In the eastern part of Shurima, south of Zaun and Piltover, there is a vast tropical rainforest.
To outsiders, this remote, far-flung and closed land is just an undeveloped wilderness.
Explorers from the Twin Cities and Noxus called this place the Python River Rainforest.
But in fact, before the ancestors of the Twin Cities and Noxians were born, and even 7,000 years before the establishment of the ancient Shurima Empire, this rainforest already had an ancient and resounding name -
Ishtar.
Ixtal was known for its mastery of elemental magic and was one of the first independent nations to join the ancient Shuriman Empire.
Unlike lands like Icathia that were later conquered by force, Ixtal was more like an original shareholder of the Shurima Empire and an early partner of the "Shurima Group".
What can prove this is that the Icathians have silently dedicated 800 years to the Shurima Empire, but have not been able to get a spot to participate in the ascension ceremony.
However, Ixtal gave birth to many famous ascenders.
For example, the "father of Malphite", the Ascended Ne'zuk, who later had Ezreal dig up his grave and steal the magic gauntlet.
Far from being enslaved second-class citizens, these Ixtal mages were the main force in suppressing the Icathian rebellion and one of the core forces that the Shurima Empire later relied on to fight against the Void invasion.
They are the ruling class of the empire.
Therefore, when the Shurima Empire was sweeping across the world and prospering, Ixtal also ushered in a period of prosperity that was open, enterprising, and embracing the world.
But later, with the invasion of the Void, the explosion of the Sun Disc, the disintegration of the Shurima Empire, the Ascended became the Darkin warlords, and Runeterra gradually moved towards chaos and disorder...
The Ishtar people were terrified.
In order to avoid the disputes of the outside world and preserve the brilliant magical civilization of Ixtal, the wizards used the wilderness as a barrier to isolate themselves, hid the kingdom in the shade of the primeval rainforest, and turned themselves into the "Wakanda" of Runeland.
This policy of seclusion lasted for thousands of years.
Until now…
"How stupid!" Seeing this, Qiana couldn't help but clench the "A Brief History of Ishtar Chronicles" in her hand in anger.
"Lady Qiana?" The four servants who were carrying her sedan chair trembled with nervousness.
The servant who followed closely beside the sedan chair and served at any time, her personal servant Bayar, looked up cautiously and asked, "Lady Qiyana, what's wrong..."
"Is the air not cool enough?"
As he spoke, Bayar tried hard to use the little control he had over the elements, concentrating his strength to form a cloud of cool mist.
Despite the scorching sun, he was already sweating profusely.
But he still sent the cool mist to Qiana with a flattering look on his face to cool her down and remove the heat.
But Qiyana didn't appreciate it at all.
"Baiyar, shut up!" She scolded angrily, "I didn't say anything, so how can you speak?"
"Yes..." The servants then lowered their heads tremblingly.
Qiana glanced at them nonchalantly and turned her attention back to the "Chronicles of Ishtar".
As a direct descendant of Ixtal's ruling family, the youngest daughter of the king, and a genius master of all elements, she has had an enterprising spirit different from others since she was a child.
Qiyana believes that Ixtal should not remain isolated.
However, the reason why this proud little princess opposed isolation was not because she hoped that Ishtar could open up and develop its economy, exchange culture with the outside world, and improve people's livelihood internally.
Her ambitions are not so small or harmonious.
She was thinking: "After the fall of the Shurima Empire and the Darkin warlords, Ixtal is the most powerful country in Runeterra!"
"Why does such a powerful Ixtal stay in such a remote place?"
"We should inherit the legacy of the Shurima Empire and bring every inch of land outside the rainforest under our rule!"
Whenever she reads this part of history, Qiyana can't help but feel angry at the short-sightedness and ignorance of her ancestors.
She even wanted to take the map of Runeland in the book, which had been out of date for nearly 3,000 years, and paint every piece of land on it with a color that belonged only to her.
But dreams are just dreams after all, back to reality:
Ixtal is just a tiny piece on the map, as small as a piece of appendix in Runeterra.
How could she, Qiana, the noble daughter of the royal family and the greatest elementalist in the history of Ixtal, be content to stay here?
She was supposed to rule not just a small city-state, but a great empire.
"One day, everywhere will be the land of Ixokon. A great empire deserves a wise queen!"
