Genshin Impact: Awakening in the Darkness

Three days later—

Xuan Yue had already arranged everything and was standing outside the cave with Morax, ready to receive the guests, as this would not be considered impolite.

"Morax, who do you think will arrive first?"

“Without a doubt, it’s only him, and he’s already here.” Morax had barely finished speaking when a familiar voice came from the wind.

"Oh, little Xuan Yue, did you miss me!" The first to arrive in Liyue was Barbatos, the Wind God. Upon seeing Xuan Yue, he made a move to pounce on her, but when he saw Morax beside her, he slammed on the brakes and stopped abruptly: "Um... it's been a long time, Morax..."

"Long time no see," Morax replied casually.

"Take a seat, Barbatos. Your favorite dandelion wine was specially brought from Mondstadt, but you can't sneak a sip until everyone is here," Xuan Yue said teasingly to the cautious Wind God in front of her.

"Wow! Xuan Yue, you're still the best to me!" Barbatos gave Xuan Yue a light hug before taking his seat.

Next to arrive were Buyer and Ergolia.

“This place is really hard to find. If the GPS wasn’t still here, I would have thought I flew too far.” Ergolia came to Xuan Yue with the Water Dragon King’s egg in her arms, handed the egg to him and then sat down. “Well, I’ve brought you the little one you’ve been longing for. Don’t say I’m stingy, I don’t let anyone else touch it.”

"Excuse me." Buyer was still somewhat afraid of Xuan Yue, and was very cautious. Compared to Ergolia's casualness, he was obviously too reserved.

“There’s no need for so many formalities at a gathering of friends. Grass God, please take a seat as well,” Morax said, trying to ease Buyer’s tension.

"Buyer, we'll definitely have more gatherings like this in the future. Relax and take a deep breath," Xuan Yue instructed. Buyer followed her instructions and his breathing improved significantly.

"Thank you."

Xuan Yue shook her head, and Buyer smiled and sat down next to Egolia. Barbatos said something that made Buyer and Egolia laugh, and the atmosphere became noticeably more cheerful.

"Hehe, little dragon, I wouldn't even be able to hold you if Xuanqing were here." Xuan Yue chuckled as he stroked the dragon egg. Every time the dragon egg gave him a little response, he would laugh for a long time, his grin stretching all the way to his ears.

"Xuan Yue, be careful, the Thunder God, the Fire God, and the Ice God haven't arrived yet," Morax reminded Xuan Yue to be mindful of her appearance.

"Okay, I'll put the baby aside and come back soon." Xuan Yue used spatial teleportation to go to the table of her family members and put the dragon egg into the fruit wine lake.

"Do you like this water? It should be sweet. Do you like sweet drinks?" Xuan Yue asked directly. Seeing the egg's curious expression, she figured there shouldn't be any major problems, so she told him to stay in the water and not move around. Then she returned to the cave entrance to continue receiving the guests who had not yet arrived.

"What a coincidence, we were just talking about you and here you are." Raiden Shin held up a flower umbrella at the cave entrance, with Raiden Film and Fox Palace standing behind her. Yae no Miko leaned on Raiden Film's shoulder, looking somewhat dejected.

"That's quite a coincidence. Surely you wouldn't team up with Morax to speak ill of me, would you? But why are there only a few of you? Where are the others?"

"Torachiyo and Sasa Yuri said that Inazuma couldn't be without a leader, so they stayed in Inazuma to stabilize the people's hearts." Lei Yingdong rarely spoke up to explain the reason.

"Greetings, God of Order. I didn't recognize you before, please forgive me." Fox Palace bowed to Xuan Yue.

"Alright, let's skip this formality next time. I'm just a demon god, nothing special. Just call me Xuan Yue as before."

"Haha, see? I told you, Xuan Yue wouldn't care," Lei Dianzhen joked with a laugh.

"Alright, alright, you win."

"Then please take your seats, everyone. However, the cub is still at another table. Xuan Yue put in some effort, and I believe the little fox will like it." Morax glanced at Yae no Miko, his meaning quite clear.

