[Ding! Congratulations on successfully completing your third reincarnation.] [Please choose one of the following three skills to inherit: Annihilation, Great Heavenly Flame Emperor, Demon Qilin Garment.]
"The third life is over..."
At that moment, Xiu Yuan was clearly far from his usual self.
He felt as though he had aged many years in an instant.
The spirit of his youth had been worn away completely.
He no longer wanted any badass skills or anything else. He just wanted to live out a peaceful life.
That was all.
"I don't want to inherit anything. I don't want to reincarnate anymore, either," Xiu Yuan said wearily.
[Ending the reincarnations early will have unpredictable consequences. Please choose carefully.]
"What will happen?"
[A completely new personality will enter this body and complete the Nine Reincarnations in your place.]
"Then let him."
[This body may interact with the worlds of the reincarnations you have already completed.]
At those words from the system, Xiu Yuan froze, his face darkening.
"What do you mean? He'll go to the parallel worlds I've already visited?" Xiu Yuan demanded in a low voice.
[Yes.]
Bang!
Xiu Yuan slammed his fist into the ground, furious.
If that replacement could affect the worlds he had visited, he was in trouble.
Qiqi, Hu Tao, Shenhe...
They might be stolen away by someone wearing his skin.
No.
Not might.
They definitely would!
Xiu Yuan knew how important he was to them. If he appeared before them again, they would trust him completely.
But the system's words also revealed something else.
Once he completed the Nine Reincarnations, he might be able to return to his previous worlds!
"Six lives left..."
Xiu Yuan gritted his teeth and examined the three skills.
Annihilation: Releases an energy sphere that expands by 500%-3,000% upon reaching the designated location. The area it envelops is instantly ignited, and all air within the area is burned away within five seconds, creating a vacuum. Great Heavenly Flame Emperor: Releases heat ranging from 5,000 to 10,000,000 degrees at the cost of lifespan. (Lifespan consumed depends on the area of effect, temperature, duration, etc.) Demon Qilin Garment: A garment crafted from the Flame-Demon Evil Dragon's scales. Grants immunity to fire damage when worn and doubles the host's fire attacks.
All three were powerful options.
Annihilation could create a vacuum outright, while the Great Heavenly Flame Emperor's temperature was absurd. After all, the sun's surface was only around 5,500 degrees, while its core could reach 15 to 20 million degrees.
And the heat unleashed by Annihilation was almost comparable to the sun's surface. No wonder it took lifespan to use.
After weighing his options, Xiu Yuan chose the third.
For offense, he had his spear techniques and Blackflame.
For movement, he had Flame Flash Body Flicker.
All he lacked now was defense.
Although the other two skills looked impressive, he still needed to be strong enough himself.
During his second life, he had taken three arrows while trying to save Xiangling.
Perhaps that would not have happened if he had possessed the Demon Qilin Garment.
[You have selected: Demon Qilin Garment. Your next reincarnation will begin shortly.] [Successfully activated!] [Mission: Make Xiao smile from the heart once more.] [Teleporting you...]
As the light swallowed Xiu Yuan, he returned once again to the familiar outskirts of Liyue.
"This mission is harder than all the previous ones..."
Xiu Yuan's brow furrowed deeply as he rested his chin on his hand and carefully thought over what he knew about Xiao.
Naturally, it was not difficult because Xiao was male.
It was because Xiao...
Had not smiled in over a thousand years...
Even his favorite almond tofu was, to him, merely one of the few human foods he could stomach.
That alone made it clear...
Just how difficult this would be.
Three thousand years ago, the Archon War had erupted in Teyvat, engulfing the entire continent.
The purpose of this war was for the various Demon Gods of the time to fight over the Seven Archons' seats.
Not long after the war broke out, a youth named Golden Roc appeared.
That youth was Xiao, before he became an adeptus.
A Demon God seized on his weakness, brought him under its control, and took him into its service, making him its foremost general.
At that time, the young Golden Roc was still naive and ignorant.
He did not resist, nor did he have the power to.
At the Demon God's command, countless humans, demons, spirits, and gods died at his hands.
He had stained his hands with endless blood, committed countless acts of slaughter, and trampled countless dreams.
As the Demon God's foremost general, he also possessed the ability to devour “dreams.”
The Demon God would force him to devour his opponents' sweet dreams after he defeated them, even though he couldn't resist their taste.
Yet killing his enemies and then robbing them of their last shred of spiritual sustenance caused him unbearable anguish.
But he had no choice...
During Golden Roc's service to the Demon God, his gentleness and innocence were completely stripped away. He went from a naive, ignorant youth to a cold machine that knew only slaughter.
Apart from killing, he knew nothing...
Over time, he shut himself off completely, no longer expressing or revealing his emotions.
Calm, heartless, savage, brutal, cold, death, ill omen...
Those words became synonymous with him.
Finally, one day, Morax encountered Golden Roc's master on the battlefield.
That day, a ray of light shone into the abyss.
Golden Roc had been imprisoned in shackles for so long that both his body and mind had fallen into darkness, but the moment his master fell...
He finally saw the light of dawn shine into his world.
Morax also gave the newly liberated Golden Roc Yaksha a new name.
That name was "Xiao."
A change of name also signified a new life. In tales from foreign lands, "Xiao" referred to a spirit that had endured suffering and been tempered by hardship.
It suited the youth's experiences perfectly.
To repay Rex Lapis for his kindness, Xiao signed a contract to protect Liyue for a thousand years.
Compared with the small-scale war between Mondstadt's three Demon Gods, Liyue's Archon War was a gruesome tragedy.
With his unrivaled divine power and the aid of many adepti, Morax emerged victorious.
The fallen Demon Gods were sealed beneath solid rock.
Even in death, their resentment could still coalesce into evil spirits and monsters.
They destroyed everything on land and stirred up storms at sea.
Although Rex Lapis had many adepti at his side, not all of them were suited to combat.
The heavy responsibility of purging demons ultimately fell to the Guardian Yakshas, who were more adept at fighting and killing.
That was also why the other adepti all bore titles ending in "True Lord."
For example: Moon Carver, Mountain Shaper, Cloud Retainer, Fortune Preserver, Skybracer...
Xiao alone bore the adeptal title "Conqueror of Demons."
His duty, his mission, was to slay monsters and eradicate demons.
There had originally been five Guardian Yakshas, but their long years of battling monsters had tainted them with too much malevolent energy.
By the time peace came, three of the five Yakshas had died, and one had vanished.
Only the Golden Roc Yaksha, Xiao, remained at Geo Lord's side.
Before you continue