Chapter Summaries

Shenhe and Zhong Baiye fought the black-clad attackers, but one of them summoned a Ruin Serpent that turned on everyone nearby. Zhong Baiye lured it toward a Geovishap, which repeatedly battered the serpent before tiring and letting it regain its footing.

• Shenhe slowed the black-clad attackers and began capturing them as they tried to flee.
• One attacker used a strange object to summon the Ruin Serpent, which attacked the black-clad group and trapped them in a pit.
• The Ruin Serpent ambushed Zhong Baiye and Shenhe, so Shenhe carried Zhong Baiye away while protecting him from its attacks.
• Zhong Baiye led the Ruin Serpent toward several Geovishaps, and one Geovishap pursued it underground and rammed it into the air.
• The Geovishap repeatedly struck the airborne Ruin Serpent until it tired and stopped, giving the Ruin Serpent a chance to regain its footing.

Zhong Baiye and Shenhe investigated strange activity near the sealed entrance to the Chasm after a Ruin Serpent attacked a Geovishap. At the miners’ camp, black smoke and an infected Hilichurl emerged from Treasure Hoarder holes, but tremors erased the evidence, leaving Zhong Baiye puzzled about the holes’ connection to the Chasm.

• The Ruin Serpent ambushed the Geovishap, but the Geovishap rolled away in its shell, and the Ruin Serpent burrowed back toward the Chasm.
• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe reached the Chasm’s outer reaches, saw its entrance sealed by a yellow formation, and met Mu Ning, a Ministry of Civil Affairs representative.
• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe found black smoke rising from holes dug by Treasure Hoarders, where the smoke dissolved a shovel and skeletal Hilichurls began emerging.
• Mu Ning identified the first Hilichurl to climb out as infected and said it was suffering, but Zhong Baiye and Shenhe stopped the miners from attacking it.
• Tremors forced everyone to retreat; afterward, Zhong Baiye could find neither the Hilichurl nor the holes, and Mu Ning explained that similar holes had appeared near the sealed entrance before.

Zhong Baiye and Shenhe treated the miners suffering from the black mist and learned that a suspicious Keqing had emerged from The Chasm before the entrance was sealed. Unable to enter directly, they sought Zhiqiong, whom Zhong Baiye believed could help them undo the seal.

• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe arrived at the camp and found the miners, including Mu Ning, suffering from a contagious illness linked to the black mist.
• Shenhe temporarily suppressed the worst symptoms, and Zhong Baiye learned the young woman she treated was named Zhiqiong.
• Zhiqiong insisted on entering The Chasm alone, but Mu Ning said the sealed entrance would prevent her from going down.
• Mu Ning revealed that Keqing had investigated The Chasm, emerged, and ordered the miners to conceal her visit; Zhong Baiye suspected the person who returned was an impostor.
• Mu Ning explained that the miners' illness began while Keqing was inside, leading Zhong Baiye to suspect that something below was connected to her.
• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe found Zhiqiong examining the seal beside an abandoned house, hoping she could help them open it.

Zhong Baiye and Shenhe searched an abandoned hut for research notes that Zhiqiong needed to break the seal, but a Ruin Guard inside repeatedly thwarted them. After realizing they did not need to fight it, Zhong Baiye returned to the hut and tried to speak with it.

• Zhiqiong asked Zhong Baiye and Shenhe to retrieve research notes from an abandoned hut so she could improve her chances of breaking the seal.
• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe entered the hut, found a sleeping Ruin Guard, and hurried outside when it woke.
• Zhong Baiye tried to sneak up on the Ruin Guard, but a rotten floorboard creaked and alerted it.
• The Ruin Guard barricaded the entrance with a heavy timber, preventing Zhong Baiye and Shenhe from entering without risking the hut's collapse.
• Zhiqiong questioned why they had tried to fight the Ruin Guard instead of simply retrieving the notes, and Zhong Baiye returned to the hut to ask it to talk.

