Chapter 37 – The Era of the Archon War

Qiu Xue looked at the confused little Paimon and couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“I won’t be going, little Paimon. I still have some things to ask Zhongli.”

“Then I’ll be heading back.”

Qiu Xue patted Paimon’s head and spoke gently.

“Alright then, Traveler, let’s get going!”

Paimon turned around and said to the Traveler, whose hair looked like a bird’s nest.

Lumine nodded in response.

“That hairstyle really doesn’t suit either of you.”

Qiu Xue looked at Lumine and Paimon and said with a smile.

Then, stepping forward on her snow-white legs, she walked over to Lumine and Paimon and helped tidy their hair.

Afterward, Paimon and Lumine headed together toward Yujing Terrace.

As if by some unspoken understanding, Qiu Xue and Zhongli walked together toward a rather quiet spot.

That is, they sat down beside the storyteller’s table, though at this time the storyteller, Iron Tongue Tian, hadn’t arrived yet.

They ordered a pot of hot tea.

Qiu Xue casually soundproofed the surrounding area.

“Old friend, what’s with your current appearance…”

Zhongli spoke first, looking at Qiu Xue beside him with a puzzled expression.

“Morax, do you remember a thousand years ago, when I purified Azhdaha?”

Qiu Xue pressed her snow-white legs together, placed her hands over her abdomen, and let her ink-white long skirt fall naturally.

Though her expression was somewhat cool, there was always a faint smile at the corner of her lips, giving off a quiet and elegant feeling.

“Naturally, I remember.”

Zhongli picked up his teacup, blew on it gently, and looked at the beautiful woman beside him as he spoke softly.

“A thousand years ago, I left all of my Origin in that place.”

“Just yesterday, outside Liyue Harbor, I sensed a familiar presence.”

“But I couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of that presence.”

Qiu Xue lifted her teacup with her jade-like hand, blew on it gently, took a small sip with her fragrant lips, and spoke softly.

Zhongli simply watched the beautiful woman quietly, waiting for her next words.

“Then I used the Authority of the God of Yin and Yang to transform into a woman.”

“And after detecting the location of that presence, I hurried there.”

Hearing this, Zhongli finally understood what had happened and took a sip of hot tea.

So his old friend had transformed like this in order to search for that strange presence.

“And at the place where I purified Azhdaha, a white light emerged from the ground.”

“I caught it and then sensed it slightly.”

“Inside, it was actually nurturing a Demon God just like me.”

“Fortunately, it hadn’t developed sentience yet, so I absorbed it.”

“And I keep having this strange feeling—ever since absorbing that light, it feels like I’m no longer myself.”

Qiu Xue drank the tea in her cup in one go, then playfully twirled the teacup between her slender fingers as she smiled mischievously at Zhongli beside her.

“Moreover, in my current state, the longer I maintain this changed gender, the more I tend toward that gender.”

Hearing his old friend’s explanation, Zhongli turned his gaze to the gentle, beautiful woman beside him.

“What do you mean by ‘I’m no longer myself’?”

Zhongli asked, somewhat puzzled.

“It’s not clear yet, but it feels like my consciousness is about to split in two.”

Ever since she transformed into a female body and absorbed that light, she had been experiencing this strange sensation.

“But can you still change back? If the hall master saw you like this, he’d definitely be shocked.”

Zhongli chuckled softly, looking at Qiu Xue as he spoke slowly.

After all, walking down the street in this form would surely attract some unnecessary trouble.

“Hehe, so you really want me to change back, huh?”

Qiu Xue smiled sweetly, playfully gazing at Zhongli. She still wanted to tease him a little more.

Seeing the smile of his old friend, Zhongli was momentarily taken aback.

“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore.”

Qiu Xue pointed a jade-like finger, upgrading the surrounding barrier to conceal what was happening inside from the outside world.

Then she created an illusion, forming an Avatar of Qiu Xue that walked out of Liyue Harbor.

She also created an Avatar of Qiu Bai, who entered Liyue Harbor from outside.

