I'm in the Teyvat running group

"Paimon, don't you feel like you've become much more active here?" Yunxiu looked at Paimon, who was constantly flying around, with a somewhat intriguing expression. "Or do you actually have some completely different feelings about this place?"

"Huh...?! Really?"

“Really, Paimon,” Ying also said, “You’re definitely much more active than usual.”

"Well, maybe it's because I ate a lot at lunch." Paimon looked at the group of people in front of him with a somewhat dejected expression. "But I really don't feel anything. Maybe I really am some kind of big shot... But if that's the case, what kind of big shot would I be?"

“I do have a guess… but we need to go to the real Immortal Spirit Royal Court to verify it.” Yunxiu stroked his chin and said, “Then, let’s start walking that road now, leave from here, and head towards that strange point in the desolate sea.”

Yunxiu guessed that the reason this path had to be followed in this way was probably because it was some kind of conceptual product. However, he didn't know what the concept was. But since René could calculate it, it meant there wasn't a big problem. As long as something doesn't have any major operational problems, it's best not to change it. Instead of messing around with the details, it's better to do it the whole way and make sure there are no problems before making any changes.

As for Paimon's identity, as mentioned earlier, before he left Earth, scholars had basically focused on two points: the Paimon Theory and the Paimon Asmodian Theory.

Then, after the events of your timeline and the Nordcalle storyline ended, the ideas of Paimon and Asmodé gradually began to be cut, and the focus was basically on Paimon's theory of the universe. But Yunxiu's current feeling is that if Paimon is really, as most people guess, an incarnation of Phanes, or the so-called Primordial Algorithm of Instransient Matrix of Overseer Network, then...

Therefore, Paimon's most likely identity is actually that of Koitar, the Angel of the Morning Star.

This was also his conclusion after he gained a lot of information in this world.

First of all, the seven archangels and the morning star angels are almost certainly a group created by Phanes to guide and monitor the existence of the ancient civilization, and the leader of the seven angels is the morning star angel Koitar.

Therefore, the identity of this Morning Star angel and Phanes are very intriguing. The first angels do not usually mean such a simple status. Considering the situation of Teyvat itself, Phanes and the first angels may very well be one, or essentially the same in terms of status and soul, but they are two different people.

It's similar to the relationship between Nuonota and Columbia, or the Great Tree King and the Little Lucky Grass King. They are essentially one, and even their source of power is exactly the same, but they are two different people.

So, from this perspective, the angel of the Morning Star is the primordial eternal ruling matrix, which is now Paimon. She shrunk for some unknown reason, becoming what she is now, and then, for some unknown reason, was caught by the glow...

As for the fact that the angel of the Morning Star is the lover of the Third Advent, it is quite intriguing. In many stories, it is said that the sisters of March are the angel lovers of the Morning Star, also known as the Star that dictates the dawn. But in this case, what exactly is the identity of this Star that dictates the dawn?

Considering that Si Chen often corresponds to Si Chen, and the meaning of Si Chen itself actually refers to time—Paimon's ability in the game is to adjust time.

Of course, this conjecture is based on the premise that the Angel of the Morning Star is indeed an avatar or a secondary form of Fanes. Only then is it possible. In Yunxiu's view now, this possibility is becoming increasingly likely.

As for the claim that his lover is the third descendant, Yunxiu estimates that this lover is probably not a romantic lover, or rather, the relationship between the two is more like that of a collaborator or comrade-in-arms. The angel was born in his heart, so it can be said that there was no related behavior. Although the seven angels trust him very much and acknowledge the relationship, they do not have much lust.

Aside from Taranis, who genuinely lived with him all along, Taranis was still somewhat different; she was Long Yunxiu's wife, not the Third Descendant Yunxiu's.

In every respect, Long Yunxiu was more like Yunxiu herself, except that he was not so kind in many things and often had some strange behaviors, but Yunxiu also knew that these were actually some of his own flaws.

"You're quite a strange person, but you haven't made any mistakes so far, so I'll reluctantly believe you." Paimon crossed his arms and flew ahead like a little adult: "Speaking of which, if this adventure goes well, will we be able to face the bad guy who trapped Luminous in this world next?"