Zhong Baiye and Shenhe retrieved seal research records from a self-aware Ruin Guard and followed a secret mine passage to bypass the Chasm’s seal. They reached the depths of the Chasm after escaping a giant spider.

• Zhong Baiye threatened to burn the Ruin Guard’s shelter unless it handed over the research journal, then gave it mechanical cores to repair its damaged body.
• The Ruin Guard gave Zhong Baiye a bundle of books, which he and Shenhe sorted and delivered to Zhiqiong.
• Zhiqiong found records describing a secret passage into the Chasm and led Zhong Baiye and Shenhe to an abandoned mine entrance.
• Shenhe and Zhong Baiye fought spider monsters, then fled when a giant spider chased them through the tunnel.
• The trio continued cautiously and reached a sinkhole beneath the Chasm’s seal, having bypassed it and entered the Chasm’s depths.

Zhong Baiye, Shenhe, and Zhiqiong found that a trapped Ruin Serpent was causing the tremors in the mine passage. Zhong Baiye tried to give it leverage to free itself, but his Geo construct caused a cave-in; he hoped the Ruin Serpent would escape and create a safer route to the Chasm’s depths.

• Zhiqiong went ahead despite the danger, and Zhong Baiye and Shenhe followed her down the passage.
• They found the Ruin Serpent’s tail wedged between rocks and realized its struggling was causing the tremors.
• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe tried to clear ore from the Ruin Serpent’s tail, but it thrashed violently whenever they approached.
• After Zhiqiong suggested helping the Ruin Serpent free itself, Zhong Baiye used Geo energy to compress the tunnel and create something for its tail to push against.
• The tunnel began collapsing, so Shenhe carried Zhong Baiye away as the passage became buried.
• Zhong Baiye expected the Ruin Serpent to escape through the collapse and bore a safer tunnel toward the lower level.

Zhong Baiye, Shenhe, and Zhiqiong followed the Ruin Serpent to a floating hall in the depths of the Chasm, where they encountered the source of the contamination and fought the Abyss Mages guarding it. They tried to flee after an Electro Abyss Lector appeared, but it kept teleporting in front of them until a familiar voice interrupted their desperate standoff.

• The Ruin Serpent led Zhong Baiye, Shenhe, and Zhiqiong through a tunnel to an enormous hall deep in the Chasm.
• Zhiqiong identified a black mass in the hall as the source of the contamination, alerting the Abyss Mages and Hilichurls guarding it.
• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe fled the hall and defeated the surrounding Abyss Mages by drawing them toward Zhong Baiye while Shenhe ambushed them.
• The last Electro Abyss Mage summoned an Electro Abyss Lector, prompting Zhong Baiye, Shenhe, and Zhiqiong to run.
• The Electro Abyss Lector pursued them through mysterious black holes, appearing in front of them no matter which way they fled.
• As Zhong Baiye and Shenhe prepared to fight the Electro Abyss Lector, they heard a familiar voice.

Zhong Baiye and Shenhe escaped the Electro Apostle and found Keqing trapped in an iron cage deep inside the Chasm. After Shenhe freed her, Keqing warned them that Abyss forces were making human-looking puppets, and Zhong Baiye explained what had happened in Liyue Harbor before reassuring her that she was not to blame.

• A voice guided Zhong Baiye, Shenhe, and Zhiqiong into a cave, where an explosion sealed the entrance and drove off the pursuing Electro Apostle.
• Zhong Baiye recognized the voice as Keqing’s and found her trapped in an iron cage deep inside the cave.
• Zhong Baiye failed to damage the cage, but Shenhe lifted it to create an opening, allowing Keqing to escape.
• Keqing warned Zhong Baiye and Shenhe that Abyss Mages and Apostles were using dark substance to create indistinguishable human puppets that could threaten all of Liyue.
• Zhong Baiye urged Keqing not to rush into fighting the Apostle and told her how Liyue had defeated the Vortex Demon God after her disappearance.
• Keqing blamed herself for being unable to prevent the Jade Chamber infiltration and the Vortex Demon God’s release, but Zhong Baiye reassured her that she was not responsible.

