"My world… at least in terms of entertainment, it's more advanced than this one."
Lin Qiu didn't dare to claim that their technology was more advanced; Teyvat's tech tree was simply bizarre. Those giant mechs, like something out of a Gundam series, were beyond Lin Qiu's wildest imagination.
Not to mention intelligent puppets like Balladeer and Raiden Shogun; they were practically black technology. Yingbao was truly an amazing tech-savvy girl.
Lin Qiu had no intention of hiding his identity anyway; letting those present know his status as an outsider was fine, as they were all his own people.
Lin Qiu also didn't feel that he was equivalent to a world, so he shouldn't be considered a Descender.
"As for a way back…"
At this, Hu Tao and Navia perked up their ears and listened intently.
"I have no way," Lin Qiu said, spreading his hands.
Anyway, there was nothing left for him to miss over there, no blood relatives to find.
In Teyvat, I've instead formed bonds. What would happen to Fufu if I left?
Never seeing hope is far more terrifying than being given hope and then having it snatched away.
Navia and Hu Tao breathed a sigh of relief. They had worried Lin Qiu would also leave just like that, after Paimon mentioned the Traveler was leaving.
"Qiu Qiu, you kept such a big secret from Hall Master! You really need a good punishment!"
Hu Tao wiggled her fingers, making a motion as if to tickle him.
She didn't directly act, still giving Lin Qiu face in front of the Traveler.
"Hu Tao is right," Navia nodded. The two of them had joined forces.
Lin Qiu thought, if we're talking about keeping secrets, Zhongli is no less skilled than I am.
I'm not the only outsider in Teyvat, but he's the only Geo Archon in Teyvat.
The dignified Geo Archon, deceiving a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, coming to cheat, to ambush, living here for free.
Multiple crimes should be judged, he deserves the Zhongli extreme penalty!
Ying also understood that Lin Qiu was different from her; he wasn't a Traveler who journeyed through various worlds.
The difference was that Ying had a way to leave, but Lin Qiu didn't.
In fact, Ying was also a bit reluctant to part with Paimon, but if her brother wanted to leave, she couldn't force him to stay.
She still didn't know that her brother had already become a local resident of Teyvat, much more authentic than her.
To counter the prophecy, Rene cut off his own connection to Teyvat by severing himself, forcibly becoming an unregistered resident.
Aether, however, was the exact opposite; he originally had no connection to Teyvat but forcibly obtained a Teyvat residency.
Speaking of this unregistered resident issue, the reason why the people of Fontaine carry original sin might be because when these Hydro beings were first born, their destiny was not within the divine plan; they were essentially unregistered residents.
This clearly interrupted the eternity of the Heavenly Principles, which is why Egeria was imprisoned.
But perhaps at that time, the Heavenly Principles still possessed absolute power, so it wasn't in a hurry to use forceful methods.
It gave the people of Fontaine residency, and then used the fate of a frog in warm water to eliminate the Hydro beings.
It wasn't until the Second Descender arrived, causing the power of the Heavenly Principles to no longer be absolute, and eternity was shattered.
It had no choice but to revert the eternal order back to an alternative Seven elements order.
The Seven Gods are the guardians of the new Seven elements order, and Gods are not a race, but more like a profession.
Speaking of which, the two generations of Hydro Archons are really similar; they both engaged in self-serving supervision.
Egeria's birth was intended to control the Primordial Sea and suppress the Seven elements order.
As a result, Egeria took the lead in causing trouble with the Primordial Sea, creating a bunch of Hydro beings, and was then imprisoned by the Heavenly Principles.
Focalors also inherited Egeria's mantle, including the mantle of self-serving supervision.
Originally, the Seven Gods' duty was to guard the Gnosis and the Divine Seat, but Focalors directly shattered the Divine Seat.
The Heavenly Principles, as the boss, wondered, "My subordinates are naturally rebellious, what should I do?"
"By the way, Lin Qiu, do you know why we descended upon this world?" Ying asked.
The twins' arrival in this world was also an accident; they didn't actively choose this world.
Instead, they were drawn to it while passing by, and even Ying herself didn't know the exact reason.
