Outside Zhu City, atop a certain highland.
The pink-haired girl sat cross-legged at the edge of a rocky cliff, gazing at the city nearby and the endless yellow sands farther away.
A month and a half had passed since the Spirit Imprisonment Realm opened. The immense casualties caused by the scheming among strong individuals had spread throughout the entire Northwest Region, completely shattering the already fragile Alliance. They had all withdrawn from Zhu City and returned home.
Without those strong individuals' protection, sandstorms once again raged through Zhu City. From afar, they looked like a colossal beast crouching above the city. Having enjoyed clean air for over a month, Zhu City's residents had no choice but to hide indoors again.
Even if Liuli wanted to help, she could only watch. Her Sword Heart had already shattered, and she could not mobilize any of her Dou Qi. After a month and a half of rebuilding, she had completed barely a fifth of the process.
She sighed softly, withdrew her gaze, and stared at the Storage Ring lying quietly in her hand, lightly biting her red lip.
After a long while, she slowly murmured, "Liar... big liar!"
Every morning, she came here to wait, staying until the sun set in the west. Yet after a full forty days and nights, the person she was waiting for still had not appeared.
The worst of her panic and grief had passed. Liuli quietly wiped away the tears on her face, carefully put away the Storage Ring, then climbed up from the cliff's edge and headed into the artificially excavated cave nearby.
The cave was not large, only about ten meters long and wide and less than three meters high. The massive crystal at its center occupied nearly half the space.
After returning to Zhu