"Mr. Qiu Nian, is it…"
"I see."
Shi Tou nodded to himself after hearing the name and then turned around to fetch the Mora.
After a while, he returned carrying a heavy sack and placed it on the table in front of Qiu Nian.
"Here you go. Four million Mora."
Shi Tou set the weighty bag down with both hands and smiled.
"Then I'll take my leave."
Qiu Nian nodded, lifting the sack effortlessly with one hand before walking away.
"Hey…"
Shi Tou raised his hand as if wanting to say something.
But as he watched Qiu Nian's departing figure, he lowered it again.
After all, meeting someone as extraordinary as that was a rare opportunity.
There would be plenty of time in the future.
Time passed slowly.
Soon, it was already noon.
During that time, Qiu Nian had been busy purchasing everything he needed.
Furniture, fruits, tea leaves, desserts—anything that caught his interest.
All of it was stored inside a storage jade he had created overnight.
The jade hung at his waist.
Its appearance was simple—a white jade plaque engraved with delicate patterns of flowers and grass.
The principle behind it was similar to the Serenitea Pot.
After all, he had once visited the ancient Liyue of this world.
And had interacted with the adepti there.
Those experiences had now become memories he had truly lived through.
For a moment, Qiu Nian felt a wave of nostalgia.
After finishing his shopping, he decided to head to Xinyue Pavilion for a meal.
Once there, he ordered an entire table full of dishes and drank a few cups of wine.
After eating and drinking his fill, Qiu Nian left the city and arrived at a quiet, uninhabited area outside Liyue Harbor.
Then he flew back toward his home in Jueyun Karst.
After arranging the furniture in the cabin, he stepped outside and gazed at the evening clouds glowing in the sunset.
Quietly, he waited for the Version 1.1 update to go live in the other world.
For the next few days, he wandered leisurely through the mountains of Jueyun Karst, simply enjoying the scenery.
He wasn't in any hurry to show himself.
After all, he had already appeared briefly in the PV.
Even though his face hadn't been shown.
But the sense of mystery had already been established.
Now, all he needed to do was maintain that mystery.
Looks like the time had arrived.
After the version update went live, countless players rushed into the game immediately.
Naturally, streamer Xuehua was no exception.
She logged in almost the moment the servers opened.
The story unfolded as expected.
Under the guidance of locals, Lumine went to attend the Rite of Descension.
Then the Geo Archon was suddenly assassinated, and the entire scene was sealed off.
Even though Lumine hadn't done anything wrong, she still had that guilty instinct of "if ghosts knock, you must answer."
So she grabbed Paimon and ran.
That was when they encountered Tartaglia.
With his help, they managed to slip past the Millelith.
"Haah… haah… running is exhausting."
Paimon floated in the air, panting heavily.
"What muscles do you even use for magical flying?"
Lumine rested her hands on her hips and complained.
"Have some sympathy!"
"My phantom limbs are clearly exhausted… Ah! Right!"
"By the way, mister—who are you?"
Paimon turned toward Tartaglia and asked curiously.
"You can call me Childe."
Tartaglia introduced himself with a smile.
"Wow… what a terrible personality."
"You help us once and immediately treat us like servants?"
Paimon complained.
"Haha, that's not what I meant."
"Names are just titles, after all."
"For example…"
"You must have met La Signora in Mondstadt, right?"
Tartaglia asked.
"Signora… Childe…"
"You're one of the Fatui Harbingers?!"
Paimon and Lumine exchanged glances.
Then both of them looked at Tartaglia with wary expressions.
"Uh, relax."
"I'm not here to fight you."
After a series of explanations from Tartaglia, Lumine and Paimon finally decided to trust him—for now.
Tartaglia then handed Lumine a Sigil of Permission.
He suggested she visit the adepti in Jueyun Karst to clear her name.
So Lumine and Paimon traveled a long distance until they arrived at the domain of Moon Carver.
"Who are you, and why have you trespassed into Jueyun Karst?"
The deer-like adeptus, Moon Carver, looked down at Lumine and Paimon from above and asked slowly.
"Please take a look at this…"
Lumine held up the Sigil of Permission.
"A Sigil of Permission… I have not seen one in many years."
"To think mortals still possess remnants of it."
"I am one of the Three-Eyed Five-Manifestations Adepti, Moon Carver."
"Traveler, state your purpose."
Moon Carver's voice carried immense authority.
"Actually…"
Paimon had just started to explain when they were interrupted by the arrival of a Millelith instructor who had been chasing them.
With Moon Carver's permission, Lumine quickly drove the soldiers away.
"Now then, back to the matter at hand. Traveler, state your purpose."
Moon Carver looked at Lumine again.
So Lumine and Paimon explained everything that had happened.
"Outrageous…"
"Outrageous!!!"
Moon Carver roared in fury.
"The Liyue Qixing… have truly disappointed me."
"How could someone assassinate the Geo Archon during the Rite of Descension?"
"And after the Archon was attacked… how could they shift suspicion onto the attending mortals?!"
Moon Carver raised his head, anger evident in his voice.
"He seems really angry."
Paimon whispered to Lumine.
Lumine nodded.
Inside Xuehua's livestream.
"That deer is furious."
"But honestly, that makes sense. The Geo Archon is one of the Seven—how could the current Traveler possibly assassinate him?"
Xuehua commented while watching the story unfold.
The dialogue continued.
"Traveler, I now understand the injustice of the accusation against you."
Moon Carver suddenly fell silent.
On Xuehua's screen, the dialogue box showed only three dots.
She tapped the screen twice impatiently.
"…Could it be…"
"If the Geo Archon has truly fallen, then the only one in this world capable of such a deed… would be that one."
"But… why…"
Moon Carver gazed into the distance, murmuring in confusion.
Xuehua stared at the screen in disbelief.
"That one? Which one?!"
"There's actually someone capable of assassinating the Geo Archon?!"
Her voice was filled with shock.
The chat exploded instantly.
The viewers were equally stunned.
[That deer adeptus actually thinks "that one" could assassinate the oldest Archon in existence?!]
[Who the hell is "that one"?!]
[Is it that Kiana-looking god who stopped the twins at the beginning?]
The chat began debating fiercely.
Since the game was only at Version 1.1, both hardcore lore analysts and casual players alike believed that the mysterious god who stopped the twins at the start…
Was the Heavenly Principles.