Jean ultimately agreed to lend the Holy Lyre to the bard, but only after making him promise to return it intact.
However, when the lyre was finally brought before them, Venti plucked its strings and frowned. "Its energy is completely gone, and the tuning is way off."
Lisa explained, "When the evil dragon Durin attacked five hundred years ago, we used the last remnants of its power to summon Dvalin, the Dragon of the East. After that, it lost all its luster."
"Truly, nothing can withstand the erosion of time..." Venti sighed, then handed the lyre and Dvalin's tear to Lumine. "Traveler, could you guide the energy from the tear into the lyre to restore it?"
Seeing the familiar crystal, Lisa shot Shen Qin a thoughtful glance, she had handed it back to him after her research, yet now it was in Venti's hands.
Jean, meanwhile, voiced her confusion. "Why call it a tear?"
"Oh— well..." Venti repeated what he had told Lumine the night before. "So, it contains the purest Anemo energy, making it perfect for repairing the Holy Lyre."
'So, even dragons shed tears in pain?' The thought weighed silently on everyone's hearts.
Lumine held the lyre and the two tears in her hands, closing her eyes as she focused: Repair the Holy Lyre, repair the Holy Lyre...
The tears emitted a soft cyan glow, streams of light pouring into the lyre. In less than half a minute, the tears vanished, and the Holy Lyre looked as good as new. The dust and scratches gone, its surface pristine once more.
Jean gasped. "The lyre seems to have... regained its youth?"
Paimon giggled. "Jean's praising herself!"
Jean blushed slightly. "I—I was talking about the lyre!"
Venti plucked the strings again and sighed. "It's still not fully restored. If only we had more tears... Dvalin must have suffered across Mondstadt, leaving more behind."
"I might know where one is," Eula suddenly spoke up. "At the Thousand Winds Temple ruins, a Ruin Guard stands watch over a chest. I sensed something foul inside, if the tears were tainted before purification, it must be there."
Amber added, "Come to think of it, I felt something similar in the Black Sun Clan's territory in Dadaupa Gorge."
Having participated in large-scale purges, they had scoured all of Mondstadt and noticed these anomalies.
"Good." Jean nodded at Venti and Lumine. "The Knights will search all of Mondstadt for the corrupted tears. Once gathered, purifying them and restoring the lyre will be your task."
Since Shen Qin's strategic weapon wasn't ready yet and the Holy Lyre still needed time to fully recover, the war council was temporarily adjourned. Before everyone dispersed, Shen Qin gave Venti a meaningful look, one that was returned with a wink.
Half an hour later, Shen Qin, back in his workshop after so long, met with Venti. The two exchanged knowing smiles, words unnecessary.
"So, what trouble are you dragging me into this time?" Venti slapped Shen Qin's doodle onto the table. "You draw well! Please never do it again. It took me hours to decipher this mess."
"Cough! Was it really that hard to understand?" Shen Qin feigned innocence.
"Ex.Treme.Ly!" Venti enunciated each syllable.
"Fine." Shen Qin waved it off and got straight to the point. "I want to borrow something from you."
"What?"
"Your Gnosis."
"Hmm..." Venti was slightly surprised but, after a moment of thought, chuckled and extended his hand. A chess piece-like Gnosis materialized in his palm.
"Here, it's yours." He tossed it to Shen Qin. "No need to return it, it's useless to me now."
Shen Qin wasn't shocked. After so long since the Archon War, the Gnosis held little more than symbolic value for the Seven, its proof of their status as rulers of Teyvat.
They had become Archons before receiving their Gnoses, not the other way around.
By discarding it, they could shed their shackles and grow stronger anew.
"Thanks." Shen Qin casually tucked the Gnosis into a small box before warning, "Be careful around the Fatui, especially the Eighth Harbinger—La Signora, Rosalyne. She's been plotting to take your Gnosis, but things should settle soon."
"Oh? No wonder..." Venti recalled the Fatui agents tailing him.
"Anyway, the Gnosis was the main reason I called you here. Now that I have it, I should get back to my research."
Venti tilted his head. "What exactly are you researching?"
"A weapon powerful enough to take down Dvalin." Shen Qin smiled innocently.
He had come for the Gnosis not just for future plans but also for his strategic weapon.
The Chaos Core was the highest-grade energy source he currently had, but it could barely meet the demands of the Dragonrider I. To create a weapon capable of harming an Archon-level being, he needed something stronger.
The Gnosis was the obvious answer.
The inspiration came from Scaramouche's Mech— if that guy could use a Gnosis to build a pseudo-god mech, surely Shen Qin could justify making just a weapon?
And with Venti having a spare Gnosis lying around, why not borrow it for research?
After parting ways with Venti, Shen Qin rushed back to the cathedral's underground lab. The new weapon's design was nearly complete, all it lacked was a sufficiently powerful energy core.
Since the Gnosis had other uses, he needed to replicate its structure quickly. Right after the meeting, he had dragged Albedo and Sucrose into the lab.
"T-This is the Anemo Archon's Gnosis?!" Sucrose stared wide-eyed at the tiny chess piece. "You met Lord Barbatos?! And He just gave it to you?!"
Albedo, meanwhile, examined it with fascination. "So this is what a god's Gnosis looks like? It resembles a specialized alchemical construct..."
"Perhaps to the Archon, the Gnosis isn't that important," Shen Qin mused before clapping his hands. "Alright, here's the situation,we need to design an energy system using the Gnosis as its core and replicate its structure. We'll use the real Gnosis against Dvalin, but after that, we'll switch to our imitation."
He grinned at Sucrose. "You have an Anemo Vision, why not try wielding the Gnosis?"
Sucrose: "Ehhh?!"