Zhong Baiye, Keqing, and Shenhe carried out a plan to destroy the black substance in The Chasm, but it produced a powerful duplicate of Keqing. Zhong Baiye noticed the fake Keqing avoided a particular spot, giving him a possible way to defeat her.

• Keqing told Zhong Baiye and Shenhe that the black substance had created a copy of her before she was imprisoned.
• Zhong Baiye assigned Shenhe to lure away the Electro Apostle while he and Keqing destroyed the black substance, and told Zhiqiong to watch from safety.
• Shenhe drew the Electro Apostle and an Electro Abyss Mage out of the hall, allowing Zhong Baiye and Keqing to enter and attack the black substance.
• The black substance split off a human silhouette before Zhong Baiye and Keqing destroyed its main mass, and the silhouette transformed into a duplicate of Keqing.
• The fake Keqing knocked away Zhong Baiye's Skyward Blade and subdued the real Keqing, but Zhong Baiye noticed that the duplicate avoided a particular spot.

Zhong Baiye and Keqing defeated Fake Keqing by exploiting the link between her and the real Keqing, but then encountered a Pyro Apostle who recognized Zhong Baiye and vanished. They regrouped with Shenhe, who said the Pyro Apostle had stopped the Electro Apostle from pursuing her, and Zhong Baiye began to suspect the Apostles knew something about his resemblance to Aether.

• Zhong Baiye and Keqing used the connection between Keqing's body and Fake Keqing to hinder the double, and Zhong Baiye destroyed her with a sword strike.
• Zhong Baiye prepared to leave with the injured Keqing, but found Zhiqiong bound at the hall entrance with a Pyro Apostle behind her.
• The Pyro Apostle saw that the dark substance was gone, recognized Zhong Baiye, and abruptly teleported away.
• Zhong Baiye and Keqing found Shenhe, who said a Pyro Apostle had appeared and the Electro Apostle had stopped chasing her.
• Zhong Baiye suspected the Apostles' reaction was connected to his resemblance to Aether, then urged the group to leave the unsafe area.

Zhong Baiye, Shenhe, and Keqing followed Yelan to a floating ruin beneath The Chasm, where the Central Core was being corrupted by dark substance. Yelan explained how the contamination created copies and proposed destroying the masses around the core, but Apostles guarding the ruin stood in their way.

• Shenhe told Zhong Baiye and Keqing that she had seen identical halls containing dark substance, and Zhong Baiye concluded that a contaminated core might be hidden in The Chasm.
• Yelan approached the group, introduced herself as an investigator of The Chasm, and led them through the mine tunnels to a floating ruin.
• Yelan explained that Abyss Heralds had turned the Central Core, which once sealed the dark substance, into a source of contamination.
• The group saw Abyss Mages create a false Ningguang, and Yelan explained that the dark substance could produce self-aware copies when sufficiently developed.
• Yelan showed them a Lumenstone fragment and proposed destroying the dark masses contaminating the Central Core so it could seal the substance again.
• Zhong Baiye and the others agreed to follow Yelan's plan, though they feared the Apostles guarding the ruin.

Yelan, Zhong Baiye, Keqing, and Shenhe began purifying the contamination sources after confirming the Apostles had vanished. At the second source, a half-sized duplicate of Shenhe appeared, and the group restrained her as Yelan prepared a fatal strike.

• Yelan explained that the Apostles had disappeared, then used the Lumenstone to purify a contamination source while Zhong Baiye and the others fought its Abyss Mages and evaded its armored Husks.
• The group saw the sky core grow brighter and its corruption recede, and Yelan led them toward another contamination source.
• Dark matter at the second source created a half-sized duplicate of Shenhe despite the Lumenstone, and Zhong Baiye explained that the duplicate mirrored what happened to Shenhe’s body.
• Shenhe marked her own hand, causing the same mark to appear on Mini Shenhe, and Yelan attacked the duplicate while Shenhe influenced her attempts to resist.
• Mini Shenhe tried to reach Shenhe, but Zhong Baiye and Keqing restrained her, allowing Yelan to aim a fatal strike at her chest.

