The Pyro Archon's words were truly too profound; Ororon couldn't comprehend them for the moment.
But for Ororon, there were already far too many things he couldn't understand from childhood to now, so he set this question aside first and then asked Rios another one.
"Pyro Archon, where should I go now?"
"Should I return to my original place to farm, or continue following the Captain?"
Rios glanced at this good grandson and then said, "Go to your grandma's place."
He figured Citlali wouldn't mind breaking Ororon's legs either.
"Is there no other choice besides that?" Ororon asked.
"There is." Rios said with a smile, "Wait for your grandma to come find you."
"Then I'll go see Grandma." Ororon lowered his head and walked away.
From a general rational perspective, Ororon's awakening this time could be considered a thorough failure.
In the original timeline, he had been attacked by a Khaenri'ahn soul, and in the moment between life and death, he gained the will to live, allowing him to awaken as one of the six heroes.
Rios had put a protective barrier on Ororon from the very start, so that soul hadn't harmed Ororon at all.
Naturally, there was no way to awaken him after establishing a life-and-death crisis like in the original work.
In the following time, Natlan's order remained relatively stable.
Although Abyss monsters would appear from time to time, Rios could always eliminate them at the first moment.
Moreover, Mavuika had deployed warriors in the wilderness.
This way, if a place was attacked, warriors would quickly rush over to help.
To set up outposts for the warriors in the wilderness, Natlan was incredibly busy.
The Traveler was also very busy, though she was busy exploring everywhere with Paimon, using her feet to measure every inch of Natlan's land.
It was said that her experiences in Natlan would later become part of the Ancient Name, though it was unknown what kind of Ancient Name she would ultimately get.
"It should be 'Wanderer' or something." While discussing this on the road, Paimon guessed.
"I think so too." The Traveler nodded; besides travel, there probably wasn't another word that could better represent her as a Traveler.
As they conversed, a middle-aged man came into view not far away.
"Judging by that guy's face, he looks like he's from Liyue," Paimon said in surprise.
"He seems really anxious. Did he run into some trouble? Traveler, let's go ask him." Paimon turned into a ruthless quest giver and said to the Traveler.
The girl nodded; she thought the same, but before taking a step, she thought of something.
For a girl as eager to help others as she was, the Ancient Name she got might really not be "Traveler," but "Good Samaritan" instead—or perhaps "Great Benefactor."
The Traveler and Paimon came to the Liyue man's side, and Paimon flew over to greet him proactively.
"Hello! Did you run into some trouble?"
The Liyue man was about to reply, but upon seeing the two, his eyes lit up: "Aren't you the Traveler and her companion Paimon?"
"You know us?" Paimon said delightedly.
"Of course. In all of Liyue, who doesn't know you two?"
The Traveler smiled gracefully. It seemed the achievements she'd racked up in Liyue had finally paid off—even Liyue people in a foreign land knew her name.
"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Xin He," the middle-aged Liyue man said. "I'm actually an editor, and this time coming to Natlan was an attempt to chase a manuscript."
"Chase a manuscript?" Paimon widened her eyes. "So, you came all the way from Liyue to Natlan just to get some author to finish their book sooner?"
"That's so dedicated," the Traveler said admiringly.
She felt that the editor before her should also get an Ancient Name, though whether it would be called "Dedicated" or "Workhorse" was unknown.
"What book did that author write to make you come all the way from Liyue Harbor?" Paimon asked curiously.
"That's a lot," the editor listed them one by one. ""Swallowing the Firmament", "Infinite Struggle", "Twinborn Soul", and "The More You Lose, the More You Gain"."
"They're all super famous books," Paimon said. She liked reading novels too and had a deep impression of the titles the editor mentioned.
But then, she widened her eyes and looked over in disbelief: "Wait, all these books are by the same person? I remember the pen names are completely different."
The editor replied, "Although the pen names are different, the author of these books is indeed the same person."
"How should I put it? This author gets bored easily and has a short attention span. He'd start a book and soon move on to another, saying that using the same pen name would affect earnings, so he hoped we'd use different pen names for publishing."
Paimon narrowed her eyes in disdain: "Isn't it just that he digs holes and doesn't fill them, so he's afraid of being hated, and that's why he uses different pen names on purpose?"
The editor smiled, then said, "I hear that author has published novels in other countries too. Several bestsellers in Inazuma, Sumeru, and Fontaine are his."
"This writer is way too amazing," Paimon said, her small mouth agape in surprise. "So where is he now?"
"I heard he's in a place called the People of the Springs."
The editor said, "I hear it's a great spot for soaking in hot springs. I originally wanted to work while on vacation, but I've been searching Natlan for a long time and still don't know where the People of the Springs is."
"We know the location," Paimon said with a smile. "We'll take you there."
"That's great—thank you so much," the editor said gratefully. "As expected of the heroes known to every household in Liyue. Meeting you today, you truly live up to the reputation."
The Traveler smiled smugly. That's right—she was the household-name great hero.
But Paimon scratched her head embarrassedly: "If you put it that way, I'm almost embarrassed to ask for compensation."
"Please don't worry. I know your principles: helping others while getting compensated—I don't think that's wrong at all," the editor said with a smile.
"That's good then." Paimon breathed a sigh of relief, then said, "So, I want to read those manuscripts first after finding that author, before his articles get published. Is that okay?"
"This..."
The editor hesitated for a moment.
The Traveler gave Paimon a helpless look.
Aren't you putting the editor in a tough spot?
"Ah, sorry, I'm actually a fan of these books too. I just can't wait to see the next chapter," Paimon said quickly upon seeing the other's difficulty.
"No problem." After hesitating a bit, the editor agreed. "I trust your integrity—you wouldn't leak the novel's content ahead of time."
"Once we get the manuscripts from that author, we'll sneak them out and read them first."
"Yay!" Paimon raised her hands in cheer.
The Traveler furrowed her brows slightly.
She had a feeling that the reason the editor agreed was probably because, like Paimon, he also wanted to read the novelist's manuscripts ahead of time.
"Then no time like the present—let's head out now," Paimon said.