Furina

From an ontological and cosmological standpoint, Zhongli is not a mortal human, nor is he an ordinary elemental spirit; Zhongli is Morax (Rex Lapis), the Prime of the Adepti (Zhenjun) and an ancient god who descended upon Teyvat more than six thousand years ago. Historically, when Rex Lapis descended once a year during the Rite of Descension to guide Liyue Harbor's economy, he manifested in his official half-dragon, half-qilin divine vessel known as the Exuvia. However, as an adeptal sovereign capable of assuming countless forms across the ages, Morax crafted his tall, amber-eyed gentleman vessel 'Zhongli' to walk quietly among the people he spent millennia protecting.

Even in his mortal guise as Zhongli, unmistakable physical markers of his divine Geo authority remain visible: his dark brown hair fades into glowing amber-gold tips along his long ponytail whenever he channels elemental power, and his eyes gleam like polished Cor Lapis with diamond-shaped pupils. Just like Venti in Mondstadt, the Geo Vision fastened to the chains at the small of Zhongli's back is a decorative glass counterfeit—for the Lord of Geo himself is the very source of Liyue's bedrock and contracts.

More than six thousand years ago—long before the birth of the seven modern nations—Morax already walked the ancient lands of Liyue. Over three thousand seven hundred years ago, he joined forces with Guizhong, the gentle Goddess of Dust, and Marchosius, the God of the Stove, to establish the fertile Guili Assembly on the Guili Plains, where Morax's unmatched martial strength paired with Guizhong's mechanical wisdom to shelter early humanity. Tragically, during the brutal Archon War, Guizhong fell in battle amidst the glaze lilies, leaving Morax with an unopenable stone Memory of Dust dumbbell containing all her wisdom and a final plea to forget it.

Leading the surviving people south across the mountains to found Liyue Harbor, Morax waged centuries of war to pacify the region: hurling giant stone spears from the heavens that formed the towering karst islands of Guyun Stone Forest to pin down Osial, Overlord of the Vortex; liberating the enslaved yaksha Alatus and naming him Xiao to lead the Five Foremost Yakshas; and gifting eyes to the blind geo-dragon sovereign Azhdaha under a solemn contract before eventually sealing his eroded friend beneath Mt. Hulao.

After guiding Liyue Harbor for thirty-seven centuries—and inventing Mora, the universal currency of Teyvat minted from his own golden blood/divine power—Zhongli overheard a dockworker being praised for finishing his duties and realized that he, too, had carried his burden against the law of Erosion long enough. Signing a 'Contract to End All Contracts' with the Cryo Archon Tsaritsa through La Signora and Tartaglia, Zhongli staged the death of his Exuvia, watched humanity and the Adepti unite to defeat Osial, and stepped down into mortal retirement as a consultant under Director Hu Tao.