"Who are you?" Phenex asked with his arms crossed.
"A god Morax," Morax stood with his hands behind his back, his tone carrying a trace of spirited confidence. "May I know this little friend's name?"
Name? Phenex pondered the meaning behind the words, then copied Morax and introduced himself. "A god Phenex."
From Morax, Phenex sensed a divine aura similar to his own.
So if the other party claimed to be a god, then he had no reason not to be one either.
Seeing the other party openly admit to being a god, Morax nodded secretly to himself, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.
Gods in the Liyue region, even if Morax did not know them, would certainly know Morax's name. However, this child-like god he had never seen before showed no reaction at all after hearing his name.
So… a newly born god?
Having figured out the key point, Morax's gaze toward Phenex carried a trace of amazement and a trace of caution.
To possess such power right after birth if allowed to grow, his strength would not be inferior to his own or Azhdaha's.
A rare fighting spirit rose in Morax's heart. This was the resonance a strong being felt upon sensing the birth of a worthy opponent.
The Morax of this time was not yet as silent as he would be three thousand years later. He was in his prime and full of vigor, though he simply did not wish to fight other gods.
Because he disdained bullying the weak.
Of course, as the incarnation of a celestial star, although Morax had risen with a fighting spirit, he would not act like a battle maniac and immediately start a fight upon encountering an opponent.
His purpose on this trip was not to fight.
"Lord Phenex, this Cloud Retainer is an old friend of mine. May I ask where she offended you that you would go so far as to try to kill her?" Morax asked.
Phenex kept his arms crossed and looked at Cloud Retainer, puffing up his small face. "She tried to steal my prey."
"Huh?" Morax was stunned.
"Huh?" Cloud Retainer was stunned.
"So I already said, I'm not food…" Ganyu lay on the ground with a wronged expression.
Then, the two elders pieced together the truth from the conversation between the two "juniors" whose combined ages did not even reach a hundred years.
Morax didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "So it was all a misunderstanding…"
Cloud Retainer felt extremely embarrassed. It turned out she had acted without distinguishing right from wrong.
At this moment, Phenex confirmed one thing: Ganyu really was not food. A qilin was an adeptal beast and a symbol of auspiciousness, not a creature that could be eaten casually.
Of course, although he now understood this, Phenex's interest in Ganyu did not decrease but instead increased.
Would the meat of an adeptal beast taste even better?
Phenex was very interested, but unfortunately with Morax present he could not put it into action.
The elemental power emanating from the other party told Phenex that he had no chance of winning.
After learning the full story, Morax walked up to Phenex, squatted down, and asked, "Gods do not need to eat, so does Your Excellency need food to provide for your believers?"
Countless gods occupied various territories in Liyue, dividing up their own domains. The people in those territories worshipped the gods.
The people offered faith to the gods, and the gods loved their people with all their hearts.
This was a time of famine, and Morax had seen no shortage of gods going out to hunt food for the believers in their territories.
He had assumed Phenex was the same.
"Believers? I don't have anything like that," Phenex unexpectedly denied it. "I look for food simply because I want to eat."
"Want to eat…" Morax had not expected the reason the other party needed food to be so "simple."
"In that case…" Morax pondered. "This area is part of the territory I manage. Since Your Excellency wishes to taste fine food, why not come back with me? Allow me to fulfill my duty as host and treat you properly. How about it?"
"Sure!" Phenex nodded, then spread his flaming wings and flew into the sky.
Cloud Retainer approached Morax and transmitted her voice, "Rex Lapis, is this really alright? Allowing a god whose strength is not weak to enter Guili Assembly."
Morax shook his head and transmitted back, "From what we see now, at least he bears no malice. And even if he wants to harm the people of Guili Assembly, with me, Azhdaha, and Guizhong present, he won't be able to stir up too much trouble."
Phenex's potential was very high, but he had not yet converted that potential into actual strength.
Not to mention the two pillars of the sea the Rex Lapis and the Dragon King Azhdaha even the non-combat-oriented Guizhong, if prepared, would be enough to deal with him.
It was precisely because of this that Morax dared to invite Phenex to Guili Assembly.
At this moment, Phenex in the sky looked down at Morax who was still on the ground and shouted, "Why are you still standing there? Lead the way!"
Hearing this, Morax nodded to Cloud Retainer, transformed into a stream of flowing light, and flew toward Guili Assembly. Phenex followed closely behind.
Cloud Retainer watched the two gods fly away, worry inevitably rising in her heart.
But thinking of what Morax had said, she temporarily set her mind at ease and flew toward Mt. Aocang with Ganyu.
...
Guili Assembly.
"So this is what normal food tastes like. What a wonderful feeling," Phenex said, holding vegetables in one hand and rice in the other, his face glistening with oil.
Phenex did not know that humans would use the word "delicious" to describe food, but the delicacies personally cooked by humans gave him the same sense of satisfaction and pleasure that humans felt.
This was something Flaming Flowers and Pyro Slimes could never provide.
Phenex, experiencing a proper meal for the first time, could not stop at all and displayed an appetite completely disproportionate to his small size.
In just one hour, he had already eaten an amount of food equal to fifty normal Liyue people's meals.
Gods did not need to eat and naturally had no concept of being full.
So when Phenex put down his bowl, it was not because he was full, but because Morax had run out of grain.