" regarding the Archon's Passing… the Liyue Qixing's response has really given me food for thought…" Childe remarked. " They announce that as the true killer has not yet been found, They are not allowing anyone to pay their respects to the Exuvia. They've even gone so far as to try and cut off information… but with the rite of descension and all, even the Qixing isn't able to keep a lid on things."
Traveler found the Qixing's actions more than a little suspicious. They do not agree with their approach.
At this point, Childe Chimed in, offering to assist the Traveler once more. He just needed time to find someone.
" give me some time… time… to find someone. Someone who can help you break through this Stalemate."
With the goal now set, Childe sighed " truly fascinating, The harder they try to silence the situation, The greater the chaos that erupts."
" if you want to be around to see it all come crashing down, best you stay alive until we next meet, yes?"
And with that this story arc came to a close with an atmosphere of impending turmoil.
===
On a mountainous cliff face just north of Liyue Harbour A lad dressed in bard attire, search on the protruding cliff edge holding a Lyre In one hand. The melody he played carried with the wind drifted towards Leighway Harbour that was not far away.
This was a hymn unable to be heard by mortals, One only discernible to a colleague on the same godly level as him or higher. He did not know if Taylor had heard it, but the old man, should've heard this song by now now.
Though only two of the original seven Archons now remain in this era, protecting their nations: The Geo Archon And him, The Anemo Archon.
Even though he was considered to be very "elderly" by any human Standard. However, he was practically a young man at the hight of his Youth in comparison to that old man. Moreover, Most of his time after he became an Archon was spent in slumber, and the actual time he spent actively in The world was relatively short. Plus, Morax always had that stern and battle ready appearance.
Obvious to anyone that he earned his titles accordingly.
Although Venti felt a bit nervous facing his old friend Morax, he had mentally prepared himself to be attacked on sight.
He heard footsteps approach from behind him.
As the Anemo Archon, venti could discern a person's character from many subtle details. The new cucumbers footsteps were steady leaving an impression with every step taken, indications of a mature, composed and patient personality.
Venti turned around and saw a young man with dark brown hair, tied into a ponytail at the back. His eyes resembling a deep topaz. There was a sense of time-weariness in his gaze that did not quite match his age.
"Are you are you… really Morax?" Venti asked with genuine surprise.
in his memory, The Lord of Geo was an extremely imposing, Battle hardened and arrogant man. He wore a black robe with white battle armour, concealing his face with a hood. His body had golden lines allowing his adaptal power flowing all throughout his body, a casual glance from him felt like the pressure of the entire world weighing down on you.
The warrior god, but now he was dressed in a ancient style uniform from an unnamed organisation, looking calm and tranquil, there was no trace of his battle readiness about him. This transformation was akin to the Sun becoming the moon, so obviously when Venti saw him again for the first time in a long time, he was so surprised that he even doubted if he had seen the wrong person.
" ah… Barbatos, my old friend, it's been too long" Zhongli spoke. The fact that it has been so many years since they last met was not wasted on him. Zhongli Felt that if he were a few hundred years younger, he would've greeted this wine loving bard with a rock to the head.
The reason was obviously the forged contract, that Barbatos had made back then. Even though Barbatos fooled everyone with that fake contract, causing many of the aristocrats soldiers to turn against them, that forged signature could never have deceived him. After all he is the god of Commerce and contracts, for someone who had fabricated a false contract, he should have them suffer the wrath of the rock. However, the present Zhongli had no intention of doing so. His earlier impulse felt more like reminiscing about youthful and hot blooded days. Besides not too long ago, Zhongli had personally experienced the events related to Mondstadt, which gave him a new understanding of his old friend.
"Haha, yeah, that's right long time no see Morax." Venti said as he took out a bottle of wine from his bag and passed it over to Zhongli. " this is an aged wine I've had buried in Mondstadt for a few centuries now. I've never been able to bear the thought of drinking it by myself… so consider a gift from Me to you!"
" That's very kind, let's find a place to enjoy this fine wine together." Zhongli said.
On a floating abode at the highest mountain in Liyue, Venti looked over the floating island and looked down at the sea of clouds below.
"Hoo… this place is really high up…"
Meanwhile, Zhongli sat in his seat preparing for the pouring ritual, such an extremely aged wine required a specialised preparation method before the uncorking and pouring; otherwise half of its genuine aroma and taste would be lost.
" Speaking of, Morax Your Adeptal abode is incredibly high up. Why did you choose to build it here of all places? It's truly hard to fathom your reasoning." Venti remarked.
After completing the ritual, Zhongli said, " since both of us have chosen to walk in this world in the guise of mortals, we should call each other by our mortal names from now on. My name is Zhongli."
"Zhongli… Hmm, alright, I'll remember it, you can call me Venti from now on." Venti replied.
