Zhongli —The Mortal World Wanderer—

Profile

A mysterious man invited by El Camino Funeral Home. A great connoisseur of all things, Zhongli doesn't blink when paying (or asking others to pay). He gladly pays the price, no matter how unreasonable, and will pay even more for things he likes. The funny part is that Zhongli always forgets to bring his money with him.

Appearance

Zhongli is a tall, thin man with fair skin and a stern expression. His eyes are bright and sharp, amber with bright yellow pupils set in the shape of diamonds. He wears red eyeliner on the lower lids of his eyes. When he uses his Geo abilities, his eyes become luminescent. His dark brown hair is styled in a windswept manner with longer bangs hanging on the right side of his face. He fades to amber brown at the ends and pulls back into a long ponytail that falls past his waist. When he uses his Geo abilities, his amber reflections glow. This appearance is also used in the depiction of Morax around Liyue in the Statues of The Seven. His outfit is smart and form-fitting, consisting of a beige dress shirt, a brown and amber vest, slim black pants, black dress boots, and black gloves with twin silver archer rings on the thumbs. His collar is a white tie held at the neck by an amber gemstone. His left ear is adorned with a rhinestone tassel earring. Above all, he wears a long dark brown tailcoat with dragon scale patterns, gold and silver details, golden tassels, and the Morax diamond symbol on the back. Zhongli's clothing is decorated with diamond symbols found on his sleeves, belt, pants, vest buttons, and tailcoat buttons. Similarly to Venti, because he was an Archon with innate Gnosis, the "Vision" embedded in the chain on his lower back is nothing more than a fake.

Personality

Zhongli is a quiet and kind man who knows quite a bit about Liyue's history and culture. He has philosophical ideas about money and a great respect for Liyue's traditions, even those that have long since disappeared. He values ​​contracts highly: despite having the fortune or the information, he tends to be humble and even a little insecure about being, as he puts it, a "bourgeois parasite." One of Zhongli's most notable characteristics is his tendency to forget about Mora in transactions, agreeing to spend large sums of money without having any Mora on hand and even taking "discounts" as granted despite it being an obvious scam. He often ends up relying on others or the El Camino Funeral Home for financial support. Although he is friends with Hu Tao, the one who trusts him the most, he dislikes his childish behavior. It is later revealed that Zhongli's carelessness stems from being the Geo Archon and the creator of the Mora. With the Gnosis allowing him to create unlimited Mora, he never had to worry about running out of money in his personal finances. Unfortunately, when he chose to live among mortals, he did not have the foresight to look for an alternative for mortals to continue minting Mora in his absence, as well as creating a retirement fund for himself. Zhongli, like Venti, seems to view his human form as separate from his divine form. The Archaic Petra set states that Rex Lapis was said to be a ruthless and emotionless god who killed countless other gods during the Archon War, as was necessary to fulfill a contract. As the God of Contracts, Zhongli takes contracts seriously and sincerely, as honoring an agreement is easy and is perplexed as to how people are incapable of fulfilling such a simple concept; he states that all those who break it will suffer the Wrath of the Rock. True to this, his Elemental Burst involves sending a meteor flying towards his enemies. Zhon

Personality

Zhongli cares deeply about his nation, although he risks putting it in danger due to his plan to resign as Geo Archon. His intention was to test Liyue to see if he was ready to move on to a new era without her presence, and he does so by faking her death during the annual Rite of Descent. He later clarifies, however, that if Liyue were in real danger, he would intervene to stop him. He agrees with Keching's controversial opinion that Liyue is too dependent on the Archon of her, and respects her for that reason. Highly intelligent and calculating, Zhongli accurately predicts Nobile's plans, and builds his test to Liyue entirely around the Herald. Zhongli can be considered an open-minded person, since he invited Xinyan to perform at El Camino Funeral Home at a time when rock was not well known or accepted in Liyue. Xinyan accepted, but when he discovered that he was acting outside the classroom, he thought the request was inappropriate, showing that Zhongli can be quite eccentric at times. He does not like seafood, stating that it brings back bad memories of his time as an Archon when he once fought tentacled, foul-smelling sea monsters with great difficulty due to its stamina, small size, and abundance.

