Chapter Summaries

Ellin met Diona outside the Cat's Tail Tavern and discovered that the bartender admired her as an idol. When the tavern ran out of sunsettias for Feng'er's smoothie, Ellin agreed to search for ingredients with Diona, leaving the three of them set to spend the day together.

• Ellin greeted Diona outside the Cat's Tail Tavern, and Diona excitedly revealed that she admired Ellin as Mondstadt's top idol and a hero.
• Diona showed Ellin a rare photograph of her and asked for an autograph, which Ellin gladly provided.
• Diona learned Ellin had come with Feng'er for a Sunsettia Sweet-and-Fresh Smoothie but explained the tavern had run out of sunsettias.
• Ellin offered to help Diona search for ingredients that could ruin alcohol and asked her to make Feng'er a smoothie later.
• Diona eagerly agreed, and Ellin took her hand as they set off together.

Ellin and Diona grew closer as Diona shared why she hated alcohol and wanted to ruin Mondstadt's wine industry. Their trip to Dadaupa Gorge took a dangerous turn when Allan revealed that Draff had wandered into the Hilichurl-infested gorge while drunk.

• Diona told Ellin she preferred her kind, approachable self to the lofty Hero in the rumors, and Ellin invited her to call her a friend.
• Diona explained that she admired her father, Draff, but hated alcohol because it made him lose control, and described how her magical bartending thwarted her attempts to make bad drinks.
• Diona told Ellin she planned to use the notoriously foul Hilichurl soup from Dadaupa Gorge in a drink.
• At Dadaupa Gorge, Diona and Ellin encountered Allan, who said Draff had gotten drunk and run deep into the gorge.
• Diona realized her father was alone in a dangerous area full of Hilichurls and turned pale with fear.

Ellin flew Diona over Dadaupa Gorge to find her drunken father, Draff, and rescued him from the dangerous area. Draff admitted he had entered the gorge to bring Diona Hilichurl soup, but his drunken boasting left Diona unconvinced.

• Diona learned that Draff had gone alone into Dadaupa Gorge and panicked about his safety.
• Ellin comforted Diona, carried her into the sky, and flew with her to search the gorge.
• Ellin found Draff drunk beneath a tree, away from the Hilichurls.
• Draff explained that he had gone into the gorge to get Diona soup from a Hilichurl pot.
• Draff offered Diona a flask of soup, but she refused to believe him because he was drunk and often bragged.

Ellin helped Diona see that Draff’s dangerous trip to Dadaupa Gorge was an act of love, despite his drinking. The chapter ended with Diona leaving him a glass of liquor as a reward and asking him not to drink too much.

• Diona reluctantly opened Draff’s flask, recognized the Hilichurl cauldron soup, and forgave him for bringing it back for her.
• Ellin returned with Draff and Diona to Springvale, where she taught the children Favonius Swordsmanship and healed the villagers.
• Diona brought Ellin dinner and confessed that she hated how Draff’s drinking made him reckless and foolish.
• Ellin told Diona that Draff had acted heroically by risking his life to make her happy, and Diona’s view of him softened.
• Draff found a glass of liquor and a note from Diona rewarding his bravery while telling him not to drink so much.

Draff drank Diona’s Special Mix and was overwhelmed by the love and concern she had put into it, regretting how his drinking had hurt her. At the spring, Diona reunited with the Spring Fairy, who had hidden from her out of sorrow and fear that their different lifespans made their friendship impossible.

• Draff drank the Special Mix and remembered the two drinks Diona had made for him, including the one after she found him during a storm.
• Draff recalled his promises to stop drinking and the times Diona had cried over his drunkenness, then admitted he had not been a good father.
• Ellin asked the Spring Fairy to come out and see Diona, and the Fairy said she feared Diona hated her for turning her blessing into a burden.
• Diona found the Spring Fairy and tearfully asked why she had hidden from her for so many years.
• Ellin told the Spring Fairy that Diona treasured their friendship and would carry it with her as she moved forward.

Diona reconciled with the Spring Fairy and realized her drink-making gift had helped her father give up alcohol and bring happiness to their family. The fairy and Diona renewed their friendship, while Ellin gained a Cryo Vision that shattered along with her first one.

