Amidst Chaos, the Rock Is Unmoved

Amidst Chaos, the Rock Is Unmoved is the fourth and final part of .
==Steps==
# Rendezvous with Kun Jun
# Head to the ancient tree and investigate
# Find Zhongli
# After preparing, enter the tunnel
# Enter the Domain at the end of the underground tunnel
#* Enter the Quest Domain: Beneath the Ancient Tree
#* The player is automatically entered into the domain, but it can be exited and/or retried.
# Defeat Azhdaha
#* 
# Learn the truth of the situation
# Return to the ancient tree
# Talk to Zhongli
==Dialogue==
===Before the Fight===
;(Approach Kun Jun)
: Paimon: Kun Jun! We need to get going!
: Kun Jun: No problem! I'm done here.
: Zhongli: Any results, Mr. Kun Jun?
: Kun Jun: There are many beautiful rocks here, but nothing out of the ordinary. I couldn't find any clues.
: Kun Jun: Then again, the memories of ore can shift with the passage of time and the changing of the environment.
: Is there a pattern to it?
: Kun Jun: Hmm, difficult to say... I feel that ore memories tend to be from the recent past.
: Paimon: So there's never any ancient memories?
: Kun Jun: Rocks endure, but as eons pass their memories are erased. Those memories that survive are rooted in powerful emotion or thought.
: Paimon: That makes sense — it is the same for people!
: Kun Jun: Indeed... Let's keep going.
----
;(Head to the ancient tree and investigate)
: Kun Jun: Wow, such an immense tree!
: Paimon: And there's so many mysterious-looking crystals up there too... amazing.
: Zhongli: This ancient tree...
: Zhongli: Let's conduct separate investigations. I'll take that area, perhaps you could survey this section.
: Sure.
: Be careful.
: Zhongli: Alright then.
:;(Zhongli parts to investigate)
: Paimon: Kun Jun, can you see anything worth investigating?
: Kun Jun: Well... there is this stone tablet here.
: Paimon: Doesn't seem very interesting... Paimon's gonna look over there.
: Kun Jun: Huh? It's worth a try, surely. Let me see...
: Kun Jun: ...
: Kun Jun: ...!
: Kun Jun: (This is...)
: Paimon: Hey! What's wrong?
: Kun Jun: ...Just a bit light-headed... It's passed, nothing to worry about.
: Did you see anything?
: Kun Jun: Not... hmm... not yet...
: Paimon: *sigh* Whatever, Paimon's going to investigate over there. Why don't you climb the tree and have a look, ?
: You're sure there'll be clues in the tree?
: Paimon: If you don't try you don't know! Anyway, you'll be able to get a good look at our surroundings from up there!
: Kun Jun: ...
: Kun Jun: Oh! Uh... you think so?
: Paimon: When has Paimon ever come up with a bad idea, hmm?
: Paimon: Wait a minute... Paimon can fly! *sigh* Alright, Paimon will go, you wait here, Paimon will—
: Zhongli: All of you, come here.
: Paimon: Huh? Zhongli's voice came from... behind the tree. Did he find another clue?
: Paimon: Quick, let's go see! Maybe he found another miner!
;(Read the tablet)
:Stone Monolith: "Life endures in Heaven and Earth thanks to the merciful Adeptus. On this site lies an evil dragon, please do not disturb it."
;(Approach Zhongli)
: Zhongli: This has been newly dug. It would appear our answer is up ahead.
: Paimon: Is that a voice coming from the tunnel? Eek! Someone else go first!
: Zhongli: Compose yourselves. I will lead us in.
: Kun Jun: ...
: Zhongli: There is an unusual presence emanating from inside the tunnel. Prepare yourselves, and tread lightly.
===Beneath the Ancient Tree===
;(Enter the Domain at the end of the underground tunnel)
:;(A cutscene plays)
:: Zhongli: This is...
:: Paimon: The missing miners are here!
:: Paimon: Wh—What are they digging for?
:: Zhongli: I'm afraid that this whole tunnel
:: Zhongli: Is the fruit of their strenuous labor
:: Paimon: That gate...
