The next day, early morning.

After settling the displaced villagers and discussing a plan of action, Li Wei and others finally set off again.

But instead of continuing north to return to Zaun, they headed west through the vast desert and arrived at the center of the desert.

The capital of the Shurima Empire is located in this land of death surrounded by thousands of miles of yellow sand.

The ancient Shurima people borrowed the power of the sun disk to build a miraculous oasis of dawn in this restricted area of ​​life, and used it as the water supply hub for the entire Shurima. Through the water conservancy network formed by canals and natural water systems, the ancient Shurima people

Now this whole desert.

As a result, deserts turned into fertile fields, cities were built in the Gobi desert, empires prospered, and life flourished.

But all this came to an end 3,000 years ago.

The wizard Xerath designed to interrupt the ascension ceremony of Eagle King Azir. The out-of-control star power released instantly destroyed the shining capital and also destroyed the source of life of the empire, the sun disk.

Shurima, which was already severely weakened by the Void War, has since fallen apart.

The once prosperous capital of the empire was reduced to ruins, forever submerged in the endless yellow sand.

until today...

"Shurima." Nasus returned to this sad place: "I'm back."

When he came back, he only saw a patch of yellow sand.

After 3,000 years of time, even the ruins of the city, with only broken bricks and tiles left, were buried under the thick yellow sand.

The realm that once was full of vitality and where everything was competing is still before our eyes at this moment.

But now, only the half-broken sun disk can still use its majestic shape to poke its head out of the yellow sand, telling future generations about the glory of Shurima.

"Levi, can you... really bring the Shurima Empire back to life?"

Even though Levi had already made a guarantee during the negotiation last night, at this moment, Nasus still felt dreamlike and unreal.

He has had this dream for 3,000 years, and now it is really going to come true?

"We are all here. Whether it is true or not, we will find out soon." Li Wei said with a smile.

As he spoke, he added: "I will help you rebuild the Shurima Empire, as long as you follow the agreement and convince Azir to cooperate with us to fight against the Void."

"Naturally." Nasus replied in a complicated tone.

The restoration cooperation agreement reached with Li Wei always gave him the subtle illusion of surrendering to the enemy and serving as a puppet to lead the party.

But Nasus also knew that Li Wei was using a conspiracy, and he did not force him to do anything.

The Wind Leader needs a strategic buffer with Icathia, and the reborn Shurima Empire needs to face the threat of the void forces in the south. Cooperation between the two parties is mutually beneficial and win-win, and it is also a necessary measure to face the void invasion.

only...

"Are you really so confident that you can conquer the empire you resurrected in the future?" Nasus asked with concern.

Nasus could see that Levi was doing this not only to find allies to fight against the void, to rebuild the sun disk, restore the water conservancy network, and solve Shurima's future development problems;

He also wanted Azir to help integrate the chaotic and broken Shurima desert and re-establish order in this chaotic land.

The slave tribes are really too backward. Let's build some feudal tribes first and wait for the leader to grow stronger before fully taking over.

Nasus understood Levi's intentions.

When the Shurima Empire expanded to its limit, it would also use this method of supporting the allies to stabilize the situation and help with the transition.

But the implicit contempt for the Shurima Empire behind this policy still made Nasus feel uncomfortable.

"I'm just stating the facts." Levi replied calmly.

"First, although the void invasion has turned the main conflict in Shurima into the existential conflict between humans and void creatures, the temporary change of the main conflict does not mean that the class conflict in Shurima has disappeared out of thin air."

"Neither you nor your empire can resolve this conflict. Only we, the leaders, can resolve it."

Therefore, as long as Azir wants to continue to be emperor, Windleader and Shurima will eventually be on opposite sides.

Levi did not hide his intentions. And Nasus could see this clearly.

"Second, Mr. Nasus, I want you to understand one thing clearly:"

"Even if the Shurima Empire is resurrected, it will never be able to regain its former strength."

The Shurima Empire is powerful not because it is called an "empire", but because this empire has the Ascended Legion.

