Story Teaser: Traces Of Past | Honkai: Star Rail 

If you think about it, Jingliu is the only one who lost everything. Jing Yuan found companionship with Yanqing, Blade with the Stellaron Hunters and Dan Heng with the Astral Express - they were able to move on, find new beginning - aside from Jingliu. Baiheng's death took a great toll on her and it can be argued that that's the reason why she succumbed to mara in the first place. Battling the mara alone, she made the decision to return to Xianzhou one final time in hopes of seeing her companions for the last time - before she surrendered herself, willingly, to atone and pay for her sins alone, forever.

I find the story of the High Cloud Quintet to be really heartbreaking and sad. Everyone has their own reasons for their actions. However, the consequences are what they are left with. Jingliu is the one that has suffered the most since she was the one that formed the group, but couldn't keep everyone together. In the end, she blamed everything onto herself and also ultimately fell victim to a tragic fate.

I kinda feel that Jingliu is, in some ways, similar to Azhdaha from Genshin Impact. Natives of Xianzhou and immortal beings in Genshin are destined to experience Mara/erosion sooner or later. But the way Xianzhou elders treat Jingliu's legacy is significantly different than the way Zhongli treats Azhdaha's legacy. The Xianzhou elders erased all records of Jingliu's heroic deeds and brand her traitors for something that is beyond her control (her fall into her mara-state isn't her choice, while Danfeng's and Blade's sins are results of their choice to resurrect their dead friend). Zhongli, on the other hand, ensured that Azhdaha will always be remembered as a hero by the citizens of Liyue instead of a maddened dragon he has became. The way Xianzhou elders treat their former champion is despicable imho.

The High Cloud Quintet Banded together Fought together Drank together Celebrated together Honored together There time together fleeting but there memories cherished forever

This story helped us understand each of their lives better in detail and with great animation, thank you for doing this

HCQ had 5 members, Baiheng being the glue that held them together. The Astral Express has 5 members, March being the glue that holds everyone together. I am going to cry.

This is such a work or art! Child Blade was so adorable!

The HCQ story is so sad in general but for me the saddest perspective struck out as that of Jing Yuan's. I truly think he is one of the best written characters in the game. All of his old friends still exist in some form or the other but it would be impossible for things to go back to what they were. Blade and Jingliu are mara struck and enemies of the Xianzhou and Dan Feng and Baiheng have been reincarnated and are not the same people anymore. Only him and his memories remain the same. His relationships with all four of them are truly so heartbreaking. He had to kill his own master who taught him to be a Cloud Knight. He could not do anything besides lessen Dan Feng's sentence to that of exile and it is so sad how he still searches for his old friend in Dan Heng. He lost his friend Baiheng and he looks out for her reincarnation, guarding her from the Preceptors. And Blade....this is the one I'm the most sad about. He personally let Blade, a criminal, escape the Xianzhou and avoided questions about why he did so. In the past, like this fanvid suggests they probably used to be childhood friends who trained together and grew up to be part of a victorious group. They used to bicker with each other, implying closeness. Yingxing even crafted his sword and several others that he keeps displayed in his chamber to this day. His voiceline about Blade "If he were to forget everything, it would make things a lot easier for me" is so interesting. I interpret it as such that Jing Yuan does not want Blade to relive their painful past while being mara-stricken because it hurts him to see his friend like that. Also, in Jingliu's quest, there is a moment when Blade suggests something related to hurting himself and Jing Yuan looks genuinely upset. There is surely a lot of shared history between them that I'd love to learn more about. Also, it is important to note that despite facing all this, Jing Yuan still never erred from his responsibilities as the General of the Cloud Knights and looked after an entire nation. Sure he has Yanqing and Fu Xuan to support him now but that does not negate all the pain he has been through. I love his warm carefree personality all the more for it. Sorry for the long rant, I just love Jing Yuan.

WHY IS SMOL BLADE SO CUTE OMG- LITTLE YINGXING-

A beautiful masterpiece. Also holy shit Jing Yuan looks so angelic in your style specially. Also the fact how much Jingliu and Jing Yuan look like actual mother and son. Oh god I love it.❤

みんなが新しい道を行く中、一人監獄へ入り壊滅の道を行く鏡流が切ないです... 彼女も幸せになってほしい

Keep up the great work! Never knew how tragic the past of the high cloud quintet was and this cinematic marvel really bought tears to my eyes.

The video is stunning! I was thinking about Jing yuan's story in all this, he is constantly surrounded by birds and with a smile and seems in control but if you think about it, he is like one of his birds, he is stuck in a cage, all the others may be haunted by the memories but Jing yuan is surrounded all the time by the places where all these memories happened, and it must be very hard for him to move on, even though he is shown by yanqing, fu xuan and the other one, he looks so happy and sad when Blade and Dan Hang arrived at the luofu I really want to see his story because out of everyone he got the least character development in the arc of the xianzhou

Such an amazing animation! Watching this really made me want to see more about the High Cloud Quintet during their glory days. It is definitely an untouched potential for lots of stories as well as branching narratives in the HSR lore. I hope they make an event promoting it someday. Amazing Video! Thanks so much for making this. I love Jingliu especially and seeing her growth and story from start to finish definitely made me fall in love with her all over again.

This depicted their story so well even without words, even in ways that the in-game quests couldn't. Thank you so much for this!

This is so amazing! Beautiful art style and impressive voiceovers. I also appreciate the English sub for us international audience. Keep up the great work!!!

This is so beautiful, I love your artstyle! Good work as always! ♥

I cried watching this oh my god T__T it's so beautiful i love this so much I love high cloud quinted huhu thank you for making this !!

That was amazingly crafted. Thank you for piecing the whole thing together

Thank you for the beautiful work!!

