NOTES & CORRECTIONS - There seems to be some confusion about whether Elynas is a dragon or not. While he is never explicitly called a dragon in English, his bones and heart are too similar to Durin to ignore. In the Lone Phantom Sail quest he's called a BEAST in English, but a LEVIATHAN (海兽的) in Chinese. If Neuvillette is also a Leviathan and a dragon, then the same is true of Elynas.
So what you are saying is, fontainians are too stupid that they did not know what a dragon is, so they wrote the great beast instead. lmao. Using one translation is very weak excuse while ignoring every records and notes in the game. Azhdaha is called dragon lord/king in chinese, well he is not nibelung for all we know. He is not confirmed to be sovereign either. Dragon and snake have similar bones in genshin, that include lizard too i guess. if we never know orobashi is a snake, you'd probably say he was a dragon. you saying elynas is a dragon by using bone is an assumption. the heart similarity to durin is because it is suggested both are created by gold, but that doesn't necessarily mean elynas was also a dragon.
@@someoneinasia it means that they're maybe foreshadowing that they could be. If you don't like theories then why watch it. It involves a lot of speculation and assumptions and Chinese is the main language of Genshin that's why she uses that as a reference most of the time. People like Orobashi could be dragons similar to how Shenron is one in DB and it's explicitly stated that Azdaha and all the vishaps share the same race as the Primordial dragons. They are just "Primordial" or sovereigns in your language. Atleast get some context before writing these offending comments
@@Nagatomo158 she never say elynas being a dragon is a theory. in chinese elynas was never mentioned as dragon either. in her word the translation is leviathan also doesn't necessarily mean dragon, she uses neuvillette leviathan constellation and conclude that elynas must also be a dragon. but that is what we call confirmation bias in literature. because the name leviathan can also refer to whale-like or sea-monster like being, it doesn't always mean a dragon.
@Ashikai did you see the Chenyu Vale mural that shows some juicy things? Its next to the statue in the center of Chenyu, in the ruins, there's a huge pendant that needs 2 pieces.. And from there, you will find the secret mural..
@@SgtGrub She willingly gave it up - it wasn't taken from her with force. Like Diluc didn't lose himself when he stopped threw away his vision (it got returned by Kaeya in the ugly vase) and Childe was just the same even though he handed his vision over to Traveller. So I'm wondering if that plays a part - the ramifications only really hit if the vision is taken by force. Or, potentially, the loss of ambition is actually "just" psychosomatic and the vision isn't connected to it at all, it's people "just" giving up subconsciously. After, heavy lack of ambition and motivation is a sign of depression, and having something very special to you taken by force is traumatic. Like with the Aranara bravery quest. We all know the trinket didn't actually give any courage off, but because the little Aranara thought it did it heavily impacted it when it lost it thinking that was the only thing giving it courage.
The fact that Rhinedotter went out of her way to give Durin and Elynas hearts and blood that would become crystals goes to show how well she understood the real dragons of Teyvat to try and recreate them as abyssal creatures
Where does it say that Rhinedotter created Elynas? I don't remember that part of the lore anywhere. From what I understood, Elynas was just a being, dragon-like that existed, was huge and ended up dying where his blood and the death of all of the fighting on and within his body, created the Melusines. But I don't remember where its implied it was created by Rhinedotter?
@@VideoxMistress the way the in game text and dialogue describe his inner thoughts matches pretty well with Durin’s inner thoughts (I think you can find this in weapon and item descriptions from Dragonspine but check the wiki to be sure), and Elynas describes meeting his “mother” who gave him his name, and Elynas first appeared on the surface during the Cataclysm, when all the abyssal monsters were surging out of Khaenri’ah. It’s never explicitly stated that Rhinedotter created Elynas but we know she created Durin and the Rift Hounds, both being abyssal monsters who see things differently to beings native to Teyvat, such as humans. Melusines saw rift hounds as playful puppies, since Melusines were born from Elynas and are therefore abyssal in nature as well.
In CN 仙/xian is such a common term we joke when someone is refusing to eat that they are trying to cultivate themselves into a xian. In the classic CN story "八仙/Eight Immortals", one of the Eight became a xian by devoting himself to riding a donkey backwards, showing that anyone can become xian by training hard enough. One of the most famous xian is the carp that became a dragon by leaping over a waterfall, made famous by Magikarp and is portrayed by Fujin in Genshin. However if cultivation goes the wrong way in xian myths one can become demons, 走火入魔/zuo huo ru mo, going off the path and entering the path of the demon. Xiandan/ 仙丹 / immortal elixir is the "philosopher stone" of CN alchemy, it's what all the emperors want their alchemists to create, and as a twist ended up creating gunpowder. This pursuit of immortality also led to the deaths of many emperors by self poisoning and the biggest irony was that gunpowder led to guns and bringing down the imperial era. This is one of the many reasons immortality is seen as a curse in CN stories and Hoyoverse games. There is an extremely well known scene from Journey to the West and is the exact process which Sun Wukong gained immortality. He was punished by the Jade Emperor for stealing immortality peaches and sentenced to being cooked alive in his elixir crucible for 49 days, hoping that they can squeeze out the immortality from the peaches he ate and create elixirs. However after 49 days, they opened the crucible and found that Sun Wukong instead of dying, has gained immortality beyond all gods. He then proceeded to defeat the entire Celestial Army and gods and only Buddha himself was able to stop him in the end. This process of brewing an elixir for 7 weeks, 49 days comes from Chinese alchemy, as 49 is a special number, a square of 7, and 7 is a unique prime number that's also seen as special in other cultures, such as Lucky 7. 7 x 7, 49 or 七七 四十九/ qi qi si shi jiu, is such a famous number superstition that it has permeated into all Chinese media as a reference, it is also how Qiqi got her name. Chinese emperors trying to create immortal elixirs and Sun Wukong gaining immortality after 7 x 7 49 days is how Qiqi is named 7 7.
