The Battle Between Adepti and Demons

Ding! The system has detected a powerful wish near the host. The host will be awakened briefly!

"My head hurts!"

"I feel like all my strength is gone. Did the system wake me up early?"

Qiu Bai sat up, clutching his head.

"This is my Cave Abode. Why is it such a mess? And what's happening outside? An earthquake?" Qiu Bai murmured.

"System, what happened?"

Ding! In response to the host: five hundred years have passed. A catastrophe originating in Khaenri'ah is sweeping through Liyue. Outside, the adepti and great demons are locked in battle!

"So that's it. I can only stay awake for two hours now?" Qiu Bai murmured.

Qiu Bai sensed someone inside the Cave Abode. When he looked in that direction, his jaw nearly dropped.

"Th-this is Qiqi!"

Qiu Bai immediately flashed to Qiqi's side. At that very moment, the battle between the adepti and demons outside suddenly stopped.

Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, Ganyu, and the other adepti all ceased fighting, as did the great demons.

Black, malevolent energy radiated from the great demons, giving them an indescribably eerie air.

"Is this the power of a Vision? What happened? That's the Immortal Lord's Cave Abode."

Mountain Shaper murmured to himself.

Meanwhile, inside the cave.

"Qiqi is still barely breathing, but with my essence damaged, how can I save her?"

Qiu Bai looked at the pitiful Qiqi, unable to bear the sight.

Suddenly, Qiu Bai seemed to sense something.

"Wait, those presences outside belong to Cloud Retainer and the others. I know what to do."

As the adepti and demons watched the cave entrance, it suddenly burst open, and an outrageously handsome man dressed in black and white walked out.

"It's the Immortal Lord!"

Ganyu was the first to cry out in delight.

Cloud Retainer and the others also looked at Qiu Bai with delighted surprise.

"Immortal Lord, why have you awakened? Have your injuries healed?!"

Mountain Shaper looked at Qiu Bai excitedly.

If the Immortal Lord had recovered, Liyue's crisis could be resolved.

With an Immortal Lord who could fight the sovereign, and Azhdaha in Liyue as well, what threat could monsters and great demons possibly pose? That was what all the adepti were thinking.

"Stop fighting for now. What does your battle have to do with the little girl inside my Cave Abode?"

Qiu Bai spoke calmly as he looked at the great demons and adepti in the sky.

The great demons stared at Qiu Bai, deeply shocked.

"A Demon God, an incredibly powerful Demon God!"

They had all once been followers of Demon Gods and knew full well how powerful they were.

"You so-called great demons, come down. Come with me and see that little girl."

Qiu Bai spoke mildly as he looked at the great demons, but the authority in his words was unmistakable.

Looking at the great demons, Qiu Bai recognized the black energy emanating from them at a glance.

"Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, Ganyu, you come along too."

Qiu Bai turned his gaze to the adepti as well.

"Yes, Immortal Lord."

Though Cloud Retainer and the others had their doubts, those soon faded.

Inside the Cave Abode, the adepti and demons looked at the dying Qiqi with pity. The great demons did not hate mortals, either.

They had once had people of their own to protect, safeguarding a peaceful haven for them.

Seeing this little girl, how could they leave her to die?

Especially after seeing the Vision beside Qiqi, they found her plight even harder to bear.

They had only come to avenge their Demon Gods. Their targets were the adepti and Morax.

But what did any of that have to do with this young mortal?

"Let us call a truce for now and save this little girl."

Cloud Retainer spoke quietly as she looked at Qiqi, who had been gravely wounded by their battle and now barely clung to life.

The great demons felt guilty as they looked at Qiqi, who was on her last breath yet still wanted so desperately to live.

Wracked with guilt and unable to bear it, they decided to call a temporary truce, determined to save this innocent life.

The adepti and great demons poured their adeptal energy and power into Qiqi together, pulling her back from death's door.

But Qiqi could not control her Vision or the immense adeptal energy and power at all. She went berserk, attacking everything around her indiscriminately.

Qiu Bai frowned, raised his hand, and poured yang qi into Qiqi's body, suppressing the frenzied power.

Qiqi then fell into a deep sleep.

"Immortal Lord, what should we do now? This little girl cannot withstand such power. She will need at least several hundred years to adjust."

The adepti and great demons all looked at Qiu Bai.

Qiu Bai said nothing. With a wave of his hand, he lifted Qiqi into the air and led her out of the Cave Abode.

"Let us seal her in amber."

Turning his hand over, he poured yin-yang energy into Qiqi's body, encased her in amber, and placed another seal upon her.

Qiu Bai then walked toward the cliff. The adepti and demons exchanged glances before following him.

"Let this battle between adepti and demons end here."

Standing atop the cliff with his back to them, Qiu Bai spoke mildly.

"But, Immortal Lord!"

Mountain Shaper stepped forward and called out.

Qiu Bai's mouth twitched. Seriously, I don't even have one percent of my strength left. Do you still think I'm at my peak?

Qiu Bai turned around to face the adepti and demons.

"You so-called great demons are not truly great demons. Your minds have merely been tainted to some extent in the Dark Sea."

Qiu Bai looked at the great demons and continued.

"During Liyue's Archon War, countless Demon Gods fought endlessly, their conflicts never ceasing. Yet Morax, who emerged victorious, never harmed your people."

"He even took them in and treated them as members of Liyue. Now your fighting here has caught countless mortals in the crossfire. These mortals are the very people you once protected."

Having said this, Qiu Bai looked at the great demons.

Yang qi shimmered in his hand before flowing into their bodies, slowly purifying the black energy.

"Were we... wrong?"

As the black energy gradually dissipated, the so-called great demons slowly returned to their original forms.

"That's better."

Qiu Bai spoke with relief as he looked at the great demons whose original appearances had been revealed.

They could no longer be called great demons. Some were horse-like creatures with a single horn on their heads, while others had butterfly-like forms with wings on their backs...

These great demons assumed human forms, looked at Qiu Bai gratefully, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Immortal Lord, for purifying the black energy within us."

Qiu Bai gave a slight nod as he looked at these beings who resembled immortals yet were not.

Though the story had never clearly defined the distinction between adepti and yokai.

That sly fox Yae Miko was probably a fox immortal, making her a kind of yokai immortal as well.

Those before him were likely powerful yokai rather than adepti.

"Find somewhere to live in seclusion, either here in this vast land of Liyue or elsewhere in the mortal world."

"Do not return to the Dark Sea. You are far too weak for that place, and your minds will be corrupted."

Qiu Bai offered the yokai some advice.

Looking at the powerful, composed, yet gentle Demon God before them, the yokai sank into thought. A short while later, they gave their answer.