Genshin Impact: The God Incarnate

Vorthis had just concluded preliminary tests on his reversal ability.

But simply testing it on an iron block felt far too basic for his taste.

So, he decided to raise the difficulty level.

Vorthis' gaze shifted to his desk.

There, on the desk, a small night lamp sat quietly, as if innocently awaiting its fate.

"On second thought," Vorthis mused, "this night lamp actually looks pretty nice here."

"A lovely decoration, wouldn't you agree?"

Resting his chin on his hand, Vorthis deliberated further. He had initially planned to reverse the lamp, but upon reflection, it seemed perfectly suited to its place.

As the God of Manifestation, why fuss over a mere night lamp? Couldn't he just create another one?

"Come forth, Little Thunder Orb!"

From his palm, a radiant energy took form, emanating a white glow. Within seconds, it condensed into a small, hovering thunder orb resting on his hand.

Behold! The legendary Palm Lightning!

The orb hovered steadily in Vorthis' palm, glowing softly. He had full control over it, a product of his manifestation powers.

At the moment, the thunder orb served only as a gentle, purple-tinged night lamp, radiating a calm light with no visible arcs of electricity.

However, this unassuming orb consumed one-fifth of Vorthis' energy to manifest. Its latent power? Staggering.

With but a thought, Vorthis could transform this placid orb into a devastating weapon and hurl it forth!

Having procured a more potent test subject, Vorthis initiated another round of experimentation.

"Now, let's reverse it."

Activating his reversal ability, Vorthis watched as the thunder orb dissolved into white light, transforming back into pure manifestation energy before returning to his body.

This time, he noticed something—reversal wasn't entirely lossless.

The iron block's small mass had concealed the effect, but the thunder orb, with its significantly greater energy, revealed a subtle loss.

The reversal process incurred a loss of 0.00025%.

Almost negligible.

"Ehehe~!"

After these two experiments, Vorthis fully understood the essence of reversal—it was simply the process of undoing manifestation.

With his objective achieved, Vorthis saw no reason to continue his isolated practice.

Time to head out!

He wondered if Morax and Sister Guizhong had missed him.

"Ehehe~!"

Stealthily leaving his palace, Vorthis tiptoed his way into Guizhong's palace, only to find her engrossed in crafting what appeared to be a giant crossbow-like weapon.

Ah, was this the prototype of the legendary Guizhong Ballista?

Concealing his presence, Vorthis approached Guizhong from behind and gave her a light tap on the shoulder.

"Ah! Vo—Vorthis?! Why sneak up on me like that? You almost scared me to death!"

Guizhong turned, visibly startled.

She had been utterly absorbed in her mechanical work, and even gods could be spooked in such moments of concentration.

Acknowledging his fault, Vorthis scratched his head awkwardly. "Ahem, sorry, Sister Guizhong. I didn't mean to scare you."

"By the way, is that a defensive weapon you're designing?"

"Yes, it is," Guizhong replied, smiling. "But it's far from complete. At this pace, it'll take at least another two years to finish."

"Unlike you, God of Manifestation, I can't just conjure what I need. I envy your powers."

"But I firmly believe that gaps in power can be bridged with wisdom and technology!"

Her voice brimmed with determination and confidence.

Vorthis initially considered using his manifestation powers to help Guizhong speed up her project.

However, her words made him abandon the thought immediately.

With wisdom and technology?

As someone who had traversed from Earth, Vorthis wholeheartedly believed in that.

Even mortals, with their ingenuity and knowledge, could achieve feats that seemed exclusive to the gods.

"Yes, Sister Guizhong, I'm confident your brilliance and expertise will yield an exceptional defensive weapon," Vorthis affirmed.

"Thank you for your kind words, Vorthis," Guizhong said with a smile.

Vorthis observed her work on the mechanism for quite some time, though he barely understood a thing.

Still, he marveled at his own endurance in watching something so monotonous for so long.

Finally, unable to suppress his restlessness, Vorthis suggested, "Why don't we take a break and go for a walk outside?"

Since moving to Guizhong Hall, she had likely confined herself within its walls, tirelessly focused on her work.

"Sure, I'd love that," Guizhong replied with a smile.

Vorthis nodded. "Alright, let's invite that stone—Morax—along too."

Together, Vorthis and Guizhong made their way to Morax's palace. After much persuasive cajoling (and a hint of veiled threat), Morax sighed and agreed.

"Fine," Morax said.

Under Vorthis' influence, the three gods strolled through the streets of Liyue without any disguise.

The city had flourished considerably over the past year and a half, with new markets and an expanded variety of goods.

Guoyu Li had also begun large-scale farming, paving the way for a prosperous future that might extend all the way to Stone Gate.