History

In traditional Liyue customs, "receiving the Adeptus" and "dismissing the Adeptus" are equally important. The Hu family, in charge of running the El Camino Funeral Home for 77 generations, is the best at doing funerals. However, Hu Tao, the current director of the El Camino Funeral Home, specializes in the art of saying goodbye to mortals. Therefore, for the various farewell ceremonies of the Adeptus, Hu Tao usually uses the help of a friend who is dedicated to the same business as her: Zhongli. The Adeptus have coexisted with the people of Liyue for millennia, but only a handful have ascended in the last three thousand years, meaning that currently, everything related to these traditions only exists in the texts. It is not something you can see twice in a lifetime. Not even the most discerning of researchers or academics could find a mistake in the Rites of Ascension of the El Camino Funeral Home. Everything must be perfect: the costumes, the time, the place, the objects, the weather, the duration, the size of the audience allowed, the height, profession and age of said audience... Nothing can be overlooked. When ordinary people describe Zhongli as an "encyclopedia with legs", he smiles, sighs and says: "I...just have a good memory."

Character story 1

In Liyue, if someone is very picky and inflexible about something they are passionate about, that person is often said to be "peculiar." In some ways, everyone is peculiar. Some people hate spicy food or fish; others like their tofu soft and sweet... As for Zhongli, he is peculiar to everything. He only enjoys performances by famous artists, takes out the most exotic bird he has for a walk, and even sneaks into restaurant kitchens to teach chefs how to use the right amount of fish and shrimp to make the most authentic full moon rolls. Zhongli knows everything from everyday objects such as clothing to trade, politics and relations between the Seven Nations, as well as jewelry, ceramics, gastronomy, tea, incense, flowers, insects, birds... However, he usually only talks about things that have no use, as he loves to share interesting facts with other people.

Character story 2

To buy things, it is essential to negotiate. This is a habit shared by all citizens of Liyue. No matter how high or how inflexible the price is, the best starting price is half the price. However, Zhongli never pays attention to the price. When he wants something, he gets it regardless of this factor, and sometimes he is even willing to pay more. The funny thing is that he never remembers to bring his wallet with him. That's why he has friends who help him with his daily shopping. If something is overpriced, he finds all kinds of excuses to get reimbursed in some way. For all the merchants who are satisfied with Zhongli, he has a unique quality: he perfectly understands the value of money and finance, as well as the suffering of people. However, he fails to understand that poverty is a real thing. In other words, he cannot imagine himself being poor. How can such a person exist?

Character story 3

Zhongli will never starve to death. That's a fact. You don't need to worry about whether you're making or losing money. What you really put your energy into is the affairs of the Seven Nations. As for material wealth... He is literally the personification of wealth itself. Yes; Zhongli is Rex Lapis, the Geo Archon of The Seven, the deity who ruled Liyue, and he is also Morax, the name from which Mora, the motto of all Teyvat, is derived. When night falls and the bustling port of Liyue quiets down, he sometimes heads to the top of the mountains and looks out at the city he created with his own hands. To the people of Liyue, King Geo has many titles. When he made the laws of Liyue, he was the "Patron of Contracts." He created the first Mora which served as the basis for Liyue's trade, so merchants crowned him as the "Patron of Trade". He has witnessed history throughout his years and is the eldest of all the Seven. For this reason, historians refer to him as the "Patron of History." Millennia ago, when Liyue pioneers first created fire by rubbing stones together and cooking in ovens made of the material, they credited him as the "Patron Saint of Ovens." While foreigners prefer to call it "Morax", Liyue people prefer its common name: "King Geo". Furthermore, of all the positions and duties that Morax holds, his role as the "Warrior God" who defeated evil gods on the battlefield is a favorite of children and theatergoers. The delicious street foods King Geo discovered when he got lost, the plaque he wrote his name on, and the famous play he made a cameo in... It would not be far-fetched to say that many of Liyue's traditions and customs were forged by its direct influence on the world and its relationship with the people of the city. The people of Liyue are also proud of their history.

Character story 4

As the founder of Liyue, what Morax values ​​most about this trading city are the contracts. From simple business contracts to ancient laws formulated by Morax himself when he created Liyue, contracts manifest in various forms and everywhere in the city. For merchants, contracts are the foundation of all honest and trustworthy exchanges, as they bind them to shipping dates, payment dates, and delivery locations, among other things. The prosperity and vitality of trade, which is the lifeblood of Liyue, can only be guaranteed if there is a strict social order. Thus, in order to uphold the fulfillment of Morax's prophecies and protect the vitality of Liyue, the Seven Stars will not tolerate any violation of the law. For millennia, the Seven Stars have been dedicated generation after generation to interpreting the laws and creating all kinds of additional clauses to amend any legal loopholes. If there is something that is not written, it is considered "allowed by law" until the Seven Stars make the corresponding amendment. To date, there are a total of 279 pages in the book on the interpretation of the amended laws. Ninguang, the current Heavenly Balance and in charge of revising this book, was given the nickname of the "tailor of Liyue" for her efficiency and precision. However, no matter how complicated human laws are, for Rex Lapis, there is one law that stands above all else: "Those who break a contract will suffer the wrath of the rock."