Qiyana closed the history book and entered fantasy time again.
She has everything planned out, and now she is secretly accumulating strength.
When her father died, or when the time was right, she would launch a swift "Ishtar Rebellion", send her troublesome sisters to heaven, and then inherit the throne herself.
At that time, she would personally lead an army of 100,000 west into the desert and north out of the rainforest. It would take her three years to pacify Shurima, ten years to conquer Valoran, and twenty years to unify Runeterra, making all the Ionians overseas submit to her.
She was thinking this when suddenly...
"Hey! Why is the cold mist gone?" Qiyana looked at the servant under the sedan with an unhappy expression: "Baiyar! Don't make me sweat, okay? This is my only request. Is it so difficult for you to do it?"
“Lady Qiana…” Bayal wiped the sweat from his forehead nervously.
He said, "Sorry, I, I was distracted..."
" Look there!" Bayard pointed ahead.
It was a long river that ran through the capital city of Ixokon and ran through the Kingdom of Ixtal.
This river is called the Python River. Its upper reaches are connected to Shurima's great river "Mother of Life", and its lower reaches are across the sea from Bilgewater. It is not far from Zaun and Piltover by boat.
In theory, the Mang River should have great shipping economic value.
But because the Shurima Empire upstream has degenerated into a group of desert tribes, and Ixtal downstream has implemented a policy of seclusion for thousands of years, there is no need for goods to circulate here.
This Mang River became an inland river that only served Ixtal. Except for those suicidal explorers from the Twin Cities and Noxus, no outsiders had set foot here for thousands of years.
What's more, we can sail the ship directly to the heart of Ixtal, the capital of Ixoken.
But now...
"What a big ship!" Not to mention that Bayar and other servants were shocked.
Even Princess Qiana, who prided herself on being knowledgeable, opened her mouth in surprise.
I saw an extremely huge iron ship coming out from the primitive forest in the upper reaches of the Mang River and slowly heading towards Yixuokun.
It is made entirely of solid steel and coated with the Shurima people's favorite gold color. At first glance, it looks like a golden mountain floating on the water, which is daunting.
The chimney of the giant ship spewed out thick green alchemical smoke, dragging a moving green cloud behind the ship. The roaring fuel engine drove this 10,000-ton monster, allowing it to easily push aside the heavy waves and slowly and powerfully press forward.
This novel scene reminded Qiyana of the Piltover expedition team that once carried excavators to explore deep into the rainforest.
But this ship was painted with ancient Shurima patterns, and on the mast were hung a blue bird flag with a white background and a golden sun disc flag.
"Sun disk?" Qiyana was stunned.
She couldn't recognize the blue bird flag, but she knew what the sun disk pattern represented.
The history book in her hand said: "Is this the flag of the Shurima Empire?"
Didn't the Shurima Empire die 3,000 years ago? Why did they suddenly appear again?
Could it be that the Ascendants who fell in the past have been resurrected?
"No!" Qiyana quickly denied this.
While others were marveling at the huge golden ship, contempt was already revealed in her eyes.
Although this ship is large and made entirely of steel, there is not a single fluctuation of magic runes inside.
It was obviously the machine invented by Mrs. Piltover, but it was a hundred times larger than the excavators she had seen before.
But no matter how big it is, it is still a machine, a toy-like trick, just a big lump of iron without any magic.
As long as she gets serious and mobilizes the water elements on the river surface to release two skills, she will probably be able to send this useless "lump of iron" to the bottom of the water to feed the fish.
"Let's go! Let's go and take a look!"
The residents of Ixoken, and even the elders and nobles of the royal palace, were still reeling from the shocking sight of the golden ship’s arrival.
But Qiyana was fearless and boldly wanted to meet these invaders flying the Shurima flag.
"Yes!" The servants hurriedly used magic and quickened their pace.
Magic that is rare in the outside world is very common in Ixtal.
The leaders are working hard to study the "productivity magic" that they have already conducted in-depth research during thousands of years of peace.
The Ixtal people organized the fixed elements into a series of "primordial axioms" and successfully applied this magical knowledge to human daily life.
However, leaders with similar goals would never think of...
This mysterious magic, which can make objects overcome gravity and become light, is used in Ixtal to carry sedan chairs for noble lords.
The servants controlled their magic power and applied the sixteenth axiom to lift Qiana quickly and steadily to the bank of the Python River.