Yelan led Zhong Baiye and the others in destroying the sources of contamination, but Zhong Baiye grew suspicious of her behavior. At the final source, Zhiqiong arrived with another Yelan, revealing that the group’s companion was a fake, and the two identical Yelans fought toward the fallen Lumenstone.

• Yelan used the Lumenstone to destroy Mini Shenhe and the source of contamination that had created her.
• Zhong Baiye questioned why Yelan had not rescued Keqing sooner, but followed her as the group eliminated six sources of contamination.
• At the largest source, contamination clung to the Lumenstone before the stone shook it off and intensified its purification.
• A Hydro arrow knocked the Lumenstone away, and Zhiqiong arrived with a second Yelan, claiming that her companion was the real one.
• Zhiqiong explained that she had found the real Yelan imprisoned in an abandoned cave, while Zhong Baiye remained suspicious of the Yelan who had led them.
• The two identical Yelans fought toward the fallen Lumenstone as Zhong Baiye and the others struggled to decide whom to help.

The Pyro Apostle disguised himself as Yelan and tried to seize the Lumenstone, but Zhiqiong caught it and briefly thwarted him. After revealing himself, he attacked Zhong Baiye and the others while preparing a larger assault, leaving them facing his shielded flames and the fireballs gathering overhead.

• The real Yelan proved her identity to Keqing by revealing Keqing's secret love of Rex Lapis figurines, and Zhong Baiye and the others moved to help her.
• The fake Yelan threw the Lumenstone toward the source of contamination, but Zhiqiong caught it before it could fall.
• The fake Yelan shed his disguise and revealed himself as the Pyro Apostle, who used a wall of flame to conceal his teleportation behind Zhiqiong.
• The Pyro Apostle took the Lumenstone from Zhiqiong, but she threw sand in his eyes, giving Yelan, Zhong Baiye, and the others time to protect her.
• The Pyro Apostle summoned fireballs overhead and attacked the group, blocking their weapon strikes with a shield around his hands.

Zhong Baiye and the others failed to stop the Pyro Apostle from purifying the final Source of Pollution, which released an armored figure from a coffin in the ruins. The figure left through a portal with the Pyro Apostle, leaving Zhong Baiye and the others alive but puzzled about the Abyss Heralds’ plan and the figure’s identity.

• Yelan sacrificed her bow to destroy the Pyro Apostle’s fireballs, while Zhong Baiye and the others were left too exhausted to attack.
• The Pyro Apostle seized the Lumenstone from Zhiqiong, and Zhong Baiye caught her after the Pyro Apostle threw her aside.
• The Pyro Apostle used the Lumenstone to purify the final Source of Pollution, restoring the Central Core and causing the ruins to reveal a coffin.
• An armored figure emerged from the coffin, spoke with the Pyro Apostle, and left with him through a portal without attacking Zhong Baiye and the others.
• Zhong Baiye and Keqing asked Yelan to explain why the Abyss Heralds had purified the Sources of Pollution and who the armored figure was.

Yelan explained that the ruins beneath The Chasm were connected to Khaenri'ah and that a Demon God's corpse had been suppressing its contamination. As Zhong Baiye and the others discussed how the Abyss Heralds used the corpse, the Giant Lumenstone floated toward him.

• Yelan led Zhong Baiye, Keqing, and the others back to the ruins and revealed carvings showing Khaenri'ah fighting a Demon God with Ruin technology.
• Yelan explained that a Khaenri'ah knight was sealed in the coffin and that the Demon God's corpse had cursed Khaenri'ah and contaminated the ruins' Central Core.
• Yelan said the Giant Lumenstone had suddenly flared a day earlier and suppressed the contamination, while Zhiqiong suggested the Abyss Heralds could control only part of the corpse.
• Zhong Baiye pointed out that the stable corpse mass in the hall had lost its usual properties, leading Keqing to infer that the Abyss Heralds had altered it.
• The Giant Lumenstone dimmed and floated toward Zhong Baiye, who sensed it touch the back of his head and leapt away with the Skyward Blade drawn.