Also all this cultivation stuff is conscious, deliberate and continuous / ongoing. Getting a Vision is the opposite. You don't work at getting a Vision you just get one given to you. And you either have it or you don't. You can't get more Vision or increase the power of a Vision through cultivation. Plenty of people in Teyvat say "I wish I had a Vision" but not one has ever said "I'm cultivating to get my Vision". So to my mind the processes are opposites. Nobody jokes about not eating or riding a donkey backwards as a way to get a Vision. it's universally seen as an arbitrary gift from some god (although it seems it's more like an arbitrary gift from the Gnosis now). If there is a key to a Vision it is ambition, not dedication. Furthermore wouldn't immortal species always have had their Vision if this video is right? But all of these immortals in game have a story for when they got their Vision except Cloud Retainer (and maybe Yae Miko and Xiao). And didn't she say humans can't be Adepti?
@@davidjohnson8273 The vampires are called Jiangshi, which means Frozen/Stiff Corpse. They are usually considered undead instead of immortal, in very rare cases in modern media they can be other types of beings and in Qiqi's case she's a twist on the concept by becoming immortal with the help of a Xian. Qiqi still retains many aspects of a Jiangshi, particularly her stiffness because she was immortalised after death so she unfortunately has semi rigor mortis. Interesting thing is that this stiffness/rigor mortis is what gives Jiangshi their super strength and durability in myths, they lack agility but have increased strength and durability lol Qiqi lives in a constant state of almost dying and alive, with the help of her Vision she cools down her body to prevent decomposition, but she can't cool down too much or else she freezes so she has to exercise; She's probably the most disciplined person in Liyue living life on a knife edge.
@@davidjohnson8273 If your dream aligns with your training towards becoming an Adepti, you can have both. It makes sense that if you are ambitious, you would dedicate yourself towards that goal, and if your goal involves adepti training, you'd become an adepti with a Vision. Shenhe as well Shuyu are on their way to becoming Adepti so it's definitely possible for humans.
At least for Cloud Retainer, the Vision friendship lore part explains pretty well why she carries a Vision (think they mention it's also decorative like the Archons who carry a "Vision"; the Adepti can use Elemental power without one)
Though, one note that I immediately checked in her trial stage: Zhongli and Venti's Vision's don't light up when you switch characters, like every real vision in the game. Xianyun's does, so theoretically, hers is real.
@artemis2227 I don't know about Zhongli but I play Venti on the regular. His "vision" does light up, but his little chess shaped thing at the back also lights up.
@@alias_undercoverCorrection, Venti and Zhongli's vision don't light up in the event that Ashikai mentions at the start of the video, but as she also mentioned, Xiao's did work in that event
@@artemis2227 Oh, yeah it doesn't light up in that event. I thought you meant switch characters as in "switch characters" or like when their burst are ready.
Nice! Another supporting point would be when Xiao commented that Diona has "adeptal affinity." Granted, that's either because of her Katzlein blood or the Oceanid's blessing or both, but that line from Xiao was my first hint that the magic system is in fact more underlyingly connected and consistent than it seems.
You can't choose to want or don't want a Vision, they are forced upon you. They are a physical embodiment of one's desire and it is both a blessing and curse. By having a Vision it means your fate is decided, your desire is so strong that you will spend your entire life focusing on your dream, that is your destiny, Heavenly Principles already have their eyes on you.
@@reveriesend4668 Yea I know where you're coming from, I also have certain speculations on what the Heavenly Principles and Primordial One are trying to achieve with Visions. Personally I think that Celestia wants humans to have big dreams worthy of Visions to ascend and one day take over them. Celestia is showing tough love to humanity, challenging them to achieve greater heights and eventually surpass them. And to do this they must truly have dreams big enough to actually take down the gods themselves. Celestia will take on humans with full force, if they can't defeat the gods, civilisation will get destroyed and a new samsara begins and each new civilisation will learn from previous failures and ruins left behind by broken dreams. They are doing this because if they can't even defeat the gods, then they are not ready for what's beyond the Firmament.
I also do think that has something to do with Visions but I feel like there's something stranger going on if Visions is about following one's fate. Look at Tomo, Kazuha's friend, his dream was about blocking Ei's sword and he also has a vision. And when Kazuha had the desire to block Ei's blade to protect Aether( who I choose as Traveller) the vision activate. With that in mind I can't help but ask what over all plan HP has with all these 'Fates' Furina, Wanderer, and Rana are vision users that we see attain their vision add to all the vision character stories, where does this lead to?
I actually love this because it also explains the effects delusions have on the body such as why it backfired on Crepus or why Teppei aged so rapidly and died. They had no tallent for elemental cultivation and using something to force it ended up exacting a toll. The one thing that sticks out to me is how Guhua seems to be bashing vision weilders meanwhile is thought to have ascended by the people of Liyue (*if I remember correctly) so perhaps his is actually not a true ascention either and he too became an abyssling?
I’m currently doing Albedo story quest and he tells exactly this. The potion would not hurt if your body would pass elemental power through it but otherwise the potion would hurt. So for an element to be absorbed, your body should be strong so the element could enter it and leave it just like electricity for a example. Ellogenes bodies are conductors. And as an analogy we could assume that different conductors are “made” from different materials thus they suit their respective elements. They could pass a different element (using delusion) but it’ll hurt them, but won’t kill. Ordinary people aren’t conductors for elements, so when someone like Crepus or Teppei uses delusion, element enters their a body but can’t get out of it, which eventually kills them.