But looking at the vast water in front of them, they stopped nervously.
"What are you stopping for?" Qiyana raised her eyebrows. "I asked you to learn a few more water element axioms. Have you not learned them yet?"
"I'm sorry...we are so stupid." The servants bowed their heads in guilt.
"It's useless." Qiyana muttered unhappily: "Then stay here and wait for me to come back!"
As she spoke, she cast a spell to summon her Oletar ring blade, and as the ring blade spun, she stepped across the water in mid-air.
She leaped over the river like a dragonfly skimming the water, and in the blink of an eye she jumped onto the oncoming golden ship.
Qiyana landed on the front deck.
Then, she met a giant in golden eagle armor on the bow of the ship.
This little giant was about three meters tall, covered in shining golden armor. He held a dazzling golden trident in his hand, and his head was completely hidden under the eagle-head helmet, making it impossible to see his true appearance.
"Hmm..." This guy looked quite unfathomable, just like a legendary god-warrior who had come down to earth.
So Qiyana restrained her rebellious aura a little and habitually sensed the opponent's magic fluctuations.
The test results are:
"Combat power, 0."
She didn't sense any magical fluctuations from the eagle-armored giant in front of her.
"Tsk, you have to dress in a very intimidating way." Kiana raised her chin in disdain: "So you're just a mortal!"
Eagle Armor Giant: "..."
The proud little princess did not notice his subtle look, but continued to question: "What is your name, who are you, and why did you invade Ixtal?"
"I am Azir." Perhaps because he had never seen anyone more pretentious than himself, Emperor Azir, who was always known for his arrogance, showed great patience this time.
But as soon as he said a name, Qiyana interrupted him rudely: "Azir?"
“Hahahaha… You have the same name as the Eagle Father of Shurima?”
“Although Azir is just a tyrant who ruined his country, he is still the former overlord of Ixtal and the emperor of the Shurima Empire—”
"You?" Qiyana looked up and down at the big man without a trace of magic power: "Are you worthy?"
Azir: “…”
Just a few words from this girl made his blood pressure soar.
Before he could react, Qiyana interrupted again, aggressively and self-conversationally: "Well, Azir, it seems you are a Shuriman."
"What are you Shurimans doing here in your boats?"
Azir held back his anger and did not answer, but asked in return: "Girl, who are you?"
"Tell me who you are. I don't want to waste my breath with someone who is not qualified to make decisions."
"Hmm..." Qiyana also got excited.
It was also the first time she met someone who dared to be so arrogant in front of her.
Then she puffed out her chest with pride and displayed her symbol of status, the ancient Auretal ring blade:
"I am the daughter of King Ixtal, the noble 'Yuen Alai', the legitimate heir to the High Tower, and the most talented elemental magician in Ixtal's history, Qiana!"
Azir: “…”
When he introduced himself, he was not as excited as Qiyana.
"Well... so you are the daughter of the current king of Ishtar. Then you are barely qualified to talk to me." Azir competed with her in showing arrogance.
I only heard him ask with concern: "But..."
"The most talented elementalist in Ixtal's history?"
“You?” Azir looked Qiyana up and down, just as she had looked at him before. “Just you?”
"Are you really the most talented elementalist in Ixtal right now?"
"Nonsense!" Qiyana's blood pressure also rose.
Who are you? A mere mortal, do you have the right to question her strength?
"This..." Azir was speechless.
He silently covered the entire city of Ixuokun with his mind, but he didn't even sense any mages stronger than Qiyana.
“Sun be upon you!” Azir exclaimed, “Has Ixtal really become so weak?”
Before coming, Levi had reminded him that the current Ishtar might have degenerated into a corrupt and weak country after thousands of years of seclusion.
Because Levi knew that in the original world line , Piltover's expedition team had once invaded Ixtal.
And it was such a small expedition team, a group of armed mercenaries and miners, that actually defeated Qiana's own sister, the royal nobles of Ixtal, and a county governor, forcing them to flee in panic.
A Piltover expedition team - whose combat effectiveness may not be as good as that of Camille's family spies - was able to openly invade a country and plunder a county, scaring away the local county governor, and was only repelled after Qiyana took action personally.
This combat effectiveness is not even as good as that of the late Qing Dynasty.
