Several months prior...
Deep within the Sea of Quanta, a bloodied man lay within a cloud of crimson mist. His brow furrowed tightly. Though his eyes were closed, he could still sense Teyvat sinking.
The black sphere that once enveloped the continent now merely floated above the Sea of Quanta. As time passed, Teyvat gradually sank deeper into that endless abyss.
"Hold on... you must hold on... just a little longer..."
Immersed in the Sea of Quanta, Elliot grew anxious. He feared he might not arrive in time—that Teyvat would be completely swallowed before he could act.
The Sea of Quanta's corruption spawned unique monstrosities—creatures devoid of emotion or desire, born purely for destruction. They slaughtered every living being, tainting all life with the Abyss until it became one with them.
When every living thing in a world was assimilated into such monsters, that world would be devoured by the Sea of Quanta and reduced to its nourishment. Now, Elliot worried if they could even survive the onslaught of these countless abominations.
Soon, he felt it—the death of the Dendro Archon. Her Gnosis had been granted by him; the moment she perished, he sensed it.
"The Dendro Archon has fallen..."
Not long after, the Anemo Archon Barbatos fell as well. Then one by one, the Cryo Archon, the Pyro Archon, the Electro Archon, and the Hydro Archon perished in succession.
Elliot's brow furrowed deeply.
"Only Morax remains... Hold on... just a little longer... just a little more..."
In the next instant, his eyes snapped open. His body shot out from the depths of the Sea of Quanta, and the force of life instantly restored his flesh and blood to perfection.
Soaring into the skies, he caught sight of Teyvat—half of the continent already swallowed by the Abyss, with only a dark hemisphere still visible above the Sea of Quanta.
Elliot slowly raised his right hand, his gaze sharp as lightning.
"One Thought, Three Thousand Realms!"
In that moment, a sphere began expanding at an impossible speed. Within seconds, a colossal planet hovered in midair. At its base stood Elliot, hunched and straining, holding the entire world upon his back.
It was Teyvat—a new Teyvat. Yet tragically, this reborn continent held not a single living soul.
Elliot had forged it using the power of One Thought, Three Thousand Realms, a technique he gained after the end of his Seventh Life. In his Eighth Life, when he had lost his arm, he used this same power to recreate it and later unleashed Thunder Flash: Rakshasa Realm to annihilate the monstrous hordes of the sea.
One Thought, Three Thousand Realms was the power to create from nothing—manifesting reality through pure mental strength.
Elliot had immersed himself in the Sea of Quanta for this very moment. It was the only solution he could conceive. Within that corrosive ocean, he endured pain beyond imagination—like ten thousand ants gnawing at his very soul—day after day, year after year.
Through that endless torment, he honed his spirit, using the strength of that sharpened will to forge a new Teyvat. His body was constantly devoured by the Sea of Quanta, only to be restored again by the power of life. Devour, restore, devour, restore. The cycle repeated for thousands of years.
After the Archon War ended, Teyvat entered a millennium of peace. Humanity rejoiced and celebrated, their laughter filling the air. Yet while they basked in joy, Elliot lay alone in the Sea of Quanta—an ocean as corrosive as acid—enduring agony without end.
There was no light here. No life. No one to speak to. Nothing to see. Only pain.
But in the end, he succeeded. His millennia of suffering were not in vain.
After creating a brand-new Teyvat, Elliot returned immediately to the original one.
The moment he arrived, he was met with chaos—war raging across the world. Monsters and fallen Archons roamed freely, consuming the land.
"Oh, you're back. I thought you weren't coming," the Lord of the Underworld said, appearing before him the instant Elliot returned.
"Too bad you're late. Your beloved Liyue's already gone." He looked over the ravaged earth, his tone mocking.
Hearing this, Elliot merely glanced at him and smiled faintly.
"Holy shit, you're smiling? After all this? Did you lose your mind on your trip?" The Lord of the Underworld shuddered.
Elliot smiled because he understood him well. This man could have destroyed every Archon and monster with a mere flick of his wrist.
He hadn't intervened simply because he wanted to see whether Elliot would return when Liyue faced annihilation. To him, none of this mattered—neither Morax nor Liyue.
The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor might have been built in Liyue, but he could create countless more if he wished. He cared neither for Liyue nor for Teyvat. He simply wanted Elliot to return.
After wandering for so long, he had grown tired of Teyvat. Perhaps he even missed the days when he and Elliot battled over control of the same body.
"Do me a favor," Elliot said, his voice hoarse and strained—the price of millennia of silence. If he had waited any longer, he might have forgotten how to speak altogether.
"Wait, what's wrong with you? You just got back and you're already asking me for help?" the Lord of the Underworld complained, clearly displeased.
"I'll buy you tea later," Elliot rasped.
"Tell me what it is first, then I'll think about it."
"Help me... resurrect them."
"Resurrect them? You can manipulate time. Why not just rewind it?"
"In the regions covered by the Sea of Quanta, time cannot be reversed," Elliot explained.
"What's the point of reviving them? Those things are endless. This world's already doomed. Besides, why would I want to resurrect them? With them dead, my Underworld's more crowded than ever," the Lord of the Underworld replied with a shrug.
"I've created a new world. Just bring them back to life there."
"Besides, souls can't have children, right? They can't cook, can't invent—just wander aimlessly. Even with so many, it's dull."
"If the Underworld is this boring, and the real world's overrun with puppet-like monsters, you'll grow tired of it soon enough."
Hearing that, the Lord of the Underworld rested his chin in his hand, thinking deeply.
After a long pause, he looked up and said, "Hmm... you do have a point..."
"Let me make this clear, though—I'm only doing this to keep myself from getting bored," he said with mock seriousness.
"Thank you," Elliot replied with a faint smile.
He knew the man wouldn't refuse. A sharp tongue, a soft heart—he just needed the right nudge.
"Don't thank me! I told you, I'm doing it so I don't get bored. Normally, I wouldn't even bother answering you," the Lord of the Underworld grumbled.
Soon after, Elliot heard Morax's voice calling to him.
They met briefly. A few words were exchanged—then Elliot killed both Morax and Guizhong.
At that moment, the Underworld opened wide, drawing in every soul from across Teyvat.
Elliot then used the power of space to envelop the entire Underworld and transported it to the new continent of Teyvat he had created.