The dev insight for Xiao says this: "The "three eyes" part of the adepti's title refers to the "third eye" possessed by those with the ability to manipulate elemental energy, which for humans takes the form of a Vision. For adepti such as Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper, the human understanding is that they must have an "inner eye" that serves the same purpose as a Vision. Xiao, however, typically appears in a human form, so he dutifully wears a Vision to comply with the expected norm." Knowing this and Cloud Retainer wanting to blend in, it seems they only manifest a vision for that purpose. The same dev insight also says this very interesting thing: "The adepti are classed as non-human, based on the notion that "All who have nine orifices can achieve immortality through self-discipline," a line uttered by the "Monkey King" Sun Wukong in the Ming-dynasty novel Journey to the West. This means that animals are also capable of achieving adeptus status. However, humans have a higher purpose than adepti in the world of Teyvat, so for this reason, only those of non-human status can be referred to as "adepti" in Liyue."
I also wanted to say that, only beast can form inner core and become an adepti, humans who are able to do that has some bloodline of a beast. Maybe there will be a big lore behind zhongli how he is the supreme beast of all tevyat and how beast were born from him exception humans and elemental being.
If you’ve seen the pyro archon vision theory vid yet, then thoma’s vision is easily explained. The theory goes that pyro vision users receive a pyro vision upon a passing of the torch from a parental figure. The parental figure gave the character either a moral lesson, an item, a responsibility, or a belief. The one lesson that Thoma learnt from his father was “loyalty”, that lesson was enacted in full force when Thoma pledged his loyalty to the kamisatos, thus he received a pyro vision for receiving the “torch” of his father’s wishes.
@@Brukin. no no, just because she’s being a student doesn’t mean she was passed the torch. Her temperament and values are def different from her Old Hag, this is the same case with Albedo and other Hexenzirkel students
15:22 Maybe delusions originated from the Tsaritsa’s blood then. We know that this kind of enhancement via elemental blood can be done by living beings, so maybe she made the first delusions with her own blood, and that could also explain why the delusions made by Orobashi’s marrow were unstable. It could be like the thing in Baizhu’s quest since both the elixir and the Inazuma factory delusions had very quick and hazardous consequences to the one using it. Just a thought
Sadly delusions exist because Diluc lost his dad’s delusion…. Therefore it’s possible that they replicated the process by using gods remains in Sneznahya… I doubt the Tsaritsa would use her blood because that would be a bit morbid tbh…. I think Dottore used what he learned with Collei, then research about Delusions and justmixed the two concepts up…. Though that begs the question of where the delusion of Diluc’s dad come from….
@@JoshuaA1307 oh yeah. I always forget about the Raginvindyr delusion. Also, I’m pretty sure the Tsaritsa using her blood to make delusions would be one of the least morbid things when compared to some of the existing lore in Genshin.
it's funny because i was selling the game to a friend and I likened it to a Xianxia story since we both have read a couple. Especially how the characters ascend by gathering materials and going through stages like most Xianxia have (tho they usually have 5th dan of the heavenly realm or equally long stages). It would also explain someone like Klee who is physically and mentally a child and how she is a vision wielder. If it just comes down to talent then it makes a lot more sense.
That can be split further into unique human model and unique animal model. Cloud retainer/Zhongli: unique human/unique animal Moon carver/mountain shaper/Fujin: Npc human/unique animal Shuyu’s grandma: npc human/literally just a bird Xiao: unique human/404 animal not found
Ah yes the bit about leylines reminds me of the dragon vein ley lines conspiracy. There was a post by a fengshui guy on a Chinese website that was talking about how Hoyo released 2 back to back meta water dragon characters Dan Heng IL and Neuvilette in HSR and GI and put billboard ads of them in geographical formation that let then drain all the good Auspicious energy from the Beijing Leylines to become extra prosperous.
20:21 This kind of explained why Itto didn't lose his mind despite being separated from his vision during the hunt decree, since he's an oni, a xian, so his vision isn't as vital for him as it is for human
5:35 they are more of Yao 妖。 仙 Xian needs authorizations from the heavenly administration 天庭。In the case of Genshin, Zhongli is the Heavenly administration to let Cloud Retainer/Xiao into the 仙班(Adepti Class/List)。Also, 仙 usually are powerful beings with some kind of magic. 妖 in the other hand, are usually anything in the world(animals, trees, grass, flowers, etc) that may turn into the human form or near human form and live a long life. Beautiful 妖 are 妖精，and they are usually more powerful. Near-human-form, usually not beautiful and less powerful, are 妖怪 Yao Guai (the root of the Japanese Yokai，but in Japanese culture, the classifications are different)。To become 仙 from 妖，they need to be 位列仙班(get onto the Adepti List)。I can keep typing, but I am not sure if anybody will be interested.
That might also explain why Childe/Diluc don't face the same repercussions as say Teppei for using a delusion, the effects of using ('consuming') a dead-god core are diminished as they have a vision, while Teppei did not. The same two characters also suggest that you only need a vision or a delusion (as a vision wielder) to stay sane, actually...
That was my first thought during all of this, it very neatly deals with *why* both are such naturals at delusions: they already have the elemental affinity. Also part of why Collei was such a successful experiment for Dottore, as someone who would become a vision holder she might have had enough talent at the time.
@@bonk8311 considering how a big feature of his character is his mastery of martial combat, he might be at a level skilled enough over his elemental mastery/affinity to not be affected so badly.
As someone who's been reading a lot of translations of korean and chinese webseries that Do Not Explain why the heck monsters have crystal Cores, this suddenly added so much more depth to this trope that I lacked. Additionally, gotta say, the over lap between Gnosticism and Xianxia stories is really interesting, it's no wonder Hoyo would lean into it with Genshin.