"It's still a long way off... Although I don't know much about these things, I know how troublesome they are." As Yueji walked with the group, she looked at Paimon and said with a smile, "In terms of strength alone, even if we put our strength together, we should be about equal to that one."

"Back then, the Seven Gods, along with the Witches' Guild, barely managed to defeat the Nibelungen, whose strength had waned considerably. And they only managed to repel them. My mother told me that this war was fraught with difficulties."

"So, to truly defeat that one, we need a truly transcendent being. Right now, the closest one should be the Geo Archon of Liyue, then my mother and my aunt. The rest are still quite far behind."

"Sigh, there's really nothing I can do. I wonder when this will be completely resolved." Paimon yawned, looking around at the scenery, and said, "How about we set up camp here for today? We still have several days left, so we should have enough time, right?"

“We’ve only just left the territory of Lake Anwatinil… Let’s walk a little further, and we’ll set up camp after we cross that mountain ahead.” Yunxiu smiled as she looked at the little flying creature and said, “I also brought some dry rations that Xiangling prepared; I can share some with you.”

"For this reason, I'll reluctantly fly for a little while longer!"

Chapter 493 The Gray Kingdom: Angels Appear

After all, they were all strong, except for Paimon. However, in the end, it was Yunxiu and Ying who took turns carrying Paimon. Yueji's way of walking was completely different from the others. She walked with a peculiar rhythm, and each step she took covered hundreds or thousands of meters, as if she had shrunk the earth to an inch.

Ying walks slowly but is actually very fast; she can cover a great distance with just a slight tiptoe.

As for Yunxiu... all that's left is pure brute force to fly. She uses her flying technique to force her way forward, and her speed isn't slower than her two demigod wives.

Yunxiu's family, including himself, has seven demigods and one true god. Ying and Yueji have always been very strong. Liuying also broke through to the realm of demigod two years ago. Last year, Xitellali finally broke through the last barrier and became the first demigod shaman in the history of Nata.

Taranis and Serania were already demigods, and Frynn, a true god, needs no further introduction. Although it feels like a mass production of demigods, objectively speaking, this group was originally extremely powerful. Yunxiu simply brought them together. As for the matter of them living together and having children...

That's another topic.

However, even on foot, they moved quite fast, resting only for one night before arriving at the desolate sea at noon the next day and finding the node.

They did indeed follow the route Boreas took back then. Although they didn't know what kind of conceptual improvement it would bring, they could definitely feel that their connection with the desolate sea had become closer after they arrived there, though not by much.

"It should be almost time, right?" Ying looked at the faint morning light in the distance, kicked Yunxiu and Yueji beside her, waking up the two demigods who theoretically didn't need to sleep, before turning back to Paimon: "Paimon, get up quickly, or we won't take you in!"

"Ah... there should be about half an hour left." Yunxiu raised her hand sleepily, cast a high-level restoration spell on herself and everyone present, and then stood up energetically. She took out her spiritual terminal and checked the time: "There are still sixty-five minutes until sunrise. According to Rene, the best time is thirty to fifty minutes before sunrise. Now is the moment when the moon is at its lowest."

He took out the jade artifact that Zi Bai had given him from his storage bag and felt its temperature. The jade artifact originally had some temperature, but now it was almost completely cold.

Yunxiu extended the jade artifact toward the sea surface, which had begun to recede, and part of the seabed of the desolate sea was even exposed.

The group waited quietly for a few minutes. Suddenly, the jade artifact became extremely cold, and a beam of moonlight emanated from it, illuminating a peculiar door, like a special mirror. Inside the mirror, there was a gray-white sky and earth.

"This should be it. Let's go in." Yunxiu stacked her buffs to the maximum, and then cast spells like Automatic Counterattack, Eternal Pure Land, and Projection Shield on the three people behind her before stepping into the gray-white void.

Then came Tsukihime, and finally Paimon, holding Luminous, as they gently entered this strange environment. Behind them, the mirror disappeared.

"The sense of space and time here is strange, it seems completely disordered." Tsukihime swayed slightly, releasing her lunar domain. The combined power of the Four Sacred Treasures created a kingdom around her, which made the group feel somewhat better. Looking at the almost endless gray-white plains in the distance, Tsukihime said, "Is this Ashihara... or the divine kingdom of 'Tsukuyomi'?"

