Adeptus

The , singular adeptus, are a group in Liyue that consists of both illuminated beasts and gods. Most of them are bound by a contract to protect Liyue from demons and evil gods and are led by the Prime of Adepti, Rex Lapis himself.
==Terminology==
What exactly is defined by the term "adepti" is ambiguous, and is further obfuscated by the English localization's translation of several related but distinct terms interchangeably: , , , , and are all translated as "adepti" or "illuminated beast." While the original Chinese text also does not clearly delineate the terms, there is more specificity in how they are used.
 refers to the concept of , who are people or entities with either extreme longevity or immortality, typically as a result of spiritual enlightenment. The word can take on a variety of meanings depending on the context, but in the context of the adepti, it typically refers to beings who have reached enlightenment and spiritual immortality. In-game, within the context of Liyue, this term is used to broadly refer to all types of adepti.
 comprises the characters + In-game, this term is typically used for all xian who follow Morax, whether they take beastlike or humanlike forms. It is an abbreviation of . The term does not specify singular or plural and can be used to refer to an individual adeptus or multiple adepti, although plural forms of the term exist as well (see xiānzhòng).
 refers to animals and beasts who have or are capable of reaching enlightenment, such as the qilin. Those who are illuminated beasts and follow Morax can be referred to as both xianren and xianshou. In the original Chinese text, humans with illuminated beast blood in their veins typically refer to their xianshou lineage, and not a xianren lineage. There are a few exceptions; for example, when Ganyu talks about adeptus blood in Solitary Fragrance, she uses xianren instead of xianshou. Her character stories always use xianshou, though the English version inconsistently translates it as both "adeptus" and "illuminated beast."
 generally refers to a subset of adepti, or to the adepti as a collective.
 is used in terms that pertain to the adepti collectively, such as adeptal techniques or possessions. For example, the Chinese description for Eye of Perception says that the weapon belonged to the xianjia. The term localized as "adeptal energy" and "adeptal power," refers to a power which is harmful to ordinary humans; notably, this is separate from another term localized as "adeptal energy." (Xianli is the type of adeptal energy bestowed on the Traveler during Turning Point and used in the Serenitea Pot.) Xianjia has also been used as an honorific form of xianren.
==Overview==
Most adepti are illuminated beasts — beings beyond the ken of normal mortals and are often worshipped like deities by the people of Liyue — or have illuminated beast blood in their veins. Some gods have also been referred to as adepti: Morax is known as the , while Marchosius was also considered one.
Very little is known about the origins of adepti and illuminated beasts. Morax is presumably the progenitor of the adepti in some shape or form, having personally given his "blessings" to grant several adepti their illumination, including Madame Ping. Some believe that they descended from Celestia and return there once they die. According to legend, humans could ascend to Celestia and join the ranks of the adepti, and those who sought the path of the adepti had to pass the "trials of heaven and earth." The trial of "earth" was taken inside of the Taishan Mansion, while the location for the trial of "heaven" was the Dwelling in the Clouds.
Because humans have a "higher purpose" than adepti in the world of Teyvat, only those of non-human status can be referred to as adepti.HoYoverse News: Developer Insight #4: Character Stories (I) - "Vigilant Yaksha" Xiao While legends exist of humans joining the ranks of the adepti, and humans are capable of learning adepti arts, they are not considered adepti. However, half-blooded humans can qualify as adepti.
===Appearance===
The adepti have a large range in terms of appearance, but most of them take on their true, illuminated beast forms when appearing before mortals.Web Event, Stone Harbor Treasure Journal, Reading (Zhongli), Chinese version: Full-blooded adepti are capable of shapeshifting into a human form, and some — such as Madame Ping and Xiao — prefer such a form.Xiao's Developer Insight states that the tattoo on his arm depicts an illuminated beast and is related to his "true form," indicating he did not always have a human form. It is also apparent that the adepti can change the appearance of their human form; Madame Ping's appearance as an old lady is not caused by aging, but is instead said to be from her own choice. She has been depicted to be in a youthful form in the past. However, other adepti, like Moon Carver, take pride in their beast forms and refused to use human disguises for many years until fairly recently.
So far, known half-blooded humans take on a humanoid appearance with a few distinguishing traits from their illuminated beast blood. It has not been suggested that they have the ability to shapeshift or otherwise take on a more beastlike form; as she is sensitive about her horns, Ganyu would likely have changed to a form long ago that did not have horns if she were capable of it.
===Culture===
Many cultural aspects revolving around the adepti are derived from real-world and , though within the world of Teyvat, such concepts are seen as the path of the adepti.
