The public livestream chatroom of the Seven Nations had exploded into full-scale chaos.
[Fast-Blade Chen]: The Geo Archon is dead? No way!
[Iron Tongue Tian]: Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This has to be fake news!
[Rocky]: Sigh… Lord Morax… But hey—if the Geo Archon really passed away… wouldn't "Commemorative Lord of Geo Memorial Goods" be a massive business opportunity right now?
[Ruhavi]: Only you Liyue folks could think of making money at a time like this!
[Jafar]: Lord Sangemahabay is absolutely furious!
[Mio Ozura]: Morax: "You're killing me with your filial piety."
[Timaeus]: Mondstadt's Archon logs off, Liyue's Archon logs out forever… what a dark era.
[Hoffmann]: Yesterday the Raiden Shogun got meme-slaughtered, today the Geo Archon dies on stage—Teyvat is losing its mind!
[Grand Sage Azar]: As long as Sumeru remains unaffected, it is irrelevant. strokes beard
[Serius]: Hold up—he died during the Rite of Descension. Could this be another livestream punishment?
[Kujou Kaji]: Now that you mention it… that's totally possible! You all witnessed how brutal the penalties were!
[Citizens of the Seven Nations]: +10086!!
[Dongsheng]: Wait… doesn't that "Intertwined Fate" item revive the dead?
[Chef Mao]: Exactly! If we gather enough Intertwined Fates, we can resurrect the Geo Lord!
[Fate4Ever (Group ID: 975632410)]: Citizens of Liyue, unite! Even if our god dies, we will bring him back! No despair allowed!
[Dori]: Buying Intertwined Fate—ten billion Mora each! Cash on delivery~ hotter than silk stockings!
[Baiwen]: Lady Ningguang offers one HUNDRED billion Mora per Intertwined Fate. Suppliers—contact immediately!
The news of Morax's death burned across all Seven Nations in minutes.
Yet—among them all—only Liyue remained calm.
No panic.
No despair.
Not even grief.
Because Liyue now believed one thing absolutely:
As long as Intertwined Fates existed—anyone could be revived.
Even the Geo Archon.
Instead of collapsing, the people of Liyue united more strongly than ever.
The entire city moved with one thought:
"We'll bring the Lord of Geo back."
The "Sudden Death of the Geo Archon" became the biggest global event of the year—
the entire world discussing it until the sun finally began to set.
Xinyue Kiosk — Premium Private Room
Childe had invited Zhongli to dinner.
"Mr. Zhongli," Tartaglia said as he poured wine, his expression twitching, "can you believe it? The Geo Archon—dying on stage at his own Rite of Descension?! What kind of clown show is that?"
Ever since Morax "died," the Millelith had turned the Fatui diplomatic mission inside out.
Really, Ningguang was too efficient—
she'd been taking lessons from Jean ever since the Wind Archon fiasco, when La Signora ripped out Venti's heart.
With the Geo Archon dead, the first suspects—obviously—were the Fatui.
Childe was devastated.
Yes, he had wanted to challenge the Geo Archon one day,
but he hadn't even begun to stir trouble yet—
and the old man suddenly keels over?!
This had to be a setup.
A frame job!
Months of clearing his reputation—ruined overnight!
Zhongli took a refined sip of wine and said earnestly:
"Truly outrageous. And the Qixing as well—expelling the Hall Master and refusing to hold the Rite of Descension properly… most unbecoming."
In truth, Zhongli had only planned to fake his death—
a grand tragedy to force Liyue to stand on its own two feet.
If things got too intense, he'd simply return and resolve the mess.
But he never imagined the first thing Liyue would do after his "death"
was launch a full-scale movement to resurrect him.
He could only laugh helplessly.
Couldn't they just bury him and move forward with their lives?
But seeing their fierce unity…
seeing the entire nation fight to revive their god…
Zhongli found himself softening.
He decided to remain silent a while longer—
to see where this wave of faith would lead.
Aboard the Jade Chamber — Guest Suites
Bai Hao lounged comfortably with Lumine and Paimon.
Ningguang herself had invited them.
Jean's previous letters had already introduced Lumine and Paimon as heroes of Mondstadt—
so the Tianquan trusted them fully.
Naturally, Bai Hao just tagged along to enjoy the scenery—
and quietly take notes for when he built his own Jade Chamber someday.
Earlier that day, Liyue had almost been flipped upside down.
Cloud Retainer, Moon Carver, and Mountain Shaper—
ancient Adepti, each thousands of years old—
had descended in outrage, shaking the entire harbor.
Each one possessed world-bending power, like living sovereigns.
Bai Hao had even run into his "wife," Shenhe.
That had been a dangerously close encounter.
After all, Shenhe—and a few Treasure Hoarders—were the only people who had ever seen his "weakling" persona.
If she exposed him now…
especially since he planned to impersonate Zhongli next…
The fallout would be catastrophic.
Fortunately, when Shenhe saw him, he simply placed a finger to his lips.
She didn't understand—
but she didn't question him either.
She had greater matters to deal with—
the death of the Geo Archon.
Her silent cooperation spared Bai Hao an existential-level headache.
Back in the guest suite—
"Hey, Bai Hao," Paimon asked, floating circles above the table,
"do you think the Adepti and the Qixing will make peace?"
In Liyue, the Adepti were the "Elders of the Sect"—
a group no one dared oppose.
After such a scandal during the Rite of Descension,
they would demand answers.
And when the Adepti demanded justice—
heads usually rolled.
After all—
Liyue Harbor existed because of them.
Bai Hao leaned back on his lounge chair, rocking it with one foot.
"That's Ningguang's problem. We just wait for news."
The Adepti wanted explanations.
Zhongli was "offline."
Liyue stood on the brink.
Perfect.
Because this was exactly what Bai Hao wanted.
He'd been waiting for the moment when all seven nations acknowledged:
The Geo Archon… is dead.
Only then would the atmosphere be perfect.
He opened the livestream interface—
and clicked the button he had been preparing for days:
Zhongli — Creation!
And with that—
dusk fell upon Liyue,
and the world held its breath.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 50 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/Mona_studios