Chapter Summaries

Xiu Yuan returned after experiencing seven lives and tried to prepare himself before seeing Shenhe. While Jean told Shenhe that Xiu Yuan had died of a terminal illness, he appeared behind her and announced that he was back.

• Xiu Yuan woke up in his own body and confirmed that he had returned.
• Xiu Yuan decided not to seek out Shenhe immediately, wanting to recover his old frame of mind first.
• Jean brought Shenhe food and urged her to return to Mondstadt, but Shenhe refused and said she would wait for Xiu Yuan.
• Jean told Shenhe that Xiu Yuan had a terminal illness and was not coming back.
• Shenhe broke down in tears and begged Jean to say she was joking.
• Xiu Yuan appeared behind Shenhe and said he was back.

Xiu Yuan returned to Shenhe, who joyfully embraced and kissed him, and reassured her that he would stay. After Jean stopped their kissing and became embroiled in their teasing, Xiu Yuan asked her to witness his marriage to Shenhe.

• Shenhe and Jean were stunned when Xiu Yuan appeared, then Shenhe rushed to embrace him and wept with relief.
• Xiu Yuan promised Shenhe he would not leave again, and they kissed until Jean interrupted them.
• Jean pulled Shenhe away and tried to warn her not to fall for Xiu Yuan too easily, but Shenhe reminded her of the advice Jean had given.
• Xiu Yuan covered Jean's mouth and claimed she was offering to treat them to a feast, while Jean struggled to protest.
• Jean comforted Shenhe and felt relieved that she was doing better, then Xiu Yuan asked Jean to witness his marriage to Shenhe.

Xiu Yuan and Shenhe celebrated the completion of their new home and shared a meal together. Xiu Yuan proposed that they marry the day after tomorrow, and Shenhe accepted with joy.

• Shenhe delightedly explored the finished three-story home that Xiu Yuan had built for them.
• Xiu Yuan reassured Shenhe that their home was real and led her inside to look over every room.
• Xiu Yuan served Shenhe Tomato and Egg Noodles and promised to make them for her whenever she wanted.
• Xiu Yuan asked Shenhe to marry him the day after tomorrow and told her he would never doubt his decision.
• Shenhe agreed to marry Xiu Yuan and resolved to look her most beautiful for the wedding.

With her wedding to Xiu Yuan set for the next day, Shenhe went with Jean to Mondstadt to choose a wedding dress while Xiu Yuan stayed behind to take care of other matters. Shenhe and Jean found a dress they all liked, and Xiu Yuan had yet to join them.

• Jean arrived at Xiu Yuan and Shenhe's home and offered to help Shenhe choose a wedding dress.
• Xiu Yuan said he needed to handle a few matters before joining them, and Shenhe trusted him to come soon.
• Jean took Shenhe to Yuna's wedding shop in Mondstadt, where Yuna welcomed them and complimented Shenhe.
• Shenhe, Jean, and Yuna narrowed down their choices and settled on a wedding dress that suited Shenhe.

Shenhe tried on a wedding dress at Yuna’s shop while waiting for Xiu Yuan, and Yuna and Jean helped her prepare. Yuna led Shenhe into a dark room, where a beam of light revealed Xiu Yuan waiting for her.

• Shenhe worried that Xiu Yuan might not arrive, but Jean reassured her and she went to try on a wedding dress.
• Shenhe emerged in the dress, and Yuna and Jean praised her beauty.
• Yuna did Shenhe’s makeup while Jean left to check other bridal shops in case Xiu Yuan had gone to the wrong one.
• Yuna led Shenhe into a dark room and closed the door behind her.
• Lights revealed Xiu Yuan in a suit, and he and Shenhe walked toward each other until they stood face-to-face.

Xiu Yuan surprised Shenhe with a wedding ceremony he had secretly prepared with Jean and Yuna, and they exchanged vows and rings. Jean pronounced them husband and wife, and Xiu Yuan and Shenhe sealed their marriage with a kiss.

• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe found the wedding venue decorated with handmade stuffed toys, lights, balloons, and candles.
• Jean appeared, and Shenhe realized Xiu Yuan, Jean, and Yuna had tricked her into thinking the wedding was scheduled for the next day.
• Xiu Yuan told Shenhe how beautiful she was and recalled their past together.
• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe each vowed to love, cherish, and remain faithful to the other for life.
• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe exchanged rings as Jean guided the ceremony.
• Jean pronounced Xiu Yuan and Shenhe husband and wife, and they embraced and kissed.