This video has answered a lot of my questions regarding the ‘yokai’ ‘adeptus’ and other non human beings we’ve encountered throughout teyvat so far, and as an avid reader of the Xianxia genre it makes a lot of sense. However I wonder how no one addressed the man who quite basically spread the school of taoism in Liyue. Zhongli is the Adeptus Prime, the one responsible for teaching the way to reach immortalhood. That’s not to say that Zhongli is the only one who reached this state as it’s inferred in the video that those who reached the level of godhood are basically immortals, however he’s the only one so far who taught his followers the path to reach this state. I’m sure the other gods must’ve had their own encounters as to how they reached godhood however Zhongli created a system that allows mortals to walk a path to immortalhood without relying too much on external factors (bloodline & vision). In a way the gods are basically beings who reached the conclusion or the answer to the problem meanwhile Zhongli wrote the instructions and solutions to this problem so other people can also get a shot in making it big. In Xianxia novels the founders who spread the gift of cultivation to the masses usually have unique identities and from these facts alone we could tell Zhongli might be hiding more than we think he is. I mean he created a system that allows humans and beasts alike to condense their own cores, evolve them to break through and become immortals. I think this also explains why Zhongli during his prime is considered the strongest god or at least the strongest god in his area. As mentioned by Ganyu when she finally reaches her peak, she’ll outgrow her need for the vision as her powers would likely be stronger after she reaches her peak. We can also infer that this is probably how Zhongli has reached his strength during the archon war however, this only makes you wonder how strong Zhongli was/is, as in the Xianxia genre cultivation is often described as endless. The dao is never ending and the only thing limiting cultivators is themselves (and usually the heavenly will) which in genshin’s case is most likely celestia. This is to say cultivators including in genshin have limitless potential but is probably suppressed by celestia. I’m hoping for a video deep diving Zhongli’s character, his background and lore - and how he was able to come up with the idea of cultivation and how he was able to do it. I think it’d also have implications in the future content of the lore as I don’t think the parallelism of Liyue being the land of cultivators and Celestia being the heavenly will that suppresses cultivators and other strong beings from becoming to strong, will just be glazed over like that.
…………..the timing of this video, and my fledgling interest in Wuxia media all of a sudden is such a strange coincidence, but you’ve suddenly explained so much context I did not understand from completely different media I was consuming. The hive mind is hiving lmaoo
As someone who had read many translated Xianxia novels before jumping to Genshin, I'm actually ashamed I didn't make the connection sooner. But yeah, it all feels coherent now. All the information I learned regarding Xianxia cultivation system can now be proper references when thinking about Genshin's magic system going forward.
right? same. I recently got my friend to play genshin and they asked what the Adepti are so we spent like over an hour going over what cultivation settings are and how illuminated beasts are in those stories, but until Ashikai pointed out that Genshin's magic system might just straight up be hoyo's twist on Xianxia, I just wouldn't have made the same connections as she did, even though I had all the information presented in the video 😂
so the reason why characters have specific element is essentially what they call spiritual (elemental) root in cultivation novels. Therefore, we will have cases in the future where characters controls multiple elements. The fatui delusions counts as planting artificial spiritual root hence why it has a very negative effect. It also explain why the traveler sucks because on cultivation novels, having all spiritual root unlocked means you will be needing a whole lot of resources to have it cultivated.
I think it's not about "needing a vision", but about "deserving a vision". You don't choose to have a vision, the vision chooses you, and whether you use it or not is up to you. After all, visions do not only give you elemental power, but resistance to the abyss and other types of corruption, and physical strength as well.
This checks out! If Visions show cultivation potential and the ultimate goal of cultivation is to achieve immortality and ascend, it echoes Venti's statement if vision holders being allogenes with the potential to become archons! Also, I've long been thinking of Mora as Zhongli's spirit stones. In the xianxia world, they can pool their own internal energy and create spirit stones. These can help others in cultivation, just store your energy for emergency situations, siphon off excess energy if you have too much, etc. Cultivators don't have any use for mortal money so spirit stones are also used as currency but here, Zhongli has gotten the WHOLE of Teyvat to use spirit stones as currency XD If I'm right, that means he has energy reserves stored EVERYWHERE. Just imagine how much power he can regain if he collects it all back to himself 👀 Ever since Shenhe appeared, I've been looking through everything with a xianxia cultivation perspective and a lot of things translate. It makes me wonder how much of this the Chinese audience just see as super obvious parallels while the rest of us are still figuring it out.
With how you've described it, I'm so so much reminded of `Manhwas` like "Martial Peak" or "Tales Of Demons And Gods". I see so many parallels, and the fact that HoyoVerse is a Chinese Company. I honestly believe that you are spot on with this one!
So, what do we think of the Fontaine story when we literally take Childe’s vision for months (Probably? Since we had it during the whole Meropede arc) and he relied solely on his delusion? Was he okay because he already reached a proper level of cultivation within him that he could just filter his life force into anything..?
Hmm.... This idea about cultivation talent and Visions could explain why some people are apparently safe using a Delusion (more talented, we just don't see all the Fatui's dead orphans, or the Tsaritsa has a way to determine affinity beforehand) and perhaps why some people were safe after abandoning or losing their Vision (Diluc and Childe had a Delusion, Itto has natural affinity from being an oni, that one fisherman near Wangshu Inn has probably achieved a lot of cultivation).
Thanks a lot for your lore content! I didn't understand much of genshins lore at first since I started this game a couple months ago but after watching your videos not only do I get most of the stuff but the genshin story becomes more and more interesting!