"Is this still the Ixtal that gave birth to Senior Na'zuk and several Ascendants?" Azir murmured.
Fortunately, he still cared about Ixutal's former glory and visited him in person as the emperor.
If he had known that Ishtar was so lame now, he would not have come in person.
"What did you say?" Qiyana was also annoyed by Azir's sigh: "Weak?"
This is clearly a sign of looking down on her and Ishtar!
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Fortunately, Qiana still retained the last bit of sanity.
She planned to first find out Azir's identity and background, and then give this usurper who disrespected the future Queen of Elements a small punishment.
Then she heard Azir say: "I am Azir, Emperor of Shurima."
"Yes, you heard me right. I have returned from the desert and rebuilt the Shurima Empire." Azir said proudly, "I came here to rebuild the alliance with Ixtal and open up the route to the lower reaches of the Python River."
The upper reaches of the Python River are connected to the Mother of Life, and the route can connect all the way from the downstream estuary to the capital of the Shurima Empire upstream.
For the future economic development of Shurima, Azir certainly urgently hopes that Ixtal will reopen its borders, or at least agree to open the Python River waterway to allow Shurima merchant ships to pass through.
However, before he could prove his identity and show his intentions...
“Hahahaha.” Qiyana interrupted him rudely again: “You, the emperor of the Shurima Empire?”
"Crazy, wake up! The Shurima Empire has long been destroyed! We have the great city of Ixokon. What else do you Shurimans have? Just sand and ghosts."
"You?!" Azir was angry.
Qiyana then challenged him, "Are you still pretending to be the heir of the Shurima Empire?"
"I think you are just some upstarts from the desert that appeared out of nowhere. You want to borrow the names of your predecessors to pretend to be gods and come to Ixtal to beg for food, right?"
Azir really couldn't help it this time.
But Qiyana pointed at the blue bird flag on the ship and said aggressively: "Otherwise, why haven't I seen it in the book? Do the Shurimans have blue bird flags?"
"I think this is the flag of your tribe!"
"Uh..." Azir was really speechless.
This flag did make him feel a little embarrassed.
After the decisive battle with Mordekaiser, the last anti-Janna forces in Demacia and Noxus, those nobles who were unwilling to be liquidated and transformed, also perished along with Mordekaiser due to their ambitions.
The whole world has witnessed the power of Goddess Janna, and no one dares to openly oppose the Leader anymore.
As a result, the Kingdom of Demacia and the Empire of Noxus officially changed their flags and, as member states, united with the Twin Cities, Ionia, Bilgewater, and Freljord to formally establish the Janna-led Alliance of Runeterra.
Although many places still retain a large number of old bureaucrats and have not yet undergone social transformation, at least in name, the Janna-led Alliance has unified Runeterra.
The Shurima Empire is the most bizarre part of it.
It is the only empire in the alliance, the only one that still retains a monarch.
Moreover, it is not currently a formal member state, but an observer member state in a transitional stage.
Of course, Azr is well aware that this “observer member state” is just a face-saving title.
In fact, he has joined the Janna Alliance of Runeterra in disguise and has become a younger brother of Goddess Janna.
"Whose flag is this blue bird?" Qiana asked mockingly.
"Uh..." Azir was a little embarrassed.
The proud Eagle Father was too embarrassed to admit that he was someone else's younger brother, so he just said: "This is the banner ."
"The Janna-led Alliance?" Qiyana had never heard of this before: "Is this also a country?"
"Yes."
"So which one is bigger, it or our Ixtal?"
"You also have robot ships, but are you as good as those Piltover people?"
Azir: “…”
“Tsk.” Seeing that Azir was too “guilty” to speak, Qiyana mocked him even more: “You’re worthy of being called the Shurima Empire by forming an alliance with a small country that you’ve never heard of?”
"You still want to 'rebuild the alliance' with us and let Ixtal open the Mang River? How ridiculous!"
"Shut up, stupid mortal!" Azir finally couldn't hold back his anger.
And just at this moment...
"Calm down, Azir." A voice sounded slowly behind him: "We are here to achieve win-win cooperation, not to provoke conflicts and contradictions."
Qiana looked carefully and saw a tall giant with a wolf's head and a human body walking slowly towards her.
That was none other than Nasus, the Grand Secretary of the Empire, the God of Death in the Desert, who was once famous in Ixtal.