Zhong Baiye caught the Lumenstone after the system identified it as a rare item, then encountered a masked man in black who appeared and vanished with extraordinary speed. The system revealed that the Lumenstone could enhance the Breakthrough Cube, and Zhong Baiye opened his inventory and selected the enhancement button.

• Zhiqiong grabbed the Lumenstone but let go when its coldness hurt her hands, and it flew into Zhong Baiye's arms.
• Zhong Baiye's system identified the Lumenstone as a rare item, and he reassured Yelan, Keqing, and the others that it was safe.
• Shenhe spotted a hooded man in black watching them, but he vanished before they could reach him.
• The man in black appeared behind Zhong Baiye, asked if he was Zhong Baiye, and left after calling him weak.
• Shenhe said the man had truly left, and Zhong Baiye wondered about his identity and his own lack of strength.
• The system said the Lumenstone could enhance the Breakthrough Cube, so Zhong Baiye opened his inventory and clicked the enhancement button.

Zhong Baiye obtained a perfect-quality Breakthrough Cube and learned it required a large amount of energy to use. After Yelan explained that the miners’ illness had been caused by Demon God remains, Zhong Baiye and the others returned to the surface, where the miners thanked them for lifting the curse.

• Zhong Baiye enhanced the Lumenstone into a Breakthrough Cube that could let its user reach the mortal limit, but its warning advised storing more energy before use.
• Zhong Baiye asked Yelan about the miners’ illness, and she said it had been caused by Demon God remains that were now mostly suppressed by the Khaenri'ah ruins.
• Keqing proposed that the group return to report to Ningguang, while Yelan stayed behind to investigate the ruins and led them to a secret passage out of The Chasm.
• Zhong Baiye and the others followed the passage to an abandoned hut, and Zhiqiong led them back to the miners’ settlement.
• Gu Yan and the miners bowed to Zhong Baiye’s group and thanked them for lifting the curse.

Keqing, Zhong Baiye, and their companions discovered that Ceng Yuan still bore the curse and was connected to a Demon God. After Ceng Yuan revealed his plans to restore the age of the Demon Gods, an Adeptus struck him down, and the group fought his false bodies until they dissolved.

• Keqing learned that Ceng Yuan was the only miner whose curse had not lifted and persuaded Gu Yan to take them to his cage.
• Zhong Baiye and Shenhe stopped Keqing from breaking open the cage, and the Golden Bronze Sundial revealed that Ceng Yuan was wrapped in Demon God's remains and human resentment.
• Gu Yan opened the cage, and Ceng Yuan shed his sickly disguise, revealed a black cloak, and declared that the age of the Demon Gods would return.
• A green spear pierced Ceng Yuan, who conjured five false bodies and tried to flee while Zhong Baiye and his companions fought them.
• The false bodies dissolved into black sludge, and a familiar Adeptus appeared, shaking black stains from his spear.

After Xiao helped Zhong Baiye, Keqing, and Shenhe drive off Cengyuan’s illusions, he explained that the Demon Gods were only lingering remnants of will. Zhong Baiye worried about their plans and Lumine’s journey to Inazuma, but Keqing comforted him, and the two finally kissed.

• Xiao struck Zhong Baiye for disrespecting the adepti, then explained that Cengyuan’s doubles were fake and the real Demon God had tunneled away.
• Xiao said monsters around Liyue had dwindled and warned that reviving a Demon God was harder than a mortal defeating one.
• Zhong Baiye worried about the other Demon Gods and Lumine’s situation in Inazuma, while Keqing reassured him that they would face whatever came together.
• Zhong Baiye hesitated as he drew close to Keqing, but Keqing embraced him and kissed him, and he eventually kissed her back.
• After half an hour, Zhong Baiye and Keqing separated, while Shenhe watched their kiss in astonishment.