In Chinese culture, the essence for 仙 (xian) is not about obtaining immortality. Immortality is often the reason why humans choose to go through cultivation to become xian-hood. You can see it as a side effect of becoming a xian for living creatures. The true meaning of becoming a xian is to understanding the 道 (dao), i.e., the ultimate truth about the universe. The "道 (dao)" can also be called "天道 (tian dao)", which is often translated into "the Heavenly Way". Technically speaking, although a xian has various supernatural powers, they are not supernatural being. The transition from human to xian is considered natural process. It's like turning water into vapor. A xian doesn't age or get sick but can be killed. Beings without physical forms cannot become xian. The word for god in Chinese is "神 (shen)". The name of the game in Chinese is 原神 (yuan shen or "gen shin" in JP pronunciation), which means primordial god. God and xian are both considered deity in Chinese culture. However, understanding the Heavenly Way is not required for gods. The certificate for a god is weather or not they have a job, i.e., being appointed to govern a domain. For example, god of fire, god of law, god of the Moon, etc. Also, gods are not necessarily immortal. Some human got promoted into heaven to become gods after they are dead. You can see that gods are in fact a ruling system. It attaches morality to "the Heavenly Way", thus comes the concept of "天理 (tian li)", which is translated into "the Heavenly Principles" in Genshin Impact. Some methods used in the cultivation process are deemed immoral with respect to "the Heavenly Principles". Those xians use such methods are called 妖 (yao) (by human and gods). 妖 (yao) and 怪 (guai, which means weird beings) are often mentioned together as 妖怪 (yao guai, or "you kai" in JP pronunciation), since they are seen as harmful to human. Itto and Sara can only be classified as guai, but not yao, since oni and tengu don't have original forms in nature. They are inherently supernatural species. Yae Miko is a yao since she has the original form of a fox. Therefore she can call herself a fox xian. (Yes, just like Foxian from Xianzou Luofu in HSR). Recall from the game that Visions are highly connected to the Heavenly Principles. They are not given randomly. There is a judging mechanism from Celestia to decide who are eligible for owning visions. Then archons are required to issue the visions. However, the cultivation process for adepti is independent of any party. It is a natural process. Also, adeptal arts are not limited to elemental magic. They can be much more profound, like transforming Yuandai into human. God remains are dangerous because they harbor the hatred and regret of deceased gods. They are the evil manifestation of gods' former power. Gods who died without such strong negative emotions don't leave god remains. However, adeptal bloods don't share the same logic. Just as Xianyun said, the cause for Yuandai's symptom is that her transformation is unnatural. Adeptal blood can only prolong the inevitable. It cannot change the natural order. It is not wrong for a crane to return to its crane form. What is left unsolved is why adeptal blood attracts monsters. My guess is that the veins of adepti are like Ley Lines. So the leaked adeptal blood contains high level energy which makes it behave like a small scale Ley Line Monolith.
I also experienced a form of near death experience where my ego was dissolved for a fraction of a second after contemplating on teachings of Buddha and I feel like an immortal even though my body is mortal. I no longer care about life and death. I act on intuition and instincts rather than intellectual opinions. I was interested in this discussion. In Daoism the way to Achieve Wu Wei is to not desire the results according to Einzelganger. Buddhism and Hinduism say similar things. In Buddhism and Hinduism attachments to desire is cause of suffering as it doesn't help us achieve flow state which requires concentration on the actions.
@@playmobilegamescodm In my opinion, Wu Wei is about going with the flow. It is about living in the moment and not attempting to control the process. It is not exactly equivalent to having no desire for it is natural for human to have desires. As a native Chinese religion, and unlike most other religions in the world, the original Daoism is inherently atheist and deeply rooted in the nature. So there is no heaven or hell, nor any judging system or moral system. So the approach from Daoism is different Buddhism in that it doesn't criticize human desires as immoral or trouble or something you need to clear out of your system. If you don't have desires, why do you need focus and mind flow in order to fulfill them? Daoism usually humbles people by showing them bigger pictures of the universe through the very encrypted, yet necessarily so, teachings from Laozi and his followers. It is a challenge to the linear thinking of humankind. The core of Daoism is De, which can be seen as wisdom or the ability to see through the chaotic nature of the universe (the Dao). And then Wu Wei will have its meaning. Without De, Wu Wei will always be trapped in a paradox.
Honestly, I always had this feeling that there's more of xianxia in Genshin than we can tell from the get-go, but never could properly explain it... So I'm very excited that we get to know those little hints and obvious answers that we just... Brushed off without knowing the context of the genre, I guess?
this came out right on time; I've been immersing myself in xianxia novels for a couple of months now and started to see striking similarities, even in terms like ascension, etc.
I always enjoy listening to your theories and content while I'm at work. Thank you. That aside. Correct me if wrong. Further supporting your theory is that. There's a "fisherman" NPC in Liyue daily commission. It says he was a former vision wielder but interestingly unlike the inazumans who lost their memories and ambitions, hes still very aware and powerful.
I guess that explains why tepei couldnt handle the delusion when diluc could, huh. This only makes me MORE curious about childe and how his story will unfold
my theory is that visions are being used to "trap" their holders and stop them from ever rebelling against Celestia, because even though vision holders gain a lot of power from their vision, it also "sets their destiny in stone", sort of speak. It seems Celestia believes that some people are naturally dangerous to their status quo, due to their ambition, so Celestia give visions to those people to keep them in check, that also includes Adepti.
There are 2 issues with that theory: The first is that Neuvillette, who is DEFINITELY against Celestia, seems to be perfectly fine with giving Visions, which would be counterproductive if they were a method to maintain the status quo. The second, which is a far more common issue with Genshin writing, is that Celestia are not shown to do anything at all with the status quo. There is no tithes or regulations or even interactions with Celestia at any point during the game's present, and while we know that they love to nuke other cultures, those cultures also tended to do a little "oopsie" related to the abyss that risked the entire existence of Teyvat. It just makes no sense for them to micromanage the fate of the relatively irrelevant vision users when they seem to be non-responsive to far greater attempts against their (completely absent) rule.
@@Adser261which is crazy bc the only possible interaction we have with celestia is at the beginning of the game and we don't even know 100% if the sustainer is with celestia and what position she holds if so.
