The music showing signs of ending abruptly shifted, the screen lit up again, displaying the battle footage of 5-star Leon.
But his battle footage differed from the characters shown at the PV's start.
It wasn't real-time rendering, but hand-drawn style.
Even the enemies were types never seen before, unknown if they'd appear in the future.
"Why do I feel… the background architecture style is a bit like cyber Little Days?" Ah Xian murmured, focusing intently.
Until she saw a torii, her guess instantly became certainty.
"Could it be Edo Star?"
"A Chinese-style character appearing on Edo Star—it must be something that happened in the past, at a previous point in time."
"No wonder they used hand-drawn style and saved it for last…"
"But now Leon's fate is unknown, and the map is still on Xianzhou—how to segue into his plot?"
Ah Xian's words sparked curiosity in many players, eager for clues in the preview.
After Leon's battle demo finished, the version curtain reappeared.
[Heavenly Mirror Reflects Tribulation Dust]
"No matter if your world has the concept of day and night, anyway—good morning, good afternoon, good evening!"
"Welcome to this issue's 1.3 version, Heavenly Mirror Reflects Tribulation Dust, preview special program."
"This time, your old friend Owlbert will bring the latest intel on version 1.3."
"The four guests we invited this time are… eh? Why are only three here?"
"…"
Dan Heng, one of the guests, darkened his expression.
Even players couldn't help gasping.
Wait, knifing in the preview too?
The planners are personified—way too much.
"Sorry, the time coordinates here were hard to find; I'm a bit late."
A dimensional rift suddenly opened in front of Owlbert; cartoon Leon leaped out, flashing to the empty guest seat.
Even just seeing cartoon Leon was enough to excite many fans.
The guest teacher representing the real one arrived—meaning there must be follow-up news.
"Eh? What do you mean by time coordinates… ahem, anyway, good that you're here."
"Then next—please let the guests introduce themselves."
"Hello everyone, I'm Hualing, voice of Fu Xuan."
"Hello viewers, I'm Chen Tingting, voice actor for Sushang."
"Hello everyone, I'm Li Chunyin, voice actor for Dan Heng."
When it was Leon's turn, he smiled lightly and waved.
"Hello everyone, I'm the voice of Leon, Leon."
"The voice line is exactly like the character—could it really be AI?"
[Probably… can't find any info or works about this CV online.]
[…Didn't expect that, a bit disappointed.]
[What's there to be disappointed about? Think positive—no worry about Leon's CV collapsing!]
[Unique angle! But yeah, true.]
MiHoYo has used AI voicing before; many players weren't surprised.
Owlbert: "Warm welcome to everyone! The PV earlier actually revealed quite a bit of new version content."
"But the details, we'll expand on for the audience later."
After briefly mentioning the new version's large Simulated Universe DLC, World of Myriad Swarms, Owlbert changed tone.
"Next, let's see which new characters join the warp in version 1.3."
"First to introduce is finally showing true strength—Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae."
"…"
After introducing Dan Heng's SP form, next was Fu Xuan.
Then, with anticipation no less than the previous two new characters, Harmony form Leon.
Fu Xuan: "I'm quite curious—if everyone in the Express crew has hidden strength?"
Dan Heng: "Well… I'm not sure about that."
Sushang: "Earlier it was said Dan Heng stopped hiding strength because he got stabbed—so what about Leon, did he get stabbed too?"
[???]
[Ah? (Sword Demon sound)]
[Say it again and I'll redline!]
[Li Big Pillow doesn't get it, probably just casual.]
A horde of players couldn't help rolling their eyes.
Leon didn't stop hiding because he was stabbed—but it kinda was because he was stabbed.
Contradictory on the surface.
But essentially, it's not contradictory.
Stabbed by dog writers—doesn't that count as stabbed?
Owlbert: "I see, then why is he called Salvation Emissary?"
Leon: "Well, that involves Leon's past experiences. There are two explanation directions—which do you want to hear?"
Fu Xuan: "Kids make choices; this seat wants all!"
Leon: "Alright, first explanation: Salvation Emissary isn't Leon's exclusive title, but a faction organization."
"It's just that now the faction only has Leon left, so calling him Salvation Emissary is fine."
Fu Xuan: "…Kinda hellish. Sorry, I shouldn't have wanted all."
Leon: "It's fine, Leon definitely won't mind. Second explanation: Salvation Emissary isn't just a title, but a symbol of duty and faith."
"In the past, Salvation Emissaries helped miserable beings deserving redemption—a proper good faction."
Sushang: "Feels like it hides a lot of secrets."
Owlbert: "Can't reveal so soon, of course—Leon's past story is for Trailblazers to uncover step by step."
"Now, let's see the true strength of Leon from the Sky Haven Clan."
Cartoon Leon began the introduction.
"Salvation Emissary form Leon is a Harmony Path wind attribute character."
"The Sky Haven Clan's power itself isn't suited for offense; in contrast, defense is extremely strong."
"You could say when strengths are equal, Sky Haven Clan fighting enemies—even if they can't win, won't lose easily."
"Compared to direct combat, Leon excels at granting teammates various powerful blessings, greatly amplifying their combat ability."
"When activating the skill, Leon forms a decree, unfolding an aura lasting certain turns, increasing teammates' speed by a certain amount."
Dan Heng: "From what I know, most Sky Haven Clan can innately control wind in battle and use wind power to buff targets—increasing speed is just the most basic ability."
"Correct."
Leon nodded.
"When the decree exists, teammates not only gain speed increase but can also, through Leon's traces and talent, after meeting certain speed thresholds, obtain different buff effects."
"For example: After our side acts for a certain number of natural turns, Leon immediately acts, simultaneously designating one ally target to gain an extra turn for immediate action and receive a buff effect lasting until this attack ends."
"If Leon meets the talent-required speed threshold, the buff effect lasts 2 turns."
Owlbert: "To harness wind power, insufficient speed means can't exert 100% potential?"
Leon: "Can explain it that way—the cup isn't big enough, excess tea spills and wastes. So the cup needs to be large enough."
"And Leon's ultimate unfolds a barrier; enemies inside the barrier have a certain proportion of any damage received recorded."
"When any next target inside the barrier acts, it detonates the recorded damage—any, whether enemy or ally."
"If the attacker's speed meets the required threshold, the recorded damage detonates immediately at attack end."
"Leon's technique grants teammates a BUFF; next battle entry restores a fixed amount of energy."