Asmoday opened her eyes, startled for a brief moment by the unfamiliar face before her. When she felt the profound connection between herself and him, her expression returned to one of regal indifference.
"The fifth descendant?" she murmured, her voice like chiseled ice. "Has he inherited everything from her?"
She stood and regarded the newly crowned Heavenly Law. At the same time, she noticed that her body felt lighter than it had in millennia; the corrosive Abyssal power that had been gnawing at her was completely gone. She was surprised, but relief quickly followed.
"The ability to purify the power of the Abyss," she said, a hint of awe in her tone. "No wonder she chose you directly."
"Well, I was right next to you as soon as I got here," Lucifer said with a helpless sigh, spreading his hands. "Before I could even process what was happening, I became the new Heavenly Law, completely bound to the life and death of this world. It's all a bit much."
He put on a performance of exasperation, even though he was secretly ecstatic. He knew that if he wanted to live a decent life as a new god, he needed to play his part.
"Since you have inherited her legacy and possess the ability to purify the Abyssal power, the world will surely be safe and sound," Asmoday said, her posture relaxing.
After dealing with the power of the Abyss for thousands of years, she knew better than anyone how difficult it was to contain. Phanes had died because of it. If the new Heavenly Law couldn't handle it, she would have followed suit.
"What I want is not just for the world to be safe and sound," Lucifer said, his expression turning confident and domineering. He placed a hand on Asmoday's shoulder. "I want to upgrade it from a mere world into the one and only eternal world in the Quantum Sea."
Through his connection to the Seat of God, a part of the Human Realm Power System, he transferred information to her: his new Heavenly abilities and his plan to upgrade Teyvat by annexing other worlds. He was careful, of course, to present the system's power as his own.
Asmoday was stunned. Her golden eyes widened as she received the information. This being could annex other worlds to make up for Teyvat's shortcomings, a way to infinitely evolve the world. She saw the three worlds he had selected and the benefits Teyvat would gain.
Her shock slowly gave way to fanaticism. Annexing these three worlds would solve most of Teyvat's problems and extend its existence by a staggering 500,000 years. Phanes had been in this world for less than 10,000 years; to Asmoday, a half-million years was no different from eternity. The power of the new Heavenly Law was far beyond even that of Phanes in its prime.
"Asmoday," Lucifer said, pulling the goddess out of her reverie. "As the Heavenly Principles' maintainer, I assume you're my subordinate now?"
"Yes, your will is my will," she declared, her eyes burning with newfound purpose. "Please use me to your heart's content."
She had only one thought: to follow her new master, make Teyvat stronger, and forge a new, greater glory. The continent had been blessed with such a powerful new master.
"Elaborate on 'use me to your heart's content'?" Lucifer asked, his eyes briefly flickering over her flawless, divine form.
"Huh?" Asmoday blinked, confused.
"Ahem, I mean..." Lucifer quickly looked away and coughed. "The most important thing now is to call the seven rulers of the world to Sky Island for a meeting. A grand plan like world annexation must be completed with their help."
"I will call them immediately," Asmoday said, her expression becoming majestic. She would not allow anyone to hold back on such an important matter. She knew some of the Seven Rulers were duplicitous, and she would not hesitate to replace them if they went against the will of Heaven.
"I'll handle the calling. The current plan doesn't require all of them. Just follow my orders," Lucifer said, quickly grabbing her arm. A wave of cold sweat washed over him. If Asmoday went down there and saw the corruption and schemes of Sumeru, Fontaine, Snezhnaya, and Inazuma, she might kill them on the spot.
"Yes," Asmoday nodded. "Your will is my will."
Lucifer used the "Human Realm Power System" to send a divine notification to the God of Wind, the God of Rock, the God of Thunder, and the God of Water to come to Sky Island for a meeting.
"Okay, before they come, I'll rearrange the layout of Sky Island," he said.
He knew that the notification from the Heavenly Law would terrify them. After all, even among the first Archons, only Morax had ever seen Phanes. Barbatos had only seen Asmoday when he received his Gnosis and his Seat of God after the Archon War.
The Gnosis, Lucifer knew, wasn't a rare treasure. It was a mere tool of the "Human Realm Power System," used to absorb and store the power of faith to stabilize a nation's leylines. Its main purpose was to allow the Archons to take on the responsibility of stabilizing the leylines after Heavenly Law was mortally wounded.
But as the new Heavenly Law, he could directly control all of Teyvat's leylines, rendering the Gnoses obsolete. To the Archons, they were simply souvenirs of their victory.
Mondstadt
At the Angel's Share tavern in Mondstadt, a green-clad bard was on his knees.
"Please, Master Diluc! Just one drink! I need to soothe my sadness at saying goodbye to the Traveler. Please, I beg you!"
Diluc silently wiped a wine glass, his face a mask of stone. "That's the third time you've used that excuse to get free wine, and you always ask for the best vintage."
If he didn't know the shameless bard was the Wind Archon, Barbatos himself, he would have had him thrown out already.
"Last time, I promise! Just this once, Master Diluc!" Venti tried another tactic, his voice dripping with faux-sweetness.
Diluc's eyebrows twitched, but he remained unmoved. Not even the God of Wind could get free wine from Dawn Winery. He'd be out of business.
"Heyyy..." Venti sighed, defeated. Just as he was about to leave and earn some money through his performances, his expression changed dramatically. His blue eyes widened in shock.
