I, the Rock King Emperor with 21 billion in power, have joined the chat group.

"Yes." Zhongli nodded slightly at her guess: "That's true."

The clouds and mist gathered and converged in the sky, layer upon layer, growing ever larger behind them. A slowly forming vortex of clouds and mist began to fall towards the ground.

At the summit of that snow-capped mountain, the final tendrils of the clouds and mist touched the ground.

Then, a voice suddenly rang out, reaching the ears of everyone present without anyone noticing.

"【Gold】, you should not use the power of corruption within the world of Teyvat."

“I warned you that the power of corruption is full of uncertainty, and you need to use it with extreme caution.”

"gentlemen....."

A delicate voice came from Reinhardt's mouth.

A figure slowly emerged from the swirling clouds and stepped onto the summit of the snow-capped mountain.

Then, in the next second, the figure took a step, his back foot stepping out on the snow-capped mountain peak, and his front foot landing next to Reinhardt.

"[Gold], we cannot let the past ruin the future of the world."

With his back to Zhongli and the others, the figure shook his head slightly at [Gold]: "The preordained law of harmony is the natural order of the world, and the future is full of hope."

"If even hope no longer exists, then perhaps the world of Teyvat should no longer exist."

“I know, sir.”

[Gold] raised her pale gold staff, her petite, almost girlish body bowing slightly to the figure before her.

"kindness."

The figure finally turned around and looked at Zhongli and the others.

He nodded slightly and greeted them politely: "Morax, the Rock King, the Dust Demon Lord, and this lady who does not belong to the Teyvat world, good afternoon."

"It's a pleasure to be here and to meet you all for the first time."

“My name is Ike. You may call me the Sage of the Stars or the Echo of Time.”

As Ekko's voice rang out, his body and appearance finally came into Fu Hua's view for the first time.

Before he even spoke, Fu Hua's vision and Honkai energy senses failed to detect him at all.

This incredible power made Fu Hua frown.

However, she had encountered so many strange things today that one more wouldn't make a difference.

In any case, common sense is probably of no use to someone like him.

Suppressing her slight frustration, Fu Hua carefully examined the "Mr." who had revealed his true form.

This "gentleman" appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. He was wearing a white robe, which was completely clean except for the two cuffs, one embroidered with a clock and the other with a sword.

He held a staff in his right hand that was taller than himself, with a rotating energy core on it that emitted a ghostly blue light.

"Hello, my companion and I are looking for people or things that can travel back in time. Do you have any clues?"

The young man named Ike, with his gentle and polite manner, inquired about the situation from Zhongli and the other two.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Story (1)

"Time is such a wonder."

"Time is so mysterious."

"I am very curious about what happened on the snow mountain recently."

"Can you tell me what you actually know?"

The boy named Ike stood with his arms outstretched, his tone carrying a strange sense of leisure.

It was as if he didn't care about anything in this world.

Difficulties and obstacles, dangerous and thorny paths; towering mountains, dark and deep abysses; all these things seemed to be of no concern to him.

His tone of voice was as if he were detached from the world, like a hidden sage in a storybook who blesses a hero, or even like a human reading a storybook called Teyvat.

This young man, who calls himself "Echo of Time," speaks with such composure as he recounts this story.

Fu Hua and Gui Zhong both tensed up.

Fu Hua could clearly sense the abnormality in Ekko.

Although he spoke with a smile, it was neither to show friendliness nor to express happiness.

Rather, it's an indifferent, aloof smile, a smile that shows disregard for strangers.

Fu Hua was no stranger to this kind of smile.

Zhongli sometimes has this kind of smile.

This can be said to be the inevitable change that occurs in one's mind when one's power reaches a certain level.

"..."

Zhongli stared silently at the boy before him, pondering without uttering a word.

Since he didn't respond, Fu Hua and Gui Zhong naturally wouldn't reveal what happened on the snow mountain during their battle that day.

"Don't know?" Ike frowned slightly, remained silent for a moment, and then shook his head slightly: "What a pity? It seems that my long-cherished wish will have to wait for a while longer."

He sighed in realization, "I wonder how long this will take, a thousand years or ten thousand years. The wait is truly long."

Since his appearance, the alchemists of the [Gold] have been very quiet.