In my opinion, Visions make more sense as observation devices than control devices. They are called "eyes of god" in Chinese (and a number of other translations). This way, Celestia can see the good parts of the world: deeds of heroes and important politicians, performances of its favorite singers and dancers, and just fun people like Fishl.
I've played this MMORPG back in the day called Perfect World, that had this Cultivation system alongside your character's level. (Yes, it's from a chinese company, go figure!) And this video just BLEW MY MIND because until this day I haven't grasped much of what the game, its illuminated people and creatures, and reasons for other things to be like they were there, even Devil cultivation is somehow implemented there. I never really understood why I was doing such things nor that it had this amazing reference. Now it feels like I understand so much, not only for Genshin, but also Perfect World. Thank you for this theory, its always a pleasure to watch your videos ❤
Thanks a lot for this video! Its a huge coincidence but I'm currently reading a manhua talking a lot about cultivation (martial peak) and there was a lot of things i didnt understand. You enlightened me!❤
Basically, cultivation is tempering oneself in both body and mind, then to receive a vision is proof of their ambition; life goal. Everyone who has received a vision are always moving forward. Reading almost any of the characters' dialogues and stories, they never slump into laziness, depression, etc. like a lot of people on the internet struggle with. But basically, they never let anyone get them down, kind of thing. They can worry about not being able to do this and that and progressing, but that doesn't mean they're depressed or necessarily stuck in 1 place. I think someone could make an argument for Sayu, who's always sleeping and lazing, but I didn't read up on her character story and dialogue to understand why she's like that. She could be a hard worker and expends all her energy in a short amount of time or it's part of her job to be patient because she's a ninja, etc.
I'm so happy so far! I haven't finished the video but, I genuinely feel like this is the only video I was able to follow from the get-go because of how many Chinese Novels I read.
A fun(?) little observation about vision-holders: None of them, playable or generic NPC, have children. No matter the age or goals, they seem either incapable or unwilling to reproduce. This would be a little sad for characters like Hu Tao, the Kamisatos and Yoimiya who are the sole inheritors of long and important bloodlines.
i think its mostly because of genshin's general refusal to include or even imply romance between the playable characters. the only person that the characters are allowed to express interest in is the traveler lmao. and its not often that we see allogene npcs either, only really a handful and for short bursts, and even fewer of them are *visibly* using visions
@@cyavu530 I would also like to know what you're talking about. I know the playable characters aren't romantically involved for marketing reasons, but how in the actual Hell did you get time travel and secret love out of Furina's story quest?
@@PieaterProductsoh wait, dont tell me they are talking about the "little oceanid" story thinking it's supposed to be furina's story, when in reality the only paralels would be the whole "you cant tell anyone" deal
Wait wait wait, if we are are using beast cores and cultivated materials to level up characters by force, what does that imply for the traveler? Every character who has a vision who we force to rank up all say how they feel amazing and how they feel stronger, Charlotte being the only person who bring up she wonders if the process is different for others. While i do remember that the traveler has the ability to purify materials and that alone has some strange implications for how this process is done. Zhongli on his ascensions might be worth revisiting, on his 2nd ascension he states how it does have some physically painful effect on his body, however on his max ascension says how he didn't imagine the strength he would have after letting go of the gnosis. So is the Gnosis a way to force cultivation in a more pure way since it is made from the body of a god or is that process something else entirely?
But Zhongli had been an Adeptus/ Xian before getting his Gnosis. He even bestowed illumination upon other Adepti a while before becoming an Archon so......
(12:07) You said that the ley lines are the veins of the dragons and considering that Neuvillette said that he constantly hears the emotions of the people trough water actually makes a lot of sense....
Hi there! This video was super interesting and I’ll definitely be looking at more of your theories. On the topic of the Adepti and specifically Xiao, the world quest of Chenyu Vale might include additional lore about Xiao’s previous master? Fujin, Lingyuan and Herblord seemed to follow her(?) up to a certain point, and this might be an indicator of when Rex Lapis became involved with Chenyu Vale and or may have rescued Xiao. I’d love to hear your thoughts about this and if I’m crazy (I really like Xiao). Keep up the cool content!! ❤
That's why Xiao called Diona's ability which she got from Oceanid to make delicous drinks from disgusting ingridients similiar to adeptus power bcs liyue adeptus and fontaine Oceanid are basically the same thing in genshin world.
I'm not entirely convinced that Teyvat completely follows a Xianxia model though I do believe it takes inspiration from it. And thank you for explaining the concept of Xian so well, I get tired of all the misinformation. I have always liked the theory of elemental affinity to explain why the Harbingers as well as Diluc do not seem to experience much negative effects from using delusions, contrary to the Inazuma soldiers, so nice to see it being expanded upon.
If all Xian must be immortal, and adepti are Xian, how come we have so many dead Adepti? Come to think of it, we also have dead Oni and Kitsune. Really, the Khaenriahs and Furina seem to be the only true immortals in the game
good vid. I love me multilayer parallels. thus the act of giving your core to other willingly after the fulfillment of a "wish" or a "contract" allows someone to ascend to godhood. if either you're pulling the fish up so that they can jump through the dragon gate, or you're pushing the fish from under.
The Inazuma questline made me wonder: how far can humans distance themselves from their vision without suffering from it? Their visions are usually partmof their attire, but what about them bathing, sleeping, etc?
Mostly very safe even if u gave it or toss it away willingly as long as ur concious of it and not taken away by force. An NPC from Liyue don't get affected with loss of ambition and is still very strong even after he disposed his vision. Kuki also doesn't get negative effect since she gave it away willingly to the vision hunt decree.