"No..." he whispered.
Under Diluc's puzzled gaze, Venti morphed into a blue gust of wind and vanished from the tavern. Diluc wasn't concerned; he simply assumed the Wind God's request for free alcohol was denied, leading to his dramatic exit. After all, the dragon disaster was just resolved, and the Fatui were being watched by the Knights of Favonius. Diluc also believed that the Archon of Mondstadt was not weak enough to let his city fall to ruin.
"No movement for over a thousand years, and now, all of a sudden..."
The information Venti received was sparse, just six words: "Come to Sky Island for a meeting." Despite its brevity, the message carried immense weight. The only entity with the power to directly contact his Archon's Seat was the being on Sky Island. After the Khaenri'ah Cataclysm, Venti had lost contact with that person and assumed their time was running out. Why were the Archons being contacted now? Had that person returned?
"If that's the case, I'm in serious trouble..." Venti thought, a cold dread washing over him. The wind elemental, for the first time, felt as if he were sweating. Just yesterday, he had given his Gnosis to the Cryo Archon. If the being on Sky Island knew he had supported the Ice Queen's rebellion, they might just dissolve him into pure wind elemental energy on the spot.
"It's a secret matter, and since I haven't directly contacted the Ice Queen, I shouldn't be found out," he rationalized, raising a trembling hand to his brow. When questioned, he would claim the Gnosis was stolen, that the Cryo Archon had ambushed him while he was maintaining Mondstadt's stability with his divine power. At most, he would be punished for dereliction of duty.
"Sorry, Ice Queen," Venti muttered. In Liyue, there was a saying: a dead comrade is better than a dead Taoist.
"I won't be the only one summoned," he thought, regaining some composure. "I'll try to talk to the old man later and see what's going on."
Liyue
At a teahouse in Liyue Harbor, Narrator was in the middle of a performance.
"In that moment, the Dream God controlled the Yakshas, and everyone was in despair. We were on the verge of being destroyed when—guess what happened?"
"Hey, Narrator, everyone knows this story! Lord Morax single-handedly faced the demon in Dihua Marsh and saved the Yakshas! Tell us something new."
"Yes, no one knows more history than Master Zhongli, the esteemed consultant from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!"
The audience members respectfully looked at the elegant young man sitting at the best table.
"You all flatter me," Zhongli said calmly, setting down his teacup. "I have simply read many ancient texts. Much of history remains buried in the past; even the most knowledgeable historians can't give a complete account."
"So we must consult with each other to understand the depths of history," Narrator said humbly, seeking new material.
Zhongli nodded, and was about to speak when he suddenly froze. The teacup in his hand trembled.
"My apologies," he said, rising from his seat. "I have some important personal matters to attend to. I will share more of my knowledge with you another day."
Zhongli's departure left the crowd buzzing.
"Looks like Master Hu Tao is having a hard time promoting business for him."
"Yes, she's always coming up with strange ideas."
Zhongli's expression was solemn on the way back to the funeral parlor. The being on Sky Island had contacted him, a truly abnormal phenomenon. For over six thousand years, though he had seen that person from afar, they had never personally contacted any of the Seven Archons. The connection he felt to his Archon's Seat was even stronger now than it was during the height of the Archon War.
Had that person fully recovered and become even more powerful? If so, was this a good thing or a bad thing for Liyue? Every time that being intervened, it was not for a time of peace: the war with the Second Throne that shattered the continent, the beginning of the Archon War, and the Khaenri'ah Cataclysm. All of them were catastrophic events.
"Hey there, Zhongli! What's with the long face? Did someone steal your favorite bird?" a chipper voice greeted him as he walked through the door.
"Master Hu," Zhongli said, his expression unchanged. "I have some personal matters to attend to and would like to request a few days off."
"Please! You're on vacation every day!" Hu Tao said, pulling a large stack of bills from behind her back. "You drink tea, walk birds, watch operas, and do nothing but leisure! And look at this! Mingxing Tea House sent me a stack of bills this morning! What did you buy this time?"
"Master Hu," Zhongli said, calmly waiting.
"Fine, fine! I can't do anything with you," she conceded. "I'll give you five days off, but I have a condition."
"Please state your condition," he replied.
"When you get back, you have to help me hand out flyers! I've come up with a fantastic idea!" She unrolled a large sheet of paper. "With my fantastic ideas and your dazzling eloquence, we can double the business of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor!"
"Zhongli? Zhongli?" Hu Tao said, looking up to find that he had already disappeared. "I wasn't finished with my idea! Zhongli! I'm taking it out of your salary when you get back!"
While the Archons of Wind and Geo were relatively calm, the Hydro Archon, Focalors, was filled with anxiety. The moment she received the notification, she fled the Palais Mermonia. It was the first time she had ever received a message from Sky Island. She had never even seen Phanes' four shades, let alone Phanes itself. Her Archon status was forcefully given to her by the previous Hydro Archon, Egeria.
"Could it be that my plan has been discovered by the Heavenly Principles?" she thought, a sense of powerlessness and dread rising within her. Her plan was complete treason against Sky Island. The consequences would be a cold Skyfrost Nail descending from the sky, destroying everything she had built for Fontaine.
"What am I going to do?" she whispered, her hands shaking. If she went, she might be killed, but Fontaine could survive. If she didn't, both she and Fontaine would be destroyed. The Heavenly Principles could not be opposed, or total destruction would follow.