Liyue.
Reconstruction of the Jade Chamber was nearing completion, with only the Palace's interior decoration left. After just a few months, the Palace that could float in the sky was about to appear over Liyue Harbor once more. In a little while, its ascent ceremony could be held.
Although the Jade Chamber's reconstruction was not entirely finished, that no longer prevented Ningguang, the Tianquan, from working and resting there.
However, Ningguang showed no happiness over the Jade Chamber's impending completion. Instead, she kept staring at the intelligence in her hands, her face clouded with worry.
Ever since Beidou had returned from Inazuma, she had mentioned the changes at sea to Ningguang. These days, wind and waves often rose without warning in the waters near Liyue Harbor, and according to the fishermen who went out to sea, their catches had been dwindling over the past few months.
Taken together, these circumstances carried a distinct sense of a gathering storm.
All signs pointed to a three-headed sea beast, Beisht, the lingering might of the vortex, who was also the wife of Osial, the Vortex Vanquisher, and his last follower.
Although Ningguang very much wanted to subdue or even kill her, Beisht was, after all, a magical beast on the same level as Liyue's Adepti, and her strength could not be underestimated. Moreover, unlike Osial, she was not restrained by a seal. The entire sea was her home ground.
She could raise towering waves at sea at any moment, attack Liyue Harbor, and then swiftly flee. Even the Liyue Qixing had no answer to these hit-and-run tactics.
Thus, to settle the matter once and for all, Ningguang decided to use her newly rebuilt Jade Chamber as bait, exploiting Beisht's hatred of it to lure her out of the sea and then subdue her