Suppressing the discomfort in her body and enduring the headache, she painstakingly transformed into a young man, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with ink-black hair cascading over his ink-white robes, spotlessly clean.

His face was as gentle and refined as jade, his light blue eyes elegant and serene like a starry midnight sky, and he stood about 185 centimeters tall.

Hanging at his waist was a Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, about the size of a Vision, emitting a brilliant glow.

This was the form of the Adeptus of Yin and Yang, also his original appearance. Then, with another flash, his form shifted once more.

His face transformed into the familiar Qiu Bai known to the Traveler and Paimon.

Returning to this state, Qiu Bai no longer felt that strange sensation, though he still experienced occasional headaches.

“Thus, I have changed back.”

Qiu Bai murmured to himself, then pointed a finger to withdraw the barrier.

He sat down and looked at Zhongli.

Watching Qiu Bai’s series of flashy maneuvers, Zhongli couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He calmly took a sip of tea.

“Come on, Morax, tell me about when you were at the Statue of The Seven.”

“Why did the repaired Erosion develop cracks?”

Qiu Bai looked at Zhongli with curious eyes.

At this moment, Qiu Bai still felt a slight headache.

“Is it because of that Origin?”

Qiu Bai wondered with some surprise in his heart.

“These are all matters of the distant past,”

Zhongli recalled for a moment, looking at Qiu Bai as he spoke slowly.

“Today, at the Statue of The Seven,”

“seeing your female form, Qiu Xue, reminded me of a Demon God.”

“Guizhong, a Demon God who passed away even before Liyue was established, known as the ‘God of Dust’.”

“During the mid-to-late stages of the Archon War, I learned from past lessons. To prevent the slain Demon Gods from generating grudges, I opted more for sealing and suppression methods to avoid the creation of God-Demon Grudges.”

“After other Demon Gods in the Liyue region were defeated and Liyue Harbor was initially established, I went to the Qingce Village area to subdue the evil chi.”

“I battled fiercely with it, and the Guili Plains were destroyed in this great conflict. The God of Dust, Guizhong, also fell in this battle.”

“The death of a friend filled me with rage.”

“I divided the evil chi’s body into five parts while it was still alive.”

“I bound its spirit in the true north of the Guili Plains, nailed its bones in the southeast, locked its body in the northwest, restrained its soul in the northeast, and finally crushed its form in the southwest.”

“Condemning it to never know reincarnation.”

Zhongli recounted these past events with a calm expression, using the most placid tone to speak the most terrifying words.

Osial in the sea: “Impressive.”

Unaware Liyue citizens might think Zhongli was just chatting casually with Qiu Bai.

“Haha, it’s all in the past.”

Zhongli chuckled softly, took a sip of tea, and looked at Qiu Bai.

“So that’s how it is, no wonder…”

Qiu Bai murmured quietly.

The Archon War was extremely brutal. During that time, there was no standard by which to measure good and evil.

And this brutal war lasted for a full thousand years.

He was not born in that era three thousand years ago but rather a thousand years ago.

He had experienced the Immortal-Demon War, which took place five hundred years ago, by which time standards for judging good and evil had already been established—otherwise, Qiqi might not have survived.

The Archon War was a struggle among the Demon Gods of the mortal realm for control over the Continent of Teyvat.

As for the difference between the Immortal-Demon War and the Archon War, there’s likely no need to elaborate further.

However, with his current strength, Qiu Bai was confident that even if he were to return to the era three thousand years ago, he could become a dominant force.

“Morax, do you wish to see Guizhong revived?”

Suppressing the discomfort in his body, Qiu Bai took a sip of tea and looked at Zhongli with a puzzled expression.

After all, the Zhongli before him seemed to feel only nostalgia for an old friend, much like his feelings toward Azhdaha, the Dragon King.

(Note to readers: The author has combined some fan theories and woven them into the story of the Archon War era.)

(Here are two more chapters—can’t keep the readers waiting! The author will continue writing and work hard to finish the upcoming chapters.)