In the public livestream chatroom, citizens of the Seven Nations were in an uproar.
[Fast-Blade Chen]: The Geo Archon is dead? No way!
[Ironmouth Tian]: Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This must be a rumor!
[Rocky]: Sigh… Lord Morax… Speaking of which, if the Geo Archon really passed away… wouldn't "Commemorative Items in Memory of the Geo Lord" be the biggest business opportunity right now?
[Ruhavi]: Damn, only you Liyue people could be thinking about making money at a time like this!
[Jafar]: Lord Sangemahabay is fuming!
[Mio Ozura]: Geo Archon: "You're killing me with your filial piety!"
[Timaeus]: Mondstadt's leader logs off, Liyue's leader logs out permanently. How tragic!
[Hoffman]: Yesterday the Raiden Shogun got socially annihilated, and today the Geo Archon just dies on the spot—this world's going insane!
[Grand Sage Azar]: As long as it doesn't concern Sumeru, who cares! strokes beard
[Serius]: Wait, if he died during the Rite of Descension, could it be the livestream's punishment?
[Kujou Kaji]: That's very possible! You've all seen how brutal the punishments have been lately!
[Citizens of the Seven Nations]: +10086!
[Dongsheng]: Speaking of the livestream—doesn't that "Intertwined Fate" item supposedly have the power to resurrect the dead?
[Chef Mao]: Yeah! As long as there's enough Intertwined Fate, the Geo Archon can be revived!
[Fate4Ever (Group ID 975632410)]: We'll pool the strength of all Liyue! We will bring the Geo Lord back—no despair allowed!
[Dori]: Buying Intertwined Fate for ten billion Mora apiece! Cash up front—prices hotter than silk stockings~
[Baiwen]: Lady Ningguang offers one hundred billion Mora for each Intertwined Fate. Suppliers, contact immediately!
The news of the Geo Archon's death spread through all Seven Nations like wildfire.
Yet among them, only Liyue remained calm. There was no panic, no collapse.
As long as they had Intertwined Fate, they could bring their god back to life!
If anything, his death had only made the people of Liyue more united than ever.
The "Sudden Death of the Geo Archon" dominated every headline.
The livestream chat buzzed nonstop until dusk fell.
Xinyue Kiosk, Premium Private Room.
Childe had invited Zhongli to dinner.
"Mr. Zhongli," Tartaglia said, pouring wine for his companion, "can you believe it? The Geo Archon—dying on stage at his own Rite of Descension? What the hell even is that?"
After the Archon's death, the Fatui diplomatic mission in Liyue had been searched top to bottom by the Millelith.
No surprise there—Lady Ningguang had the Fatui watched tighter than a hawk!
She'd even been corresponding regularly with Jean from Mondstadt, learning from the Wind Archon debacle when La Signora literally ripped out his heart.
Now with the Geo Archon "dead," the first suspects were naturally the Fatui.
Tartaglia was miserable.
Sure, he had planned to take on the Geo Archon eventually—but he hadn't even gotten started before the old man dropped dead on his own!
Was this… a setup? A frame job?
It had to be!
After all that effort clearing his name, he was right back under suspicion!
Zhongli took a slow sip of wine, nodding solemnly.
"Truly outrageous. Especially the Liyue Qixing—expelling the Hall Master and refusing to organize the Rite of Descension… most improper."
Originally, his plan had been to fake his death—
To use a sudden "tragedy" to force the people of Liyue out of their comfort zone.
If things spiraled too far, he'd reappear to calm the storm.
But of all things, he never expected that the first thing Liyue would do after his death…
was to launch a nationwide effort to resurrect him.
Zhongli could only laugh and sigh.
Couldn't they just bury him properly and move forward toward a new future?
But seeing their unity and determination, he couldn't bring himself to quash their zeal.
He decided to quietly observe—for now.
Meanwhile, aboard the Jade Chamber,
Bai Hao, Lumine, and Paimon were lounging comfortably in their guest room.
They'd been personally invited by Ningguang herself.
She already knew of Lumine and Paimon's identities—and their feat in driving away Stormterror—from Jean's letters.
Thus, she trusted them completely.
Bai Hao, of course, benefited from that trust and got to tag along for some sightseeing—
and to take notes for the day he'd build his own Jade Chamber.
Though all seemed peaceful now, during the Archon's assassination earlier that day,
Cloud Retainer, Moon Carver, and Mountain Shaper had nearly turned all of Liyue upside down!
These ancient Adepti, each thousands of years old,
could bend space itself and create their own miniature worlds—true powers on the level of Sovereigns.
Bai Hao had even run into his "wife," Shenhe.
That had been… quite a close call.
After all, Shenhe and a few Treasure Hoarders were the only ones who'd ever seen his "weakling" persona.
If she exposed him, things could get very awkward—
especially since the next person he planned to impersonate was none other than Zhongli.
Thankfully, when Shenhe saw him, he simply raised a finger to his lips.
Though confused, she said nothing—
she had bigger matters to attend to with her master, dealing with the Geo Archon's death.
That silent understanding saved Bai Hao a great deal of trouble.
"Hey, Bai Hao," Paimon piped up suddenly,
"do you think Cloud Retainer and the other Adepti will make peace with the Liyue Qixing?"
In Liyue, the Adepti were like the "Elders of the Sect."
With such a huge scandal at the Rite of Descension, they'd be demanding justice—
and when the Adepti demanded justice, no one could stop them.
If they wanted the Qixing's heads, who would dare resist?
After all, Liyue itself was their creation!
Bai Hao reclined on a lounge chair, Rocking back and forth as he waved lazily.
"That's Ningguang's problem to solve. We just sit tight and wait for word."
The Adepti wanted an explanation, Zhongli was "AFK," and all of Liyue waited to see what would happen next.
But that was fine—because Bai Hao was ready to "help."
He'd been waiting for this exact moment, letting the tension build until all seven nations knew the Geo Archon was dead.
Only then would it be perfect for him to make his move—
Bai Hao logged into the livestream.
Zhongli — Creation!
…
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