"My brothers died on the battlefield. I couldn't just ignore it. But even with me there, the situation still didn't improve. The monsters from the Abyss surged out endlessly like they were infinite."
"By the end of the war, on the front line I was on, only I remained."
Jun Bai looked at Lumine. "Do you still want me to continue speaking about what happened afterward?"
Facing Jun Bai's calm gaze, Lumine subconsciously felt a little afraid to confront it.
Then, without waiting for Lumine's answer, Jun Bai continued on his own. "What caused this war was Khaenri'ah, the Five Sinners, and the Abyss."
"And now, your brother is the leader of the Abyss Order. There is no grudge between me and your brother only the purest hatred woven from blood and tears."
Lumine lowered her head. "Jun Bai, I'm sorry…"
Jun Bai shook his head. "You don't need to say sorry, and neither does your brother. The blood debt was caused by the Abyss. What I'm dealing with is the Prince of the Abyss, not your brother."
Paimon listened to this and looked confused. "Uh… I don't quite understand. Jun Bai, didn't you say before that the Prince is Lumine's brother?"
Venti explained to Paimon, "Little Paimon, what Jun Bai means is that he is only dealing with the Abyss. It just so happens that the current Prince of the Abyss is Lumine's brother."
"Correct." Jun Bai nodded. "Lumine, if it weren't for you, Dvalin would still be corroded by the Abyss power right now. Although I already gave you the reward, I still feel it's not enough."
"In the future, when you see your brother, as long as he doesn't step on my bottom line, I will refrain from acting because of you."
Out of politeness, Lumine subconsciously wanted to refuse.
Jun Bai directly interrupted her. "I don't like that kind of polite formality. If you refuse now, I will take it seriously. Then when I see your brother later, I really will act."
"…Then thank you."
Afterward, Lumine asked Venti some more questions.
Venti explained to Lumine, Paimon, and the players from the parallel world the relevant settings about the Vision, the Archons, and Celestia.
But when Lumine asked about information related to herself and her brother, Venti frankly said he didn't know.
"I have been asleep since five hundred years ago. If Dvalin hadn't caused trouble, I might still be sleeping. So, I'm very sorry. I can't provide any other information about your brother. You can go back to Liyue with Jun Bai."
"The Geo Archon Morax of Liyue is the oldest existence among the Seven Archons. Perhaps He knows a bit more information."
Paimon crossed her arms and pondered. "The Geo Archon should be the Rex Lapis that Jun Bai mentioned earlier, right?"
"Jun Bai, what kind of god is the Geo Archon?"
"The Rex Lapis?" Jun Bai stroked his chin. "A rock that doesn't understand romance?"
"Pfft——"
Venti laughed out loud. "Does Morax know you're arranging him like this?"
Jun Bai spread his hands. "This isn't my arrangement. It's the consensus between me and the adepti of Liyue. And I believe it's not just me you think so too."
"After all, you've seen Haagentus' attitude toward the Rex Lapis, as well as the Rex Lapis's own reaction to it."
"Haagentus, Morax… the pairing of dust and rock is truly a match made in heaven. Perhaps you can suggest to Morax that he come to Mondstadt to learn a bit." Venti turned into the idea king.
"I think you just want to recall the feeling of being sent flying by the Rex Lapis."
Lumine listened to the two's conversation and said, "From the sound of it, this Rex Lapis doesn't have very high emotional intelligence."
Unexpectedly, Jun Bai shook his head. "No, the Rex Lapis is very skilled in the art of speaking. It's not to the point of low emotional intelligence. He just doesn't know the difference between friendship and love."
Even though Guizhong's feelings weren't explicitly stated in the plot, from a god's-eye view, one could roughly infer that her feelings toward Morax had already gone beyond the boundaries of friendship.
A subtle thought that even outsiders could see, yet Morax and Guizhong never made any progress.
In the end, whose fault was it? It's really hard to guess~
But it's not incomprehensible. After all, Morax's original form is a star from the heavens. It's normal for him to be a bit slow.
"Speaking seriously, the Geo Archon Morax is the oldest and strongest god among the Seven Archons. Because he protects Liyue, the people of Liyue respectfully call him Rex Lapis."
"He is one of the victors of the Archon War and, besides Venti, the only original one among the current Seven Archons."
"Original Seven Archons? Does that mean there is a second generation?" Paimon caught the keyword and asked.
Jun Bai nodded. "Correct. Even gods can die. Among the current Seven Archons, besides Venti and the Rex Lapis, the other five have all been replaced."
"I really didn't expect the original Anemo Archon to be like this." Paimon teased.
"Ehe~"
"What does 'ehe' mean!" Paimon stomped her feet in the air.
Jun Bai smiled and continued, "During the Archon War, the Rex Lapis swept across the world with martial prowess that terrified the gods, and he was also called the God of War."
"And because the currency now used uniformly across the entire continent Mora is made by the Rex Lapis using his own authority, the Rex Lapis also has the title of God of Wealth."
"Geo Archon, Rex Lapis, God of War, God of Wealth, God of Contracts… Of course, you can also call the Rex Lapis 'Lord Rex' like the people of Liyue do."
"Then what about the Rite of Descension you mentioned earlier?" Lumine asked.
"Liyue prepares the Rite of Descension every year. At the Rite of Descension, the Rex Lapis descends to the mortal world and offers suggestions for Liyue's future development."
Paimon looked at Venti with a teasing gaze. "Venti, learn from the gods of other nations. Stop slacking off all day."
Venti whistled and turned away. The one slacking off is Barbatos. It has nothing to do with me, Venti.
"Speaking of the Rite of Descension, I have something to discuss with the Rex Lapis, so I need to return to Liyue." Jun Bai looked at Lumine and Paimon. "Lumine, Paimon, will you come back with me now, or do you want to stay in Mondstadt for a while longer?"
"You don't need to give an answer right now. There is still some time before the Rite of Descension begins, and moreover…"
"Even if you miss the Rite of Descension, I can still take you to meet the Rex Lapis directly." Jun Bai pointed to the side. "You two discuss first. I'll wait over there. Just tell me once you've decided."
With that, Jun Bai walked to the side.
He closed his eyes and pretended to be deep in thought.
In reality, he was secretly talking to the system in his heart. "System, do you think Lumine will come with me?"
[No.]
"You seem a bit too certain."
[Isn't this the result you hoped for? Otherwise, why did you add that sentence 'Even if you miss the Rite of Descension, I can still take you to meet the Rex Lapis directly'?]
In the original plot, the main reason Lumine and Paimon hurriedly left Mondstadt was that the Rite of Descension was about to begin.
And if they missed the Rite of Descension, the difficulty of the two wanting to meet the Geo Archon would rise sharply.
Now, under Jun Bai's intervention, the two had just arrived in Mondstadt and had already resolved Mondstadt's dragon crisis.
Not only was there more time than originally, but even if they missed the Rite of Descension, there was still a way to make up for it.
Jun Bai was just short of directly saying: let Lumine and Paimon continue playing in Mondstadt for a while.