The liberal arts and sciences are settled—what's left now are the arts and physical education.
Liberal arts and sciences are the main focus, so let's take our time finding people for those.
Soon after, lunch was ready.
Everyone gathered around the dining table to eat.
Himeko glanced at the table.
"Where's Stelle and the others? Aren't they coming back for lunch?"
Xiangling said,"They went out to play. Don't worry about them—they'll be back in the evening."
Himeko nodded at that. "Where did they run off to this time?"
Xiangling replied, "They took those seed-shooting plants from Dan Heng's botanical garden and said they were going to play some kind of tower defense game."
—Meanwhile, in Old Teyvat, Inazuma—
Inazuma was now completely deserted. Everyone from Inazuma had been relocated to New Teyvat.
The environment in Old Inazuma was just too harsh—many places were uninhabitable.
All important landmarks and buildings had been moved out.
Even Mt. Yougou had been relocated as an entire mountain.
The same went for Inazuma City, Watatsumi Island, and Ritou—these three major towns had all been moved to New Teyvat by Calestia.
Now, Inazuma was just a desolate wilderness, with only a few unimportant villages left behind.
Outside Konda Village, near a large hilichurl camp—
Stelle, Hu Tao, and the others had set up all sorts of plants, blocking the gate of a major hilichurl settlement.
Stelle placed five Gatling shooters and a watermelon cannon, then pointed and shouted: "Fire at will!"
The watermelon cannon was extremely powerful—even berserker hilichurls couldn't withstand the explosive fruit shells.
Eula set up ten wall-nuts at the front to brace against the hilichurl charge.
The others handled firepower.
Hu Tao, who was fond of cherry bombs, had brought a whole cartload—she casually grabbed one and threw it into the hilichurl crowd.
With a loud bang, the cherry bomb exploded among them, wounding many.
This particular tribe of hilichurls was like the Black Sun tribe—man-eating hilichurls.
There was no need to spare such a group.
Neutral hilichurl tribes that didn't harass humans, on the other hand, were never attacked by Stelle's team.
After all, most hilichurls were just pitiful beings.
Under the intense firepower, the hilichurl tribe suffered heavy casualties.
Originally numbering over 300, they had already dropped to just above 200—
And the battle had only lasted under five minutes!
At this rate, they wouldn't last even half an hour before being wiped out.
In a critical moment, several Abyss Mages from the hilichurl camp took action. They opened portals and summoned more monsters.
Currently, every nation in Teyvat except for Natlan was in a similar state as Inazuma.
For Natlan's safety, Calestia had even set up a barrier to isolate it from the outside world to prevent an Abyss invasion.
Lumine planned to visit Natlan in a couple of days to see what was going on and search for traces of the Pyro Archon.
Why wait a few days?
Lumine explained: she had already found her brother, most people from Teyvat had been relocated, she had money, a mobile home, and plenty of places to freeload meals from.
With that setup—why go back to work? Seriously, would you go back to work?
As more monsters poured through the Abyss portals, the plant turrets began to get overwhelmed.
The wall-nuts in front were riddled with holes, gnawed badly by the hilichurls.
Seeing this, Stelle increased the frequency of her cherry bomb throws.
Working together with Hu Tao, the two quickly created a man-made bombardment zone, wiping out a ton of monsters.
Seeing this, the Abyss Mages acted again. They waved their staves and fired several magical blasts.
In an instant, two wall-nuts in the front were shattered, opening a breach in the defenses.
The monsters swarmed toward the breach.
Hu Tao dropped her cherry bombs and ran to her cart, pulling out a heap of mushrooms.
"Hehe~ Time for me to shine!
Go! Mushroom army!"
She flung the mushrooms out, and as they landed, they instantly transformed into various plant turrets.
Some became mini-mushrooms, spitting black round bullets.
Others turned into chubby mushrooms with big caps, spraying thick purple gas.
Any monster touched by the gas quickly turned purple where it made contact—deadly poison.