After three years of marriage, Xiu Yuan and Shenhe set out to travel the world before having a child, rediscovering the quiet beauty beyond everyday bustle. In Liyue, they met Hu Tao and agreed to book a funeral ceremony with the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe decided to travel together before trying to have a child, then left home the next morning.
• In Liyue, they slowed their journey to admire the scenery and found peace in a golden-lit alley as children played and residents enjoyed the evening.
• Hu Tao stumbled toward Xiu Yuan and Shenhe after jumping from a roof, then offered them a discounted funeral ceremony.
• Xiu Yuan agreed to book the ceremony, explaining that death was a natural fate, and Shenhe accepted as well.
• Hu Tao asked their names, and Shenhe and Xiu Yuan introduced themselves.

Xiu Yuan and Shenhe visited the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to arrange joyful funerals, and Xiu Yuan bought an iron shovel so he could dig his own grave beside Shenhe’s. After they left, Hu Tao and Zhongli watched them go and hoped to speak with Xiu Yuan again.

• Hu Tao brought Xiu Yuan and Shenhe to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, where Zhongli welcomed them.
• Hu Tao explained funeral options, and Shenhe chose a joyful funeral because she hoped to meet Xiu Yuan in another life.
• Xiu Yuan asked to buy an iron shovel and explained that he planned to bury Shenhe, then dig his own grave beside hers and hold a joyful funeral.
• Hu Tao gave Xiu Yuan a shovel, and he reassured Shenhe that he would stay behind her and protect her.
• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe paid for their arrangements and left, while Hu Tao and Zhongli remarked on how much they liked speaking with Xiu Yuan.

After five years of traveling across Teyvat, Xiu Yuan and Shenhe encountered Abyss Monsters whose infectious virus had forced Mondstadt and Liyue to seal their borders. Xiu Yuan helped defeat the monsters in Liyue, leaving Zhongli to wonder how powerful and mysterious Shenhe’s husband truly was.

• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe spent nearly half a year exploring Liyue, then traveled through Teyvat’s seven nations over five years.
• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe encountered Abyss Monsters, and Xiu Yuan killed them while warning that their appearance troubled him.
• Eula told Xiu Yuan and Shenhe that the monsters spread an infection that turned people into hostile purple creatures, then had them checked before they entered Mondstadt.
• Xiu Yuan and Shenhe learned that Mondstadt had sealed its gates and Liyue had sealed its borders, so they hurried back to Liyue.
• Shenhe moved to join the Adepti and Ganyu fighting Abyss Monsters, but Xiu Yuan killed the nearby creatures with Earth Spikes.
• Zhongli watched from a teahouse roof and suspected Xiu Yuan had defeated the monsters, reflecting that he could not sense or understand Xiu Yuan’s power.

Xiu Yuan and Shenhe went to the Chasm after a huge crash, where they found Morax fighting an Abyss-infected Azhdaha. Xiu Yuan returned Morax to his Archon War peak, and the chapter ended with him introducing himself as Shenhe’s husband.

• Cloud Retainer and Moon Carver welcomed Shenhe and Xiu Yuan back and warned them about the growing monster threat and its fast-spreading infection.
• A crash came from the Chasm, and Xiao stayed behind to protect Liyue Harbor while Xiu Yuan and Shenhe went to investigate.
• At the Chasm, Shenhe and Xiu Yuan found Morax battling Azhdaha, who had been infected and had become a mindless threat.
• Xiu Yuan used his power over time to restore Morax to his peak during the Archon War.
• After Morax’s shield withstood Azhdaha’s lightning, Xiu Yuan introduced himself as an ordinary man and Shenhe’s husband.

Xiu Yuan and Shenhe joined Morax in The Chasm, where Xiu Yuan freed Azhdaha from the barrier and knocked him unconscious with a single blow. Though he tried various methods to cleanse the Abyss from Azhdaha, Xiu Yuan told Morax that nothing worked and Azhdaha might never recover.

