"My goodness… an outer god with no followers was actually equal in strength to Rex Lapis!"
"A battle capable of destroying heaven and earth… what kind of battle could that possibly have been…?"
After hearing Zhongli's explanation, Paimon shrank back slightly, muttering in shock.
The Traveler might not understand what that truly meant.
But as a guide, Paimon knew very well.
Meanwhile, in Xuehua's livestream chat, many viewers felt like they had learned nothing new.
Outer gods, unknown adepti—yet no concrete information.
Some players were shouting about how impressive that outer god must have been.
Others simply typed "holy crap."
But the majority of players still had no idea what it meant to be equal in strength to the Geo Archon.
They only knew that Rex Lapis was the oldest of the Seven.
They had no concept of his actual combat power.
Xuehua herself only felt that the outer god must have been very powerful.
Other than that, she had no strong reaction.
Just like Lumine.
She also had no idea what it meant to be equal to the Geo Archon.
So she wasn't overly shocked.
"Zhongli… are you saying…"
"You suspect that unknown adeptus was actually the outer god who fought Rex Lapis?"
Lumine asked.
"Hehe…"
"That is not my personal view, but rather the conclusion proposed by historians."
Zhongli chuckled softly and shook his head.
"Why do Liyue's historians believe that?"
Paimon asked curiously.
At that moment, Qiu Nian spoke.
"Because an outer god without followers means they have no attachments."
"So after the battle ended, the outer god must have reconciled with Rex Lapis for some reason."
"And remained in Liyue under the identity of an adeptus."
"After staying for ten years, the outer god departed."
He paused before turning to Zhongli.
"However, Mr. Zhongli, there is still something I do not understand."
"Let us assume that the outer god truly was that unknown adeptus."
"He left Liyue near the end of the early Archon War."
"That era was unimaginably long ago, and the Archon War itself has long since ended."
"In a world where only the Seven Archons remain today…"
"How can we be certain that he has not already perished?"
Qiu Nian asked calmly.
When Zhongli heard this, he froze for a moment.
Then he looked at Qiu Nian with a somewhat strange expression.
But the moment quickly passed, and Zhongli's expression returned to normal.
"According to historians' speculation, a god without followers had no need to participate in the Archon War."
"And if they did not participate…"
"They would have had no risk of dying in it."
"Of course, this is all uncertain."
"After all, the theory that the unknown adeptus was the outer god is already speculation."
"So after such a long span of time…"
"The truth can no longer be verified."
Zhongli finished calmly.
"I see."
Qiu Nian nodded.
"I still have another question."
"Why did that unknown adeptus never receive an adeptal title?"
"You know, like Cloud Retainer or the Conqueror of Demons."
Paimon asked.
"That is because during the Archon War…"
"There were countless adepti in Liyue."
"And many were never granted titles."
"Liyue was engulfed in war."
"Many adepti died defending the land before they could ever receive a name."
"Only a few powerful ones survived until the present."
Zhongli turned toward Liyue Harbor as he spoke.
"There were even many adepti who left behind no names at all."
"In remote regions of Liyue not yet fully under Rex Lapis' rule…"
"Nameless adepti were born."
"Some of them Rex Lapis himself had never met."
"But even so, they still gave their lives protecting the people during the war."
"Whether their names were remembered or not…"
"The people of Liyue should honor their deeds."
Zhongli closed his eyes and sighed softly.
"So…"
He did not finish the sentence.
Instead, he turned to look at Lumine and Paimon.
"I see…"
Paimon placed a hand over her chest, her expression complicated.
Lumine also looked thoughtful.
Even Qiu Nian sighed quietly.
In Xuehua's livestream, the chat also fell silent.
[Why does Zhongli sound kind of sad…]
[The Archon War in Liyue sounds way more brutal than Mondstadt's story]
[Well, Liyue is based on China]
[East Asia difficulty mode]
[Wasn't Liyue the place where the Archon War was the most intense?]
[Also the region with the most gods, right?]
Genshin had only recently launched.