• The Spring Fairy admitted she had left Diona because she cared for her and feared harming her, and Diona told her their friendship already made them part of each other's lives.
• Diona explained that her gift had helped her father, Draff, and recalled how she had once mistaken the blessing for a curse.
• Draff read Diona's note, apologized to her, promised to stop drinking, and embraced Diona and her mother.
• Diona swam to the Spring Fairy and embraced her, thanking her for the blessing and asking to remain friends.
• The Spring Fairy thanked Ellin for helping her recover, and Ellin headed toward Mondstadt with a new Cryo Vision.
• The system awarded Ellin a Cryo Vision and extra inventory slots, but both of her Cryo Visions shattered.

After becoming close friends with Diona, Ellin fused a second Cryo Vision into her existing divine core and gained a stronger ability to channel Cryo energy. Diona reconciled with her father and the Spring Fairy, then began using her blessing to serve drinks that brought customers comfort at the Cat's Tail Tavern.

• The system fused Ellin’s Cryo Vision with her Wind God’s divine core, creating an unformed Cryo Archon’s divine core and strengthening her ability to channel Cryo energy.
• The system explained that five Visions of the same element and its help were needed to create a demon god core, and that such cores did not automatically grant Archon-level power.
• The next day, Diona told Ellin that her father had given away his liquor and agreed to drink only beverages she mixed for him.
• Diona made peace with the Spring Fairy and decided to use her blessing to bring happiness to others through her drinks.
• Over the following week, Diona’s specially mixed drinks drew more regulars to the Cat's Tail Tavern, where she limited customers to two drinks and refused to serve anyone who got drunk.

Ellin visited Diluc at the Angel's Share and learned that a captured Abyss Mage had resisted interrogation by both Diluc and the Knights of Favonius. She proposed trying a different approach, leaving the group to decide how to question the suspected subordinate of the [Prince].

• Ellin reflected on how her Demon God core had grown stronger than her body could yet accommodate, delaying her transformation into a true Archon.
• Ellin heard that Diluc was working at the Angel's Share and went to visit him with Feng'er.
• Ellin noticed Diluc seemed anxious and offered to help, so he took her to a secluded room and explained the situation.
• Diluc told Ellin that an Abyss Mage he had captured near Eagle's Soar Coast had endured his torture without revealing anything.
• Diluc said the Knights of Favonius, including Kaeya, had also failed to make the Abyss Mage talk, and that he and Jean suspected it was a trusted subordinate of the [Prince].
• Ellin asked where the Abyss Mage was held and suggested trying a different interrogation method.

Ellin brought Noelle to interrogate an Abyss Mage that had resisted Diluc and Kaeya, instructing her to behave politely and eat lunch in front of it. When Noelle introduced herself as captain of the Mondstadt Neighborhood Committee Knight Squad, the prisoner recognized her as the feared leader of the Mondstadt Rising Sun Watchers and was overwhelmed with terror.

• Ellin examined the battered Abyss Mage and concluded she could not make it talk through ordinary interrogation.
• Ellin told Diluc, Jean, and Kaeya that someone in the Knights of Favonius could get information from the prisoner, then went to fetch Noelle.
• Ellin gave Noelle lunch and told her to politely introduce herself to the Abyss Mage before sitting down to eat.
• Noelle entered the cell, greeted the prisoner, and introduced herself as captain of the Mondstadt Neighborhood Committee Knight Squad.
• The Abyss Mage recognized Noelle as the leader of the feared Mondstadt Rising Sun Watchers and became terrified of her.

Noelle followed Ellin’s plan to silently eat lunch in front of an Abyss Mage, whose fear of her led it to reveal a major order at Windrise. After the Abyss Mage injured itself in panic, Noelle left the cell wondering if she was truly frightening, and Ellin resolved not to put her through that again.

• Noelle silently removed her armor and prepared lunch while the Abyss Mage mistook her ordinary actions for signs of impending torture.
• As Noelle ate and cut her steak, the Abyss Mage confessed that the Abyss Prince had ordered every Abyss Mage in Mondstadt to gather at Windrise, where the Abyss Herald would appear.
• Convinced Noelle wanted it to kill itself, the Abyss Mage seized her knife and stabbed its own neck.
• Diluc, Kaeya, Jean, and Ellin watched the interrogation end in shock after Noelle obtained the confession that others had failed to get.
• Noelle left the cell upset and asked Ellin whether she was really that scary, and Ellin comforted her and vowed not to put her through the ordeal again.