My theory as to why @Ashikai, and frankly most of us, didn't realize that Genshin is a Xianxia story is because, at least compared to most of the ones that us in the West are exposed to, Genshin tries to take inspiration from all over. Also, its not in your face about it being a cultivation story and actually has nicer pacing and decent translation. like most I run into are always about the main character being weakest in a sect and after a bit of training its a couple days/weeks meditations and boom so much stronger and beating the other sect(s) and taking their women and blah blah blah. granted I prob just have bad luck in finding actually good ones.
Lol, thank you for the theory/speculation, making me understand...I've been wondering it for a long time why some adepti have visions and why some of them not.
So I have a question arising out of CR’a story quest. “That person” was revealed to be a bird however they ended up mating with a human and having a child so is being having your partner secretly be an animal Liyue’s version of “everyone is an oceanid?” How many people in Liyue are married to animals or part animal and have no clue?
Avid reader and fan of cultivation novels here and from the very beginning I noticed that genshin was a cultivation story which was super surprising to me but also made it very easy to digest. Cultivation novels are a niche and is more popular with the chinese/asian crowd so seeing the way genshin work the concepts into the story was very nice. Also an overlying theme in cultivation novels is freeing oneself from the shackles of destiny, which is sometimes an actual entity and behaves in a way Celestia/Heavenly Principles does. This entity is often portrayed as passively conscious and will reward those living inside its jurisdiction who align with it and punish or put those who dare go against it through trials (usually a baptism of lightning every so often). Seeking immortality is going against destiny in itself so vision holders should be getting resistance from Celestia instead of effortless mastery. That's why I still believe visions have a sinister undertone. Then again, depending on the entity, it doesn't have to be. I've read novels where the universe encouraged talents to cultivate quickly and in mass because it sensed a coming calamity involving another universe and needed powerful soldiers to defend itself. The fact that we saw Neuvilette grant Furina a vision shows that the archons/Celestia isn't necessarily the only one passing them out. It could be that Teyvat is passing them out and the archons/sovereigns were just part of the process. It makes me wonder, when did visions appear? Before the Primordial One landed in Teyvat, there were only vishaps who wouldn't have any need for visions since they have beast cores. Did the Primordial one create them and then wrote the rules on who does and doesn't recieve one? If yes, then why does Neuvilette have the ability to grant someone a vision? Is he still under Celestia/Heavenly Principle's sovereignty since Teyvat still follows the rules they set down? I guess that's why traveler has to ascend to Celestia, in order to rewrite the rules. I'm still under the impression that Teyvat operates like a simulation. For some reason, it's set to restart itself over and over. I wonder if that's something the PO set in motion or if it was something that had been happening even while the dragons were running teyvat. So many questions ahhh!!!
Something I think could be added to the theory: If a adeptus or other Xian who have an internal vision manifest theirs outwardly, i.e. what Xianyun and Xiao do, that if their vision were to be stolen, like what happens during the vision hunt decree, then while they wouldn't slowly lose their memories and minds, like how Itto who's an Oni was able to resist it, I do think that since they'd still be missing their cores they'd have their elemental powers weakened if not temporarily lost. It just makes sense that if you lose the core of your elemental power you'd lose that power even if that core doesn't need to exist outside you. Now they might be able to simply resummon that core/vision but that would still imply that while they don't have it on their person they can't use their power.
A video with Jeht mentioned coming out just after she had official Valentine's art(with Benben) is some interesting timing. That art has people clamoring even more for a playable Jeht. Which if we get may lead to her getting a vision. And in turn that may also lead to more lore(depending on how it is done, if done).
But I cant see jeht being playable tho if jeht get playable and we got her story quest or event quest we have to finish a long world quest that most players likely hasnt finished it yet
@@sunglassfrog89well, they made Raiden Shogun playable for everyone, even for those that hadn't finished the Inazuma archon quests. Jeht should also be no problem, just lock a chunk of her voicelines behind the world quests. I'm hoping for the same thing with Rana.
@@jsw973 see I understand your point. However, characters like Wanderer etc, appeared in a voiced main story like Archon Quest and its essential for story progression and not a side quest with no voice lines. The only one that I remembers a voiced story content that locked behind WQ is Yoimiya's second Story Quest, which requires only the Aranara prologue. It's kinda unlikely for a character developed through a lengthy world quest to become playable in the future but who knows anyways in the end its hoyo choice
Very interesting to know that yōkai are explicitly Xian and not just similar. I was thinking how Fujin was similar to Kirara in how they started out as normal animals that became something higher and could become human. I was pretty sure yōkai and adepti were just different names for the same type of creature, so nice to know that Yae basically confirms it in Chinese.
I've always figured that HoYo has always been inspired by Xianxia for Liyue (and perhaps the game as a whole), but this video helps conceptualise how in specific this inspiration forms. Very helpful and nice video Ashikai. With that said... I do feel like there's more to why some of the Adeptus have Visions on their person. Cause tbh, I don't think your answer provides the answer as to WHY Adeptus like Xiao and Xianyun have their Vision on their person, cause as you say, they've already surpass the need to have their Vision/core on them to use their powers. For Xianyun, I can at least understand if this is to help her pass as a human better in case she uses her power, but Xiao I have no answer for. And tbh, I wouldn't be surprise if we're not meant to fully understand yet, other than perhaps it has to do with how Visions seem to also be referred to/reference as a "third-eye". Also, for my Zhongli biased brain, this makes me think about what HoYo means with Zhongli as the Prime Adeptus/Adeptus Ancestor, other what those terms literally mean that is. Cause we can make easy enough guesses with references to mythology and stories like Xianxia, but I mean within the context of the game's story itself. It brings into question his origin more than anything since, from what I feel is implied, he's the "source" on people/Adeptus learning the process of illumination (ig that will depend if Adeptal Arts includes illumination anyways). Tbh, while thinking of all this while watching the video, I have an "in the moment" thought that perhaps Zhongli's relation with Celestia and The Heavenly Principles is that he essentially taught The Heavenly Principles how to create a system to give people Visions. I have really nothing to back this up, just my want to learn about Zhongli's relationship with Celestia and very circumstantial evidence than could also mean other things such as how illumination seems to be similar to getting Visions and how there seemed to have been people back during The Archon War that were either people that had powers similar to Vision wielders or perhaps they were straight up Vision wielders. But I'm leaving my thoughts here to put a pin in this to see how right or wrong I am on this. lmao I also want to say that this topic is also making me think on dragons in the context of Genshin's setting and if there's something more to the name and not just what vishaps and Dragon Sovereigns are called. But that's a topic for another time. EDIT: Edit out cultivation in reference to illumination as I've realised/learn that they may not be one and the same.
