On this day, Liyue Harbor was bustling with activity.
Visitors from all over Teyvat had nearly clogged the streets of Liyue Harbor. Even the Millelith, tasked with maintaining order, were overwhelmed by the crowds, rendering their efforts ineffective.
This showed just how many people had come to witness the event.
Most of these visitors were merchants, here to catch a glimpse of the Geo Archon and hear his divine decree.
To merchants, Morax symbolized wealth. After all, besides being the Geo Archon, he was also the God of Commerce, Contracts, and Wealth—a lucky star in the eyes of merchants. Thus, even those who didn't believe in gods would come to pay their respects.
"Tr-Traveler, isn't this crowd a bit too much? At this rate, how are we going to squeeze our way to Yujing Terrace?" Paimon, who had just woken up, heard the noisy chatter outside and opened the window, only to be met with an unforgettable sight.
"Let me see," Lumine, still in her pajamas, rubbed her sleepy eyes and walked to the window to look outside.
"Why are there so many people?!" Lumine was equally shocked, instantly wide awake. She checked the time—it was only a little past 5 a.m., and yet there were already so many people. If this kept up, they'd be squished like a sandwich.
"Paimon, let's go!" Lumine hurried back to the bed, quickly got dressed, and then grabbed the still-groggy Paimon, rushing out of the room. The door slammed shut behind them with a loud bang.
Mt. Aocang...
"Shenhe, today is the Rite of Descension. Are you really not going to Liyue Harbor to see it?" Cloud Retainer looked at her disciple, who was solely focused on cultivation, and shook her head in frustration.
This child was excellent in every way, but due to the red rope sealing her emotions, she had become indifferent and struggled to understand ordinary human feelings. Combined with her kind nature and reluctance to let her cursed fate affect others, she had always avoided interacting with ordinary people.
As a result, over the years, aside from the adepti, the only person Shenhe had interacted with was Yun Fan.
Speaking of Yun Fan... Cloud Retainer felt another headache coming on. Why had she impulsively arranged a marriage for Shenhe back then? If she had just wanted Yun Fan's fate to influence Shenhe and help her, being friends would have been enough. But now, Yun Fan had been gone for over a year, supposedly on important business, yet there was no sign of him.
"Master, I don't want to get involved in these matters. My power might harm them," Shenhe said, referring to the ordinary people without Visions.
Being indifferent didn't mean she lacked emotions. She was still a flesh-and-blood human.
"Sigh," Cloud Retainer could only let it go. If Shenhe didn't want to go, she wouldn't force her.
"Yun Fan, oh Yun Fan, Divine General, oh Divine General, where have you gone?" Cloud Retainer murmured as she gazed at the rising sun in the distance.
"Lord Yun Fan, the remaining karmic debt and demonic resentment in Dihua Marsh have been mostly cleansed. Shall we head to The Chasm next?" After witnessing Yun Fan effortlessly deal with another pocket of demonic resentment, Xiao used his senses to assess the situation in Dihua Marsh. Finding that almost all the demonic resentment and karmic debt had been cleared, he respectfully suggested.
"The Chasm? Let's go," Yun Fan checked the Fenghuang Down's energy progress bar, now at sixty percent, and nodded decisively.
Although today was the Rite of Descension, he wasn't in a hurry to meet up with Lumine. Let her train and grow on her own. He would find her after evolving the Fenghuang Down.
"By the way, since I'm back, should I let that big bird know?" Yun Fan suddenly thought of Cloud Retainer, who was, in a way, his mother-in-law.
"Never mind," Yun Fan reconsidered. His instincts told him that informing Cloud Retainer would lead to trouble.
"Let's go to The Chasm," Yun Fan waved to Xiao and took the lead, with Xiao following closely behind as they headed toward The Chasm.
"Finally, we made it through! Paimon feels like she's been squished flat," Paimon said after struggling through the crowd. Lumine and Paimon finally reached the front of the line and ascended Yujing Terrace, the place where the Geo Archon would descend and the heart of the Rite of Descension.
"By the way, Hu Tao said we should offer incense at the censers, right? I heard it's very effective," Paimon looked around and spotted the three large censers at the corners of the terrace, each as tall as two people, with golden-red flames flickering inside.
"Mm," Lumine led Paimon to one of the censers and, following the example of the Snezhnayan merchants nearby, placed a hand over her heart and closed her eyes in prayer.
'I hope to find my brother soon,' Lumine thought. The censer seemed to respond, its flames flickering a few times.
'I hope to always stay with the Traveler and eat delicious food every day,' Paimon wished, her desires simple and very much like her.
The flames in the censer flickered again, acknowledging Paimon's wish.
'I hope to make more friends on this journey,' Lumine thought as she approached the second censer. In Mondstadt, she had made many friends, which was a far cry from her solitary travels with Aether centuries ago. Now that Aether was no longer by her side, these new friends had kept her from feeling lonely.
'I hope Yun Fan can reach the ideal shore he desires,' Lumine made her final wish at the third censer. She had always been under Yun Fan's care, and though she didn't know his true intentions, she could sense that he meant her no harm. After all, everyone had their secrets.
There wasn't much she could do for him, so she could only pray here, hoping for his success and happiness.