"I don't know... Let's go." Yunxiu looked at everything in front of her and said with some emotion, "No matter where this is, I can be sure that it is very different from Teyvat."

Paimon didn't speak, but quietly nestled in Ying's arms. She cautiously extended a finger: "I feel... I feel it should be in that direction."

“Okay.” Ying gently placed Paimon on her back and looked in the direction Paimon was pointing, saying, “Let’s go in this direction.”

Yunxiu and Yueji nodded, and the three of them walked in that direction.

There was no concept of time, nor seemed to be a concept of space. It was a grayish-white place with nothing else. The sky was grayish-white, and the ground was grayish-white. There were no undulations, no stones, and no cracks. It was as if you had entered a piece of paper, a two-dimensional world.

In fact, Yunxiu and Yueji could really feel the oppressive force of this space on them.

If Tsukihime hadn't maintained the Moon Goddess Domain, they might have been crushed by space itself.

To ensure safety and orientation, Yunxiu would use magic at intervals to forcibly solidify three amber stones into a triangle to position them in space, with the sharpest point of the largest amber stone pointing in the direction indicated by Paimon.

Although I can't be sure how far I've come, I'm certain that I'm always moving forward.

Here, the concepts of "hunger" and "thirst" seem to disappear. Although Yue Ji's Moon God Domain is extremely powerful, they seem to have been stripped of something, and there really is no existence of time. Yun Xiu has clearly thrown out more than a hundred sets of marks made of amber, but judging from the time scale in her hand, there is almost no change.

“If this is a divine kingdom or a grassland, then the laws here must have completely collapsed.” Tsukihime looked at the still boundless plains in the distance and said quietly, “There is no sense of any laws at all, or rather, the laws themselves have become a chaotic kingdom. If this is really a divine kingdom, then an extremely terrible war must have broken out here.”

"Tsukuyomi's death is not surprising, but would the fall of an angel make this kingdom so terrifying?" Ying poked Yunxiu, then asked seriously, "You should know angels the most. I remember you said that the Flower Goddess Marikata and the Golden Peak Sibyl actually perished, but it doesn't seem like that?"

“No… Zibai and Taranis have both told me this.” Yunxiu glanced around and sighed, “Even the fall of Koitar should not be less than this… Or rather, given the relationship between the angels and Fanes, a single celestial nail might be the most appropriate course of action.”

"Also, have you thought about something interesting?"

"what's up?"

“Phanes likes humans… but… the Nibelungs seem to like humans too.” Yunxiu looked at Ying with some helplessness: “In some records, the Nibelungs seem to like a blonde girl… that’s why March was sculpted into a human form by the Nibelungs, otherwise why would the Nibelungs, a dragon race, create three beautiful goddesses named March?”

"So, you mean...?!"

"Yes, Phanes's anger toward the angels who colluded with the Nibelungs may be beyond imagination, if Phanes is really as we suspect."

"I see... But which blonde girl is it? Ah...!" Ying suddenly realized, pointing at herself, "Could it be that you're talking about me...?"

“Yes, your brother came to this world a long time ago. He most likely fell in love with Kong in female form... so this is quite a melodramatic story.” Yunxiu sighed helplessly and said, “Although this is just a story, I tend to think it’s true. On the contrary, many stories in the book ‘Zhongbei Prayer Song Collection’ are problematic. But one thing is almost certain: in past descriptions, the golden-haired traveler was both male and female.”

"If you've never truly woken up before, and this is your first time traveling in this world."

"But I think it should indeed be the first time, because the Emperor has really experienced a lot of things, including the Battle of Funeral Fire from Phanes."

The work Yunxiu mentioned is "Tales of the Old Capital" from the story of Ximulanka. This book was most likely written by Anders Dort. It tells the story of a black dragon who was seen in countless worlds by a girl using strange magic, which led the black dragon to the other side of the starry sea...

Finally, the black dragon transformed into a black-haired man, found the girl Lycia, and met her.

Most of the stories Anders Dort and Nicole wrote are true, that much is certain; they were simply preserved through transcription and metaphor, which was also a way they wrote stories.

Geminis do indeed have the ability to transform into each other's appearance; it's their bloodline that gives them that ability. However, they rarely use this ability, which is why people often mistake them for each other.