Some became rainbow-colored hallucination mushrooms with spiraling eyes.
These caused monsters to go berserk and attack their own allies.
With their help, the monsters at the breach turned around and became a living wall, plugging the gap.
Then came the most terrifying type: black mushrooms with blood-red demonic eyes.
They leapt into the camp—
Seconds later, several mushroom-shaped mushroom clouds erupted, flattening the entire hilichurl settlement.
The Abyss Mages perished in the blast.
Stelle, Amber, and the others were left dumbfounded.
"Hu Tao, where did you get those mushrooms? Why didn't we see them yesterday?"
Hu Tao chuckled:"Of course you didn't. These mushrooms only show up at night.
I couldn't sleep last night and wandered around—that's when I saw them."
Stelle and Amber nodded in realization.
"No wonder—I didn't see them in Dan Heng's garden yesterday."
Lumine glanced at the now-ruined hilichurl camp and began loading the plants back onto her cart.
"Alright, this place is done. Let's find the next one."
—In the Abyss—
The Abyss Sovereign looked down at the congregation, confused by the absence of over half the monsters.
What was going on? Was everyone late for the morning meeting?
These guys! A few late arrivals now and then is one thing—and as a kind and understanding leader, he could overlook that.
But this? Half the attendees were missing? That's outrageous!
"Someone! Go bring all the latecomers to me! I'll deal with them personally!"
An Abyss Herald stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and reported:
"Your Excellency! They're not late—we were attacked at our Teyvat outposts. They all went to reinforce them."
The Abyss Sovereign looked stunned.
"Attacked? But hadn't everyone on Teyvat disappeared? Have they returned?"
Some time ago, everyone in Teyvat had suddenly vanished—it was bizarre.
The Abyss Order had planned a massive invasion, but the Abyss Sovereign held them back.
Something was off. He suspected a trap.
After all, Celestia was still hanging in the sky, and the fake sky system was running normally.
He suspected this was Celestia's scheme—to lure all the Abyss creatures out so the Seven Nations of Teyvat could launch a massive purge.
Ha! Foolish Calestia! I won't fall for it!
And sure enough—look what's happening now!
As expected, the outposts he had deliberately exposed were attacked—proving his suspicions correct.A conspiracy! It's all a conspiracy!
Celestia! I won't fall for your tricks! Bring it on! It's just a battle of attrition—let's see who breaks first!
"Order the remaining outposts to retreat—this is a trap from Celestia!
To protect the glorious Abyss, we must learn to endure!"
Below, the Abyss Order's monsters shouted in unison, cheering for their master.
"For the Abyss! For the Abyss!"
—Back in Teyvat—
After playing a few more rounds of "Plants vs. Hilichurls" at some other camps, Stelle and her group couldn't find any more hilichurl settlements.
They had wanted to keep playing—it was such a fun game.
But all the hilichurl camps they visited were empty.
The camps looked chaotic, as if they'd been evacuated in a rush.
Left with no choice, the group returned to the train.
It was noon, and the Little Evil God had just finished cleaning the table and was now napping on it, drooling.
Next to her was a small fan blowing her hair all over the place.
The noise from Stelle and the others pushing their cart woke her up.
She groggily lifted her head, wiped the drool from her mouth, and looked at them.
"You're back already? Didn't you say you'd be gone until evening?"
Stelle shrugged helplessly. "We couldn't find any hilichurls—nothing to play with."
Hearing that, the Little Evil God said, "Then why don't you go look for the Antimatter Legion? There's plenty of them in this universe, right?"
Hu Tao wagged her index finger. "Nope. These plants are fine for hilichurls, but they can't handle the Antimatter Legion."
The Little Evil God thought for a moment. "Then why not upgrade the plants? Shouldn't Leaf Yun's shop have something like that for sale?"
Everyone's eyes lit up.
That's right! Why didn't we think of that? If there are no more hilichurls, we can just fight other monsters!
