[Immersive mode activated, life simulation successfully loaded!]
The final preparations complete, the scenery around Nathan began to shatter.
It broke into glowing particles, guiding him towards the distance.
Seas turned to mulberry fields, time flowing.
Mountains and seas transformed, barren lands birthing stars.
When Nathan regained consciousness again, he had moved from the interior of the Jade Chamber to an open wilderness.
"Huff-huff!"
Waves of mountain wind howled past, dispersing his still-muddled consciousness.
"Where is this...?"
The first thing Nathan saw upon opening his eyes was a round moon in the night sky.
Flawless moonlight spilled onto the earth, coating everything in a layer of pure radiance.
Looking around, he discovered he was in a mountain valley.
Towering mountains rose on both sides, with a fragile stream running through the center.
"This... is a completely unfamiliar scene?"
Based on these mountains soaring into the clouds, Nathan could only determine that he was still within Liyue's borders.
"Wait a moment... something feels not quite right!!!"
He stopped observing his surroundings, finally sensing the abnormality of his body.
"How did I get shorter?"
This thought arose as he compared himself to the surrounding trees and stones.
This obvious shortness felt like he hadn't even reached one meter in height.
"No... I didn't become shorter..."
But in just half a second, Nathan immediately overturned his previous doubt.
He realized... his essence had fundamentally changed.
From the most basic habits, the human way of walking on two feet had completely transformed.
Because Nathan was now walking on four feet, and not with hands and feet, but with four snow-white claws.
Walking on four feet naturally meant his height would significantly decrease.
"What exactly is happening to me now?"
Trying to understand his current situation, his mind moved, and the four feet ran in an incredibly natural posture.
Stopping by the stream, Nathan looked down, seeing his reflection in the water.
It was a divine beast combining a lion's head, deer antlers, tiger eyes, elk body, dragon scales, and ox tail.
His current form was still quite small, enveloped in pure moonlight, his white fur shimmering brilliantly.
The moment he saw this appearance, a name flashed through his mind... Qilin!!!
He recalled the talent designated by the simulator system when loading the life simulation - the Qilin bloodline.
Nathan had originally thought the Qilin bloodline might be similar to Ganyu's form.
But he completely didn't expect the system to be so determined that he wouldn't be human!
.................
"So the current time point is in Liyue from a thousand years ago?"
[The accurate time is Liyue 3800 years ago!]
"3800 years?"
Receiving the life simulator's response, Nathan was shocked.
No wonder they said this was an extremely high-difficulty life simulation, actually rolling back time so far.
If Nathan remembered correctly, according to the game content from his previous life,
This time period of Teyvat should have been quite turbulent.
[3800 years ago, the God War was at its most intense!]
Good heavens, the system's reminder made Nathan realize.
This wasn't just turbulent - it was everywhere filled with killing intent.
In this era, countless powerful gods existed.
To compete for the victor's throne, the gods had launched a prolonged war.
The seven final war victors would become Teyvat's seven archons.
Geo Archon Morax was one of them.
Though at this point, he should still be the Geo God.
The saying goes, "When gods fight, mortals suffer." Even with his Qilin bloodline, Nathan felt he should keep a low profile.
After all, in the simulation's setup, he was only ten years old.
And for a powerful divine beast like a Qilin, one thousand years old is considered its growth period.
So Nathan was not even in his juvenile stage.
In this continent filled with gods, poking his head out might get him stepped on.
Nathan finally understood why, when initially choosing talents, he was given three talents with such severe side effects.
In this crisis-filled world, talents with such massive side effects could be his final trump card.
It was too difficult, incredibly difficult!
He was still in beast form and didn't know when he could transform into human shape!
After long being in human form, suddenly having to walk on four feet felt somewhat awkward!
[Completing the first stage of the plot... will unlock human form!]
Before the voice in his mind could fade, a sound came from the neighboring mountain.
"Rumble..."
It sounded like something rolling, instantly catching Nathan's attention.
Initially, he was somewhat nervous, thinking it might be an enemy attack.
But when he saw clearly, it was actually a chubby round ball rolling down from the mountainside.
However, the ball's rolling direction... seemed a bit off, heading directly towards Nathan's position.
"Ah?"
Nathan hurriedly ran to the side, trying to avoid the rolling ball.
But frustratingly, whenever he changed direction, the ball would change direction too.
It was obviously aimed directly at him...
"Then let me see exactly what this is!"
The ball had rolled down the mountain, so Nathan decided not to dodge.
He slightly raised his front paws, trying to provide some buffer.
"Plop!"
But with a slight sound, the buffer had no effect.
Nathan was hit head-on by the ball, sending his entire body backward.
Just short of falling into the stream.
"Giggle!!!"
At the same time, a light laugh came from his embrace.
Nathan tried to get up but found it impossible.
In human form, he could push himself up from the ground.
Unfortunately, he was still in beast form, four legs in the air, unable to find a point of leverage.
"Giggle, giggle..."
Another burst of silver bell-like laughter made Nathan realize.
Sitting on his belly wasn't a ball at all, but a lively little girl.
The girl raised her chubby hands and feet... slowly climbing up from his abdomen.
Seemingly quite fond of the softness of his belly, she stepped on it repeatedly.
After wriggling for a while, the girl finally brought her head to Nathan's line of sight.
Their eyes met... and he immediately called out:
"Ganyu???"