On a high mountain where mortals could not see, there was a stone table,and on that very stone table stood a figure of short stature seemingly awaiting for someone with apparent excitement.
A tall figure suddenly appeared; he had short brown hair with an amber gradient at the tips, his eyes were a beautiful amber, with yellow diamond-shaped pupils; he was none other than Morax himself, also known as Zhongli.
"Whats wrong Xia-" Morax couldn't finish speaking due to what he saw,Xiao's intense karmic debt was gone,something that should not be possible,even he could not cured it,only slightly alleviate it.
Morax rushed towards Xiao to inspect him, clearly worried,and after a few minutes of inspecting Xiao to confirm that nothing was wrong, he asked with an uncharacteristic joyous smile.
"What sort of divine miracle occurred for something like this to happen? Xiao, what's going on? Did you find a cure!?"
Xiao was too filled with joy when he saw his Lord smiling and explained.
"It was a strange man who did this; he had black wings and was unusually tall."Xiao then pulled a strange vial and said.
"He also gave me this, he said it would cure your erosion, my lord, thought i'm not sure if he spoke the truth."
Morax's eyes widened,he could not believe what he had just heard, he had lived for thousands of years, yet had not even found a single way to cure erosion, after a long time he had come to accept it as natural law.
Morax took the vial in his hands and inspected it,naturally he was suspicious; he had been alive for 6000 years and was initiated in the art of deception,he had come to learn that there's always a price for everything that has been given,his face then hardened, and he spoke.
"Xiao, take me to meet that man,i need to see his true intentions myself."
Xiao nodded and said.
"Of course my lord, he also said to bring those with karmic debt"
Morax thought for a while and nodded.
At night, on the very same hill where Xiao met the strange man, stood the strange man himself waiting.
Then, out of nowhere, 8 figures appeared: Morax himself, who wore his Archon outfit, Xiao, Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper, Moon Carver, Madame Ping, Ganyu and Yanfei.
Eldrin, who was waiting there turned towards the group with a smile and said with a slight bow.
"Greetings, my name is Eldrin, I assume you must be the great Rex Lapis."
Morax nodded and answered with a face too calm.
"Indeed, thought there's no need for formalities, you have my gratitude for curing Xiaos karmic debt"
Morax's eyes slightly narrowed as he pulled out the vial to show it to Eldrin and asked.
"Mr.Eldrin, I heard from Xiao that this vial could cure my Erosion,is that the truth?" Though his voice was respectful, it was clear that he held a clear suspicion of the man opposite him.
Eldrin knew that Morax would be suspicious about him and answered.
"Erosion can not be permanently cured,what this serum would do is simply temporarily cure it or simply delay it,after taking the serum your species would evolve, greatly increasing both capabilities and lifespan,it will also repair your body to its peak condition,your mind included"
Eldrin then took out a vial and with shadow manipulation, captured a bird that was sleeping peacefully in a tree.
"Apologies for this" said Eldrin to the scared bird as he injected it with the evolution serum.
The bird suddenly felt a kind of agony that everyone would dread,Eldrin gently put the bird on the ground and Explained.
"After the injection, the subject would go through immense agony, its body would rapidly evolve at an unnatural rate,what would normally take millions of years would happen in mere minutes,and depending on its innate abilities,it may evolve into something different."
The 8 figures watched in horror at the impossible sight before them, Morax himself could not keep a calm face as he looked at the rapidly changing bird before them, his seen many things in his long life, but this sight simply defied the natural law.
After minutes of agonising pain, the bird finally calmed down, its mind filled with clarity that its species should not possess; it now had an intelligence rivalling that of a normal human, it had become an Adepti.
The bird turned to look at the person who caused this and instead of feeling anger, it felt gratitude, before its fate was to be preyed upon and die in the claws of a predator,but now, not only did it have clarity and awareness, but also a future.
It tried to bow, but Eldrin simply gestured for it not to, and he spoke to it.
"Power and clarity can also be a curse to some you see, make sure it does not, or you may pay a price too heavy."
He turned to the shocked Morax and said.
"The price you will have to pay is going against the heavenly principles themselves and defying the natural law; the choice is yours."
Morax's gaze turned complicated, going against the heavenly principles is something he cannot do; doing so will put Liyue in danger,he sighed and said.
"Unfortunately, I cannot pay such a heavy price, although I desire to be cured of erosion, if doing so puts Liyue in danger. Then I would prefer to suffer from it."
Eldrin nodded in admiration, clearly expecting that and said.
"As you wish, your choice is admirable, and who knows, perhaps the heavenly principles will not rule for much longer."
When Morax heard that, he was worried and curious and said.
"I suggest not going against the heavenly principles; their power is unmatched, but by your confident statement I assume you know something."
Eldrin nodded and said.
"What if I told you that they are currently dormant and therefore unable to interfere with the mortal realm?"
Morax's gaze hardened and he asked.
"Are you absolutely certain of this Eldrin?"
Eldrin nodded and with a serious expression said.
"I personally went to calestia to see,and turns out they are dormant and greatly weakend,possibly due to exhausting their power 500 years ago"
Morax could not sense any deciet in Eldrin's words,and honestly he was made aware of this by Nahida,but now that this Eldrin personally went there,there was no more room for doubt,this is the chance to free this world from their tyranny.
He felt into deep thought again.and with resolve made of stone he injected the evolution serum.
Eldrin finaly felt shocked,he did not believe for a second that Morax would inject the serum,after all he places his people's safety above everything,even his own,even if the heavenly principles are currently dormant,they may awaken in their near future.
But what Eldrin did not know was that Morax harbored great displeasure at the heavenly principles tyranny,so when he was offered with the power to possibly overthrow them, he did not hesitate,Morax did not think only about the current liyue,but also about the future one too,he couldn't guarantee that the heavenly principles won't wipe out liyue in the future.
After a few minutes of agony,Morax stood with resolve and said.
"From the moment I saw you I could sense great power from you,power that does not belong into this world,your current strength feels vastly superior to mine"he then turned to look at a certain spot and said.
"And it seems you are not alone"
A figure clad in a yellow robe appeared at the place Morax was looking, it was the ancient one.
BAM!
Something or someone suddenly fell Into the ground beside Eldrin,It was none other than Erskine himself.
Eldrin sighted when he saw that and said.
"It appears that I am not as initiated in the art of deception as I thought"