All clues ultimately pointed to the same answer.
Dawn was far more than a symbol of honor for House Dayne. It was a key, the key to unlocking the ultimate secrets of the Bloodstone Emperor and the Long Night.
Qyburn could no longer sit still.
That was why he had come to seek out Lo Quen.
"So the secrets hidden within the Great Sand Sea can only be opened with Dawn."
"Yes, Your Grace. These ancient records show that it is no ordinary Valyrian steel sword. It may not even originate entirely from Westeros. More likely, it is a key meant to open a ruin buried deep within the Great Sand Sea, quite possibly the core sanctum of Hyrkoon."
"Your Grace, all of this aligns perfectly with the prophecies of the House of the Undying and the Bloodstone Emperor's secrets we have been pursuing. I can say with near certainty that if you wish to enter Hyrkoon and uncover the truth of the Long Night, you must carry Dawn with you."
Lo Quen took the ancient tome and carefully examined the passages Qyburn had indicated, along with the blurred illustration shaped like a sword. His gaze sharpened.
"A key…"
Lo Quen pondered for a moment, then said, "It seems this sword has long been bound up with grudges that stretch back thousands of years. Qyburn, you've done well."
...
Time passed swiftly. In less than a month after Lo Quen entered Yin, across the vast lands stretching from the shores of the Jade Sea to the foothills of the Bone Mountains, all remaining local powers, warlords who ruled by force, and ancient noble houses with centuries of lineage sent letters and envoys to Yin to declare their submission.
On the surface, the process appeared smooth. In truth, it was anything but.
Not everyone was willing to accept a new God-Emperor so easily.
In particular, several great clans entrenched in the fertile southern hills and the strategic northern passes relied on their terrain and deep-rooted influence. They tried to stall, to hedge their allegiance, even to secretly coordinate with one another, dreaming of a return to the old days of regional rule.
Those dreams were swiftly reduced to ash by dragonfire.
Lo Quen had no patience for prolonged diplomatic games.
For any faction that openly refused to submit or feigned loyalty while plotting in secret, his response was simple and direct.
He came in person, riding his dragon.
The crimson dragonfire of Blooddancer reduced defiant castles to cinders. The black flames of Ashshadow left no refuge for armies that tried to wage guerrilla war from mountains and forests.
Rebel strongholds were wiped from the map. Family lines were extinguished. Wealth was seized.
Under such iron-handed rule, all the nobles of Yi Ti, no matter how bitter they felt, were forced to accept a cold reality.
The age of noble fragmentation and warlord conflict that had lasted for centuries was over.
The Azure Dynasty, once little more than a symbolic ruler, was completely erased.
Yin, the ancient capital with a history of a thousand years, after enduring long dispersal of power, once again became the unquestioned political and power center of all Yi Ti.
And seated upon that highest throne was a new God-Emperor who rode a dragon.
Lo Quen understood well that conquering land was easy, but conquering hearts was not.
For now, he had no need to win hearts completely.
What he required was absolute control and a secure rear.
After establishing his initial rule over Yi Ti, he immediately issued a series of edicts.
Years of warfare and noble land seizures had stripped countless peasants of their fields, turning them into displaced wanderers. They were both a source of instability and a waste of manpower.
Thus, Lo Quen ordered these landless farmers to be gathered.
At the same time, he enacted a policy entirely different from that of the previous Azure God-Emperor.
Migration to the Western world.
In the late Azure Dynasty, the Azure God-Emperor colluded with the nobility, selling people as commodities to other city-states across the continent of Essos for immense profit. The methods were brutal and utterly inhumane.
Lo Quen's approach, however, was driven by colonial expansion.
He used the vast wealth confiscated from the obstinate nobles he had destroyed as seed capital for migration. Lo Quen announced to all the people of Yi Ti that anyone willing to travel to the Three Daughters or Westeros to open new settlements would be granted generous financial rewards, land allotments, and tax exemptions.
The intent behind this incentive-driven migration was unmistakable. It was meant to absorb Yi Ti's enormous population, ease demographic pressure at home, and at the same time push his people's living space and influence westward into lands already conquered or yet to be taken.
In the future, an unceasing flow of Yi Ti migrants would become a vital foundation for securing his rule over the western regions of Essos and Westeros.
At the same time, his sights were set on even more distant places.
He dispatched skilled personnel north to reconnoiter The Five Forts. Those five massive strongholds had once been a great bulwark against ancient threats.
The reports that came back were disheartening, yet entirely expected.
The garrisons of The Five Forts were long since hollow shells, their ranks severely undermanned. The facilities had fallen into neglect. All that remained of their former glory were crumbling ruins and a handful of aging soldiers barely clinging to life.
Lo Quen immediately ordered that large numbers of captives be exiled to the region of The Five Forts: prisoners of war whose crimes were minor or who had shown obedience, as well as defiant slave masters and their followers captured in places such as Slaver's Bay and Qarth.
Under the supervision of overseers, they would repair the fortresses, reclaim land for farming, and man the frontier, reforging this northern defensive line and restoring it to proper function as quickly as possible to guard against unknown threats from the Grey Wastes.
Lo Quen had not forgotten the Jogos Nhai, who had supported Pol Qo and caused him some trouble.
After the fighting in Yi Ti had largely settled, he sent a delegation of hardline envoys to the Plains of the Jogos Nhai to meet with the leaders of the tribes. They were ordered to come to Yin within a set time to swear allegiance and present tribute.
If they refused, Lo Quen would personally lead his dragons to the Jogos Nhai. When that time came, wherever dragonfire fell, every settlement would be reduced to ash.
After dealing with these urgent military and political matters, and entrusting routine administration to a council composed of Luo Wen, Qyburn, and several high-ranking Yi Ti officials who had sworn loyalty, Lo Quen did not linger. His attention turned to the Great Sand Sea.
He left Yin, bringing Blooddancer and Ashshadow with him, as well as the greatsword Dawn, and headed for the vast desert west of Yi Ti.
Lo Quen flew east of the Bone Mountains. Below him, the scenery gradually shifted from lush green to withered yellow, until it finally became an endless expanse of golden sand.
This was the Great Sand Sea, a forbidden zone of life.
The blazing sun hung high overhead, pouring down heat without restraint. The air shimmered and warped under the extreme temperature. As far as the eye could see, there were only rolling dunes, like frozen golden waves stretching all the way to the horizon.
Violent winds periodically swept up the sand, forming suffocating walls that howled with a sound like wailing spirits. There was no vegetation, no trace of water, only deathly stillness, unrelenting dryness, and fine sand everywhere.
Relying on ancient records and maps collected from Asabhad, Lo Quen guided Blooddancer through this sea of death, searching with difficulty.
After days of searching, all he could see were the same monotonous dunes, as though the legendary Hyrkoon had been completely swallowed by the yellow sands.