At worst, spend some money to upgrade the plants—and even use them for base defense.
Stelle, Hu Tao, and the others ditched their carts and headed to the bar to find something to strengthen their plants.
After searching for a while, they found what they were looking for:
Item: Plant OrbDescription: A magical treasure from another world. Can trigger one evolution in a plant, up to the level of a mid-tier Pathstrider-grade plant.
Price: 3,000 starcoins each
They started discussing.
Stelle looked at her plants. "How many should we buy?"
Amber thought for a bit. "I don't think we need to upgrade the cherry bombs—they're one-use items.But the Gatling Shooters? Definitely upgrade those."
Hu Tao held two Doom Shrooms. "My Doom Shrooms can be upgraded too! Once upgraded, they'll be crazy powerful!"
Firefly nodded. "Yeah, those have high damage potential. I'll buy 20 orbs to upgrade all my plants."
She bought 20 orbs and started enhancing her plants.
After upgrading, the plants didn't change appearance much—but a blue flame now surrounded them, and their expressions turned fierce.
The Corn Launcher, which used to fire one kernel at a time, now launched 10 at once—
And the fire rate was insane—once every second.
The Gatling Shooter evolved into a Laser Cannon Shooter, firing 3,000 laser bullets per second.
Stelle, Hu Tao, and the others were thrilled with their newly evolved plants.
Stelle ran to the reception room and found Topaz and Jade busy working.
"Topaz, do you guys have coordinates for any Antimatter Legion territories?"
Topaz looked up. "Don't tell me you're planning to solo a Legion fleet."
Stelle shook her head. "No, not a fleet. I mean a planet occupied by the Legion—but not at fleet scale."
Topaz thought for a moment and searched the internal network.
"There's one planet about five star systems away from the train.It has roughly 30,000 Antimatter Legion troops stationed there."
Stelle grinned. "That's the one. Send me the coordinates and lend me a battleship—we're going to have some fun."
Topaz was speechless. Since when did fighting 30,000 Legion troops become "just for fun"?
Shouldn't this be taken seriously?
Stelle noticed Topaz's reaction and explained, "We're going to try a tower defense game—with those biubiubiu~ shooting plants from Dan Heng's garden. We've upgraded them and want to test them on some Legion troops. And if things get dicey, we'll just call Big Bro Arceus to save us—easy~"
Topaz sent the coordinates to Stelle. "I've already arranged the battleship—it'll arrive in about 10 minutes."
Stelle gave a thumbs-up. "Great! Thanks!"
She returned to the bar and shared the news.
"I got the coordinates—it's close. I also borrowed a battleship from Topaz to take us there."
She then grabbed a few drinks and passed them around to Firefly, Hu Tao, and the others.
They chatted and drank while waiting.
Soon, the battleship arrived. Stelle and the others boarded with their cart.
Inside the cart, the plants were brimming with fighting spirit, itching for a massive battle.
Passing staff members were startled—each one got a death glare from the plants. If Stelle and the others hadn't restrained them, those plants would've charged forward like rabid beasts.
Even the staff were scared—were these plants really not rabid?
No way—rabies isn't even this aggressive!
Aboard the battleship, Stelle and her team headed toward the Legion-occupied planet five star systems away.
—Back on the train—
Ye Yun summoned Herta, Ruan Mei, and Screwllum.
The three would serve as the teachers for Biology, Physics, and Chemistry respectively.
Ye Yun had converted a train car behind the Aglaea Clothing Store into a classroom, decorated in a child-friendly, whimsical style.
The ten little ones were now seated obediently, waiting for class to begin.
***
On the planet Aileka—
It was originally home to the Avian People, who had made rapid advancements in aerospace technology.Unfortunately, they encountered a fleet from the Antimatter Legion.
A fledgling civilization that had just entered the era of interstellar navigation stood no chance against the Legion.