:: Paimon: Has it been there all along?
:: Zhongli: Digging a tunnel to this ancient seal
:: Zhongli: Had they not been discovered
:: Zhongli: They would undoubtedly persevere
:: Zhongli: Until they opened the gate.
:: Paimon: ...So behind this seal, there's...
:;(The miners rush towards Paimon with pickaxes)
:: Paimon: Aah!!!
:;(Zhongli conjures a shield around everyone)
:: Paimon: What do we do? We can't hurt them!
:;(Cutscene ends)
;
;(A battle with Azhdaha begins)
: Paimon: What type of monster is this!?
: Azhdaha: Morax... you arrive at my doorstep of your own volition. Excellent... taking revenge for sealing me away will be all the easier!
: Zhongli: So.... the little girl is your power incarnate.
: Zhongli: But if you recall, Azhdaha... this is not how we intended for events to transpire.
: Azhdaha: Waste not your words! Your life is mine!
;(During the battle)
: Azhdaha: Argh...! Is once not enough!? You would forsake me again!?
: Zhongli: If that is what you choose to believe, so be it.
: Zhongli: He who bears the weight of memory is destined to shoulder the burden of truth. As it ought to be.
;(If a character dies during the battle)
: Paimon: Watch out!
: ???: Allow me.
: Zhongli: You've recovered? How can that...
: ???: Focus your efforts, Morax!
;(Further into the battle)
: Azhdaha: Morax! You think you can destroy me!?
: Zhongli: ...
;(Defeat Azhdaha)
: Azhdaha: Ah...!
----
;(After defeating Azhdaha)
: Jiu: Morax! A thousand years after you sealed me underground... you return for the second time...
: Zhongli: ...
: Zhongli: You should call it by its name, Azhdaha... fate.
: Jiu: Fate?
: Jiu: Fate!!! Hahahaha!
: Jiu: So here lies the wisdom of the gods? Destroy all deemed redundant, enlist tyrants to ravage the wilderness!
: ???: No. You have forgotten.
: Paimon: ...That... that voice...
: Zhongli: Azhdaha...
: Paimon: Huh? Kun Jun!?
: Kun Jun: Morax. It's been a while.
: Jiu: Y—You're...
: Kun Jun?: Azhdaha... the very same.
: Zhongli: During the battle... you embued us with your power...
: Kun Jun?: Haha... yes. It was all I could manage.
: Then... which one is the real Azhdaha?
: You're not Kun Jun?
: Kun Jun?: Forgive me for concealing the truth, Traveler. There were things that only became clear to me upon reaching this tree.
: Kun Jun?: Allow me to elaborate. I am not Azhdaha the whole... but a fragment.
: Kun Jun?: Heaven and earth, yin and yang, opposing forces... You can consider the existence of me and the Azhdaha you see there, to be a reflection of such polarities. "We" are a schism of the will... the will of Azhdaha.
: Paimon: So... so there are two Azhdahas!?
: Jiu: No! It can't be! That's impossible...!
:;(Kun Jun gains the title of "Azhdaha")
: Kun Jun: When the seal loosened, your power manifested in this world as a child. With this new identity, you were able to vent about the forces that suppressed you... but would anyone listen... would they even care?
: Kun Jun: That's when it occurred to you. The loosening of the seal constituted an opportunity to strike back. Kidnapping the miners was all in aid of digging to the entrance to the seal itself. Your plan was to launch an attack on both ends. From outside... and within. Thereby fully destroying the seal.
: Jiu: The audacity! Are you insane!? If you truly are a part of me, how is it you find yourself standing on the side of the betrayer!?
: Kun Jun: I was another power awakened with the loosening of the seal. Too weak to reincarnate, but strong enough to possess a human body.
: Kun Jun: I was barely conscious... I couldn't remember who I was. Only the past would elicit a reaction from me... But my aim was clear: Find Morax... and aid him in stopping you.
: Zhongli: I had sensed that something was amiss when you mentioned Dragonfall. Had your power been but a little stronger, I would've recognized you.