This was so beautiful thank you for making this

The fact that they all went into their separate ways and know they all can't be together again like in the past made me depressed ever since I got to know them

I'm so glad to be here. Good luck and great work!!

I'm still coping that one day my BaiLu will digivolve into a BaiHeng similar to DanHeng into DHIL.

good job, may this be a beginning of a huge success.

As always, a beautifully drawn animation. ❤

Astonishing work as always. Love to see more of my beloved ones!

Amazing... unraveling touch this masterpiece has..quite fascinating

This is beautiful. It grasps the tragic fate of the High-Cloud Quintet just as well as those sweet bonds and the friendship they had. It really made me cry since it just showed so strongly how such a strong friendship could, in the endlessly so tragically fall apart

how am i just seeing this now? this is beautiful! Amazing work :D

THIS NEEDS TO BE ON THE MAIN HSR PAGE ASAP!!! This is incredible and beautiful. It really delves into the High Cloud Quintet… wow.. just wow. ❤❤❤

This is so beautiful.

This was beautiful! Thanks

Amazing stuff. The way the art and music compliment each other is fantastic.

This is a masterpiece! 😭❤

I will drink every drop of high cloud quintet content I can get. Don't stop 😢

This is so beautiful. The story of Highcloud Quintet is so heartbreaking, Jingliu's story especially. Blade might not be exactly doing good, but he at least has Kafka and Silver Wolf. Jing Yuan has Fu Xuan and Yanqing. Dan Feng died, which obviously isn't great but a better fate than some of the others. Dan Heng instead has to carry some of his burdens but he has the Astral Express crew. Meanwhile Jingliu is all alone. She suffered a lot before the Quintet formed, got a short period of happiness and then had to watch her friends die or go crazy.

Amazing work! The last part would make really really good wallpapers with how amazing they look

Amazing artwork and animation! I love the story of the High Cloud Quintets.

YESSSSS NO WORDS CAN EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS-

There's 2 the most painful things 1.Die 2.Losing someone you love

This is beautiful thank you for this

AAAA I LOVE THE ARTSTYLE AND ANIMATION I can finally understand their history moree thanks for this 🙏🙏

HEY GUYSS LETS MAKE THIS TEASER VIRAL SO HOYOVERSE WILL KNOW OF THIS MASTERPIECE

Thank you for making this absolute masterpice, all I wanted in the game was more of Baiheng's and everyone else's stories so seeing this all animated based on texts only and whatnot is breathtaking. It almost feels like a real cutscene in the game. Really wonderful work!

Such beautiful and amazing animation, and such sad story.

This deserves a bazillion number of views! Top tier animation and storytelling!

素晴らしい…😭🙏🏻💕💕

THIS IS SO GOOD IM ASCENDING AHHHH

Great animation! The story of high cloud quintet is so tragic.

This is a breathtaking😢

this is so beautiful im in tears

masterpiece!

Beautiful

No words could describe how much i love this animation. Keep up the good work!

Thanks. I'm crying. This was so beautiful 😭😭😭

BEAUTIFUL 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭❤❤❤❤

this is so gorgeous

This is the masterpiece! I’m going to cry 😭 it’s so goodddddd

Amazing

BAWLING MY EYES OUTTT

I'm crying.

c'était trop bien, merci

omg i didn't know this existed. i was so shock when i watch it.

i hope we get more info about the past of them or more animated stuff..I am very interested in the high cloud quintet the most in honkai star rail besides our past self story with kafka

This is so cool! Looks amazing

I cried hard while watching this. Jingliu's story broke my heart.....

How do I stop crying after this

So beautiful….

I love them so much... Their story so painful...

Toma and the team always deliver 🥲🥲🥲🥲 the emotional damage is real with this one tho. It’s so beautiful yet melancholic

Love this five members story. This it touch my heart..

Its so perfect ❤❤

I officially became a fan of u! I love this!

Simply very nice

This video make me tear come out. I want to play jingliu's story again

Wow that was incredible

❤❤❤❤ beautiful. Thank you ❤❤❤

this was beautiful now people will now the howtory of the high cloud quintet!!!!

Просто прекрасно

5:01 So cuuttee!

Holy shit I thought this was a leaked video from hoyo! Impeccable work!!

Bravo!

I'M FUCKING CRYING RIGHT NOW--

THIS WAS SO GOOD!! I DON'T WANNA SAY GOODBYE TO THE HIGH-CLOUD QUINTET YET!!! ❤❤❤❤❤😭😭😭😭😭

I loved it, great art!

Wow very beautiful! This story is very touching because I know little of Jingliu from the game itself.

I am so happy to watch this video. I really want to know what Baiheng looks like when battle start. She hold battle bow reminds me with March 7th. 😔 Everyone love her. No wonder Jingliu quest is just pay respect and say goodbye for her. She also close with Blade.

holy, this is so well done! I thought it was official lol

LITTLE YINGXING! I hope we get more lore of him and his master at the Zhuming if all the HCQ stuff is truly done 😢

THIS WAS SO GOOD!❤❤❤❤

Hi! I'm so in love with this video!!! I'm doing lore and story videos for the italian community and I would love to use part of this video as content for explaining things, would this be fine (obviously with multiple credits and links!) to use some screenshots / clips of this? This is the best video I've ever seen and would be awesome! 🥰

I cried-

they were so happy together. THEY WERE SO HAPPY ITS NOT FAIR 😭😭😭

Awesome summary!

0:40 ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴍʏ sᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ 🗣️🗣️🗣️🔥🔥🔥

Jingliu! 💕

I love it soooooo much Even if I have become a ocean right now I'm quite happy it was beautiful like really really beautiful❤❤

Браво! Очень круто получилось!

The little Bladie omg 😭