"About that… it's a long story. You'll gradually learn about it during your journey," Lin Qiu said, indicating it was too long and he was too lazy to explain.
Besides, Hu Tao and Navia were still there, and they were local residents; telling them might not be a good thing.
To explain it, he would have to mention Khaenri'ah, the Heavenly Principles, the Seven Gods, and the Abyss.
Regarding Khaenri'ah's affairs, the Heavenly Principles and the Seven Gods all knew he would eventually mess up, but no one expected him to mess up so badly.
Khaenri'ah's original plans were alchemy, mechanical engineering, and gacha.
Mechanical engineering was probably intended to create beings that surpassed Descenders, to resist the Heavenly Principles.
Alchemy, on the other hand, aimed to create the Primordial Man, which might allow them to recreate Teyvat's order.
Humans would have their own destiny, no longer controlled by divine planning.
As for gacha, that was drawing outsiders, possibly intending to summon Descenders.
Who knows how many pulls it took to get two Golds, which were Aether and Lumine.
However, the ideal was beautiful, but the result…
In this process, Khaenri'ah 'accidentally' attracted the Abyss.
Having created such a huge mess, the Heavenly Principles and the Seven Gods had no choice but to clean it up.
Here, we need to talk about the helplessness of the Seven Gods.
First, Egeria: she had the authority to operate the Primordial Sea, so as long as she was alive, the Fontaine flood crisis would not occur, which was not something the Heavenly Principles wanted to see.
Egeria most likely guessed that her trip this time would be fatal, so she handed over the Divine Seat and the Gnosis to Focalors before she set off.
On the other side, Raiden Makoto was also like this; even if the Khaenri'ah war was won, Inazuma would still be invaded by the Abyss.
The only way was to sacrifice a God and use Istaroth's power to transform into the Shen Sakura to suppress the Abyss.
Raiden Makoto naturally couldn't bear to let her sister do such a thing, so Makoto secretly went to Khaenri'ah without Ei, and she also went to her death.
Afterward, the Seven Gods gathered in the Amrita Pool, and before even reaching Khaenri'ah, the Hydro Archon Egeria was gone.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata used the wondrous tools left by the God of Flowers and the Hydro Archon's 'water' to grow the Harvisptokhm, which was used to block the Abyss gate.
After doing all this, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata did not go to Khaenri'ah; she turned to Irminsul, and then, as everyone knows, it was as if she was gone too.
Before even reaching Khaenri'ah, two of the Seven Gods were already gone.
Among the remaining five Gods, there was also Makoto, who was not a combat-oriented type, which shows how difficult the fight with the Abyss must have been.
The fight was already very difficult, and when Venti returned to Mondstadt, he still had to fight Durin, which resulted in him sleeping for five hundred years.
Oh, right, and Ei. Poor Yingbao, after learning that her sister had secretly gone to Khaenri'ah, rushed to find her sister.
As soon as she arrived, her sister was already severely wounded and eventually died in her arms, causing her mental state to somewhat collapse.
No sooner had Ei left Inazuma than Inazuma was invaded by the Abyss.
When Yingbao returned to Inazuma, she found that Inazuma was almost completely fallen, with a tree appearing from who knows where, and most of her friends and citizens were dead.
Ei's round trip didn't take much time at all, yet she lost everyone close to her in one go.
She had cultivated a lifetime of martial arts, but failed to protect her sister, friends, or citizens.
She became emo on the spot, completely withdrawn, created a puppet, and never left her house again.
The Heavenly Principles also suffered an unknown degree of injury, but fell into a long slumber.
One can only say that Khaenri'ah really pulled off a huge stunt this time.
Except for Zhongli, the other Seven Gods either changed generations, fell into slumber, or became withdrawn.
Although there were some deviations from the plan, it truly almost shattered the order of the Heavenly Principles, but it also almost shattered Teyvat along with it.
The twins should also have been part of Khaenri'ah's plan; perhaps they wanted the Traveler to become a Descender to fight the Heavenly Principles.
Ying will eventually learn all of this during her journey. Isn't the meaning of traveling to discover the truth of the world for oneself?
"I can only say that your brother has already traversed this world once; he has understood the truth. Now it's your turn."