Most players still didn't understand what the Archon War truly meant.
They had only briefly seen Osial, the Overlord of the Vortex, during Version 1.1.
And even then, they barely grasped the scale of a god's power.
Some players who had already cleared the public beta content, however, were internally shaken.
Yet they quietly watched Xuehua's stream without spoiling anything.
Because the world of Genshin in this parallel Blue Planet was vastly larger than the one Qiu Nian remembered from his previous life.
To walk straight out of Liyue Harbor would take two full hours.
The game world contained numerous minor teleport anchors, allowing players to travel quickly and complete quests faster.
But Qiu Nian's world was not a game.
There were no such conveniences.
His real Teyvat was more than ten times larger than the game world.
A normal person trying to walk out of Liyue Harbor would need half a day.
In simple terms—
One was a real world, the other a game.
Only the real world could influence the storyline experienced by players.
In the game, players simply teleported into the Liyue region.
But the real Lumine had no such luxury.
And the map she traveled through was far larger than the game version.
Though there were actual teleport waypoints in the real world, they were extremely rare.
When Lumine and Paimon traveled from Mondstadt to Liyue Harbor—
They spent over forty days on the road.
Camping outdoors and walking during the day.
In the game, that journey only took about three days.
And that was without counting teleport anchors.
Even the parallel Blue Planet's version of Genshin, though smaller than the real world by more than ten times, was still far larger than the one Qiu Nian remembered from his previous life.
In the real world, the road to Liyue was lined with villages, inns, teahouses, and shops.
Travel wasn't too exhausting.
Carriages could make the journey several times faster.
Lumine simply chose to walk to experience the world.
And yes—Teyvat had horses.
Mondstadt's carriages and cavalry made that obvious.
Where else would the milk in Milk Dango come from?
From Mondstadt to Liyue Harbor, Knights of Favonius and Millelith patrols constantly cleared monsters along the roads.
And Liyue was even safer.
The density of Millelith patrols far exceeded what Lumine and Paimon had expected.
From Mondstadt City to Dihua Marsh in Liyue, the journey alone took around ten days.
In the game, it took one day.
But even the Blue Planet's game map was still vastly larger than the version Qiu Nian once played.
To compare:
Real Teyvat (Qiu Nian's world) — walking straight out of Liyue Harbor takes 20 hours
Parallel Blue Planet Genshin — about 2 hours
The Genshin Qiu Nian once played — 10 minutes at most
Then there was Osial, the Overlord of the Vortex.
When players saw his colossal body—
Even larger than the version from Qiu Nian's old world—
The impact was overwhelming.
Thunder roared across the sky.
The ocean churned violently.
Even the color of the heavens twisted under the pressure of a god's power.
It felt like the shock pierced straight through the skull.
Far more terrifying than Mondstadt's Stormterror.
And yet—
A monster like Osial had been suppressed beneath Guyun Stone Forest by Rex Lapis.
Later, players learned that the version they saw was only partially free.
The lower half of Osial's divine body had been nailed beneath the sea.
And when Osial was completely free?
He was still suppressed by Rex Lapis.
So those experienced players understood exactly what a god's power meant.
They understood what the Archon War truly represented.
And they knew just how terrifying one of the Seven Archons—the Geo Archon—really was.
So when Zhongli described an outer god who could fight Rex Lapis to a standstill—
And a battle capable of destroying heaven and earth—
Their minds exploded with excitement.
They couldn't help imagining what that battle must have looked like.
It was no wonder people believed Rex Lapis to be the strongest god.
He was the oldest, a first-generation Archon, and a god of war.
And Osial's overwhelming presence only further proved Rex Lapis' terrifying strength.
"Dwelling too much on the past will only darken the present."
"Even if we still do not fully understand who that one truly is…"
"That does not affect what we must do next."
Qiu Nian waved his hand casually.
"That's true…"
"So we've completed another preparation step."
"What's the next task?"
Paimon asked Zhongli.
"Next…"
Zhongli placed a hand on his chin and began to think.