"Originally, there were seven Black Stones in total."
The Bloodstone Emperor spoke slowly.
Lo Quen's heart jolted.
"Seven?"
He recalled his earlier conversation with the Old Gods Beyond the Wall, where seven tribal chieftains had each found a Black Stone.
At the time, however, Lo Quen had not known how many Black Stones there were in total.
If what the Bloodstone Emperor said was true, and there were exactly seven Black Stones, each discovered by one of seven chieftains, then the coincidence was far too perfect.
Seeing the confusion on Lo Quen's face, the Bloodstone Emperor continued,
"Think about it. Why did exactly seven Black Stones fall upon the Grey Waste? And why did exactly seven people each discover one? Do you really believe there is no trace of deliberate arrangement behind such a coincidence?"
Lo Quen froze.
"You're saying this was orchestrated? That someone ensured those Black Stones would be found?"
The Bloodstone Emperor nodded.
"Yes. If my judgment is correct, that entity's ultimate goal is to summon the mysterious existence bound within the Black Stones. That is why I suspect that behind this conflict of ice and fire, there is an invisible hand guiding and manipulating everything."
Lo Quen's gaze sharpened.
"If such a being truly exists, why wouldn't it act directly? Why go to such lengths instead?"
"I was puzzled by that as well, at first,"
the Bloodstone Emperor replied.
"But later, I came to suspect that this potential manipulator exists in a state similar to the Lord of Light or the Cold God. Its essence may be that of an even more ancient and powerful magical being, a soul sustained by immense magic. It cannot directly interfere with the world, and can only achieve its goals by guiding and exploiting existing forces and conflicts. It may also be barely clinging to existence, waiting for the right moment to fully descend or awaken."
Lo Quen felt a chill run through him. The explanation made unsettling sense.
If the one pulling the strings was an ancient existence, then all of its subtle and indirect methods suddenly had an explanation.
Staring at the Bloodstone Emperor's projection as it grew ever dimmer, Lo Quen asked the final, and most crucial, question.
"How can I be sure that everything you're telling me now isn't just another carefully constructed lie? Perhaps you're the one trying to use me to achieve some hidden goal."
The Bloodstone Emperor let out a deep sigh.
"I am on the verge of complete dissipation. What stands before you now is nothing more than an empty shell, surviving on obsession and the lingering magic of this place. All my ambition, madness, and power vanished along with the destruction of my body.
"I'm telling you this not to seek redemption, nor to prolong my existence. I simply do not wish for my cursed bloodline, my descendants struggling in ignorance, nor this world that has given rise to countless tragedies and hopes, to ultimately become the playthings and sustenance of unknown beings. Whether you believe me or not is your choice. The path lies beneath your feet…"
As he finished speaking, the light surrounding the Bloodstone Emperor wavered faintly, growing dimmer still.
With urgency creeping into his voice, he said,
"Go… to… the Sha… dow… Lands… Go to the Shadow Lands. Seek…"
Before he could finish, his light completely faded, dissolving into the eternal darkness of the tomb chamber.
The phantom of the once-pulsing red heart dimmed and vanished as well, leaving behind only the empty sarcophagus and the dead, motionless air.
Lo Quen stood where he was, brows tightly knit, turning the Bloodstone Emperor's final words over and over in his mind.
The Shadow Lands?
Seek… what?
Seek the key to stopping the ritual of the Lord of Light and the Cold God?
Or seek clues about the mastermind behind it all?
No matter how he thought about it, there were no clear answers.
The clues the Bloodstone Emperor had left behind were far too vague.
Yet the guidance he had struggled to pass on before completely fading away could not have been meaningless.
Suddenly, Lo Quen thought of the prophetic vision he had seen in the second stone chamber of the House of the Undying.
The dim, lightless mountains.
The Ash River flowing with green flames.
And the city of corpses, vast and tomb-like.
Stygai.
Everything connected.
The prophecy of the House of the Undying, the Bloodstone Emperor's final words, and Archmaester Marwyn's earlier speculation that Stygai lay deep within the Shadow Lands, guarded by Shadowkeepers…
All of these threads pointed toward that far eastern land of Essos, shrouded in death and mystery.
If even the Bloodstone Emperor had directed him there, then Stygai must conceal vital clues to the current crisis, and perhaps even to the true mastermind behind it all.
Especially when he thought of the long-standing rumors that wild dragons still existed in the Shadow Lands, a powerful urge to explore rose in Lo Quen's heart.
He hesitated no longer. His gaze swept across the empty, eerie tomb chamber once more as he searched it carefully.
After confirming that there were no remaining physical clues of value, Lo Quen left without delay. Accompanied by the two dragons and the greatsword, he followed the path he had taken before and departed the Great Sand Sea.
Several days later, Lo Quen returned to the majestic imperial palace of Yin.
During his absence, Yin had already been thoroughly brought to heel by Jaelena through iron-handed measures.
The once tangled and deeply rooted noble power structure had been forcibly overturned. Those potential opposition forces who relied on their entrenched influence, paid lip service while acting against him in secret, or attempted covert collusion, were uprooted entirely.
Before absolute power, all schemes and maneuvering seemed pale and laughable.
Their privately amassed armed forces were almost completely powerless in the face of the dragons' unrivaled dragonfire.
After Jaelena, mounted on the dragon Silverfall, led the army in a thunderous campaign to crush several of the most representative troublemakers, the noble class of Yin finally came to terms with reality.
This ancient capital, after a brief spell of chaos, truly submitted to Lo Quen's rule and began to function in orderly fashion once more.
However, just as Lo Quen had finished sorting out Yin's affairs and was preparing to plan a concrete route to the Shadow Lands, an unexpected visitor arrived in Yin.
The visitor came from Leng. She was a strikingly beautiful woman clad in a light, luxurious gown of jeweled gauze, making no effort to hide her graceful figure or her snow-white skin.
She was the very same Leng envoy who had attended Lo Quen's wedding several years earlier.
Now, once again representing the Empress of Leng, she had come with a proposal for a marriage alliance.
It turned out that Lo Quen's fearsome reputation for conquering the vast lands of Yi Ti had already spread throughout the eastern seas.
Upon hearing the legends surrounding this new God-Emperor of Yi Ti, the Empress immediately dispatched an envoy, hoping that Lo Quen would become her "Yi Ti husband."
Seated high upon the God-Emperor's throne, Lo Quen looked down at the female envoy below and found the whole notion both absurd and faintly amusing.
The Empress of Leng would have two husbands in her lifetime: one Yi Ti husband, and one Leng husband.
Lo Quen had no intention of becoming one of the Empress of Leng's "favored consorts."
He lifted a hand slightly, interrupting the envoy's speech, and said calmly,
"My apologies. Please convey to Her Majesty that I appreciate her goodwill, but I cannot accept Leng's tradition that an Empress may have two husbands. I have no habit of sharing a spouse with anyone else."