One aspect of adeptal culture is the use of sacred names, also known as adeptus names. In the Chinese version, most sacred names contain four characters that serve as a name, followed by the honorific title The English translation typically renders the first two characters and leaves out the honorific title. For example, is rendered as Moon Carver, translating only the part of the title.During one of the Closed Beta Tests, some sacred names were translated in full; Moon Carver, for example, was "Perfected Lord of Descending Sun and Ascending Moon." It appears the translation team later decided that direct translations were too clunky and wordy, and truncated them for readability.
There are sacred names that use different naming schemes, typically used by those with a special place among the adepti. The Chinese version of "Rex Lapis" is which uses the higher-ranking honorific compared to most adepti's In a similar vein, the Chinese version of Xiao's title, Conqueror of Demons, is which forgoes the "lord" honorific system entirely. In both cases, their sacred names (excluding the honorific) are also only two characters long instead of the conventional four.
While sacred names are associated with the adepti, they have been applied to non-adepti as well. The adepti-created teapot spirits like Tubby and Chubby have sacred names despite not being considered adepti. Qiqi is heavily suggested to bear the sacred name following her resurrection at the hands of the adepti, even though Shenhe, who was personally trained by multiple adepti, explicitly lacks a sacred name since she is human. There is also nothing stopping from ordinary humans from giving themselves sacred names to pose as adepti, as seen with and .
On top of that, not all adepti use sacred names, as seen with Madame Ping and Ganyu. The former's sacred name is , but she took on the alias of Madame Ping upon integrating herself into human society. It is unclear if Ganyu has a sacred name but uses an ordinary name to blend in with humans, or if she never had one to begin with. While Xiao has a sacred name, it is typically used by other adepti or by humans knowledgeable about the adepti; when Xiao gives his name to the Traveler, he tells them to call him "Adeptus Xiao."
==Powers and Abilities==
All adepti possess the ability to manipulate elemental energy, which mortals equate to having a Vision; this led to the "three-eyed" part of the adepti's full Chinese title. It is unclear whether the adepti's ability to manipulate elemental energy follows the same rules as humans'. For example, beastlike adepti do not have Visions located externally on their bodies, leading humans to conclude that they possess "inner eyes" located within their bodies and are not visible on their bodies. Xiao wears a Vision because he appears in a humanlike form and thus follows human convention, and whether this Vision has the same origins as a human's has been left ambiguous. Xianyun, on the other hand, willingly manifests her Vision as a part of her human form. It is also left ambiguous whether or not partial adepti have this ability, as the only two current examples, Ganyu and Yanfei, obtained their Visions through traditional means.
Adepti possess that has a unique effect based on the individual. When the Traveler was infused with three adepti's energies, Madame Ping's created intermittent shockwaves upon attacking, Ganyu's granted passive healing, and Xiao's increased movement speed. It is unclear whether adeptal energy is linked to their "third eye," or if it is an independent power.
For normal humans, prolonged interaction with adepti will become dangerous, as their souls are not as robust and adeptal energy will overwhelm them with enough time. When a dying Qiqi was infused with several adepti's energies, it was powerful enough to prevent her from fully dying — but because it was too much for a mortal to bear, sent her on a rampage that was only stopped by trapping her in amber for hundreds of years. Even after hundreds of years, she is still capable of manipulating that adeptal energy as a zombie.
According to Liyue beliefs, adepti formed the landscape; for example, rivers are adepti saliva, while grass is adepti hair. Mountain Shaper denies those claims as "nonsense," and explains that the amber found on Mt. Hulao is in fact created by a plant called the karst crawler. However, he is capable of controlling the plant to a certain degree and has to make sure the plant will not trap innocent beings before he leaves the area.
Adepti are capable of creating domains — known as abodes — through Sub-Space Creation for their personal use, even granting them different forms such as teapots. This ability was granted by Rex Lapis and is part of the "illumination" in "Mighty and Illuminated Adepti."
There are several esoteric techniques used by the adepti. One of them is the "gifting of dreams and visions," used by Zhongli to inform the other adepti and the Liyue Qixing that Morax had not actually died, but had chosen to retire from his role. Another is Dream Trawler, which is primarily used to separate the soul from the body for self-cultivation but can also be used to summon another's spirit; Xiao and the Traveler use it to summon Starsnatcher's spirit. Pervases uses Mortal Lingering to temporarily regain a physical vessel.
==Story==
===Before and During the Archon War===
It is unclear how long the adepti have existed as a formally recognized group, but they were said to have fought for Guizhong and Morax during the Archon War to defend the Guili Assembly, and Cloud Retainer was friends with them before the fall of the Guili Assembly.
After the destruction of the Guili Assembly, Morax led his adepti and his people south of Mt. Tianheng, where he established Liyue Harbor. There, the adepti signed a contract with him to protect Liyue. At some point during the war, Morax gathered the yakshas, particularly belligerent illuminated beasts, to assist him in the task of subduing the remnants of other gods defeated during the war.