In other words, there were dozens or even hundreds of god warriors as powerful as Nasus in Shurima back then.

And now?

Azir, Nasus, not counting Nasus' crazy brother who will soon see the light of day again, this so-called Shurima Empire only has two Ascended Ones.

The reconstructed sun disk can theoretically produce Ascended Ones in batches;

But in fact, ascension is never easy.

Because the ascension ceremony is extremely dangerous, the probability of success is extremely low.

Even in ancient Shurima, only those whose lives were about to end would attempt it.

Nasus was very ill and was about to die. He had the mentality of "win the immortal life, lose the immortal board", so he accepted the ascension ceremony before his death.

Therefore, the solar disc cannot actually create ascendants at will.

Otherwise, in the original world line, Azir would not still be huddled in the depths of the desert amusing himself 10 years after his resurrection, and even the Noxus colony on the north coast would be unable to recover.

"Can an empire with only two Ascended Ones still be the same empire it was back then?" Levi said heartbreaking words in a calm tone.

"Mr. Nasus, although it's a bit unpleasant to say this, I still want to advise you..."

"The best future destination for the Shurima Empire is to accept change peacefully."

"As a grand maester of the empire, if you still care about the people of Shurima, then you should persuade Azir to understand, learn Janna's theory, and actively accept changes-"

"As long as he is willing to seek progress, change sides and surrender, and surrender with courtesy, he can still retain his position as leader of the Shurima Chapter."

"..." Nasus remained silent.

If it was 3000 years ago, someone told him that Janna wanted to take Emperor Azir as her younger brother, and he was also her younger brother's younger brother...

Then he will definitely lead the arrogant Ascended Ones to catch this "little girl" who doesn't know the heights of the world, hang her up and beat her up.

But now...

"If you really have feelings for the empire, then we can retain the honorary title of Shurima Royal Family."

Having said that, due to the huge united front value of Azir and others, Levi also gave additional preferential conditions:

"When the time comes, Sivir can be succeeded as emperor." He looked at Sivir who was following him and said: "She is not only the leader, but also the only surviving descendant of Azir, and the master chosen by Chalikar. Yours

Son of Prophecy.”

"She can perfectly serve as the Emperor of Shurima and the President of the Shurima Wind Leader Association."

"This..." Nasus really fell into thinking.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, his reason told him that Levi's proposal was the best option for the Shuriman people.

While he was pondering, the group of people had slowly flown to their destination.

"Is this the tomb of the emperor?" Li Wei asked him.

"Yes." Nasus nodded. Even if there was only a patch of yellow sand in front of everyone, he could identify every part of the city.

"The Emperor's Tomb is built under the Sun Disk. There is no way I can admit my mistake."

This is the greatest tomb in Shurima, and its underground chambers are impenetrable.

3,000 years ago, he personally sealed his younger brother Renekton and the sinner Xerath who destroyed Shurima in this tomb of the emperor.

3000 years later, he returned here again.

"Do you want to really open it?" At this time, Levi asked meaningfully.

"No." Nasus shook his head with a complicated expression: "That seal... now is not the time to open it."

Yes, although Li Wei named him to come to the Tomb of the Emperors, he did not intend to actually open the tomb.

Because in the Tomb of the Emperor, Xerath and Renekton were sealed.

Azir is not actually in it.

He was instantly blown into ashes by the out-of-control astral energy, and he didn't even have a chance to be buried.

It's just that the Emperor's Tomb is right under the sun's disk, and Azir's "ashes" happened to be buried in this land.

In the original world line, Sivir did not resurrect Azir after entering the tomb.

She was stabbed in the back by Cassiopeia at the gate of the tomb, standing outside the seal - her blood soaked into the earth, and then Azir was resurrected.

so...

"If the facts are as you predicted." Nasus sighed: "The necessary condition for resurrecting Azir is to inject Sivir's ascended blood into this land."

In other words, to resurrect Azir, there is no need to open the Tomb of the Emperor at all.

All you need to do is take Sivir to the door of the tomb and stand outside the seal to bleed.
To be continued...