Epilogue: The star is and will always continue to shine.

"I feel I have grown immensely from my travels with you. If, one day, I finally manage to make my dreams a reality... I wonder, will you still be there by my side?"

Feelings About Ascension: Conclusion

Several month later

Adventure's guild

There were so many people gathering at the hall, causing a lot of commotion. They seemed to be complaining about the recent challenge.

"Have you heard the new challenge rotation? It's getting ridiculous!" One of them said. Many people weren't able to complete the challenge in time. "The difficulty gap between now and the previous one is way too large!"

"Yeah, like who thought of this!" The other said "Are they expecting people to get more powerful that fast!?"

Moment later, they saw the famous blonde Traveler approaching, along with his flying companion. What caught their attention was The Yuheng going with them too to sign up for the Abyss Challenge. Everyone was watching them sign up wondering why they'd even attempt the challenge.

"It's them again…"

"To think they can beat this one?! Are they insane!"

"She must be desperate to come back this time…"

…

Of course, those were the kinds of lines that she had heard so many times already… and they once almost broke her determination.

But this time she paid no attention to their words, and she didn't even bother about what they said to them as she continued to do her own thing.

"This is it, now." Aether helped her check the gear for the last time before entering the challenge. His cheerful smile really helped her gain a lot of confidence. "Do your best but don't push yourself too much, alright?"

"I know that." Keqing giggled "Don't treat me up like a child…"

"Just be yourself. Remember our training together."

He let Keqing use his Serenitea pot for the training ground and spent as much free time after working in Yujing Terrace for practicing as well as sparring with him. It was the perfect place where she could freely try out her every possible attack. There was a large boulder Aether had placed in the teapot, called an Unmoving Kingstone. He had told her she could use it to practice on. Keqing had actually mastered her signature skill, Starward Sword, with a similar sort of training. Now, Aether's teapot realm had a dozen of these boulders, each cut and polished by her blade until they were shiny, and as reflective as mirrors. Aether had left them there to remind her of her hard work, and now it was all about to pay off.

In addition, they had also visited every domain and gone to every corner of Liyue and Mondstadt, and Keqing always had a spot on his team through all the trials and tough battles After that, they even went to Inazuma and ventured deep into The Chasm for further training, and met more friends, along the way, giving them more chance to share experience and spar with. All the best equipment they had earned from their adventures, he gave all of them to her without hesitation. He wanted Keqing to have the best preparation for this moment.

And now was the time for her to shine again

"You can do it, Keqing!" Paimon shouted "We're here for you!"

The time had come, as the announcer called her name.

"I will show you what I am capable of…" Keqing mumbled while showing her confident smile as she raised her head, looking up at the entrance and slowly walked in "This is for you… Aether, for all the help you've given me through these hard times…"

And the challenge had started.

Aether, Paimon and many other people were watching Keqing's performance. With all the experiences she had learned during the trip with him. Every movement of hers was fast, smooth and nimble and yet very powerful. Each of her strikes was decisive and accurate, knocking out each enemy one by one quickly without any mistake. She became a lilac blur on the battlefield, and the only way to indicate where she was moving was by watching the opponents fall in her path. She was relentless, not wavering for even a moment, cutting down each obstacle with her sword as nimble as lightning.

It was an elegant dance carved into a fierce battle. The few enemies, mainly the Hilichurls who were intelligent enough to be capable of appreciating such a beautiful display of skill, were stunned by the sight, but ultimately couldn't witness it for long before being cut down. The crackle of electricity followed the Yuheng as she tore her way across the battlefield.

As the battle became more and more intense, the more tired she got and time was running short. Usually around this time in most challenges, people would slow down and get exhausted and therefore give up. But not for her. This time, she was motivated. The image of bright, blonde locks of hair, and glimmering golden eyes occupied her mind as she began speeding up, tearing down the enemies just moments after they were sent in to the arena.

The spectators were in awe, their eyes could barely keep up with the violet haze dashing around the trial area, it was like she was occupying the whole room, all at once, with all the clashing bolts of purple electricity camouflaging the approaching storm of her sword.

Most of the people looked on in shock at Keqing's performance, their jaws drooping with noises of awe and disbelief filling the spectator stands. They just stood there, unable to believe what they saw. They passed questions between each other, but didn't expect any answers.

"Amazing… how can she complete this so fast?"; "How did she…? There's no way!"; "Unbelievable… what kind of training did she go through?!"

Meanwhile Aether and Paimon weren't surprised at all because they were fully confident in her. They only enjoyed the dazzling display in the arena, cheering happily for her, and giggling at the reactions of all the other onlookers with their jaws agape in confusion.

After the challenge had finished, Keqing quickly went to the Guild reception booth to receive the trial result:

Participant: Keqing

Result: 36/36 Points…Time remaining: 7:45 second…Position: 5/47

Class: Elite

She might not be at the top yet but that didn't mean she would give up.

She would keep trying and trying over and over again no matter what.

She was the Yuheng the Liyue Qixing, the Driving Thunder, the name she was always proud of.