• Xiu Yuan carried Shenhe into The Chasm after Morax subdued Azhdaha, and Shenhe discovered that Xiu Yuan could fly.
• Xiu Yuan examined Azhdaha and found that the Abyss resisted his power over time.
• Xiu Yuan asked Morax to remove the barrier, and Shenhe reassured Morax that she trusted Xiu Yuan.
• Morax lowered the barrier, and Xiu Yuan knocked Azhdaha unconscious with one blow.
• Xiu Yuan tried to cleanse the Abyss from Azhdaha but told Morax that he could not heal him.

Xiu Yuan discovered that the Heavenly Principles had fled Celestia and inherited her position, restoring his powers as the Abyss spread across Teyvat. After empowering Shenhe and promising to return, he set out to confront the world’s growing chaos.

• Xiu Yuan told Morax he could not save Azhdaha and urged him to seek the Heavenly Principles on Celestia, then went to Snezhnaya to retrieve Morax’s Gnosis.
• Morax returned from Celestia, accusing Xiu Yuan of lying because he had found no Heavenly Principles there.
• Xiu Yuan searched Celestia with Shenhe and learned that the original Heavenly Principles had fled, though he could inherit her position and regain [Life], [Death], and [Space].
• Xiu Yuan used Celestia’s power to discover that Abyss monsters and corrupted, unsealed Demon Gods were overrunning Teyvat.
• Xiu Yuan strengthened Shenhe until her power was second only to the Seven Archons, then created his Four Shades and left to face the spreading chaos.

Xiu Yuan saved Liyue and the other nations from the demon gods, then reunited with Shenhe as the Abyss spread across Teyvat. He warned the Seven Archons that infection was incurable, while monsters continued to overwhelm every region outside his Protective Barriers.

• Xiao charged out of Liyue's failing Protective Barrier to face five demon gods, but Xiu Yuan appeared and destroyed them, then restored the barrier.
• Xiu Yuan rescued Morax from the twenty-eight infected demon gods surrounding him and eliminated the remaining attackers without answering Morax's questions.
• Xiu Yuan raised Protective Barriers over the central regions of the six nations and returned safely to Celestia, where Shenhe embraced him.
• Xiu Yuan told Shenhe that Azhdaha could not be cured and said her safety mattered more to him than anything else.
• Xiu Yuan warned the Seven Archons to avoid fighting Abyss Monsters because infection meant certain death, while his clones patrolled the nations.
• Abyss Monsters continued rising from the earth and overran all of Teyvat outside the protected areas.

Xiu Yuan moved the Seven Nations to a vast new continent to protect them from the rising Abyss, buying himself twenty-seven years to find a solution. After explaining the crisis to the Seven Archons, he returned to Shenhe, who promised to wait for him.

• Xiu Yuan discovered that the Abyss rose one meter each day and could not be stopped, so he created a vast continent while it spread beyond sea level.
• Xiu Yuan transferred the Seven Nations to the new continent and surrounded it with seawater and a Protective Barrier against the Monsters.
• Xiu Yuan told the Seven Archons that the Abyss crisis left them twenty-seven years and asked them to keep their people calm.
• Morax and Zebu questioned Xiu Yuan about the Abyss, the former Heavenly Principles, and why he had chosen to remain in this world for Shenhe.
• Shenhe told Xiu Yuan she would wait for him to return, no matter how long it took.

Xiu Yuan continued toward the Imaginary Tree, hoping to save Teyvat, while Shenhe waited for him on Celestia. Ten years after he left, Shenhe still held on to their memories as Jean visited her with food and stories from her travels.

• After learning that Teyvat was sinking, Xiu Yuan flew toward the Imaginary Tree, but after five years without getting closer, he chose to keep going despite the uncertainty.
• Shenhe remained on Celestia, refusing to leave because she wanted to be the first to notice Xiu Yuan's return.
• In Abyss Era year ten, Jean visited Shenhe with food from Sumeru and asked her for advice about traveling to the Fire Nation.
• Jean and Shenhe looked at photographs from Xiu Yuan and Shenhe's travels, and Shenhe said that whatever Xiu Yuan's identity, he was still himself.

After twenty-seven years without Xiu Yuan, Shenhe finally welcomed him home. He revealed that he could save a small part of Teyvat by creating a world he would have to support for the rest of his life, and Shenhe accepted the sacrifice.