The alchemist, whose true form was a little girl, stood solemnly beside Ike, saying nothing.

High in the sky, a red-haired witch emerged from flames that had appeared out of nowhere. She was holding the hand of a blond boy—the traveler girl's brother, Sora.

She slowly descended and landed beside Ike.

After the witch and the blond prince appeared, the traveler girl's voice began to drift over from nearby.

"Wait... Brother."

The voice was urgent, as if the person was running and moving rapidly.

Ike and the others didn't seem to be in a hurry. After he finished speaking, he stood still and waited for the traveler girl to arrive.

Two minutes later,

Once everyone from both sides had arrived, before Ike could speak, Zhongli raised a question first.

“Mr. Ike… what I want to ask is, why do you want to find people or things that can turn back time?”

"As far as I know, time is a very strange thing. You're so eager to find it... Hmm... Is there something important?"

Zhongli's voice rang out, seemingly echoing through the ancient and unchanging earth.

“Hmm… Mr. Morax.” Ike leaned on his staff with one hand and stroked his chin with the other, pausing slightly in thought. “How can I explain this to you?”

"Well... I have a story here, I wonder if you would like to hear it."

“Of course.” Zhongli nodded slightly. “I have plenty of time to hear your story. Also, I need to remind you of something: the Rock King Morax has been murdered. The person here now is just a [Wandering World] Zhongli. Please don’t call me by the wrong name.”

“Oh...I’m sorry, Mr. Zhongli.” Ike nodded politely, a slight smile playing on his lips. “Then I’ll briefly tell you the story.”

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who had three friends... Well, I won't go into the details, you've probably read similar stories in many storytelling books."

"Just state the result directly."

"At the end of his adventure and journey, one of the boy's most beloved people fell into a permanent slumber. The boy wanted to awaken his beloved, so he asked a witch who was connected to him, a sage of the galaxy, and a princess who ruled a distant kingdom for help."

"They plotted to use the power of the sage to reverse time and bring back the boy's beloved."

"But the preordained laws of harmony in the world are slightly stronger than the power of the sage, so the attempt to reverse time and history failed."

"After numerous attempts, even risking their own lives, the boy and the sage finally arrived at a solution: [Only the future can save the past; altering the past cannot save a future without the girl.]"

"Although the sage said that the future is the hope for saving the world, the sage also knew that this was just a way to comfort the boy's mind."

"Just as they were struggling towards an unknown future, embracing confusion, endless darkness and despair, and a sliver of remaining hope..."

At this point, Ike paused, a slight smile playing on his lips.

This smile was completely different from his previous one; it lacked any sense of aloofness and instead carried the joy of an ordinary person.

"They found hope."

"The existence of powerful individuals or things in this world that can freeze and restore time is beyond their expectations."

Ike stared into Zhongli's eyes, the smile on his lips gradually fading.

"You know, even a sage can't do this. At most, he can travel through time to the past, witness and modify history appropriately, but such modifications will be completely reversed by the predetermined laws of harmony."

"But the possibility that appeared before him gave him a glimmer of hope."

"Since a certain period of time can be fixed and used to overwrite real-world time, does this mean the past can be changed? Is it not that history cannot be altered and people cannot be resurrected, but rather that the power of the sage is insufficient?"

"Perhaps...perhaps...changing the past can also benefit the present, and the conclusions drawn in the past may not actually be correct?"

"..."

After listening to Ike's sincere words, Zhongli crossed his arms and touched his chin with the other, shaking his head slightly: "I'm sorry, Mr. Ike, I'm afraid your wish cannot be fulfilled."

Chapter Thirty: Reunion (End of Volume)

"why?"

Ike tilted his head in a slightly strange way.

"Mr. Zhongli, how did you come to this conclusion?"

Fu Hua also looked at Zhong Li. She originally thought that, given Zhong Li's personality, he might directly admit that it was he who had reversed time that day.

Unexpectedly, Zhongli rejected Ike's idea directly.

"Or perhaps..." A faint smile played on Ike's lips, "Lord Zhongli, you are the one who turned back time that day?"

"Is it because you won't help me that you rejected me so bluntly?"

Zhongli neither answered the question nor denied it.

Ike nodded knowingly.