Under Guizhong's guidance, Vorthis and Morax finally entered a small city. The city's interior held nothing remarkable in terms of scenery.
During this era, people's living standards were largely similar.
While gods cared for their people, their concept of care was mostly limited to providing food, water, shelter, and protection—ensuring survival was considered the ultimate form of love.
As for other aspects of life, few gods paid much attention.
This attitude wasn't entirely unreasonable. After all, they were gods, not overly charitable benefactors, and naturally would not devote all their energy to a fragile populace.
Although faith from mortals could provide some degree of power, gods primarily relied on their innate authority and divine essence.
Few gods, like Morax and Guizhong, concerned themselves with humanity's future.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the Seven Archons could rise to become the Seven Rulers of Teyvat.
Guizhong's palace stood at the center of the city. Its style was similar to the stone palace Morax had built earlier, albeit with finer carvings.
The interior of the palace, due to its lack of natural light, was rather dim. Many glowing Noctilucous Jades were used for illumination, though they failed to match the brightness outside.
As they entered the palace, Vorthis's mind began contemplating something: rebuilding the palace entirely.
Ahem, it wasn't time for that yet—Morax and Guizhong hadn't even formed an alliance.
Wasn't this line of thought a bit premature?
Under Guizhong's hospitality, the two of them sat at a large stone table, and Guizhong served them tea.
The tea was presented in delicate round cups, though the brewing techniques of the era were evidently rudimentary.
Vorthis glanced at Morax.
Despite having grown accustomed to Vorthis's top-tier tea, Morax maintained a neutral expression as he sipped the tea before him.
Guizhong then brought out a plate of dried meat.
"This is the best-quality dried meat offered by my people. I usually don't care for such mundane food, but since you two are my guests today, I must offer proper hospitality," Guizhong said with a smile as she placed the meat on the table.
Vorthis examined the meat—it was basic dried meat, likely preserved with salt.
But didn't Guizhong's region lack salt?
Could this be sun-dried salt? Were Guizhong's people truly so resourceful that they had already developed large-scale sea salt production?
"Sister Guizhong, if I may, this dried meat seems heavily salted, correct?" Vorthis asked with a smile.
Hearing Vorthis call her "Sister Guizhong," Guizhong froze momentarily.
Then, joy spread across her face as she beamed with delight.
This was the first time anyone had addressed her as "Sister."
What's more, Vorthis was a god.
A god capable of befriending Morax, who had just addressed her as "Sister"—surely such a god could not be malicious.
Guizhong's smile was genuine and heartfelt.
"This is the first time someone has called me Sister Guizhong," she said warmly.
"Since you've said so, I'll gladly accept you as my little brother, Vorthis!"
"These dried meats are indeed made with salt, which we trade from the domain of the God of Salt nearby."
"The God of Salt governs the authority of salt, so their land is never short of it. We exchange food and tools with them for salt—it's a mutually beneficial trade. So, Vorthis, do you also need salt?"
Guizhong's explanation made sense. In this ancient era, not every region ruled by gods had access to salt.
Even gods, despite their immense power, were limited when it came to resources outside their domain of authority.
For example, the God of Dust couldn't simply create salt plains with a wave of her hand.
Guizhong assumed Vorthis sought salt for the people of Morax's domain.
Understanding her explanation, Vorthis chuckled softly.
"So, it's the God of Salt. I see now."
The God of Salt had little presence during the Archon War, so Vorthis hadn't immediately remembered them.
It seemed that the God of Salt had recently migrated near Guizhong's territory.
Vorthis mused briefly, wondering whether the God of Salt had entered Sal Terrae yet.
However, since the Archon War hadn't begun, the world was dangerous but not overwhelmingly so. The God of Salt probably hadn't gone underground yet.
Still, Guizhong seemed to have misunderstood something.
As the God of Manifestation, Vorthis wasn't short on basic resources. Manifesting such mundane items required minimal effort.
Vorthis smiled and said, "No, no, I was just curious since I didn't notice any salt-producing areas near your city."
"I don't have a domain of my own, so I live with Brother Morax. His domain is mine as well—I'm sure Brother Morax has no objections to that!"
"In Liyue, we source salt by mining an underground salt lake, so we're not short of it."
Although Morax's domain wasn't yet Liyue Harbor, it was near Mount Tianheng, which was rich in minerals.
People there engaged in mining activities, and one of the resources they extracted was salt from a small underground lake.
The lake wasn't large but sufficient to meet the needs of Liyue's people for a long time.
However, Morax raised an eyebrow slightly at Vorthis's words.
This guy still remembered that Liyue originally belonged to him alone, right?
Silently, Vorthis had become one of Liyue's rulers and even insisted on dragging Morax into endless games of chess...
But since Vorthis was someone Morax had brought back himself, their bond was fated. No matter the annoyance, Morax would endure it.
Guizhong, meanwhile, was momentarily stunned.
So Vorthis didn't have a domain of his own?
In that case, did this mean Morax and Vorthis shared a unified existence?
Could this be seen as Morax being open to alliances with other gods?
This realization made Guizhong's heart stir with excitement.
Still, forming an alliance at their first meeting seemed premature.
Suppressing her growing enthusiasm, Guizhong composed herself.
"I see. As a god, this is the first time I've heard of one who doesn't desire their own domain," she remarked.
Domains and followers were nearly instinctual for gods.
Even without followers, a god would always claim a territory, regardless of its size or prosperity.
After all, gods were gods, no matter how weak.
"My domain is also Brother Zennos's domain. I believe that under our joint governance, Liyue will flourish even more," Morax said.
Morax expressed his recognition of Vorthis's capabilities in governance, whether it was constructing new housing, organizing city infrastructure, cultivating farmland, or implementing the Mora financial system.
All these efforts had brought development and change to Liyue.
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