As they wandered, Guizhong and Vorthis bought a few trinkets that caught their eye.

This time, Vorthis wasn't the one footing the bill!

Thanks to his upgraded influence-dampening field, even when Morax manifested Mora within its boundaries, no one noticed anything unusual.

To the people of Liyue, the trio appeared as ordinary humans, indistinguishable from anyone else.

As they continued their stroll, Vorthis' attention was drawn to a young man who exuded an air of culinary passion.

The reason for the attraction was simple.

The young man stood out, dressed in attire that didn't conform to the style of the Guiyuli people. On top of that, he was strikingly handsome.

"Don't underestimate the art of cooking potatoes. Eating them repeatedly might get tiresome, but if you prepare them using hundreds of different techniques, would you ever get bored?"

"This first step alone can already..."

The young man spoke with the demeanor of a top chef, explaining the process of cooking potatoes with great precision and detail.

It was unclear where he had acquired this knowledge.

He even spoke of culinary techniques that would only exist in later generations, astonishingly bringing them up as if they were commonplace.

Vorthis started to grow curious about the young man's identity.

First, Vorthis ruled out the possibility that the young man was a native of Guiyuli. His attire and decorations were far from the Guiyuli style—he had to be an outsider.

However, Guiyuli was not yet open to accepting refugees or migrants.

This raised a significant question:

Who was this person? How had he entered Guiyuli City?

And why was he teaching people culinary techniques?

Clearly, this wasn't just one question—it was many.

As Vorthis observed the young man closely, both Guizhong and Morax also noticed something unusual and stopped in their tracks.

Some time later, the young man began giving hands-on guidance, teaching someone how to cook potatoes to make them even more delicious.

While the young man was engrossed in cooking, a squad of city guards arrived from afar.

They had received reports from citizens about someone who didn't seem to be from Guiyuli and had come to check if the young man possessed the necessary credentials for being in the city.

If not, he would be deemed an illegal entrant and promptly expelled by the guards.

The guards quickly surrounded the young man as he cooked.

"Don't move! We've received a report about a possible unauthorized entrant. Please present your Guiyuli credentials," the squad leader said firmly.

Sigh... Found out again?

Why does Guiyuli require these credentials anyway?

The young man maintained his composure and said, "Can I at least finish cooking this dish? Wasting food is never a good thing."

"In the past, during times of famine, people would even eat tree roots, bark, and dirt to survive. Surely you wouldn't want this dish to go to waste because it's left unfinished, would you?"

The guards hesitated.

The young man's reasoning was sound, leaving them with little room for rebuttal.

The squad leader glanced at the young man, then at the dish being prepared.

"Fine," he said. "But don't try anything reckless."

"If you don't have the proper credentials, we'll have no choice but to escort you out of the city," the leader added.

Vorthis observed the situation and noted the guards' professional conduct, giving them credit for their approach.

Unlike the city officials from his own time, whose actions often left much to be desired...

After finishing the dish and giving a few more cooking tips, the young man sighed and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't have the Guiyuli credentials. You can escort me out now."

The squad leader nodded, and the guards moved in to detain the young man, preparing to take him toward the city gates.

Vorthis intervened.

He lifted his stance of reducing his divine presence and said, "Wait."

Wait?

Hearing the slightly familiar voice, the guards turned around.

There, they saw none other than the one they revered—the God of Feather himself!

"God of Feather!"

The guards, along with everyone on the street, instinctively bowed to Vorthis.

Phew... Good thing I only lifted my presence.

If Morax, Guizhong, and I—the three gods—appeared together on this street, it would cause a massive uproar throughout Guiyuli City.

"Is there something you need, God of Feather?" the squad leader asked respectfully.

It seemed clear that the God of Feather had come for the young man.

Could he be a spy sent from another god's domain?

What else could possibly bring the God of Feather here in person?

Vorthis said, "Let him stay and disperse."

"Yes, God of Feather!"

No one dared disobey the God of Feather's orders.

The guards immediately released the young man.

The young man, still in a daze, found himself grabbed by Vorthis, who flew with him into the sky.

At the same time, Vorthis gestured to Morax and Guizhong, signaling for them to join him.

Where to? Not to Celestia, of course.

Naturally, they headed to the Cloud Pavilion above Guizoli.

The young man, caught up in his thoughts, didn't even notice the extraordinary sight of a pavilion floating above the clouds.

Almost simultaneously, Morax and Guizhong arrived.

As the two joined him, Vorthis turned his gaze toward the young man.

"You're not human, are you? Why have you come to Guizoli uninvited? Do you have ulterior motives? Speak now," Vorthis demanded.

After some thought, Vorthis had already pieced together much of the young man's identity.