As long as a person remained conscious, there was no escaping erosion.
This was true of humans, immortals, and gods alike.
Human lives were relatively short, so the harm erosion inflicted on them was less than a thousandth of what immortals and gods endured.
Thus, humans were not particularly sensitive to the concept of erosion. They preferred to call it growth.
But as Zhongli had said, in pursuit of the path of righteousness, people constantly gave things up and suffered losses. This was the [erosion] the Heavenly Principles imposed upon them.
[Growth], becoming a better person, was what humans called their path of righteousness.
To become a better person, one had to experience all manner of sacrifices and losses, whether heartbreak or failure.
They had to experience that sorrow and pain. Only then could their rough edges be worn away, allowing them to mature, improve, become someone who could stand on their own, and live well.
This was human growth, and it was also human erosion.
Zhongli had walked alongside humanity for thousands of years.
He was the God of Contracts, and the god of the people of Liyue.
For him, the path of righteousness meant protecting Liyue's people and guiding them toward prosperity.
For the sake of that path of righteousness, he had been forced to give up and lose many things he cherished.
For the people of Liyue, his old friends had fallen in battle.
For Liyue, he had been forced to turn against an old friend and seal him away with his own hands.
Yet Liyue Harbor had stood for three thousand seven hundred years.
Rex Lapis had walked alongside the land of Liyue for three thousand seven hundred years.
Over all that time, had he ever doubted this so-called "path of righteousness"?
Had he ever