After leaving Mondstadt’s stalled investigation into the Abyss Prince’s forces, Ellin returned to Liyue Harbor and noticed how its people had changed since Rex Lapis’s death. She met Chongyun on the street, and he invited her to talk while they walked.

• Jean and Diluc failed to uncover the Abyss Prince’s plans, though more Abyss Mages confirmed they had been ordered to gather at Windrise.
• Ellin told Jean and Diluc to contact her through the Serenitea Pot if they learned anything, then left Mondstadt for Liyue.
• Ellin returned to Liyue Harbor and observed the citizens’ growing resolve after Rex Lapis’s death.
• Ningguang pressured Snezhnaya for compensation over the Osial incident and surrounded the Northland Bank until the agreed payment was approved.
• Chongyun recognized Ellin, greeted her excitedly, and invited her for tea.
• Ellin said she preferred sweet, cold things and asked Chongyun for two popsicles so they could talk as they walked.

Ellin befriended Chongyun and learned that his pure yang body drove evil spirits away, preventing him from proving himself as an exorcist. She agreed to accompany him on his commissions before traveling with him to seek Xiao.

• Ellin introduced Chongyun to her familiar Feng'er, and they shared ice pops as they walked together.
• Chongyun explained that his pure yang body helped him exorcise spirits but also caused him trouble and kept him from ever seeing one.
• Chongyun asked Ellin to let him travel with her so he could find powerful evil spirits that could withstand his constitution.
• Ellin agreed to travel with Chongyun to find Xiao, but Chongyun remembered he had accepted two exorcism commissions.
• Ellin offered to accompany Chongyun on his commissions, and they headed to the first client's home.

Ellin accompanied Chongyun on an exorcism, where his pure yang energy drove away the spirits, but the client refused to pay and insulted them. Ellin retaliated by forcing the spirits back to the woman’s home, then left with Chongyun.

• Ellin disguised herself and accompanied Chongyun to a farming family's home, where his pure yang energy frightened the ghosts and evil spirits into fleeing.
• The client refused to pay Chongyun 500 Mora and mocked him, then insulted Ellin as well.
• Ellin struck the woman with a Geo brick, revealed her identity as Liyue’s fairy, and demanded an apology.
• The woman begged Ellin for forgiveness, but Ellin declared the contract void because she had refused payment.
• Ellin unleashed her Archon aura and forced the ghosts and evil spirits back to the home, then left with Chongyun.

Ellin explained to Chongyun why she had struck a woman who insulted him, then taught him to consider the spirits’ grievances before exorcising them. The Millelith revealed the woman was a murderous Treasure Hoarder, leaving Chongyun shaken by the lesson.

• Ellin told Chongyun she had acted out of anger on his behalf and healed the woman’s injuries before they left.
• Ellin explained that more than twenty lingering souls haunted the woman because of unresolved grievances, and that recklessly driving them away could worsen her karmic ties.
• A squad of Millelith arrested the woman and identified her as a former Treasure Hoarder leader who had robbed more than seventy graves and murdered over eighteen people.
• Ellin concluded that the spirits were likely victims of the woman’s crimes, while Chongyun looked deeply shaken by what he had learned.

Ellin and Chongyun investigated Liu Qingyi's haunting and learned that it was connected to the pregnancy she had ended as a teenager. Liu Qingyi accepted the spirit as her punishment, but Ellin revealed that the child had not come to kill her.

• Ellin and Chongyun arrived at Liu Qingyi's home and found the philanthropist exhausted by a month of hearing crying and wailing.
• Ellin took charge of the commission and explained that the spirit had temporarily fled because Chongyun's pure yang body frightened it.
• Ellin asked Liu Qingyi about her past, and Liu Qingyi recounted ending her pregnancy before escaping her abusive partner.
• Liu Qingyi realized the haunting spirit was the child she had lost and said she deserved whatever revenge it sought.
• Ellin interrupted Liu Qingyi and Chongyun's sorrow, insisting that the child had not come to kill anyone.

Ellin helped Liu Qingyi understand and reconcile with her unborn daughter’s yin soul, then continued Chongyun’s lessons by taking him to meet Xiao. Xiao dismissed Chongyun’s abilities as an exorcist.

