Eldest Princess Zi Ning settled her thoughts, gathered her focus, and turned her gaze back to the Stone Gate, to Lin Shisan and Bai Youyou inside.
One day passed, then two.
Yet the Stone Gate remained tightly shut.
At first there had still been sounds, but later, nothing could be heard.
On the third day, Zi Ning brought a flat reef rock from the other end of the passage, set it beside her, and sat down.
Neither hurried nor restless, she leaned against the stone wall with her knees drawn up, her gaze resting on the Stone Gate.
Occasionally, she closed her eyes to regulate her breathing for a while, but at regular intervals, she would open them again and look toward the Stone Gate.
The scales behind her ears remained slightly flared, as though catching any trace of fluctuation seeping through the cracks around the Stone Gate.
On the fifth day, faint footsteps sounded from the other end of the passage.
The Purple Sky Dragon King slowly walked through empty air, stopped before Eldest Princess Zi Ning, and looked at her for several breaths.
He pointed with his right hand, and an identical flat reef rock appeared. He sat down shoulder to shoulder with Zi Ning and remained silent for a full hour.
"You've been sitting here for five days?"
"He's still trying to comprehend it."
The Purple Sky Dragon King fell silent. "Ning'er, are you so certain he can comprehend anything? That man came away empty-handed too."
Zi Ning did not answer. Her gaze remained on the Stone Gate, occasionally gleaming with a brilliant light.
Only after a long while did she speak softly. "That Dragon Spirit stayed inside him for so long. Even if it no longer remembers, the things carved into its very roots should still