With Rex's arrival, everything in Hearthglen fell naturally into place. Tirion Fordring had already intended to submit to Gilneas. He had no other path left to choose. He lacked the resources to form an independent faction nominally under the Alliance while remaining outside Gilneas. Without a stable base to provide substantial material and financial support, Tirion Fordring had no choice but to submit.
Tirion Fordring had stayed out of this affair because he was waiting for King Genn to send someone to approach him. After negotiating a few terms, he would submit. Rex's arrival had brought him into the fold nicely.
When Rex returned to Lordaeron City, he had a few more people with him: Tirion Fordring and his party.
Tirion Fordring accompanied Rex to Lordaeron City as a show of sincerity. He brought no entourage, only a young man who stayed at his side. Rex studied this young man with a questioning gaze. He actually cultivated using other people's Holy Light, having them pour it into his body to provoke his own Holy Light into resisting. This created an excess of Holy Light that began damaging his body. Rex had heard a little about this method of cultivation. Whoever had invented it had certainly been a madman, trading lifespan for strength.
It was even more extreme than what Rex had done. On the surface, each individual loss was less than the ten years Rex had sacrificed in one go. But there was one thing to remember: the young man suffered those losses again and again, constantly and without end. It was far worse than Rex's situation. Rex's sacrifice had been a one-time deal, whereas his would last a lifetime.
That was not the only flaw in such an extreme cultivation method. Its greatest drawback was how difficult it was