Flow Backward, Time!

"Guizhong, you died?!"

Inside the abode on Mt. Aocang, the adepti stared at the video, unable to make sense of what they were seeing.

Like most viewers, they clearly remembered that Guizhong had survived the Archon War. She had never died in that war at all.

Besides, even setting their memories aside, wasn't Guizhong herself standing right in front of them the best proof of that?

So was the video lying?

The adepti present couldn't help entertaining that thought, and they began to doubt the entire A Hundred Lifetimes of Reincarnation series.

After all, if Guizhong's story could be faked, wouldn't the first two videos be just as false?

But just as the adepti were about to question the video itself, Guizhong, the one at the center of it all, widened her eyes. A jumble of memories seemed to be surfacing in her mind.

At last, the girl in white suddenly clutched her head, her expression pained. "Yes, that's right... How could I have forgotten it all?"

"So you do remember everything, Guizhong!" Cloud Retainer said, looking furious. "The video really is lying, isn't it? I'll find whoever started this rumor and make them pay!"

Most of the other adepti reacted much the same way, agreeing with Cloud Retainer.

To their surprise, however, Guizhong neither shared their view nor agreed with what they had said.

Her face slightly pale, the girl murmured with a complicated expression, "No, don't do that. What the video shows is true."

"Just as I thought, it's all a rumor... Wait? What are you saying, Guizhong!?"

Cloud Retainer's eyes widened at Guizhong's words.

She had never expected the God of Dust to say such a thing.

After all, in the video, Guizhong had died beneath an enemy god's spear, completely and utterly killed.

If the video was true, wouldn't that mean Guizhong had died in the Archon War long ago?

Then who was the girl standing before her now!?

"Lady Guizhong, you said you died. Does that mean you're just a ghost?!"

Shenhe, standing nearby, also looked surprised and spoke slowly.

As the adepti all recoiled in alarm, Guizhong herself looked relieved. "No, I did die in that Archon War, but I didn't become a ghost. I survived."

"???"

Guizhong's words only left the adepti looking more confused.

What did she mean, she had died in the Archon War but survived?

Was she even speaking the language of Liyue?

Why couldn't I understand a word of it!?

As the adepti grew more confused, Guizhong herself seemed to be sorting through the memories she had just recovered. Pointing at the video, she said slowly, "There's no need to hurry, everyone. I think the video will give us the answer soon."

At Guizhong's prompting, the adepti stopped questioning it and watched the video with bated breath, eager to see what twist could have left Guizhong "both dead and alive."

In the video.

The scenes of the Archon War continued.

After killing Guizhong, the God of Dust, the Yaksha God began slaughtering the people of the Guili Assembly.

Everyone present, adeptus and mortal alike, died beneath the blade of this terrifying god.

As that despairing scene unfolded, all the viewers clutched at their chests, feeling an indescribable heaviness.

Even the history buffs who doubted the video was real gave up arguing for the moment, their faces filled with anguish as they watched scenes so close to reality.

[Dammit, whether it's real or not, seeing Lady Guizhong die hurts too much.]

[Lady Guizhong was such a good god. How could she die just like that?]

[Even if it's fake, I don't want something like this to happen.]

[Isn't there anyone who can save our Lady Guizhong!]

For a time, the viewers were completely drawn into the video's horrifying and sorrowful atmosphere.

Many had even begun wiping away tears.

At that moment of near despair, a figure suddenly rushed over from the edge of the battlefield and arrived at the scene.

"So I was too late after all?"

A man who looked like Asura Yaksha, but whose bearing was slightly different from the one in the previous video, slowly approached.

He had witnessed Guizhong, the God of Dust, being defeated by the army of gods and finally stabbed to death by the Yaksha God's spear. His face could not help but fill with grief and sorrow.

"The constraints of the Heavenly Principles still can't be broken after all. To change a predetermined fate, one must step outside the framework of the laws..."

The man continued murmuring all sorts of incomprehensible things.

He then walked straight out and came to a stop directly in front of the Yaksha God.

Asura Yaksha's strength stood out among the adepti, but compared with a truly great god, the difference between them was like that between a firefly and the bright moon. There was simply no comparison.

Thus, after a brief clash, Asura Yaksha's body was also pierced by the Yaksha God.

Yet even in the face of death, there was not a trace of fear on Asura's face. Instead, he looked calm and unrestrained.

"If I can't succeed once, then I'll try again."

"Flow backward, time!"

As the man's voice fell, an astonishing scene began to unfold.

The ruined Guili Assembly rapidly returned to its former state, and the dead lying on the ground rose to their feet as though the scene were being rewound.

Even Guizhong, who had died and turned to dust, came back to life before the law of time!

[Holy crap!]

[Time flowed backward!?]

[What kind of power is that? Can humans do something like that!?]

[I don't think even the Seven could do that! That's not a power any individual could possess!]

[Would the Heavenly Principles allow such a power to exist!?]

The viewers were all left looking incredulous.

At the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

Zhongli, Ronova, and the others were no less shocked than the viewers by what they saw in the video. In fact, their deeper understanding of the laws made it even harder for them to believe that time had flowed backward.

"What is that bastard Istaroth doing!? How dare she give a mortal power on this level? Isn't she afraid the Heavenly... that lord will hold her accountable!?"

By instinct as the Ruler of Death, Ronova did not even dare speak the name of the Heavenly Principles.

But her panic and confusion were plain to see.

"So the power of time was used. No wonder I felt something so distinctly wrong back then..."

Zhongli, meanwhile, looked as though it had finally dawned on him.

He had always had doubts about Guizhong's survival and could not understand what had happened in the process.

Now that the video had revealed the truth, he finally understood just how mad a thing Mo Fan had done back then to save a god who should have died.