And more importantly

She now had someone who would always believe in her

Keqing looked at the sword that Aether had given her during their journey together in Inazuma. He had told her she well-deserved to have it. It was the legendary Mistspliter Reforged, a replica of one of the rarest and most powerful swords from Inazuma, that Aether had received as a gift for his deeds in the Nation of Thunder and Lightning. On the blade there was inscribed:

"May your path always shine bright like the stars"

Keqing looked at those words carved on the hilt for a while, smiling in happiness. Aether had requested those words to be specially inscribed when the sword was made. She felt the letters against her fingers when holding the blade, a constant reminder for her. These lines had kept her spirit up, so that she never wavered in her training, and now it had paid off.

Right when she received the results of her outstanding performance, many people gathered around to praise and ask to be part of their teams. There were even a number of people who once abandoned her when she needed help the most, and now they had returned as if nothing happened between them.

"Would you like to join us?I promise we will give the best rewards to you! Please forgive for our foolishness before"

"I can assure you will have the highest position in our group!"

"That was an awesome fight! Please join us!"

…

How the tables had turned this time.

There were many offers passed to her, and plenty of them were quite interesting, and would have brought many more benefits than working with the Traveller. Hearing all this made her happy that so many people finally recognized and admired her efforts.

However, she had heard these kinds of sugarcoated words many times before in her life, and it wasn't possible to know if they were truly honest or not. Regardless, she had her own answer prepared, and she knew it would be the correct choice.

The choice was certainly.

"Thanks, everyone for your kindness offers" Keqing smiled while bowing lightly "But I have to apologize, I already have a team now"

With that said, she passed straight through the crowd of people, ignoring the whispers, gossip and the long sigh of regret from them and moved forward to the blonde Traveler who was waiting for her at the entrance.

"Paimon glad it went so well. Good job lady Keqing" Said by the fairy who kept flying around the Yuheng in excitement.

"Congratulation on your success, Keqing!" Aether smiled.

"This is only the beginning." Keqing turned to Aether and said this with all of her heart: "Without you, I doubt I would've gotten this far. Thank you, Aether."

"Of course! It was my pleasure, Keqing, every moment along the way. This journey I've had with you, I promise I'll cherish every second. That reminds me, there's something I want to show you" Aether closed his eyes and began to channel the energy inside him. He let the familiar feeling wash over him. Slowly and patiently, he felt the energy flow throughout his entire being.

Keqing's eyes widened as she watched parts of his armor slowly change color, the crackling of electro energy slowly disappeared and a bright, jade green took its place. The color faded seamlessly in, illuminating several parts of his clothes. She knew they could change color, but seeing them change in real time was memorizing, but it was gone too quickly for her to truly admire it.

"Is that-" Keqing was unable to continue her words as she could only gasp out when she saw small, green particles form in his palm. They sparkled and glimmered as they took form, extending outwards and meshing into shape. Slowly, they formed a bouquet of brilliant, green flowers in his hand.

"To celebrate your success today…" Aether gave the bouquet to Keqing then continued. "This is the power of Dendro. I learned how to use it in Sumeru. I just wish you could've come to Sumeru with me. It's a beautiful place, if you ever have time… I could take you their someday."

"It's so beautiful." Keqing held the bouquet closer to her. The aroma emitted was almost identical to a natural flower in the wild. it was unlike any real species of plant, as it wasn't truly natural, but it still had the natural beauty to be convincing.

Aether looked at Keqing who was still happily admiring it while chuckling "It's not over yet…there's more. Could you close your eyes?". He asked her.

"Alright… you're trying to give me a surprise?" Keqing giggled and did what Aether said.

"Try to send a bit of your power to the flower…"

A flow of electro power from Keqing's hand quickly reached the bouquet. In an instant, it glowed brightly for a short moment then burst out powerful green lightning as Keqing's eyes went wide open. It crackled around te bouquet of flowers, and it seemed to grow slightly. She had only sent a small amount of energy into the bouquet, but the resultant energy was quite a lot greater. Even then the electric spark still lingered on the bouquet for a while before it disappeared.

"It amplifies my power!" Keqing gasped at what she just saw "Which means…"

"Together we'll make a powerful team" Aether reached out his hand to her "Would you like to join me (us) in Sumeru or… perhaps even more than that…the entirety of Teyvat?"

His journey wasn't over yet, there were still many places waiting for them to discover. And Aether wished Keqing could accompany him as much as possible through his journey.

"Yeah, it's adventuring time!" Paimon shouted. "Let's go adventure all over the place!"

"Of course, I'd love to go with you." Keqing grabbed his and as both of them began to go out.

As soon as they pushed the door open, the warm rays of dawn from the outside shined into every corner of the adventurer's guild, welcoming them to an exciting journey up ahead.

"Shall we begin now?" Aether asked her, wondering if she was free.

"Sure, I've already cleared my schedule in case we needed to do more work at the guild. I might as well spend all this free time I have with you." She smiled, with a faint pink tint on her cheeks.

"Let's fight alongside, together!" Keqing said in excitement along with Aether and Paimon shouted in unison

"Together!"

A new adventure had started.