The Antimatter Legion effortlessly wiped out the Avian civilization and turned the planet into one of their outposts, stationing 30,000 troops.
Located in a remote region, these Legion soldiers hadn't seen any other lifeforms for over 20 years.
Until today—A corporate battleship arrived in orbit.
Upon arrival, it immediately launched an assault on the Legion's starport.
All the Legion's ships on the planet were destroyed. Stelle and her team landed via a dropship.
As soon as they landed, Stelle drew Judgment of Shamash and unleashed a clearing slash, buying time to set up plant turrets.
Once setup was complete, they stood behind the defenses, awaiting the enemy.
At the single road leading in, 10 Super Alloy Wall-nuts blocked the entrance.
Behind them, the turret layout spread outward from the center:
Core firepower: 20 Corn Launchers in the middle.
Secondary line: 30 Gatling Shooters.
Outer line: Numerous evolved Cactus Turrets—now equipped with homing spikes as powerful as mini-missiles.
Other plants were placed behind the Wall-nuts to act as cannon fodder.
Soon, the Antimatter Legion forces arrived and launched a frontal assault.
Stelle waved her arm. "Light 'em up!"
All turrets opened fire in unison, instantly wiping out thousands of enemies in the front wave.
In the skies above, many Legion soldiers swooped in on flying units, heading straight for the Corn Launchers.
The Cactus Turrets reacted instantly—thousands of spikes launched upward, shooting down all targets in range.
Still, reinforcements kept pouring in.
Stelle and the others stood at the rear, occasionally lobbing Cherry Bombs or Doomsday Mushrooms—blasting the Legion forces into disarray.
The whole afternoon, Stelle, Hu Tao, and the others played a real-life game of Plants vs. Antimatter Legion on this very planet.
Meanwhile, on the train—
Herta had begun her lesson.
Looking at the elementary-level textbook Ye Yun provided, she took a deep breath and stared in disbelief. "You really want me to teach this? Is this necessary? Seriously?"
Ye Yun nodded earnestly. "Of course it is! It's absolutely necessary!"
Herta nearly choked from rage. Unbelievable! A genius like her teaching first-grade material?
She couldn't take it! She really couldn't!
Ye Yun clapped his hands and addressed the kids. "Little ones, greet your teacher."
Klee, Bailu, Qiqi, and the rest of the ten little ones stood and said in unison: "Good afternoon, teacher~"
Herta nearly dropped the book and walked out. But just as she was about to lose it, Ye Yun coughed and uttered two words: "Arceus. Rescue."
Herta froze. She instantly understood what he meant.
This bastard! Using Arceus to bribe me!?
Ugh… Fine. I'll take the bait.
"Twice."
Ye Yun smiled and nodded. "Alright, I'll try persuading him. No promises though."
Herta sighed in defeat, then began the lesson.
Inside the Aglaea store car—
Other instructors were waiting:
Ruan Mei
Screwllum
Jing Yuan
Zhongli
Welt
Huaiyan
Ye Yun had also arranged teachers for Physical Education and Arts.
PE would be handled by Jingliu—though it was more like martial arts, meant to enhance their combat techniques. For arts class, Sunday would temporarily take the role—focusing on singing and instrument lessons, which he could easily handle.
All knowledge began at a first-grade level.
Trianne glanced at the textbook. It was basic material she already knew—But she studied diligently anyway, enjoying the fun of learning with her friends.
Tribbie and Trinnon also listened attentively. They might already know the early material, but Ye Yun had promised the later lessons would become increasingly advanced, including knowledge beyond their current understanding.
And besides—how many people could claim to have such top-tier instructors?
With military generals from the Xianzhou, elite train crew, and members of the Genius Society—Any single one of these people was a dream teacher, let alone all of them.
As expected from a genius, Herta's teaching was incredibly thorough—even the weakest student, Hook, understood it all.
Hook wasn't dumb—her upbringing simply hadn't offered many learning opportunities.
