"Cecilias, white flowers that grew on Starsnatch Cliff." In the sunlight ahead and to the right of the cliff, scattered Cecilias shimmered faintly.
Among the petals and leaves, mist had condensed into dewdrops, making the flowers look all the more radiant and upright.
Wandering across Starsnatch Cliff, Tang Wang studied the form of every flower. He wanted to choose the most beautiful one as his gift.
"Wait," he said, suddenly spotting three Cecilias in the direct sunlight. "All three of these are perfectly formed!"
Only then did Tang Wang remember something: he had other female companions, too. If he gave flowers only to Columbina... he felt there was a risk of them caring less about scarcity than unequal treatment.
"But Lili would probably prefer Windwheel Asters or dandelions, right?" He thought for a moment. "Ronava might like Cecilias. I'll bring her one too."
And just like that, only one of the three once-upright Cecilias remained. He had no intention of picking the last one.
The world's blessings and gifts never belonged to just one person-if possible, he hoped others would have a chance to see such beautiful flowers too.
"Now, for some simple preparations." A blue-gray shadow domain appeared in his hand.
"Time doesn't exist inside a shadow domain. Just choose a container and cover it with a little of the shadow domain, and you can make a display case that keeps things fresh forever."
Come to think of it, he had already given Columbina quite a few similar display cases. Marionette, The Doctor and the others seemed to have taken some of them away to study.
But after their first attempt yielded no results and caused the shadow domain inside to stop working, Columbina had strictly forbidden them from touching anything else he gave her.
"Why hasn't Albedo come over yet?" He looked back and saw the blond figure strolling up Starsnatch Cliff.
So, for now, he could only cover the two flowers with his shadow domain, keeping them covered in dewdrops.
"Why are you so slow?"
"No reason. I just thought that if I hurried too much, I'd miss a lot of interesting sights." Albedo shrugged. "Did you see it just now? The traces that couple left with their own blood."
"Did they come here for a secret rendezvous?" Tang Wang asked indifferently.
"No, they're no longer capable of going on dates." Albedo shook his head. "So I suspect that somewhere nearby, there may be-"
As he spoke, he pointed toward the very top of Starsnatch Cliff.
"The being we ultimately need to deal with."
"From the Abyss, I come!" With a flash of lightning, an Electro Abyss Lector appeared out of thin air atop Starsnatch Cliff.
"Feel the gra-"
"Feel my *!" Tang Wang swore and charged forward. He lashed out with a kick, its brutally terrifying force sending the Electro Abyss Lector flying straight off Starsnatch Cliff.
"Now, Albedo, let's make another trip to Windrise." He turned around without a care. "I want to bring a Windwheel Aster back for Linaya."
"All right, let's go." Albedo glanced in the direction of Starsnatch Cliff and chose to leave.
The Electro Abyss Lector obviously wouldn't be killed by the fall, but it definitely wouldn't be climbing back up anytime soon. They could take the opportunity to run off.
As for dealing with the Abyss Lector... that really wasn't something they were considering.
Albedo had a Geo Vision, and Geo's effectiveness at breaking Electro shields... well, one could perhaps call it shield-breaking. Besides, unlike Linaya with her Wheel of the Moon, he couldn't produce Lunar Crystallize to suppress the Abyss.
If they really fought, they would be helpless unless the Anemo Archon playing music in the distance chose to dispel the Abyss directly with that music.
"Shrinking the Ground to an Inch... what an interesting ability." On the way to Windrise, Albedo fiddled with his drawing board. "It involves authority over both time and space. Why does something so interesting seem to be spreading unchecked?"
"It's a disaster precisely because it's spreading unchecked." After making a circuit of Windrise, Tang Wang found a Windwheel Aster with petals that curled slightly upward and picked it.
"Snezhnaya has the most shadow domains, but obviously, those shadow domains are completely out of control, so naturally they spread into a disaster."
"But there's a question I've been pondering." He looked Tang Wang up and down. "Is the shadow domain on you really the same kind of technology as the shadow domains in Snezhnaya?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing else. Just take it as a bold deduction on my part."
With that, Albedo handed him three empty, round glass bottles.
"Thank you." After thanking him reflexively, Tang Wang sealed the flowers he had picked in the bottles.
"Now, let's hurry back to Mondstadt City."
Meanwhile, the Electro Abyss Lector was not as unaware as they had imagined.
The moment he fell off the cliff, a tiny crack suddenly appeared in memories that had long been sealed away.
"I... I'm not..." Lying on the grass, the Lector stared blankly at the clear blue sky overhead.
He vaguely remembered that he had a home too. His parents had loved each other, and he had gotten excellent grades. But none of that mattered, because those things were already far behind him.
"...It seems the visitors to Mondstadt City are far more resourceful than we anticipated." Beside the Abyss Lector stood the current true head of the Lawrence Clan, a young man whose face still bore traces of youth.
"However, whether it is Mondstadt or the Seven Nations, their engulfment by the Abyss is inevitable."
"Rather than sit around waiting for destruction to come..." The young man gave a bitter smile. "I would rather personally offer my beautiful homeland the desolation that belongs to it."
He was not like those self-important old nobles. In fact, the young man looked down on them deeply.
The age of the Lawrence Clan was over, yet they still dreamed of standing above others. Their agreement to the young man's plan came from that same arrogance and delusion.
But the young man's goal had been different from theirs from the start. When the time was right, he would personally wipe out the Abyss Order in Mondstadt, and then, in his own way... close Mondstadt's eyes.
"How is the collection of Primogems going?" he asked the space behind him.
"The current number is... 177." A small Abyss Mage flew out and handed him a large bag of sparkling crystals.
"Very good." He nodded. "Then, Abyss Lector, receive your new power."
The purest white light blossomed in the young man's palm. One hundred and sixty Primogems-in the world illuminated by that light, a catalyst made of blue and white gradually took shape.
Had Tang Wang been there, he would certainly have recognized it: this was the so-called Epitome Invocation.
"Its name is Lost Prayer to the Sacred Winds. Take it. It will grant you unimaginable power."
"Life, death, time, and space, the four great principles by which the world operates."
"By that logic, pure white light can also be separated into four kinds, and by spending the Lawrence Clan's wealth, one can gain control over one of them."
"If the ultimate goal can be achieved, then all of this will have been worthwhile."
"Ronava, Linaya, good morning!" Back at the Goth Grand Hotel, Tang Wang smiled and greeted the two women.
Today, Ronava had changed her hairstyle again: her white hair was coiled behind her head in a beautiful curve.
"Morning, Tang Wang!" Linaya replied with a smile. "Did you pick that flower?"
"I did." He nodded gently. "And more than one."
Then he took the two sealed bottles out of the space within his shadow domain.
"Wow, it's a Windwheel Aster!" Linaya happily accepted one of the flowers. "Thank you, Tang Wang."
"So, the other one is for that Columbina, I suppose?" There was clear displeasure in Ronava's voice. "This little white flower doesn't look like much. Will she really like it..."
"No, Ronava, this is for you." Tang Wang held the bottle out to her. "If you don't like it, that's all right. There are many kinds of flowers in Mondstadt. I can pick one of each for you."