: Kun Jun: Don't blame yourself, I have changed beyond all recognition. Only when I touched the stone tablet... did I truly remember.
: Kun Jun: It's been so long. A secret beyond all comprehension, of youthful humanity and ancient dragon-kind... Morax, do you want to tell the tale?
: Zhongli: There would be no harm in it. The decision is yours.
: Kun Jun: Haha, you haven't changed. Then allow me.
: Kun Jun: Azhdaha was once a friend and ally of the Geo Archon, Morax, with a lifespan far exceeding that of mankind. However, that which is derived of the earth is no more or less than the earth itself...
: Kun Jun: The memories of rocks do not last long. Those memories that survive are rooted in powerful emotion. But as time passes, so these memories fade into obscurity. Erosion is the world's greatest destroyer of memories.
: Erosion...?
: Kun Jun: Erosion ground Azhdaha's consciousness into oblivion. Slowly, he forgot the face of his old friend, and his memories of defending Liyue Harbor disintegrated.
: Kun Jun: Azhdaha, now incomplete, became irascible... aggressive.
: Jiu: What would you expect!? It was humanity that attacked the Ley Lines that sustained me!
: Kun Jun: This much is true. Which is why "you" attacked The Chasm... why "you" waged war against Morax.
: Kun Jun: In the beginning, in order to open up new territory and increase production, the citizens of Liyue came to the mountains to mine. Overexploitation caused the Ley Lines to quake, which brought untold suffering to "us."
: Kun Jun: Erosion made "us" even more savage. No matter how we struggled, we lost the ability to coexist with humanity... we lost all reason.
: Kun Jun: Morax shared with us some of his power, to prevent further erosion. But... it was futile. Everything returns to dust. It is the natural order, an unstoppable force.
: Kun Jun: And so, "we" became "you." And from your will... "I" emerged.
: Jiu: ...
: Kun Jun: I am your final contract. Witness the promise between Azhdaha and Morax. You can hate me... but you cannot deny me.
: Jiu: No... no...
: Kun Jun: I am the remnants of Azhdaha's benevolence, the echo of a contract set in stone. I harbor a willingness to go further, a willingness to coexist peacefully with mankind.
: Jiu: No, no! It is I, Azhdaha, forged of elemental crystal, bearer of the weight and memories of the earth, older than the mountains and the oceans that decides! I will not swear allegiance to this insect!
: Kun Jun: Morax is not an insect.
: Jiu: A lord over insects is nothing but an insect in turn!
: Kun Jun: You forgot yourself. Nobody held Morax in higher regard than you or I.
: Kun Jun: That which you have forgotten, I hold here in my heart. If you are the memory of the earth... then I am the memory of coexistence... of coexistence with humanity.
: Kun Jun: All powers under heaven, is Zhongli's signature elemental burst voice-over in Chinese, being the voice-over used in his Character Demo. The English version uses "I will have order!" for Zhongli's elemental burst voice-over, which is not a direct translation of the CN version. The translation used by Kun Jun is a more accurate translation. rise and fall of land and sea...
: Jiu: ...A star appears within the wild... a sun ascends as bright as... jade...
: Zhongli: ...
: Jiu: Strange... What... what is this feeling? And all this...
: Kun Jun: You are spent, and I will soon disappear. Before I do, heed these words.
: Kun Jun: In the wilderness, snow falls on a spring day. In an instant it will melt. Even where it is fleeting and leaves no trace. Even where it will never fall again...
: Jiu: No, that isn't true! I don't accept this as fate!
: Kun Jun: Perhaps it isn't. But it remains... an inevitable misfortune.
: Jiu: Mor... ax...
: Paimon: The little girl vanished...
: Sealed away?
: Eroded?
: Zhongli: Are you satisfied, Azhdaha?
: Kun Jun: I had to make amends. Satisfaction had no part in it.
: Kun Jun: So, Morax... you call yourself Zhongli these days?
: Zhongli: I do.
: Kun Jun: Well, I'm afraid old habits die hard. To me, you're Morax.