Qiqi and Yaoyao had more background—one raised in Bubu Pharmacy, the other trained by an adeptus.
Klee and Diona both received early education from their parents.
Sayu had a mentor as a ninja, so she naturally had a good knowledge base.
Bailu, being from Luofu and adored by the whole crew, had been given a top-level education from birth.
Only Hook had grown up in hunger and hardship. Natasha only told her stories occasionally.
But none of that mattered now—with master teachers, everyone would learn well.
After class, Herta looked at the children still mulling over what they'd learned. She found it unexpectedly amusing.
She tapped the blackboard with her pointer.
"Alright, little ones—today's physics homework:
We studied the density of water. Your task is to find three liquids with higher density than water.Understood?"
She tapped the board again.
All ten kids responded together: "Understood!"
Satisfied, Herta announced the end of class.
They were given a 30-minute break.
The kids gathered to discuss what they'd just learned.
Trinnon said, "Liquids denser than water? That's easy—salt water, for example, has a higher density."
Bailu listed examples fluently: "There are so many—sulfuric acid, glycerin, mercury, alcohol..."
She rattled off dozens.
Hook jotted a few down to look for later.
The assignment was simple—its main purpose was to spark interest.
Letting the kids discover things themselves would give them a sense of achievement. That sense of discovery could turn into passion.
And passion is the best teacher.
Without it, studying feels dull—and progress slows.
Soon, Pom-Pom rang the bell. "Time for class again, little ones! Next up is language arts. Let's welcome our teacher: General Jing Yuan!"
As Pom-Pom finished speaking, Jing Yuan pushed open the door and walked in to begin the lesson.
For language class, they started with strokes and pronunciation.
Holding the textbook, Jing Yuan led the little ones in loudly reciting the pinyin:
"A, O, E, I, U, V."
The little ones followed along in unison.
At that moment, Stelle, Hu Tao, and the others happened to return to the train.
They had spent the whole day playing "Plants vs. Hilichurls" and "Plants vs. Antimatter Legion." It had been great fun.
This real-life tower defense game was actually really entertaining, and they planned to keep it around as an activity to revisit whenever they had time.
All the plant turrets they brought back were returned to the botanical garden.
After a whole day of battle, even the Gatling Peashooters were exhausted — their leaves drooping, heads bowed, and looking completely worn out.
Stelle and the others heard Jing Yuan's voice from class.
Stelle read along:
"A O E I U V."
After reading it once, she suddenly had a realization.
"AOE? Isn't that Area of Effect?! And the rest— IUV — doesn't that sound like 'aiyo wei' [an exclamation like 'oh no!']? Hahaha!
Put it together, it's 'AOE Aiyo Wei~' That's pretty funny."
Everyone couldn't help but admire Stelle's way of thinking. Come to think of it, that interpretation kind of made sense.
Firefly asked curiously:
"Is this a class for Klee and the others?"
Welt nodded and replied:
"That's right. Ye Yun wants Klee, Bailu, and the others to study.
So he invited us to be their teachers."
Hu Tao raised her hand.
"Question! What subjects are they studying?"
Welt thought for a moment.
"There are a lot of subjects, mainly split into sciences, humanities, and arts & PE.
For example, what General Jing Yuan is teaching now is Chinese under humanities. I'm teaching history, also a humanities subject."
Hearing this, Lumine understood.
"Oh~ so it's those subjects. Klee and the others are going to suffer later~ hehehe."
Amber didn't quite get what Lumine meant.
"Lumine, what do you mean?"
Lumine explained:
"Amber, people in Teyvat wouldn't know about this.
School might seem manageable at first, but later on, most students are overwhelmed."
Amber was still confused.
"Why? Isn't studying something fun? Why don't many people enjoy it?"
Lumine said:
"Because... of homework and exams!
Those two things strike fear into the hearts of students!
They're like twin horrors — the greatest nightmares of any student.
