After helping Lao Meng resolve his problem, Qiu Nian returned to his usual routine the next day.
Wandering through Liyue Harbor.
"System…"
Walking down the street with his hands behind his back, Qiu Nian quietly pondered.
He understood the capabilities of this so-called system better than anyone.
And he also knew its limits.
In Qiu Nian's eyes, the system was nothing more than a tool—one that could accelerate the completion of his plan.
Inside the system were countless items that could be exchanged with popularity points.
But to him, most of them were useless.
Only one function mattered:
Exchanging popularity for power.
Once the tool had been squeezed dry of its usefulness—
it would no longer have any value.
On Blue Star, Qiu Nian's popularity had already become overwhelmingly number one.
Yes.
A character who had not even entered the gacha banner yet had already taken first place on the popularity charts.
But it made sense.
The battle between Qiu Nian and the God of Obscuration had been fully shown.
The spectacle alone had captivated countless players.
Fans were practically begging miHoYo to put him into the banner.
Because of his massive popularity,
the system had accumulated 30 million popularity points.
If those points were converted into power—
his strength would increase by 3%.
What did that mean?
If Qiu Nian's power when he left Teyvat at his peak was considered 100—
then when he first returned and lived in the small hut at Jueyun Karst, his power was roughly 5.
As his power gradually returned,
it had now risen to 6.
This increase represented raw power, not overall combat ability.
But even that small amount of returning strength was terrifying.
Because as his power increased,
all his other abilities improved alongside it.
In simple terms—
when Qiu Nian had 6 points of power, he could easily defeat his former self at 5 points.
If he converted those 30 million popularity points into strength,
his power would rise to 9.
Qiu Nian did not hesitate.
He immediately absorbed the popularity points.
His power rose to 9.
Yet after sensing the increase,
he showed no reaction at all.
He didn't even pause his steps.
He simply continued strolling as if nothing had happened.
Since Teyvat had no formal power ranking system,
Qiu Nian could only measure strength relative to his own past.
By that scale:
Osial (Overlord of the Vortex) ≈ 7
God of Obscuration ≈ 4
During the Archon War, when he fought Morax, his power at the time would be about 10.
Roughly equal to Morax back then.
But afterward Morax gained:
A divine throne
Faith
A Gnosis
With those, Morax's peak strength likely reached around 15.
However, the current Morax had relinquished his Gnosis.
His power now was probably around 13.
Of course—
this only represented raw power levels, not total combat ability.
It was entirely possible for a weaker god to defeat a stronger one.
As for Qiu Nian now—
his situation was even stranger.
With 9 points of power, the current Qiu Nian could easily defeat his 10-point Archon War self.
Why?
Because during the thousands of years he spent away from Teyvat,
he hadn't been idle.
"Hm…"
Qiu Nian stopped walking briefly.
After clearing his thoughts, he had unknowingly arrived at Wanmin Restaurant.
He ate two small dishes and a bowl of rice.
Then he resumed his stroll.
He decided it was time to expand his wanderings.
Rather than staying only in Liyue,
he planned to visit Mondstadt.
Thus, time passed peacefully.
One month went by.
And on Blue Star—
a month passed as well.
Xuehua had already completed the Unreconciled Stars event long ago.
The story was roughly this:
Mysterious meteors suddenly fell across Liyue and Mondstadt.
Wherever they landed,
people fell into a strange sleeping illness.
Those who slept shared the same dream.
To uncover the mystery,
Lumine, Paimon, Mona, and Fischl began investigating.
During their investigation, they encountered the Sixth Fatui Harbinger — Scaramouche.
They eventually discovered the truth:
Two thousand years ago, an adventurer named Leonard had dreamed of climbing Pilos Peak, an impossibly tall mountain.
For some reason, his constellation had descended to the world as meteors.
These meteors radiated elemental energy,
which affected nearby people through subconscious influence—
pulling them into dreams.
Further investigation revealed that the meteor's core lay at the summit of Pilos Peak.
But Pilos Peak no longer existed.
Long ago, Barbatos had blown the mountain away with the wind.
The remains sank into the sea.
The part that still rose above the water was now known as Musk Reef.
This revelation also hinted that Barbatos had drastically reshaped Mondstadt's geography in ancient times.
Which led many players to suspect something else:
Maybe when La Signora stole Venti's Gnosis, Venti had simply been acting.
In the end, the group encountered Scaramouche at Musk Reef.
There, he revealed a cryptic message:
"The sky is a lie."
"The stars themselves are a grand deception."
After finishing the event, Xuehua began grinding exploration like crazy.
She pushed the exploration progress of both Mondstadt and Liyue to 100%.
One day, while exploring near Stormbearer Mountains, she noticed something.
Standing quietly at the edge of a cliff—
was Qiu Nian.
Xuehua immediately rushed over to talk to him.
"I didn't expect to meet you here."
"Has your journey been going smoothly lately?"
Qiu Nian asked.
"It's been going well."
Lumine nodded with a smile.
"You really wandered all the way here?"
Paimon crossed her arms, looking amazed.
"The winds of Mondstadt are refreshing."
"And its landscapes are quite unique."
"Of course it's worth visiting."
Qiu Nian replied calmly.
"Well then, enjoy your walk."
"We won't bother you."
Paimon smiled.
After the dialogue ended,
Xuehua immediately went into fangirl mode again—
rambling about how long it had been since she'd seen Qiu Nian.
And taking photo after photo.
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