: Zhongli: As you please.
: Kun Jun: I never did forget your gift of sight.
: Zhongli: I hardly lifted a finger. Think nothing of it.
: Kun Jun: And yet you could see. You wouldn't know the yearning of a blind dragon, searching for the sun. A pair of eyes, from Morax to Azhdaha. This... I will remember this.
: Kun Jun: ...
: Zhongli: Your power is nearly spent.
: Kun Jun: ...Perceptive as always, my friend.
: Zhongli: Shall we get going, you and I?
: Kun Jun: Surely the pressing matter is still that of the miners trapped outside the seal?
: Zhongli: Indeed. Hence the need to get going, to fix the damage left in your wake.
: Kun Jun: Ha... straight down to business, as always. Let's go.
===After the Fight===
;(Leave the domain)
: Paimon: Huh? How did we get here? We need to go back and check on the miners!
;(Interact with the miners Brave Cen, Long, and Bold Cen)
: Miner: Argh...
: Miner: Ugh... ugh...
: Miner: Oh...
;(Return to the ancient tree)
: Uncle Dai: So there you are! My men and I found your clues and followed them straight here.
: Uncle Dai: We found Mao in a tent at the campsite unconscious! It seems he'll be okay. Sadly, we found no trace of the other three...
: Uncle Dai: Huh? Young Kun, wh—what is...?
: Kun Jun: Nothing, pay it no mind. Those three miners are over in that cave there.
: Uncle Dai: Cave? What happened!?
: Zhongli: They're exhausted, but not in danger. Don't worry.
: Uncle Dai: R—Right, well... Thank you, all of you! I better go and see how they're doing.
: Kun Jun: So you're taking them back to Liyue Harbor?
: Uncle Dai: That's right!
: Kun Jun: Can I come with you?
: Uncle Dai: No problem! You rescued my men. I'll be happy to assist all of you in any way I can. I'll be back soon, I need to assess their condition.
: Paimon: Kun Jun... Oh, uh... we should be calling you Azhdaha... You're coming back to Liyue Harbor too, right?
: Kun Jun: Not I, merely this body.
: Kun Jun: Once I'm gone, the true owner will accompany the miners back to Liyue. Kun Jun hails from a family of famous artisans — he too will be famous in time. It would be a shame for someone of his talent to go missing.
: Zhongli: You always did have a great admiration for blacksmiths.
: Kun Jun: Curious how swords and daggers are blind, yet their creators see so much. Perhaps empathy is mankind's proudest achievement after all?
: Zhongli: Azhdaha. I am no longer the Geo Archon.
: Kun Jun: ...I can sense it.
: Zhongli: Today I am just an ordinary citizen of Liyue.
: Kun Jun: Even you met such a fate... Let's get the difficult part out of the way. I cannot guarantee that I won't be awoken a second time.
: Zhongli: No matter. If that day comes to pass, Liyue must prepare itself to face you.
: Kun Jun: And how will Liyue fare without Rex Lapis?
: Zhongli: Even without a god above, this remains a nation of men. I was once their god, I ought to be here to witness their rise and fall.
: Kun Jun: All life is shaped and then ground away by the endless flow of time. You were always the strongest among us, yet it would seem that even you have been eroded...
: Kun Jun: That's unimportant... fate is ordained by heaven. Even if our mission had already concluded, it would be cowardly not to strike out on the road of departure.
: Kun Jun: You may live forever, doomed to a lonely existence... yet even this is temporary. When you reach the end of time, those people, those past and future relationships predetermined by fate... They will be waiting for you.
: Zhongli: I do not pretend to match your rhetoric when it comes to the subject of a life long-lived. I fear that the life of an elemental being is longer than any in this world.
: Kun Jun: Were it not so, you would have killed me long ago, and would not be having to face me again now.
: Zhongli: You've brought a smile to my face. When all is said and done, a reunion between old friends is an auspicious occasion.
: Kun Jun: That day in The Chasm? Did you hesitate?
