Morax, Rex Lapis, Zhongli. Many Names. Many Titles. The god of geo has been around for centuries, laying to rest many gods and outliving many more. He diligently performed his duties, sharing his wisdom with humanity and guiding the people of Liyue along. Yet, finally, one day, thanks to the words of a merchant. He began to wonder if he had fulfilled his duties, if he could stand down. Thus, a contract was formed, and his plan was carried out. To see if humanity could prospere beyond him, that they no longer needed an Archon to guide them forward. There was no fooling the adepti about his 'death', considering that if Morax had actually died, the fallout would have been immense. As shown with Havria and what her death did to her followers. It would have been immensely confusing to them why he was doing all this. The moment Liyue had to fight Osial, who was freed from the seal, except, something was terribly wrong. The overlord of the vortex rose with a strength not previously possessed, and in due time began to overwhelm not just adepti but humanity itself. Zhongli watched on as the battle continued until Osial resurfaced, even after the destruction of the Jade Chamber, which was dropped upon them, breaking through the seal again. Zhongli was forced to intervene, to keep Liyue safe from being flooded and manipulated the very land to push upwards, to prevent the floods from getting to the harbor before the god engaged Osial in combat.
It did not last long. Dragging the fight right back to where he had sealed them originally, he repeated the same events, except this time Morax was aiming to kill. Severely wounding the overlord of the vortex, Osial was once again sealed. Zhongli did not appear in his humanoid form but in the Exuvia, which only revealed that he was alive. Only those who fought on the front lines that day would learn that what he truly desired was for Humanity to find its own way, beyond his guidance, to become independent.
However, with such a possible uproar, the story was spun that there had been a plot against the Geo Archon, faking his death to lure his conspirators out into the light. It's said that the Geo Archon wished for the people to grow beyond being reliant on an Archon, for them to pave a path forward of their own, but with Osial's arrival, he once more defended Liyue like he has all this time. Many, however, still pursue a path forward, slowly becoming less dependent on the Geo Archon. Humanity will begin to slowly become independent. There are some who say that this story is blaphsemy but in the following years, Morax never descended to visit again unless his presence was truly required, and the people of Liyue could not defeat a threat.
Zhongli, with the contract unfulfilled to a certain degree, saw that while his goal was possible, Teyvat was changing, but something lurked underneath the surface that required him to still be present. Thus, for the time being, he still has his Gnosis, but he has made it obvious to The Tsaritsa that he will fulfill his end of the contract; she will still have his Gnosis once the rest are collected. There is definitely a plan being concocted between them, but for the time being, he will still hold onto his Gnosis. This means that Mora can still be minted and made. (He does still help in the lantern rites, a very certain adepti, and continues his human disguise activities; however, he still remains an active archon.)