• Ellin explained that Liu Qingyi’s daughter had been following and protecting her, and that she had troubled her mother to seek affection.
• Liu Qingyi apologized at her daughter’s memorial, and Ellin’s power allowed the girl’s spirit to take human form and speak to her mother.
• Ellin gave Liu Qingyi the ability to see yin souls and promised to guide mother and daughter into reincarnation together if she attained godhood.
• Ellin asked Chongyun what he had learned, and he reflected on judging spirits by their intentions and circumstances rather than appearances.
• Ellin refused Chongyun’s request for the ability to see yin souls and took him to meet Xiao.
• Xiao scorned Chongyun, calling exorcist adepts weak and insignificant.

Chongyun joined Ellin and Xiao to hunt evil spirits, but his Pure Yang Body repeatedly drove them away and complicated their work. After witnessing Xiao’s burden and the horrors they faced, Chongyun understood why Xiao had opposed his request and recognized how childish his original curiosity had been.

• Ellin explained Chongyun’s Pure Yang Body to Xiao, who dismissed Chongyun’s wish to see evil spirits as pointless and childish.
• When Chongyun prepared to leave, Ellin asked Xiao whether she should leave too, prompting Xiao to let Chongyun follow them.
• Over three days, Chongyun’s Pure Yang Body frightened wandering souls and archon-remnant spirits away before the group could reach them, so Ellin hid him in the Serenitea Pot until fights began.
• Ellin let Chongyun help fight living monsters corrupted by archon remnants, which were not scared off by his Pure Yang Body.
• Chongyun saw the immense karmic burden and baleful energy surrounding Xiao and realized that his curiosity had disregarded Xiao’s duty and the fallen exorcists and fighters.

After Xiao’s karmic debt overwhelms him, Ellin stabilizes his mind and urges him not to choose death without thinking it through. Xiao reveals that the approaching Lantern Rite has worsened his burden, leaving his survival uncertain as the festival nears.

• Ellin, Xiao, and Chongyun eat by their campfire after clearing out corrupted monsters, and Xiao’s attitude toward Chongyun has improved.
• Xiao collapses in agony as black miasma spreads from him, and Ellin realizes he had been suppressing his karmic debt.
• Xiao tells Ellin that his soul is exhausted and that he sees death as a release, but Ellin insists she will not let him die this way.
• Ellin carries Xiao into a cave and uses her bell and Hydro, Cryo, and Anemo to ease his pain and stabilize his mind.
• Xiao thanks Ellin and explains that the approaching Lantern Rite has intensified the Archons’ resentment and accelerated the buildup of his karmic debt.

After Xiao recovered, Ellin left him and brought Chongyun to meet Cloud Retainer, who revealed that Shenhe had gone to visit her old home. Ellin and Chongyun headed for Liyue Harbor to find her and help her reconnect with human society.

• Chongyun questioned whether he could become a dependable Exorcist after witnessing Xiao's Karmic Debt and the burden he carried.
• Xiao told Chongyun to understand the meaning of his Pure Yang Body, then vanished.
• Ellin took Chongyun to Mt. Aocang and bonded with Cloud Retainer by calling her big sister.
• Cloud Retainer explained that Shenhe had left the mountain to visit her family's old home and asked Chongyun to treat his aunt well.
• Cloud Retainer asked Ellin to help Shenhe find her place in the human world, and Ellin agreed before flying with Chongyun toward Liyue Harbor.

Shenhe returned to her former home, learned that it had been demolished and her father was dead, and left the mortal world behind. Ellin then helped Chongyun understand that his Pure Yang Body was a blessing for exorcists, unlike the karmic curse that had shaped Shenhe’s fate.

• The chapter recounted how Shenhe’s father abandoned her in a cave as a child, where she fought an evil creature for three days until Cloud Retainer found her and took her in.
• The adepti discovered Shenhe’s Solitary Star and Calamity fate and restrained her murderous impulses with red cords that also sealed some of her emotions.
• Shenhe learned that her childhood home had been demolished and her father had hanged himself, then left without speaking to Chongyun or Ellin.
• Ellin stopped Chongyun from following Shenhe, saying they should let her be alone and visit her at Mt. Aocang another time.
• At the docks, Chongyun recognized that Ellin had shown him the costs of fighting evil through Xiao and Shenhe.
• Ellin told Chongyun that his Pure Yang Body was the land’s blessing and gratitude to exorcists, while Shenhe’s fate was a curse tied to karmic debt.