: Zhongli: A heart of stone is a heart nonetheless. But I am the God of Contracts, and was, for a time, a god of the people of Liyue.
: Kun Jun: You chose justice, but did not forsake your kindness. You came to me not as an assassin, and so I was willingly sealed away.
: Zhongli: The movements of the Earth Dragon can tremble the earth and shake the heavens. With your abilities, even at my full strength, I struggled to confront you, let alone seal you away.
: Kun Jun: Hence "my" inception.
: Kun Jun: Do not forget that I was there with Liyue's founder. The face may have changed, but the content of the contract remains intact.
: Kun Jun: Old friend, God of Contracts. I hereby honor our agreement.
: Zhongli: ...
: Zhongli: Thank you, Azhdaha.
: Kun Jun: My life is nigh on eternal. I will go on with the infinite flow of time. And you, Morax... You too will live for many a day to come.
: Kun Jun: ...
: Zhongli: You're leaving?
: Kun Jun: If it is fated, Morax... we will meet again.
;
: Paimon: Huh!?
: So is this...
:: ...the real Kun Jun?
: Zhongli: Yes. Don't be alarmed, he's only asleep.
: Paimon: Whoa... that was so weird. It was like he... suddenly became another person.
: Zhongli: In fact... we have yet to meet the real Kun Jun.
: But what about Azhdaha...
:: He was a great friend of yours.
: Zhongli: He was.
: Zhongli: Centuries may have passed since then... but events from a thousand years ago... remain crystal clear in my mind.
----
:;(A cinematic starts)
::Iron Tongue Tian: In our last tale, Rex Lapis was walking alone in the mountains. He heard a remote voice unlike any other coming from a crack in the earth.
::Zhongli: Most of the ancient Geo life forms that live below Liyue are blind, having not seen the sunlight for an age.
::Iron Tongue Tian: The voice was sometimes sad and songlike, other times it was loud and thunderous. The Lord of Geo searched here and there before finally unearthing a strange stone from the bedrock.
::Zhongli: That's how Azhdaha was. I answered his wish, and took him above ground.
::Iron Tongue Tian: The Lord of Geo took pity on the rock's spirit and carved it into a magnificent work of craftsmanship — a vivid representation of a dragon.
::Zhongli: I bestowed him with a pair of eyes to see the world and came to an agreement with him.
::Iron Tongue Tian: With his fingers, he made two eyes. Quicker than words could tell, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a living, breathing dragon soared into the clouds!
::Zhongli: I agreed to let him live among the people above ground, but if the day ever came when he brought ruin to order, he would once again be sealed in the dark.
::Iron Tongue Tian: The dragon accompanied the Lord of Geo, fighting campaigns alongside him in the four corners of the world. We have a saying to eulogize these events:
::Iron Tongue Tian: "The crash of a spear brought billowing dust"
::Iron Tongue Tian: "The mountains and waters made way at the sound"
::Iron Tongue Tian: "The sight of a dragon bestowed with a touch"
::Iron Tongue Tian: "The promise of rainwater blessing the ground"
:;(Cinematic ends)
----
:
;(Talk to Zhongli)
: Zhongli: A thousand years ago, Azhdaha attacked The Chasm. I tried to obstruct him, fighting him tooth and nail down the length and breadth of the mine. Finally, I brought him down, and sealed him underground.
: Zhongli: During that battle, Dragonfall was born. Azhdaha could sense the stone. Subconsciously, he wanted to use it to find me.
: Zhongli: Despite being the victor, I could not claim to be stronger than he. And in his heart, he still retained an ounce of good will towards me... towards Liyue... towards life above ground.
: Zhongli: He was willing to be sealed away. But as the erosion set in... he forgot.
: The power of erosion is... scary.
: Have you also been affected by erosion?
: Zhongli: Even I cannot avoid it. But there is something I understand better than most: When the door opens, it is time to leave.
: Zhongli: The greater the power, the greater the danger erosion may bring about. The millennia may come and go, but even a stone may tire.
: Is that why you chose to leave...?
: Is that why you chose to step down as the Geo Archon...?