"If that's the case, then what about the angels who stand on the side of the dragons and the rebels? What kind of blows have they suffered..." Tsukihime said in disbelief, "But weren't angels created by Fanes to guide humanity?"

“That’s why the betrayal of humans, especially from the perspective of the dragons, is what angers her the most.” Yunxiu pointed to the surroundings and said, “I couldn’t be sure if that record was true before, but now I can be sure.”

The other three remained silent, but soon they all composed themselves and continued walking forward.

After Yunxiu threw out the 1,685th set of amber stones, Yueji finally saw something peculiar in the distance, something that didn't seem to be grayish-white, but looked very far away.

She quickened her pace, and Yunxiu soon followed. Ying, carrying Paimon, also gently followed.

The three walked for about fifty more sets of stone amber, and finally arrived at the vicinity of that grayish-white place. With the naked eye, it seemed that there was finally a concept of "land" here, and it was no longer a purely grayish-white floor.

However, the terrain here was riddled with huge craters, not the kind of craters that resemble meteorite craters or fist marks, but rather smooth, scorched pits, numbering seventy or eighty in total. Each one was like this. Yueji stood in the center of the pit and sensed it for a moment, then shook her head at Yunxiu.

“I still can’t feel anything,” she said. “It feels like… something strange has burned through this place.”

“Let’s go take a look ahead. That looks like a torii gate.” Yunxiu looked at the grayish-white things in the distance, which looked very similar to the torii gates at Narukami Shrine, but without any color: “There seem to be quite a few… and they’re quite large.”

One torii gate after another stands on the ground, with long gray-white banners planted beside them, like the beginning of a tomb.

The torii gates formed a passageway in the middle, and the three of them walked in along the passageway. The first torii gates were relatively intact, but the further they went, the more dilapidated they became.

“Three hundred and fifty-three.” Yunxiu sighed. “The seventy-first prime number. Seventy-one is also a prime number. This is indeed the abode of angels.”

Behind the 353rd torii gate is a peculiar shrine in the ancient Inatsume style, with a gray roof and a wooden structure that is half grayish-white and half still retains its pure wood color, with traces of water, as if it had just been soaked by rain.

Upon entering the temple, the interior became almost entirely gray and white. The further one went into the innermost main hall, the more chaotic the laws became. The endless, strange laws seemed to make Yue Ji somewhat uncomfortable. She had entered the state of "Moon Goddess Descent," but fortunately, she had not yet reached the point of activating the Night of the End.

“This is it…” Yunxiu said, looking at Paimon in Ying’s arms, “This should be the place you’re looking for. Push it open.”

Paimon didn't speak, silently flew out of Ying's arms, and gently pushed open the door.

This is a hall that has become almost entirely white. In the very center of the hall, there is a small seat where a beautiful young girl sits.

Her face was almost blurred, and she had six pairs of wings behind her. Although her body was still there, it was as if she did not exist in this world. Most of her body had turned completely grayish-white, with only her heart area still having a little color. However, her heart seemed to be missing. On her head was a strange crown that was no different from Paimon's.

Paimon reached out and touched the mangled body. A faint light flickered on the body, like the last flicker of a candle flame about to go out.

“This is… the first generation of the Primordial Eternal Rule Matrix created by Fanes, her own avatar… the first Angel of the Morning Star, Koitar…” Ying looked at the blurry body in front of her, but soon, her head turned to the moon in the center of the gap in the temple above the main hall.

The moon had almost lost its shape, with four huge celestial nails embedded in it, smashing the entire lunar disk to pieces.

"That is……"

“Tsukuyomi…” Tsukuyomi flew up and picked up the moon disc, gently stroking its surface, feeling the almost non-existent temperature and touch: “This is Tsukuyomi’s last gift to her mother.”

"She secured a chance for her mother to at least leave a trace in this world."

Chapter 494 Beach Night Talk and Laughter

Even those who have no understanding of that war know what happened at this moment.

Tsukuyomi hid her mother, but was eventually discovered by Phanes. Enraged, Phanes threw four Heavenly Spikes at his creation and daughter. Tsukuyomi used her body to block them, but was instantly destroyed by the four Heavenly Spikes. Her sacrifice only bought Koitar a moment of time.

In that instant, Koitar cut out his own heart.