Character story 5

As the eldest of The Seven, Rex Lapis has lived a long time. He still remembers when the Archon War finally ended and the last seven gods left standing took their respective thrones as Archons, ending said war. Although they disagree on certain issues and reside thousands of miles apart, they were all tasked with guiding the humans. As time passed, many of the seven archons fell and others rose. But of the original seven archons, only two remain: Rex Lapis and the free and carefree Archon Anemo, the second oldest of The Seven, also known as Barbatos. Two thousand years ago, when Barbatos first arrived at the gates of Liyue to visit Rex Lapis, he was willing to provide any assistance necessary to his fellow god from another realm. Thus, Archon Geo had already made preparations to receive him even before Barbatos fell from the sky. Exhausted by it, he just waited for her to say something. However, what Barbatos did was hand him a bottle of wine. "This is a Mondstadt wine. Why don't you try it? I'll give it to you." For Rex Lapis, it was absurd for a god to abandon his duties just to deliver a bottle of wine. However, this was not the only time Barbatos visited Liyue... And whenever he did, he had countless questions. He was as curious as he drank wine. At that time, The Seven still met from time to time in Liyue. In fact, Rex Lapis still remembers the taste of the wine they drank at those meetings. However, the world continued to change. Several of the seven archons gave up their position and others succeeded them. On the other hand, five of the seven gods present at those meetings died. The ancient duty of guiding humans began to be ignored by new successors. However, three thousand years of wind and snow were enough to corrode even the hardest stone.

Character story 5

Even Barbatos stopped visiting Rex Lapis as time went by. One morning, when the old King Geo was taking a walk in Liyue, he heard a merchant compliment his subordinate: "You have done your duty very well. Now, go and take a well-deserved rest." ... Rex Lapis stood in the middle of the bustle of the crowd as he thought: "Have I really done my duty?"

Marine products

During the Archon War, every corner of Teyvat was engulfed in the fire of conflict. It was not only the gods who fought, but countless evil beings also sought to expand their domain. Some of those creatures greatly worried Archon Geo, who at that time was not yet one of The Seven. These creatures emerged from the ocean abyss, had a soft body and possessed agile tentacles that continued to live even after they were cut, at which time they secreted a viscous fluid. They were really disgusting, but that wasn't the biggest problem. The real problem was their small size, which gave them the ability to hide in unimaginably small nooks and crannies. No gap was too narrow for them, not in the wooden boards of tables and chairs, not in the seams of windows and doors and the folds of curtains, not in those for books and brushes. If they saw someone with their hand outstretched, they would go up her arm, leaving a bright trail behind them, and leave her with a sensation of cold and wetness so horrible that it was impossible not to scream in horror at the feeling of it. Under the pleas of the people of Liyue, Morax agreed to put an end to these creatures. However, these parasites of civilization could not be destroyed like any enemy on the battlefield, like when he summoned a rain of stone spears that made the earth tremble. Even so, he was the Patron of contracts, so he had to keep his word no matter what. So, he went around Liyue from house to house with small stone cages, capturing these creatures one by one... This long campaign of pest extermination taught Morax what it really meant to "take a load off your shoulders." The frustrating campaign, as well as the terrible smell of the ocean creatures' secretions, are something he will never forget.

Marine products

Nowadays, even when he goes out into the real world incognito as Zhongli, a mortal man, Morax doesn't want to look at seafood. Except for seafood tofu, which he likes because you can't tell its original shape.

Gnosis

Once he finished the Rite of Ascension, which was both directed and performed by Zhongli, Signora, one of the Eleven of the Fatui, appeared before him. According to the contract they had signed, she went there to claim the Gnosis of Morax, the Geo Archon. Before the traveler and the two Fatui, Zhongli told the truth: that he had established a contract with the Cryo Archon. In his own words, it was the "contract with which he would end all contracts." However, no matter how he looked at it, losing the divine abilities with which he had defended Liyue was too high a price to pay. Even among mortals, the basis of a contract is an equivalent exchange. Thus, for the Patron of Contracts, who during his long existence had established countless agreements, a contract as important as this one must have the benefits of it. But now, Archon Geo had had to give up his Gnosis as part of the deal. So what would the Archon Cryo have offered to balance the scales?