To say who was the most excited upon seeing this message, it would be those who had seen the early leaks from insiders.
In the version from the insider leaks, Kinich was a Dendro character, with even a character demo video as proof.
But during the preview livestream, he suddenly turned into a Pyro character, and the flames were even green, leaving people utterly baffled.
[In the earlier insider leak, the story of Kinich getting his Vision was that he only obtained it when he died in the Night Warden Wars.]
[But now Kinich is saying this Vision was given to him by the Lord Pyro Archon—this contradicts the information leaked by the insider.]
The story of the Vision is only unlocked when the character's friendship level reaches 6.
Version 5.0 had only been live for a day, so even if players had pulled for Kinich, they had no way to see the origin of his Vision and could only blindly guess based on the insider leaks.
[Actually, it's not contradictory.]
[The Lord Pyro Archon saw that Kinich was about to die, so he handed over the 'replica Vision' to Kinich—that way, it all makes sense.]
[But wasn't it said that Kinich died in the Night Warden Wars? Kachina just said that on his first day in office, the Lord Pyro Archon suspended the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night.]
[Moreover, the text leaked by the insider clearly states that the Vision Kinich obtained was green, but now his Vision is red.]
[That really doesn't add up.]
[It seems the insider even got the character story wrong.]
[But the original text was written really well—it even looks like it could be from the Genshin Impact development team, not something made up.]
[The insider leak might have been a scrapped draft, and it definitely doesn't match up with the current Kinich.]
[But why did miHoYo suddenly make such a big change to Kinich?]
[I don't know—maybe it's really as the Lord Pyro Archon said: following the original pattern, Kinich would definitely be Dendro, but the Lord Pyro Archon gave him the Vision ahead of time, turning him into Pyro.]
[What is this, breaking the fourth wall?]
[Maybe miHoYo is teasing the insiders through the character's lines.]
Genshin Impact world.
The registration desk at the Stadium of the Sacred Flame.
"Kinich, you're not participating in the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night?"
After hearing what Kinich said, Mualani's eyes widened in shock, her red pupils filled with disbelief, and she asked urgently: "We've already come to the Stadium of the Sacred Flame—how can you suddenly decide not to participate?"
Kinich crossed his arms over his chest and said calmly: "I received a portion of divine power from the Lord Pyro Archon. Though it's insignificant to him, it has greatly enhanced my strength."
"Participating in the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night in this state wouldn't be fair to the others."
During the period after the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night was suspended, Rios had once divided a portion of his divine power to Kinich for fighting the Abyss monsters that appeared in Natlan.
However, it wasn't long before the task of eliminating the Abyss monsters was entirely handed over to Rios himself to handle, but the divine power left in Kinich's body was not taken back.
Now, he was far, far stronger than an ordinary Natlan warrior—participating in the competition in his current state would be like Taro Ultraman entering a boxing match against humans; it would be complete bullying.
"But I just saw Mavuika complete her registration too." Mualani recalled the red-haired big sister she had seen earlier.
Besides Kinich, there was another person who had received a portion of the Lord Pyro Archon's divine power, and that person was Mavuika.
Since Mavuika had participated, then Kinich should be able to as well.
"I'm different from Mavuika." Kinich shook his head. "In order to participate in the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night, Mavuika returned the divine power in her body to the Lord Pyro Archon and is now just an ordinary Vision holder."
"But I didn't do that, so it's still fairest to those around me if I don't participate in the competition."
Kinich explained.
"Tch, it's just that you can't bear to give back that tiny bit of power from the Lord Pyro Archon—what a spineless guy!"
Ajaw, who had just finished bathing, came over to complain.
"If you were actually useful, I wouldn't mind returning the Lord Pyro Archon's divine power."
Kinich's tone remained indifferent, but to Ajaw, it sounded like pure sarcasm.
"Damn Kinich, how dare you look down on the great holy dragon!"
Ajaw instantly bristled, his tiny head turning red from anger as he charged toward Kinich's face, intending to unleash a frenzy of scratches.
Kinich didn't even lift an eyelid; with a casual wave of his hand, he swatted Ajaw into the sky.
"I've sealed Ajaw now, so I won't have to hear that grating voice of his anymore."
Kinich turned to the travelers from afar: "Traveler, Paimon—if you'd like to know a good spot to watch the performance from, I can take you there."
"Well..."
Lumine and little Paimon exchanged a glance, nodding in tacit understanding, then Paimon spoke up: "Kinich, compared to being spectators, we'd rather personally experience the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night activity ourselves."
"You mean..." Kinich guessed what the other wanted to say next.
"We want to sign up for the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night too." Lumine and little Paimon tacitly placed their hands on their hips, their faces breaking into beautiful smiles.
Having come all the way from afar to Natlan, how could they settle for just being spectators? They definitely had to experience it firsthand.
However, Kinich's words shattered their fantasies like a club.
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Kinich said.
"Why?" Paimon asked, puzzled.
"Paimon, Traveler sister, I forgot to tell you earlier."
Kachina said somewhat awkwardly: "The Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night is an activity that only Natlan people can participate in. Out-of-town tourists can only watch from the arena as spectators and cannot join the competition."
"There's actually a rule like that." Hearing Kachina's words, little Paimon helplessly spread her hands toward the Traveler. "Looks like we'll have to be spectators on the sidelines this time."
Lumine felt a bit helpless; though she wanted to object, she was a Traveler, not a Trailblazer—she couldn't pull out a baseball bat and declare that rules were meant to be broken, forcing her way into the competition.
"Don't be so down about it." Seeing this, Mualani smiled and said, "We haven't consulted the registration desk yet—maybe they'll really allow the Traveler to participate?"
"Would... that be okay?" Kachina asked, a bit doubtful.
"It'll definitely be fine," Mualani said confidently. "After all, this Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night isn't official, so making an exception to let out-of-towners join should be perfectly acceptable."
However.
"Non-Natlan people cannot participate in the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night."
The person at the registration desk was very firm in their attitude; no matter how Mualani tried to find reasons, she couldn't change the other's stance.
"Can't you make just a little exception?" After being rejected several times, Mualani still asked persistently.
"No matter how many times you ask, the answer will be the same," the person at the registration desk said. "Only Natlan people can participate in the Pilgrimage of the Returning Flame Saint's Night—even if the other party is the renowned Traveler, no exceptions can be made."
"Alright... looks like it's really not possible."
Mualani's eyelids drooped slightly, her usually lively and cheerful little face tinged with disappointment.
Just as she was feeling down about having to let the Traveler be a spectator, a familiar voice pulled her mood back.
"Let the Travelers join."
The voice of the Lord Pyro Archon, Rios, appeared in everyone's mind.