0:27 "...because the only 2 exceptions to the Starsplinter Vision test in the whole game are Zhongli and Venti-" Me: (I typed out an entire thing and it was deleted, so nope; nevermind) I also still have questions about what separates a Yaksha from the other Liyue adepti, but it's possible that I just missed that tidbit of lore somewhere.
a correction to what you said. Xian refers to celestials, immortal humans of heaven, ghosts and animals are often referred to as Yao(demons), unless they are proven to have helped humanity. ghosts and yaos gain power through devouring others and stealing, while practitioners cultivate.
I came to the same conclusion about how Genshin has that cultivation story aspect to its gameplay years ago. The ascending to godhood, leveling up by reading text/gaining another level of understanding, ascending to surpass limitations and grow more and using different materials to ascend. The game may incorporate mythologies from different cultures but the main gameplay is still influenced from their own culture.
I love how Xiao is an adeptus, thus apparently has this higher form of enlightenment which translates to finishing alchemy which should give u higher wisdom as well/be impossible without it. Basically, one valid form of a wise powerful immortal being is an edgy teenager. There's something beautiful about that.
The seemingly conflicting information about adepti presented via Xiao’s friendship lines, Qiqi’s friendship lines, and now Cloud Retainer’s, and the fact that “half adepti” or people with “adeptal blood” exist, has always bugged me, this theory explains everything in a nice and clear manner, TYSM for addressing something that I’ve had an issue with from practically the beginning of the game
By this, that means that to make Vanessa an immortal when she went to Celestia, she drank blood of a primordial god. Which explains venti's lines after about how the God's corpses make the world and why the manga showed so much red inside of celestia's doors. It also explains why the selection process for who gets this power is very strict, since they need to prove that their bodies could handle the power.
What I'm curious about is how/if Gnoses and Archons fit into this. From what we know all of the Archons were immortals/elemental beings in some way prior to getting their Gnosis, which might explain why losing them doesn't deprive them of power entirely: they still likely have an internal core. But that being said, based on all this I wonder if attaining immortality through a Vision would be the actual prerequisite for a human allogene to ascend to godhood, and not that godhood bestows immortality.
Out of all the original characters from Genshin, the one I want a character quest for the most is Qiqi. Her story is so interesting and unique, at least as far as Genshin is concerned.
Visions are also tied to Celestia and a persons fate. receiving a vision is kind of like receiving a new fate, something you are destined to do. I suppose in that case the playable Adepti may hold onto their visions as a sign they have accepted celestial fate.
Superbly off topic, but one of my favorite game series. Xenosaga had Nigredo, albedo, Citrine(instead of citrinitas), and rubedo(AKA JR, aka Gaignun Kukai), and i know there aren't any parallels besides the ars goetia, I just got one hell of a kick out of the mentions of them and from ig terms from a cast of an obscure game (from 2002-2006), mentioned in genshin! Love all your vids Ashikai! 💚❤️
I'm not entirely sure what my brain is connecting at the moment, but from my knowledge of xianxia stories, the cultivators gather qi to make their golden cores and ascend to immortality, the same way you've explained in your video. What my mind won't stop turning over is the common term used in translations of 'ascension', and how that might connect to the traveler as a 'descender'. If I understand xianxia hierarchy correctly, I think you have the mortals, the mortal cultivators, the immortal cultivators, and then sometimes there are heavenly officials, or immortal cultivators who have passed heavenly trials and ascended into the immortal realm? So would the travelers, the sustainer of heavenly principles, and the other descenders be heavenly officials, and perhaps the travelers and other descenders broke the laws of heaven by interfering in the mortal world, thus having their cores sealed or destroyed and being banished from the immortal realm, returning to the state of immortal cultivator? Maybe I'm way off base with this, or confused about the rules between different xianxia settings, but that's where my head is now at.
What if visions are like don't know... a substitute for the core so when you get one you redirect qi to it instead of your "core nugget" thus it never grows into the core making your xian-up unachievable. And also locks your fate with a constellation. And when it comes to already immortal beings visions prevent the next step or something , idk haven't thought it through 😅
Oooooh, nice. So, Celestia notices people doing this, and introduces a kind of artificial shunt, diverting that qi to something they can then use after the vision-wielder dies. As for immortal beings getting visions, it could just be an automatic process. Like, a celestial AI giving out visions to people who are at a certain level, but not checking if they are immortal or not first. Or, adepti can still be killed in battle and such, so maybe it's not an issue to them if it takes centuries for them to be killed. I really believe there is some level of automation about Celestia, and that it's damaged or limping along in some way without supervision.
as someone who red plenty of xianxia, to me Genshin Impact has always been a xianxia in anime form lol. the ascending to god trope + fight against the heaven is one of the most popular xianxia trope.
@@IN-tm8mw Genshin even has the same finding "sister" that has been taken away from MC at the start of the novel trope as well. I bet the original writing in the CBT has the Aether and Lumine not related by blood.
If the after effects of the delusion depends on the talent for cultivation, then could that be why the delusion killed Crepus but didn’t do anything to Diluc?
![[4.4] Why do Adepti have visions?! - A Genshin Impact Theory](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
