Genshin Impact's Incense Burner Of Liyue [599]

The first time, it felt like suffocating pain. The second time… wasn’t much better. Trapped by stone spikes with zero room to maneuver, Aether was instantly launched out of the domain by the giant whale’s strike.

Waiting outside, Gu Sanqiu: …?

What’s going on with this domain? It’s one thing to copy me—but the difficulty level’s this ridiculous? Even this former powerhouse couldn’t handle it?

Something’s not right.

Aether collapsed to his knees, coughing dryly. Being overwhelmed like that was miserable—his entire body had been slammed over and over by waves of water laced with Electro.

“What happened this time?”

Gu Sanqiu sensed something off. Aether's condition didn’t look like someone who’d just gotten steamrolled by him. Maybe his earlier assumptions had been wrong?

Could it be that the projection inside had more than one set of combat tactics?

He’d initially assumed the attacks were rigid because, if it had been him in there, after leading with Mountain-Crushing Vajra Staff, he definitely wouldn’t have left the enemy breathing room. A chain of ultimates would’ve followed without pause.

“This time, it wasn’t Childe.”

Aether sat down on the rooftop, looking defeated. “I became you. And when I tried to use elemental energy, a bunch of stone pillars rose from the ground and trapped me in place. Childe hit me with one shot and I was dead.”

Ah. So he got boxed in by Geo constructs—great for archers who need distance. Basically, he’d turned himself into a giant bullseye.

That one-shot KO probably came from the belly slam of the whale attack. That verb choice definitely implied getting body-slammed.

But what was with this domain—roleplaying mechanics?

You become one character, and the other becomes your opponent. It was a cool concept, sure—but for the challenger, it was rough. Even if your powers were sealed, at least you’d still fight the way you were used to. But being forced to play someone else? That kind of adjustment took serious time.

Aether was already a seasoned adventurer, and even he got wiped almost instantly. That said a lot about the difficulty level.

“Hold on. I’m going to test something.”

Gu Sanqiu leaned over the edge of the roof and shouted down, summoning a Millelith soldier to come up.

“Try touching the domain. See if you can enter.”

He added pointedly, “Once you’re inside, you might turn into me—or someone else entirely. Your combat style could be different. Your goal is to last as long as possible and gather intel. Got it?”

If Sanqiu entered again, the result would likely be the same. He needed to see what happened with someone else.

The Millelith nodded solemnly, and after carefully sensing the domain, finally triggered a response.

Two minutes later, the soldier stumbled back out, coughing violently on the rooftop.

Yep. Another victim of the whale belly-blast.

After helping the poor guy recover and giving him two pills as a thank-you, Gu Sanqiu and Aether climbed down from the roof, ready to sit and analyze what they’d learned.

“If you go in and take on my role, and you play defensively, then Yaya—er, Childe—will immediately launch Whale Song and try to burst you down. If you take the offensive, he switches to full aggression and continuous close combat,” Gu Sanqiu explained.

Aether nodded. “If I play Childe, then your projection opens with Vajra Staff, and if I try to close the distance, he traps me with Geo spikes and seals me in amber. If I break through those, he switches to spear techniques in direct combat.”

Good. That meant the domain’s AI wasn’t that smart. At the very least, it couldn’t fully replicate someone’s fighting mind.

If he were in control and had already created distance, he’d never start with close-range weapons. He’d go straight for magic and elemental arts—no way he’d let the enemy get in close.

So yes, the patterns were stiff, predictable. But this strange trial domain didn’t seem to scale with your level—it just threw you straight into high difficulty.

And that was a problem for Aether. Because of Sanqiu’s interference, too many “future” events had been triggered early. Aether hadn’t yet reached the strength he was supposed to have.

If they waited until he caught up, many of Sanqiu’s existing plans would have to be delayed. But Gu Sanqiu absolutely wasn’t going to let that happen.

He’d already laid out structured plans in both Mondstadt and Liyue. Even for Inazuma, he had a mental blueprint prepared. Waiting on Aether to power up would introduce too many variables.

As long as he secured his foothold in these three regions, he didn’t care what happened elsewhere. Be it the inevitable chaos in Sumeru caused by the Fatui, or Fontaine’s unique legal system sparking political upheaval—none of it would shake his foundation.

High-level battlefields couldn’t accommodate too many people. Even elite squads trained in battle intent and soul resonance would be no match for the truly powerful. Trying to revive the glory of the Millelith wasn’t going to be easy.

But people—people were what mattered. That was the real key behind his careful planning.

Aether was part of a unique group, a race of exceptional meaning.

If he could gain a significant breakthrough in this Golden House domain, Gu Sanqiu wouldn’t mind bringing him along to stir things up in Inazuma.

But if he didn’t show clear improvement? Then this so-called “child of the world” would be better off tangled up with the Abyss Order—at the very least, he could distract Yingmei and take up some of her attention.

Still… could they maybe relocate the entrance to this domain? Having it on the Golden House roof was not ideal.

Gu Sanqiu started to think it over. The one on Dragonspine didn’t matter—no sane person went to a ghost town like Wyrmrest Valley. But the Golden House was different.

If he remembered right, the gate to the ancient arena had acted as a conduit into a subspace. In theory, it was possible.

And currently, one of the top alchemists in the world lived in Liyue. With his own knowledge, plus some advice from his dad, maybe… just maybe...

No point hesitating. Gu Sanqiu immediately sent Aether back to Liyue Harbor—he’d done a lot running around during the last round of unrest and still needed to coordinate with Yuehai Pavilion on posting missing persons notices.

Meanwhile, Sanqiu dragged both Albedo and Zhongli to the Golden House, and the three of them began examining the domain entrance.

Roughly thirty minutes later, they reached a conclusion: the domain could be relocated—but not too far from the Golden House. It also required stabilization through formation arrays.

Essentially, the interior of the domain was modeled after the Golden House. Move it too far and the interior could start to warp in strange ways.

After burning through a pile of rare materials—and with Gu Sanqiu watching like a hawk—Zhongli finally produced an assortment of “archaeologically obtained” relics from who-knows-where.

After some heavy clanging and reinforcement with multiple layers of Geo shields, the domain entrance was safely transferred to a nearby hill just outside the Golden House. It was now surrounded by an intricate lattice of protective arrays.

Gu Sanqiu nodded in satisfaction. Perfect. It might take longer for regular folks to connect with a domain like this, but it was the ideal site for high-intensity training. In time, the Millelith would come to call this place the demon’s lair.

And throughout the process, most of the Millelith would come to understand the true power of Master Gu. That kind of low-key showboating was quite enjoyable, actually.

As for whether Childe’s identity might get exposed?

Heh. If he was in a good mood, Sanqiu could make up an excuse. If not… he could just let the rumor mill run wild.

Allies were allies—but if one of them started acting shady, a little preemptive smear campaign never hurt.

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This is a fan translation of 原神之璃月奉香人 by 淡白蛋清. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!