Zhongli uncorked the aged wine, and it's aroma immediately filled the air around them. Venti's face practically lit up with anticipation as he hurried over to the wine table.
" So this is what century's aged vintages smell like. I really regret having not buried a few more bottles back then… oh well Come, Come, Come, Master Zhongli let's pour each other a drink."
Seeing Venti's enthusiastic attitude towards alcohol, Zhongli couldn't help but laugh slightly. This guy doesn't seem to have changed at all. Back when the seven met together in Liyue, he was always the one who would hold his liquor the best. And it would appear that nothing has changed in that regard. although there was only the two of them at this moment, The atmosphere was so warm As old friends reunited.
After a few drinks. Fancy began to open up about some of his problems. "Oh, Zhongli you have no idea just how badly that mobile game has ruined me! Now everyone in Mondstadt knows I am the Anemo Archon. How am I supposed to continue living like this?"
Facing Venti's complaints, Zhongli appeared quite indifferent. " actually, i've already played that Mobile game, and even completed Mondstadt's story arc."
Upon hearing this, Venti didn't hold back. "Huh! Old man even you succumbed? You became one of the many players of that game? I've seen them starting those huge screens or the handheld screens sitting there for hours on end, it's like they've been in snared by it! Please don't tell me you are like that too!"
"In fact, I spent three full days of the mobile game café before you called." Zhongli confessed.
Venti: "…!"
Then, and perhaps an attempt to console Venti, Zhongli revealed his fake death plan, which has also been leaked by the Mobile game.
" did you know?, I visited the Mobile game café then only a few days later, all the people in Mondstadt knew I was Anemo archon."
Venti patted Zhongli's shoulder and said, " maybe in a few days, everyone in Liyue Harbour will know you Zhongli are the Geo Archon… sigh… you should probably prepare yourself."
Zhongli's Face went from relaxed to slightly panicked feeling a cold sweat coming in.
…
…
In the gaming section of the mobile game café Liyue Harbour Branch, it was exceptionally lively. " we've finally returned home to Liyue!"
"Mondstadt is certainly nice at all, but there's just a sense of belonging that you can only find in Liyue Harbour!"
" I wonder which prominent Liyue figures will appear in our nation's story arc."
" The first act is called 'Of the Land Amidst Monoliths' it already has the unique Liyue flavour!"
Now the first group of players whose progress the fastest from Liyue, Had successfully arrived in Liyue Harbour. Arriving here felt like coming home to them, with familiar colours, familiar architecture, familiar streets and alleyways and many familiar characters. However, the players hadn't given themselves the chance to explore the in-game Liyue Harbour yet, as they were immediately drawn into the story.
…
The Rite of dissension is happening today, it is a process that's well known by all the people of Liyue. Just as the players were anticipating the grand entrance of the Geo Archon, something unexpected occurred. While indeed the Geo Archon had made a dazzling entrance, it was in the form of a lifeless body falling from the sky. All the players in Liyue we're left feeling dumbfounded. The Geo Archon…. Dead? What's going on? They only just arrived in Liyue, and there Archon was already killed!?
" it cannot be, absolutely impossible! Who in this world could have the capacity to kill the Geo archon?"
…
In the opening act of the Liyue Main story, The Geo archon's assassination. This news quickly caused a massive sensation among all the players of Liyue Harbour. Some people who hadn't played the Mobile game almost had a heart attack when they heard the news, but breathe the side relief once they learned it was just part of a game plot. However, this led them to being very curious about this so-called Mobile game, Which was constantly creating news that Shook Liyue Harbour.
The first was that someone spent nearly 100,000,000 Mora obtain a weapon in the game. Now there is news of the Geo Archon's death in this game's plot. This happened right as the rite of dissension was taking place; this was one of the most disrespectful actions done towards the Geo Archon. Surely, The developer behind this plot would be punished by the Geo Archon?
Meanwhile, a young girl with flowers in her eyes was wondering around the harbour when she overheard these remarks, her face lit up with excitement. " truly? Did the Geo Archon Actually, die? If so then Wangsheng funeral parlour, must be the one to hold a grand and solemn funeral for him!"
But when the girl heard it was just the plot from a game, she couldn't help but sigh in disappointment. " sigh, I thought I would have the chance to personally send off the Geo Archon During my tenure as the head of the Funeral parlour, Alas what a pity."
The passer-by's nearby, immediately recognise the girls identity upon hearing her sigh — current head of the Wangsheng Funeral parlour, Hu Tao! They hardly tried to avoid her and quickly walked past. Hu Tao paid and playfully lifted her small hands, while Hori twinkled like two little stars.
" That mobile game sounds like quite a bit of fun. Once I'm done with my work, I must go and experience at myself!"
