The land belonged to the state.
The merchants from Snezhnaya could only buy the right to use it, not ownership. Otherwise, wouldn't anyone with enough money be able to buy all of Liyue and annex it into Snezhnaya?
That said, this only meant the land belonged to Liyue in name.
They had, after all, paid real money to acquire the land legally and legitimately. As the rulers of a nation of contracts, the Liyue Qixing could hardly violate those contracts and seize it by force.
But people's thinking was often limited by their own capabilities.
In the eyes of Keqing, Ningguang, and the others, Stone Gate was the only place connecting Liyue and Mondstadt.
And now that all the land around Stone Gate had been bought up, they could only focus on that land and try to acquire it.
Ellin, however, was different. She possessed power far beyond that of mortals, so sometimes, she approached problems and solved them in entirely different ways.
According to Ningguang, these merchants from Snezhnaya had likely poured their entire fortunes into this.
Why had they dared to make such a huge gamble?
Because they knew Stone Gate was the only place connecting Mondstadt and Liyue. It was the Liyue Qixing's only option.
But that was how ordinary people thought.
That day, large forces gathered at the border between Mondstadt and Liyue.
Jean, Keqing, and Ningguang personally led their troops to their respective borders.
Stone Gate was the only passage between Liyue and Mondstadt because mountains surrounded the area, leaving its small gorge as the sole route through.
The steep cliffs all around were impossible to climb. Traveling by water meant sailing from Mondstadt's Eagle's Soar Coast to Liyue Harbor, but that journey was simply too long.
At that moment, the cliffs around Stone