The Supreme Four Pillars, Paimon, the "Morning Star."
Knowing Paimon's formidable background, her current expression of delight made Lin Mo instinctively raise his guard.
"So, what do you think~"
Paimon stomped her feet impatiently in the air before Lin Mo. "Do you want to see the new power Paimon discovered she can control?"
"Will it be dangerous?"
Lin Mo asked cautiously.
Paimon lightly bit her lip, sounding uncertain. "I think... it probably... won't be?" "Uh..."
Seeing Paimon's utterly confused look, Lin Mo couldn't help but feel nervous.
At that moment, Lin Mo had already gathered all his strength, remaining vigilant for Paimon to use her power. He warned, "I'm ready. Try using your new power on me."
"Alrighty~!"
Paimon immediately clapped her little hands in delight.
Lin Mo watched Paimon's squinting, happy face with full alertness.
But after waiting for quite a while, he saw no further action from Paimon.
"You can start now."
Lin Mo reminded her again.
"Huh~?"
Paimon looked bewildered. "Paimon already used her new power, you know~"
"Hmm?"
Lin Mo was taken aback.
He checked his body.
He clearly hadn't suffered any harm.
"Lord Sasayuri..."
At that moment, the giant fox beneath him softly reminded him, "You... should look at your surroundings."
"Surroundings?"
Lin Mo instinctively looked down, gazing at the night scenery of the Liyue landscape below.
At first, Lin Mo didn't immediately grasp it.
Only when he looked at the familiar land of Dihua Marsh below did he realize.
Just over ten minutes ago...
Wasn't Yae Miko precisely passing through the air above this area!?
Before Paimon used her ability, they had already arrived above the Sal Terrae!
In other words.
At the moment Paimon clapped her little hands...
Time had been rewound by about fifteen minutes!
"The authority to govern time..." In that instant, Lin Mo immediately recalled the legends about the Demon God Paimon in Solomon mythology.
In the myths and legends, the power controlled by the Demon God Paimon was precisely time!
"Hehehe~ Paimon is amazing, right~"
Little Paimon swayed her small body proudly.
Her adorable little face was brimming with smugness!
Lin Mo didn't respond.
Instead, he frowned, pondering the specific applications of this ability.
Recalling what had just happened, Lin Mo also remembered to look up at the false moon in Teyvat's night sky.
Seeing that the moon hadn't moved, Lin Mo roughly gauged the strength and limitations of Paimon's ability.
Paimon's power was formidable, indeed.
But...
It didn't seem as overwhelmingly powerful as one might imagine.
Because the false moon in Teyvat's sky hadn't changed position.
That meant only the small area they were in had its time altered; it couldn't truly achieve a full-scale reversal of time.
A localized temporal rewind.
Memories were completely retained.
So, what use was such an ability?
To rewind time and fight another round after being at a disadvantage or even defeated in battle?
Thinking about it that way, Paimon's ability was actually quite strong.
But right then, Lin Mo saw the reflection of the false moon in the calm waters of Sal Terrae.
In that moment, Lin Mo's eyes lit up.
He excitedly grabbed Paimon's little hand, asking eagerly, "Paimon! How far back in time can your ability rewind!?"
"Huh? Foreign Envoy... you... calm down a bit..."
Paimon looked somewhat frightened by Lin Mo's excited gaze.
But she still timidly said, "Paimon feels... full of power~ So... probably... maybe... can go back a very, very long time ago..." "How long is 'very long'?"
Lin Mo pressed further.
Paimon tilted her little head, uncertain. "Very long is... a few thousand years?"
This answer caused Lin Mo's pupils to unconsciously dilate slightly.
Truly worthy of being one of the Supreme Four Pillars!
Rewinding time by thousands of years!
Possessing such power truly befitted the title "Morning Star," said to rival the three Goddesses.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
Seeing Lin Mo's excited look, Paimon couldn't help but ask, "Is there something you want Paimon to help with?" "Yes!"
Lin Mo secretly clenched his fist. "Paimon, would you be willing to use this power for me, to rewind time to three thousand years ago?" "Mmm... I can do that."
Paimon slowly nodded, curious. "Does Paimon need to use her power now?"
"Not now." Lin Mo shook his head.
The next moment, he turned his gaze towards the small island in the center of Sal Terrae.
On that island stood a ruin.
Within that ruin resided a gentle god who had vanished during the Archon War—the God of Salt, Havria.
"Miko, land on that small island ahead."
Lin Mo said calmly.
"Hmm?"
Yae Miko was somewhat puzzled.
Lin Mo explained with a smile, "I want to meet an old friend. She lives in the ruins beneath this island." "Living in ruins... must be someone important~"
Paimon asked, full of curiosity.
"Yes..."
Lin Mo nodded slowly.
Gazing at the circular entrance to the ruins, his heart was filled with immense nostalgia.
Soon, Yae Miko gently landed at the entrance of the ruins, transforming back into her human form.
Lin Mo, supporting the heavily intoxicated Eula, looked towards the bottomless entrance.
"Eh? There are ruins inside?"
Paimon asked curiously. "What kind of person lives in ruins?" "Well... let's talk as we walk." Lin Mo said with a smile.
At the same time, he hoisted Eula onto his back and leaped into the entrance.
"Ah~ Foreign Envoy, wait for me~"
Paimon hurriedly followed.
Not just Paimon.
Yae Miko also followed closely, leaping lightly into the entrance.
Soon, the four of them arrived before the seal of the ruins.
Possessing the power of a god, Lin Mo easily broke the seal before them and led everyone into the ruins.
Paimon looked at the ruins, still grand and magnificent despite the erosion of time, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow~! Such spectacular ruins!"
"Strange... these white humanoid statues... what's going on?" Yae Miko was the first to notice the anomaly within the ruins.
Looking around, there were dozens, even hundreds, of white statues in poses of fleeing.
Yae Miko faintly sensed these weren't mere statues, but... humans petrified by some power.
"Sc... scary~"
Paimon also saw the numerous white humanoid statues.
The face of each statue bore an expression of intense terror.
Their postures, fleeing frantically on all fours, seemed as if, before becoming statues, they were trying to escape some unimaginable, inescapable disaster.
"There's no sign of living beings in the ruins..."
Yae Miko slightly furrowed her brow. "Did some disaster happen here in the past?"
"They... were all once human..."
Lin Mo stated flatly.
His gaze towards these statues was cold, even carrying a trace of disgust.
Seeing the rare look of disgust in Lin Mo's eyes, both Paimon and Yae Miko couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity.
They wondered where Lin Mo's disgust came from, and what story had unfolded within these ruins.
Supporting Eula, Lin Mo walked into the ruins.
As he did, he began to recount the events of three thousand years ago to the two of them.
"Three thousand years ago... the gods engaged in the millennium-long Archon War..."
--------
T/N:
You'll also get 5 extra chapters just for being a free member!
Access 40 chapters in advance on my Patreon : [email protected]/furinaimpact