: Zhongli: Personally sealing away an old friend... this is just one form of erosion I have endured.
: Zhongli: People abandon and surrender the things they love to pursue the right path. Perhaps this is the erosion imposed on me by the Heavenly Principles.
: Zhongli: But I was a god of mankind. My identity may change, but my eyes will bear witness to the history of humanity.
: Paimon: You still care a lot about Liyue...
: Zhongli: Call it... part of my duty.
: Zhongli: I must thank you both.
: Paimon: No worries!
: Hold on.
:: I want to ask you something.
: Zhongli: Oh? About what?
: About my .
: Paimon: Oh yeah! Paimon nearly forgot!
: Paimon: So, not long ago we met a guy called Dain.
: Paimon: He told us about Khaenri'ah and the punishment of the gods... That's when we realized that those events... were connected to the person we're searching for.
: My sibling.
: This is crucial for me.
: Paimon: Zhongli, you're a god. You've lived through thousands of years of history. Surely you experienced the incident.
: Zhongli: ...
: Zhongli: ......
: Zhongli: I cannot say.
: Paimon: Why!?
: ...
: Paimon: You can't even give us a thread of information? This is so important to us!
: Zhongli: I understand, but I must apologize. This is my contract.
: Paimon: You mean, another past grievance? Like the incident with Azhdaha? Too painful to talk about?
: Zhongli: It was signed before it all began. I have always honored the contract... and kept my silence.
: Paimon: ...How can you be like that...!?
: Zhongli: You two are friends to me. I can assure it brings me no pleasure to disappoint you. But as the God of Contracts, I cannot go back on my word.
: Well, it's not out of character.
: I believe you.
: Paimon: Would you be ready to find out?
: Perhaps.
: Zhongli: It appears your understanding of this world continues to grow.
: Zhongli: There are many events of ages past... many secrets that lie hidden...
: Zhongli: They have been eroded by time, forgotten by the people... abandoned.
: Zhongli: But you are capable of finding them and bringing them into the light.
: Zhongli: Those who come to witness... will witness. Those who are born to remember... will remember.
: Zhongli: If you take the same road as that person, there may be more difficulties ahead. But as long as you firmly believe that you are on the right path... everything has meaning.
:;(Quest ends)
----
;(Talk to Zhongli after the quest ends)
: Zhongli: This tablet was erected by Mountain Shaper. It names Azhdaha as a terrible dragon, and serves as a warning for later generations to stay away from this place... from the seal.
: Zhongli: It's a shame... There is a fine line between good and evil. If the good and evil within him could be summarized in a single sentence... well, never mind.
: (You gaze quietly at Zhongli as he stands beneath the tree...)
:Zhongli says nothing more... (Amidst the quiet, only the soft sound of the wind can be heard. Time seems to transform into an invisible river, trickling away...)
:Zhongli says nothing more... (A fleeting moment, a thousand years in the mortal world. The rocks feel it, and so too does the earth and the gods.)
;(Talk to Zhongli again)
:Zhongli says nothing more... (Amidst the quiet, only the soft sound of the wind can be heard. Time seems to transform into an invisible river, trickling away...)
:Zhongli says nothing more... (A fleeting moment, a thousand years in the mortal world. The rocks feel it, and so too does the earth and the gods.)
;(Read the tablet)
:Stone Monolith: "Life endures in Heaven and Earth thanks to the merciful Adeptus. On this site lies an evil dragon, please do not disturb it."
==Cinematic==
Story Teaser- Through the Eyes of a Dragon - Genshin Impact
==Soundtracks==
==Trivia==
* Differences between voice-overs and their official transcription:
** When Paimon has the line "If you don't try you don't know! Anyway, you'll be able to get a good look at our surroundings from up there!" her voice-over is "If you don't try you won't know! Anyway, you'll be able to get a good look at our surroundings from up there!"
** When Kun Jun has the line "Those three miners are over in that cave there." his voice-over is "Those three miners are over there in that cave."
==Notes==
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
ja:混沌の中、岩は動かず