• The Seven Archons visited Celestia for years seeking news of Xiu Yuan, while Shenhe continued to believe he would return.
• In the twenty-seventh year of the Abyss Era, the Seven Archons gave up hope, but Shenhe held onto her faith as she looked at their photographs.
• Xiu Yuan returned and embraced Shenhe, and she wept with relief before comforting him when she saw his despair.
• Xiu Yuan explained that he could create a small world encompassing the Guili Plains and Liyue Harbor, but he would have to remain its support and could never leave.
• Shenhe accepted that they might never see each other again and called sacrificing himself for the world a rare kind of romance.

Xiu Yuan erased Teyvat to spare its people the suffering of the Abyss, then comforted Shenhe as she struggled with the loss and her guilt. He reassured her that he loved her without expecting anything in return.

• Xiu Yuan told Shenhe the Abyss would reach the surface in less than two days and raised his hand to end the people’s suffering.
• Xiu Yuan used the power of time to make the continent vanish and turn time back ten thousand years, revealing that the Abyss had consumed all of Teyvat except Celestia.
• Shenhe was shaken by the silent loss of her master, friends, and the world she and Xiu Yuan had traveled together.
• Shenhe apologized and told Xiu Yuan she understood the pain and burdens he had carried alone, while wishing she had supported him more.
• Xiu Yuan wiped Shenhe’s tears and told her that love was not a transaction and that he loved her simply because he wanted her to be happy.

After Shenhe and Xiu Yuan shared a final morning together, Xiu Yuan killed her at her request and broke down in grief. He gave her a joyful funeral, buried himself beside her, and ended his life as a mysterious guidance process began.

• Shenhe and Xiu Yuan embraced and spoke of their love and her regret that they had never had a child.
• Shenhe asked Xiu Yuan to kill her, and he used his power of death to end her life before burying her in a grave.
• Xiu Yuan wept for seven days as the rain fell and the Abyss reached Celestia, then remembered Shenhe's wish for a joyful funeral.
• Xiu Yuan created magpies and held a joyful funeral for Shenhe, singing and reciting memories of their life together.
• Xiu Yuan apologized to Shenhe and the magpies, buried himself beside Shenhe, and used a rock spike to end his life.
• A message appeared saying that guidance was in progress.

After discovering he could observe multiple versions of Teyvat, Xiu Yuan realized the system had tested him through his reincarnations and decided to create a new system bearer. He brought a grieving firefighter from Earth into a new reincarnation, hoping to save Teyvat and return to Shenhe.

• Xiu Yuan begged the system to bring Shenhe back and learned that he had to save Teyvat to reunite with her.
• Xiu Yuan observed Teyvat and Earth but found he could not interfere directly with either world.
• Xiu Yuan discovered nine versions of Teyvat and realized the system had offered him a choice after his ninth lifetime to see whether he would choose to save Teyvat.
• Xiu Yuan searched Earth for a kind, intelligent adult man who loved Genshin Impact and found a firefighter consumed by guilt over a child's death.
• After the firefighter attempted suicide, Xiu Yuan erased his memories and brought him to the system, which announced that he would receive the Nine Reincarnations System.

Xiu Yuan manipulated another version of himself through nine reincarnations so he could break the curse and reunite with Shenhe. After the other Xiu Yuan chose to remain in the ninth lifetime and recreated Teyvat, Xiu Yuan joined the reborn Shenhe, while the author explained that both endings were happy.

• Xiu Yuan warned the firefighter that ending reincarnation early would send a new personality through the remaining lives, so the man continued into his fourth lifetime.
• Across later reincarnations, Xiu Yuan took away the man's acquired resources and skills, leaving him the Tranquility Mantra and guiding him through his seventh and eighth lives.
• After the ninth lifetime, the man considered whether to stay or begin a tenth reincarnation, then chose to remain in the ninth lifetime before the system self-destructed.
• When the Abyss devoured Teyvat thousands of years later, the man escaped the Sea of Quanta and used One Thought, Three Thousand to create a new Teyvat.
• Xiu Yuan received notice that the reincarnation curse was broken and Shenhe had been reborn, then reunited with her in the new Teyvat.
• The author explained that Xiu Yuan had become the system and that the endings were happy because he manipulated another Xiu Yuan into saving the world while reuniting with Shenhe.