…
The plot of the Geo archon's assassination during the rite of dissension had become widely known among the players. Most people believed it was just a part of the game story and had no correspondence to reality. However, a small portion of players began to think that this might be a warning and started working even harder to progress through the storyline. They hoped to uncover the identity of the murderer who killed the Geo Archon as the plot unfolded. As the story progressed players also understood why Tartaglia was the first limited five star character in the Liyue update.
In this storyline, his role is quite substantial. After rescuing the Traveler, he gave them a sigil of permission and instructed them to seek out the adapti in Jueyun Karst - Moon Carver, Mountain shaper, Cloud retainer And Xiao… these legendary Adepti Turned out to be real. Many players felt as though they had opened the gates to a New World.
Liyue has vast expenses of land, with many areas that ordinary people would not be able to build up the courage to explore. In this game, however players could use the traveller to explore and learn all about these Mythical places, they were practically rediscovering the land that they call home.
When they reached Wangshu Inn, The legendary conqueror of Demons made his first appearance. Surprisingly, he appeared as a young adaptus! Many players had heard stories about the conqueror of Demons from when they were children, And now they finally laid their eyes on the real Xaio.
" the conqueror of Demons, So his name is Xiao."
" contrary to the many legends depict him as A sacred and noble being, it seems those descriptions are wrong."
" A true Demon slayer who has been fighting Demons for nearly a millennium, makes sense they wouldn't be all pure and noble; it makes sense that he would be shackled by his own set of traumas."
" What do you think of the possibility that Xaio Will be an upcoming limited five star?"
" oh my, now that is a bold idea."
" setting everything aside, If he truly does get a banner I'm definitely going to check out my retirement savings to get him!"
" For the countless years of demon slaying that Xaio has done I will even obtain his exclusive weapon."
" you, My friend, have more determination than I."
" The 80 million mora warning!"
" I don't care; If he really has his own banner, I'm going to do it all for Master Xaio."
In contrast to the lively discussions in the main hall about the plot and characters, Two people in different private rooms were focused on rapidly increasing their adventure rank. The regular people didn't have this keen sense, And they were equally unaware of the correlation between this game and reality is. However, Keqing Did know, that game biggest secrets once that it had a very strong basis of reality, With everything in this game having a mirroring part in real life. Tartaglia was equally aware of the secret as well.
Neither of these two have the time to engage in lively discussion about the characters and plot. They continuously explored the various way to increase their adventure ranks. I'm being known to them, The day began to near its end, and many players had left the gaming hall. Keqing got up to move her body which has gotten sore from not moving. Through various means she had finally raised her adventure rank to 28. She now only needed one more level to continue the Archon Quest, but she was currently stuck at this rank as she had exhausted all the efficient ways to gain adventure rank experience.
Keqing Didn't know how far Childe Had progressed, sushi couldn't afford to let her guard down. At this moments the time has just struck 4 am and the daily commissions had reset. Keqing completed them as quickly as she could. After claiming the additional rewards from the adventures guild the screen displayed a notification, Adventure rank has reached level 29.
…
After completing the task of bridge building, Childe Departed. in order to achieve their goal of meeting with the seven, the Traveler ultimately agreed to help Zhongli Prepare The right of parting. Well on their way to gather the necessary materials for the ceremony, Zhongli revealed the location of the body of Rex lapis.
"The Geo Archon's body Will be temporarily placed in the Golden house before the ceremony." He explained.
" Huh? How do you know about this Zhongli?" Paimon wondered.
" because the rite of parting has received official approval by the Qixing, It is an official event, so we are permitted access to some internal information." Zhongli explained.
With this information now in hand, The next step was to prepare various items for the rite of parting. According to Zhongli The ceremony would first require noctilucous jade.
As the plot progressed, Keqing also noticed some distinct characteristics of this consultant for the Wangsheng funeral parlour. First was the process of selecting noctilucous Jade, which would be the first step in preparing for the ceremony. They would need to attend some top quality noctilucous Jade that is worthy of a deity. The three of them went directly to Jade mystery.
Zhongli requested noctilucous Jade, of radiant grade at the very least. The boss of Jade mystery Recognise him as an expert right away and promptly brought out three radiant grade Noctilucous Jade pieces to choose from.
Paimon was contemplating which one to choose when the traveller decided to ask Zhongli for his opinion.
" if it were me, the answer would be simple…"
"Oh? And that would be…" Paimon asked.
" I'll take them all, boss."
" oh, You act with such panache, Good sir! I always knew you were not a man of ordinary caliver!" The boss of Jade mystery complemented Zhongli without a second of hesitation.
" Wait! Wait! Boss that one didn't count! We need to discuss it again!" Paimon said with anxiousness in her tone.
turning around, Paimon Confronted Zhongli with her hands on her hips.
"Hey! If we only need one for the ritual, aren't we wasting three times mora if we buy them all?"
" actually, it's two times the mora." The Traveler corrected her.