Morax would later enter a conflict with a then unknown god of Chenyu Vale, which was implied to have been extremely bloody, as Little Mao claims that the Bishui River was crimson red from all the bloodshed. At the end of the war, the god attempted to flood the Bishui River in a final attempt to defeat Morax, which would have destroyed the vale. The god's own adepti, the Herblord and Fujin, turned against her. The Herblord presumably defeated its former master while Fujin threw the Rainjade Votive into the river to stop it from flooding. This act took much of Fujin's strength, and she would be stuck in her realm for thousands of years. The Herblord eventually left when the situation was resolved.
During a battle between adepti and demons, Qiqi trespassed the realm of adepti by mistake while picking herbs and was mortally wounded in the crossfire. The adepti came together to resurrect her as a zombie by imbuing her with their powers, though the energy was too much for her, resulting in Mountain Shaper having to seal her in amber.
===Present===
Since the end of the Archon War two thousand years ago, with their immense strength no longer needed to fight the gods that opposed Morax, most adepti have gone into seclusion in Jueyun Karst, cut off from the rest of the world and watching over Liyue from afar. This land is considered sacred and mortals are not to set foot in it — those that do enter are considered either brave or desperate. Allegedly, only mortals with a Sigil of Permission in their possession are granted access to enter without offending the adepti. However, several NPCs can be found in the adepti's lands without having come to any harm, though they have not been granted audience with the adepti in return.
According to legend, some adepti decided that they did not want to wait around for their lives to come to a natural end and asked Morax to transform them into stone statues. It is said that these stone statues are capable of moving around even in this state.
Some adepti stayed in Liyue Harbor to assist the Liyue Qixing in managing the nation's affairs. However, by the events of Chapter I, they have long been excluded from Liyue's politics with the exception of Ganyu, who serves as a general secretary. Madame Ping has resided in the city for a long time. Eventually, Cloud Retainer, wanting to see what made the harbor special for Ganyu and Shenhe, would also move into the harbor under the alias Xianyun.
Although it has become simplified over time and is beginning to fade into obscurity, it is a Liyue tradition to mark the passing of every adeptus with a memorial service called the Rite of Parting. This service is handled by the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, though they have only had to host this service a handful of times throughout the past three thousand years.
When Chenyu Vale was opened, Lingyuan attempted to restore the vale to its original state before it was touched by humans, as she yearned for the days of old when the land was not "subjugated" by humans. She slowly began to revert the soil and water to an older state, causing the quality of tea production in Qiaoying Village to decline. As an unintended consequence, miasma began erupting across the vale. Fujin, who was aware of the events, manages to discover the Traveler and restores the land at the cost of more of her powers, causing her to revert to her original form as a carp and temporarily unable to assume her human form.
==Known Adepti==
Adepti that have been mentioned over the course of the game:
Icon	Name 	Chinese Name	Status
 	Rex LapisMorax 	 	Alive
 	 	 	
 	Cloud RetainerXianyun 	 	Alive
 	Fujin 	 	Alive
 	Ganyu 	 	Alive
 	HerblordChangsheng 	 	Alive
 	MarchosiusGuoba 	 	Revived as "Guoba"
 	Moon CarverHouzhang 	 	Alive
 	Mountain ShaperJiehu 	 	Alive
 	Sea Gazer 	 	Deceased
 	Skybracer 	 	Deceased
 	Streetward RamblerOfficial Introduction: YaoyaoMadame Ping	 	Alive
 	Yanfei's Father 	 	Alive
===Guardian Yakshas===
The Guardian Yakshas were elite adepti summoned by the Geo Archon, Rex Lapis, to fight the demons that spawned from the remains of defeated gods after the Archon War. There were many Yakshas; however, five of them were recognized as the strongest: Bosacius, Indarias, Bonanus, Menogias, and Alatus.
Yakshas, though strong, were not all able to handle the darkness they faced. It's said that "some were given unto their rage, others unto a madness which fear mongered. Many turned to the slaughter of their own, others were bewitched by shadows of the soul." In the end, all but Alatus either perished or disappeared by the time of the game's start.
===Others===
The following characters are not formally considered adepti, but have some kind of connection to them.