"My Goddess, there's a whole big pot of your favorite fried tofu!"

"Where...where? Where! I want to eat! I want to eat!" The goddess immediately perked up.

"Haha, then please take your seats, everyone. Ying, we've also prepared your favorite tricolor dumplings, as well as other international delicacies and desserts. Please feel free to eat as much as you like."

"Okay." Lei Yingdong nodded, then followed her sister to their seats.

So, the last ones to arrive would be Hebarak, the god of fire, and Barnabas, the god of ice.

"Oh dear, I'm still late even though I rushed." The Goddess of Fire is somewhat unconventional, while Barnabas next to her is rather aloof. Xuan Yue is already immune to this, after all, Xuan Qing's coldness is much colder than that of the Goddess of Ice.

"It's not late, it's not late. Please take your seats. Everyone's here, just in time." Xuan Yue's words carried on the wind to Barbatos's ears.

"Xuan Yue, everyone's here, can I start drinking now!" His shout could be heard from afar. It seems our Lord Wind God has been able to endure for so long, it's truly remarkable.

Xuan Yue gestured for Morax to take a seat, since Morax had initiated the gathering and was naturally the host. After sitting in the main seat, Xuan Yue led the Fire God and Ice God to their seats, and then returned to the entrance of the cave.

"Please feel free to eat first. Xuan Yue still needs to pick up a few friends," Morax explained on Xuan Yue's behalf.

“Morax, I wasn’t sure before, but judging from your tone… how old are you again?” Agolia asked uncertainly.

"It is about 5000 years old."

"⊙?⊙! I'm only 2000 years old, no wonder Barbatos always calls you old man."

Upon hearing this, Morax glared at Barbatos, while Wendy chuckled and said, "I'm only a little under 3000 myself. As far as I know, everyone here seems to be around 2000 years old."

The other gods nodded in agreement, with only two exceptions: one was Balzeb, who was focused on eating glutinous rice balls, and the other...

"Um, I'm only 26 years old this year. According to the age of the Demon God, it should be multiplied by a factor of 2, right? Hmm, why is everyone looking at me?" The God of Fire, Shibarak, noticed that all the gods were focusing their attention on him, and even the shadows were momentarily distracted from the glutinous rice balls in their bowls.

"26 years old?" It was the silent Barnabas who spoke.

"This year?" This was Raiden Zhen.

"According to the age of the demon god?" Buyer's mind was also in turmoil.

"Um, old man, I don't understand for a moment." Barbatos covered his head, wondering if he had drunk too much and hadn't heard what the god of fire was saying, or what he meant by "according to the age of the demon god".

"The God of Fire is not a demon god, but a human." Morax calmly raised his cup and sipped his tea. (This tea is quite good; it seems to be a new product from Shenyu Valley. Xuan Yue has put in a lot of thought.)

"Yes, it's just a coincidence. I was the current leader of Nata, and I was summoned by Sky Island to ascend to the throne. I am indeed a human, just an ordinary person. Please don't look down on me, a nobody."

"No, but the fact that the God of Fire ascended to the throne in a mortal body is something even we demon gods greatly admire." Buyer finally dared to speak up.

"Hmm? Why aren't you all eating? Is it because you're not used to it? Would you like to get a different set of cutlery?" Xuan Yue had just brought over a few Yakshas and Immortals, and the atmosphere felt strange. Was it because the food wasn't to his liking? He noticed the unfinished glutinous rice balls in Lei Ying's bowl, and Xuan Yue began to doubt the menu he had ordered.

“Hey, Little Xuan Yue is back. Let me tell you, did you know that the God of Fire is human?” Barbatos had the nerve to share this with Xuan Yue, who had just taken her seat and happened to be sitting to his right.

"I know, I could tell the first time I saw him. I thought you all knew."

(I'm really sorry, we didn't see that at all.) This is what the gods were thinking at that moment.

…To be continued…