You don't get it. These two are like mountains weighing down on your heart — shadows over your soul!"
Amber pondered a bit and said:
"So you're saying there's something called homework and something called exams that make people uncomfortable? Can't you just... not do them?"
Lumine patted Amber on the shoulder.
"Oh, Amber~ you're still too young. You haven't experienced the pain of writing."
The pain! It was just too painful!
At that moment, Kiana wandered over for a stroll.
After listening to their conversation, she immediately developed hostility toward the classroom door.
Class? No way! Never!
But...
In the end, Kiana was dragged in by Welt and made to attend a history class.
The lesson was about the divine wars in the Honkai: Star Rail universe's distant past.
Kiana was completely lost, not understanding a single word.
Why did I even come here? Great, now I've walked right into a trap.
By around 6 p.m.—
The ten little ones finished their last class and were dismissed.
They each took their textbooks to the sofa and lounge area and found a comfy spot to do their homework.
They had learned eight subjects in total today. PE class was scheduled for 7 a.m. the next morning, so it wasn't held today.
And for all eight classes, there was homework.
Hook looked at her assignments, thought for a moment, and decided to start with language class — reciting pinyin and simple words.
That was the easiest for her.
The remaining ones — political thought, history, calligraphy, biology, and physics — were harder for her.
Physics was about density, and she had to find three liquids denser than water.
Biology required them to list at least ten small animal names.
History involved copying down today's lesson content.
All in all, Hook felt tired, but happy.
Studying... She had heard before that it was something only rich kids got to do.
And she'd also heard — studying is how people become stronger.
Ye Yun, Xiangling, Little Evil God, and Guoba were preparing dinner.
After a full day of study, Klee and the others were exhausted. Ye Yun planned to make a soup to help them recover.
It was their first time going to school, so it was natural to feel a bit uncomfortable.
Just like the last history class — even Kiana couldn't stay awake. All 11 students were dozing off.
Welt had to bang the blackboard several times to keep them from falling asleep.
Stelle and Hu Tao, on the other hand, looked smug and gleeful.
"Hehe, good thing this Hall Master was born early, no need to go to school. So relaxing.
Just looking at it makes me tired. If I had to go, I'd definitely find every way to slack off."
Stelle nodded.
"Exactly. Lucky we were born earlier, or we'd be writing homework too."
Then Stelle turned to Ye Yun.
"By the way, Ye Yun, do Klee and the others have to go to class every day from now on?"
Ye Yun nodded at Stelle's question.
"That's right. But starting tomorrow, just one humanities and one science class per day.
Art class only happens on Fridays. PE class is every morning at 7 a.m."
Considering that 8–9 periods a day might be too much for them,
And that the teachers also had other things to do,
He decided to reduce the load — take it slow, no need to rush.
As everyone chatted—
Furina and the Robin walked out of a portal, arm in arm.
Furina looked at the group and smiled warmly:
"Everyone, tomorrow our new Opéra Epiclese will officially open.
I sincerely invite you all to attend. I, Furina de Fontaine, have reserved the best seats for you!"
Hearing this, Stelle immediately agreed.
"Nice! I was just wondering what to do tomorrow. Perfect time to visit New Fontaine."
Firefly, Hu Tao, and the others also accepted the invitation.
Ye Yun and Jing Yuan — who were currently free — agreed too.
Zhongli said,
"You go on ahead. I'll join after I finish teaching."
Upon hearing about New Fontaine, Rita appeared like a ghost beside Furina.
"Lady Furina, please be sure to invite me to New Fontaine!"
Furina was so startled she jumped to the side.
***
Yo guys, I'm back… again. Yeah, that's right. I mean, who would've thought that just one day after I said I'd finished an odd job, my eccentric boss would suddenly call me and my co-worker to tell us we've got another job—this time in some remote place with no internet signal whatsoever, just like the last one!? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. As for my translation schedule… yeah, let's just hope my boss doesn't throw another job like that at me anytime soon…