Lumine pointed at herself, surprised that she was also involved. After half a second of thought, she stepped forward and walked out.
Qingge turned to Zhongli again: "I implore the Geo Archon for his blessing!"
Zhongli's expression remained unreadable. He raised his hand and with a sweeping gesture, a golden shield enveloped the entire clearing.
"Thank you, Geo Archon..." Qingge said solemnly, then raised her spear and strode to the center of the arena.
The water puddle in the center had been covered by the golden barrier, making it safe to step on.
Lumine summoned her longsword, its blade shimmering with crimson and golden light. The golden light quickly faded, leaving only the crimson glow.
"Thank you... for freeing me... Just pierce my heart..." Qingge said before charging toward Lumine and Qingxu.
"Old Man, are you just going to let her leave like this?"
Zhongli sighed. "This is her choice. We are powerless to change the outcome. For her, this may be the best way. Alas~"
-
Player World
[Qingge... Waaah...]
[I can't bear to see sisters fighting each other. Qingge didn't deserve this.]
[I'm crying my eyes out. She truly gave her all for Liyue. Only in games can we find such perfect people...]
-
Chen Xiyao felt deeply saddened as well. This event must have been an unforgettable experience for Qingge, Qingxu, the Traveler, and the people of Liyue.
Especially for Zhongli, who remained silent throughout, enduring yet another erosion.
Suddenly, Qingge proposed a duel with the Traveler. To Chen Xiyao's astonishment, a new character had been added to her team composition after stepping onto the arena.
It was a playable version of Qingxu!
Without a moment to spare, Chen Xiyao immediately navigated to Qingxu's profile. Upon reading her character details, she nearly burst into tears.
Having reached the Sumeru storyline, Chen Xiyao had a solid understanding of the game's mechanics. Generally, characters with fully fleshed-out lore are guaranteed to be added to the gacha.
If a character wasn't planned for the gacha, the developers wouldn't invest so much effort in expanding their backstory.
So, Qingxu is definitely going to be in the gacha pool!
And it's highly likely she'll be released in the next update.
"Amazing! Mihoyo finally did something right."
Even without Qingge, Qingxu is still a great character. Qingge and her sister have a particularly close bond, as evidenced by the story—she's clearly deeply concerned about her.
Now that Qingge has departed, players can help keep an eye on Qingxu for her.
Besides, Qingxu is growing stronger. Watching her, Chen Xiyao always recalls that valiant female general of old.
For that reason alone, she's determined to pull for her full constellation!
After getting excited for a while, Chen Xiyao turned her attention to Qingxu's character details.
Hmm, she's a sustained on-field main DPS character. Her Weapon is currently the Vortex Vanquisher, but its glow is extinguished, giving it a dark, muted appearance.
Her Elemental Skill imbues her spear with Hydro Element, while her Elemental Burst unleashes surging waves that strike all enemies within range.
Each Hydro-infused attack Qingxu lands accumulates Elemental Energy within her enemies, visually represented by numerical stacks accumulating above their heads, with no upper limit.
Qingxu's Burst, the surging waves, detonates these stacks, dealing massive damage.
When designing Qingxu's skills, Jiang Mumu considered the current damage output of Genshin Impact's main DPS characters, placing Qingxu's damage in the top tier but without making it absurdly overpowered.
To deal maximum damage, Qingxu required ample time on the field. However, during the same field time, other main DPS characters could typically achieve comparable damage output.
In theory, Qingxu could unleash colossal damage, but achieving this required ample field time.
Therefore, this doesn't really constitute numerical inflation.
[Qingxu's design looks really interesting!]
[With Qingxu, can we trigger nukes anytime?]
While the chat debated Qingxu's design, Chen Xiyao had already deployed Qingxu alongside her other three characters to face Qingge.
She started with Qingxu, whose wide, sweeping attacks covered a vast area with each swing.
This playstyle perfectly suited a mechanically challenged player like Chen Xiyao. It was easy to imagine how, when facing a large group of enemies, applying elemental buildup across the entire group wouldn't be difficult at all.
-
Mt. Aocang.
Lumine, Qingxu, and Qingge were already locked in battle. This time, Qingge held nothing back, unleashing her full power.
Now completely uninhibited, she knew that with Venti and Zhongli present, she couldn't seriously harm Lumine or Qingxu.
Having journeyed through four nations, Lumine wielded four different elements. Combined with the Primogems she had gathered along the way to fuel her growth, her strength had soared rapidly.
Facing Qingge, Lumine handled the situation with relative ease.
Qingxu refused to be outdone, her spear dancing in a blur of motion.
As the battle raged on, both Lumine and Qingxu noticed that Qingge's oppressive aura intensified, her strength surging while her rationality waned, her eyes growing increasingly bloodshot.
"Qingxu, be careful! Your sister... she's acting strangely..."
Though grief tore at Qingxu's heart, her movements remained relentless.
Outside the Geo Shield: "The time is nearly up, Old Man."
Zhongli nodded silently, his gaze fixed on the battle unfolding within the Geo Shield.
Qingge's rationality was slowly slipping away. Her attacks grew increasingly erratic, lacking both precision and restraint.
-
Player World.
In the storylines preceding Genshin Impact, the players typically fought against villains—either in battles with overwhelming power disparities or in confrontations where the enemy was buffed to the max.
This was the first time the Traveler had fought someone of their own kind, relying solely on their own strength.
Previously, everyone knew Qingge was formidable, but they hadn't truly grasped her power. Now, facing her directly, they understood what it meant to be powerful.
Of the four characters Chen Xiyao controlled, all but Qingxu had fallen.
She noticed that when Qingxu was the active character, Qingge's attacks, though still fierce, dealt significantly less damage compared to when targeting other characters.
This explained why Qingxu was the only one still standing.
Is she really holding back despite saying she's giving it her all?
Relying on Qingge's apparent leniency, Qingxu managed to stack over ninety layers of elemental accumulation on her. When she unleashed her ultimate skill, these accumulated elements erupted in a massive chain reaction, dealing over nine hundred thousand points of explosive damage. This instantly depleted Qingge's remaining health bar, reducing it to zero.
Just when they expected the storyline to advance, Qingge revealed a second form.
She discarded her spear and began attacking with her right claw, her expression twisted with ferocity. Clearly, she had completely lost her sanity.
-
Mt. Aocang.
The battle between Qingge, Lumine, and Qingxu had reached its final stage.
Lumine knew clearly that Qingge was no longer herself, yet she still couldn't bring herself to strike the killing blow.
If Lumine couldn't do it, Qingxu was even more reluctant.
Lumine glanced at Zhongli and Venti, who were observing the fight. Both nodded at her in encouragement.
She closed her eyes briefly, then quickly opened them, her gaze sharpening as she fixed it on Qingge.
"I'm sorry, Qingge..."
As Qingge lunged at Qingxu, Lumine seized her chance. With precise timing, she thrust her sword into Qingge's heart from behind...