world around them shimmered and pulsed like waves.
There was a brief but distinct sense of nausea.
A moment later—
Darkness.
They had arrived in the Nether.
The intense feeling of spatial distortion surged through them.
Even Zhongli, with his unshakable composure, felt slightly nauseated upon arrival.
But his battle instincts kept his body in a constant state of readiness.
After a few seconds, he slowly opened his eyes—
And what he saw, even as someone who had witnessed countless great battles, left him utterly shocked.
At last, he understood why this place was called the Nether—or Hell.
Because there was no better way to describe it.
The entire world was a deep, bloodstained red, as if dried blood had seeped into every inch of this space.
The Nether portal stood silently atop a platform of Netherack, its dark red terrain stretching endlessly in all directions.
Unlike the Overworld, which had a relatively flat landscape, the Nether was a nightmare of jagged cliffs and deadly drops.
Not far away, a lavafall cascaded down from the ceiling, endlessly spilling molten rock onto the ground below.
A wave of scorching heat blasted them the moment they arrived.
There was no fresh air here—only the suffocating stench of sulfur, carried by the lava.
If anyone had ever wondered what Hell smelled like—this was it.
Compared to this, even the abyss of Teyvat's life and death seemed like a paradise.
To the side, clusters of twisted, unnatural trees grew densely.
But…
Even if Zhongli racked his brain, he could not call these things trees.
Their blood-red bark, covered in unnatural tendrils of fungus, looked anything but natural.
Hanging from their branches were faintly glowing cubes, resembling lanterns—
But even those were some kind of grotesque, unnatural plant.
And that wasn't the worst part.
Within a few hundred meters of the portal, there were already at least four lava pools.
Strange magma blocks lined their edges, pulsing with heat.
Perhaps, given enough time, one could grow accustomed to these things.
But what truly shocked Zhongli—
Was the endless ocean of lava, stretching beyond the Netherack cliffs in the distance.
A sea of glowing, molten red, so vast that its end was nowhere in sight.
His eyes were filled with its terrifying brilliance.
To be honest, not even during the Archon War had Zhongli ever seen such an extreme, inhospitable environment.
This was a place where life had no place.
A realm of pure death.
And above them—there was no sky.
Only an endless, chaotic expanse of Netherack, littered with clusters of Glowstone.
Zhongli had thought that, after the fall of Khaenri'ah, nothing could truly shock him again.
But this place was an exception.
The danger that the Nether radiated—was far beyond even Khaenri'ah.
In fact—
Zhongli was convinced that even Celestia itself, if it were subject to the same laws as this world, would be forced to cower in fear within the Nether.
At this moment, he no longer agreed with Ryen's terminology.
This wasn't the Nether.
This was Hell.
No matter how you tried to phrase it nicely—this place was the ultimate taboo for all living beings.
Hell.
Unconsciously, Zhongli released his elemental energy, causing his Jade Shield to thicken.
Yet even that failed to bring him a sense of security.
Raising his shield, he scanned the surroundings with absolute vigilance.
Not far away, seven Zombie Piglins stood idly.
Ryen had explained before—as long as you didn't attack them, they wouldn't become hostile.
However—
Fifty meters away, near one of the lava pools, a giant Magma Cube was already watching them with its massive, lifeless eyes.
It had started bouncing toward them.
Above the lava, several ghostly white cubes floated aimlessly in the air.
Ghasts.
Their haunting whispers and cries echoed through the empty Nether.
If Zhongli wasn't so accustomed to death, he might have felt a chill down his spine.
A little further, an Enderman flickered in and out of view.
So far, Zhongli had only seen four different creatures.
But one thing was clear—
Aside from the Zombie Piglins, who at least weren't openly hostile—
Everything else was a monstrous, malicious abomination.
And what concerned Zhongli even more—
Was the Striders roaming the lava sea, calmly walking across the molten surface as if they were merely taking a warm bath.
"No wonder you insisted on us bringing Fire Protection enchantments and preparing full gear before coming here…"
Zhongli's expression darkened as he muttered,
"This place… is far too hostile… In my six thousand years, I have never seen a land so utterly forbidden."
Ryen, though initially stunned by the sheer realism of the Nether, quickly recovered.
With a sigh, he admitted,
"If I didn't desperately need the materials in here, I wouldn't have come at all."
"Tch… calling this place the Nether doesn't do it justice anymore."
Shaking his head, Ryen turned his gaze toward the approaching Magma Cube, drawing his enchanted diamond sword.
"Well—before the others get here, let's make this place a little safer."
Seeing Zhongli raising his shield, ready to block the Magma Cube, Ryen said nothing.
Magma Cubes dealt contact damage, and using a shield rapidly drained durability.
But they had plenty of shields, so the wear and tear didn't matter.
"Use the enchanted diamond sword I gave you—the one with Looting."
After confirming no other threats nearby, Ryen smirked.
"Magma Cubes are annoying, sure—but as long as we don't let their numbers get out of hand, they're no big deal."
"Besides…"
"Their drops are something I really need—Magma Cream is essential for Fire Resistance potions."
For the first time in five hundred years, Zhongli felt his battle instincts awaken.
Drawing his diamond sword, he murmured,
"It seems that now that we're here—there will be no end to the fighting."
"What? Not a fan?"
"…No. It's been a long time—let's see if I still remember how to enjoy a fight."
~~----------------------
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