Icon	Name 	Chinese Name	Notes 	Status
 	Qiqi(Fortune Preserver)	() 	Was imbued with several adepti's energy to save her life and was bestowed with a sacred name, but otherwise has little connection to them in the present. 	Undead
 	Shenhe 	 	Although a human and thus not a proper adeptus, her tutelage under Cloud Retainer has granted her "a unique constitution, an immensely strong will, and a great talent for adepti arts, all of which have won her the acknowledgment of the adepti."Shenhe's Official Introduction 	Alive
 	Shuyu 	漱玉 Shùyù 	While also a human and not a proper adeptus, she was taken in by Cloud Retainer (as Xianyun) as her first disciple in the human world, due to Yuandai's blood flowing in her veins making her no "mere mortal." 	Alive
 	Yuandai 	远黛 Yuǎndài 	Yuandai is a wild crane from Mt. Aocang who gained sentience and became the disciple of the adeptus Cloud Retainer. 	Alive
 	Yanfei 	 	Her father is an illuminated beast and an adeptus. While Yanfei does not have a contract with Morax, her work on Liyue's behalf make her considered something of an honorary adeptus. 	Alive
 	Yaoyao 	瑶瑶 Yáoyao 	Although a human and thus not a proper adeptus, her potential was seen upon by Streetward Rambler, who took her in as an disciple in Liyue Harbor. 	Alive
 	GuizhongHaagentus 	 	It is currently unclear whether Guizhong was an adeptus or not.
During the Archon Quest Guizhong, Zhongli says the adepti built the Guizhong Ballista,In the official English translation, Zhongli's use of "an adeptus" indicates only one individual built the Ballista, lending to confusion as to who exactly Zhongli was referring to. However, the Chinese term does not distinguish between singular or plural without additional context, making it possible for the Ballista to be built by multiple people. with Cloud Retainer among its creators. However, during the quest "A Single Harmony for an Irreplaceable Soul" Cloud Retainer herself states that she only finished the ballista to honor Guizhong after her death.	Deceased
 	Kamuna Harunosuke 	 	After failing to save the Kitsune Saiguu during the cataclysm with his Tengu magic, Harunosuke left for Liyue to learn the "more powerful way of the adepti." Combining adepti arts with Tengu magic eventually allowed him to develop "Onmyoudou," "Shiki Taishou," and the Paper Seals Kairagi use to ignite their swords.	Unknown
 	Guhua 	 	It is currently unclear whether Guhua was an adeptus or not. 	Ascended
 	Lingyuan 	 	An illuminated beast that's described as being of the same standing as the adepti. 	Alive
 	 	 	 	
 	Tubby(Rain Calmer) 	() 	 	Alive
 	Chubby(Jade Seeker) 	() 	 	Alive
==Trivia== 
* The concept for the adepti came from the Chinese novel , in which it is stated that "All beings in the upper worlds that have nine apertures can become Immortals." This statement is used to justify treating the main character, the monkey Sun Wukong, equal to a human in his ability to cultivate the way of immortality, and is tied to the reason why most of the adepti have animal-like forms.
* The weapon Eye of Perception is said to be of adepti origin, which was passed onto the Yun Family who proceeded to create the Prototype weapons.
* The Chinese name for seelie, uses the same in their name for adepti. However, it likely uses the "fairy" definition for the term rather than the "illuminated immortal" definition, and there has currently been no direct connection made between seelie and adepti.
* When Yae Miko calls herself a "fox envoy" in The Omnipresent God, she calls herself a in the original Chinese text, which is interesting considering other instances of "fox envoy" in the English text correspond with the Chinese term instead. is more directly translated as "fox spirits" in Kaede's dialogue.
* The achievement Mighty and Illuminated Wave Rider cheekily names the Waverider "Wave Rider," or 
* 
===Etymology=== 
* The adepti are synonymous with the (Taoist Immortals), and are referred to as such (/) in the Chinese and Japanese versions of the game.
** In English, those who dedicate their lives to practicing Taoism are often called "Taoist adepts,"Google Books: Cultivating Perfection, mentions of "adept"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Religious Daoism which is where the term "adeptus/adepti" in the English localization derives from.
* In Chinese, and in some translations other than English, their titles include the honorific title typically given to Taoist immortals.Google Books: Cultivating Perfection (mentions of )
** is a lower-ranking title than the honorific used by Rex Lapis.
* Although the word adeptus ends in -us and the plural form adepti ends in -i like many masculine and neuter nouns in Latin, there is no separate feminine form, such as adepta, used in the English localization of Genshin Impact. Cloud Retainer refers to herself as an "adeptus" in the , and Guizhong, Madame Ping, and Shenhe have all been repeatedly described with "adeptus."
** The sole exception is in the text written in the Teyvat Script on Shenhe's poster during Of Drink A-Dreaming, which describes Shenhe as an "adepta." However, given the numerous deviations from the English localization that have been found in the texts written in the game's languages after Version 1.3 as well as certain key deviations that align more closely with the original Chinese version, it appears that the process of writing in the game's languages is completely separate from the game's localization process. As such, the use of "adepta" to describe Shenhe is likely not official.
==Gallery==
"A Journey of Art and Heritage" - Adeptal Tales- Inside Painting - Genshin Impact
==Notes==
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
==References==
==Navigation==
 
de:Adepten
es:Adeptus
fr:Adeptes
ja:仙人
pl:Adepci
pt-br:Adepti
ru:Адепты
th:เซียน
vi:Tiên
zh:仙人