"You..." Qiana couldn't help but widen her eyes.
"Child, it seems you have recognized me." Nasus smiled amiably.
Unlike Azir, who ascended to heaven after being resurrected from the dead, he had already achieved enlightenment and ascended to heaven thousands of years ago and possessed the iconic body of a god with a wolf head and a human body.
In the past, he had fought alongside the Ascended Ones of Ixtal, and had visited Ixoken many times to exchange magical experiences with the mages of the High Tower.
Although that happened thousands of years ago, Ixtal is also a country with a long historical heritage.
Seeing Qiana's expression, she probably recognized him, the famous Ascendant.
Nasus was thinking this...
"Big dog!" Qiana raised her chin and said proudly and arrogantly, "You are the cutest Vastaya I have ever seen."
"Yes... If you are willing to stay and be my slave, I can show mercy and forgive your crime of invasion and let your friend return alive."
Azir: “…”
Nasus: “…”
…
A moment later.
"Do you know who I am now?" Azir carried the proud little princess in front of him like a chick.
She struggled helplessly in mid-air, and her prized weapon, the Auretal Ring Blade, fell to the ground in humiliation.
"I..." Qiana instinctively wanted to resist.
But as soon as she looked up, she could see the yellow sand surging up like a tidal wave.
The extremely rich earth element magic almost made her breathless.
This is a tropical rain forest, and it is the surface of the Mang River where the earth element is the thinnest and the water element is the thickest!
But Azir went against the environment and waved his hand to summon dust all over the sky, creating a terrifying phenomenon of a city surrounded by yellow sand.
What a terrifying power this is?
It turned out that the reason she couldn't sense the fluctuations of magic before was not because Azir was a mortal, but because the gap in strength between the two sides was too great, making it impossible for her to detect the aura of the other party.
“I know, I know…” In front of the might of the god-warrior, Qiyana’s pride was completely crushed: “You, you are the great Eagle Father, the noble Ascendant, the Emperor of the Shurima Empire, the Lord of Ixtal…”
"I will go back now to report to my father and renew the alliance with you and open the Mang River to you."
“Ha!” Azir mocked angrily, “Do I have to teach you a lesson before you realize the need for equal dialogue and free trade?”
"I'm sorry... Your Majesty." Qiana wanted to cry but had no tears.
Fortunately, the proud Azir was too lazy to talk to this little girl. He just taught her a lesson and threw her out: "Go away, and ask your father to come out and negotiate with me!"
"Yes..." Qiana struggled to get up in a panic, picked up her weapon pitifully, and finally jumped off the deck in a panic, stepping on the water back to the shore.
Her servant was looking at the yellow sand above his head, waiting for her in panic: "Lady Qiana, what is going on?"
"Shut up!" Qiyana's face was full of humiliation and cruelty.
In front of Azir, she felt only humiliation, but in front of the servants, she was only fierce: "Get lost! Stop asking questions!"
Having said that, Qiana didn't even have the mood to carry the sedan chair. She turned around and ran towards the base of the Supreme Tower in a panic.
The servants stared at each other in amazement, and finally could only follow her tremblingly, carrying the empty sedan chair and catching up closely.
“Alas.” Looking at their receding figures and the prosperous and extravagant city before him, Nasus could not help but sigh: “I never thought that Ixtal would really fall to this level.”
“Heh.” Azir sneered, “I came here in person to rebuild the alliance with Ixtal.”
"I think that Ixtal is not qualified to be our ally now. They can only obediently join the empire!"
“Azir!” Nasus interrupted. “Times have changed. You can no longer do things the same way.”
"Hmph!" Azir actually knew this too.
But Ishtar’s current situation…
It really made him want to colonize.
Of course, Azir also knows very well that this is not 3,000 years ago, and he cannot annex everyone he sees.
But he couldn't help but grumble: "The royal nobles of Ixtal have become so arrogant and incompetent. I think they are no longer qualified to rule here."
"Yes." Nasus agreed with this.
But he is not like Azir, who has a strong urge to "bring freedom to his door" in his eyes.
"The trend is set, and we don't need to do anything more."
"As long as Ixtal opens its doors, walks out of the rainforest, and sees the new world that is sweeping with the wind of change, their people will naturally make a choice."
"Ixtal's future fate has been determined at this moment."
As he spoke, Nasus looked from afar at the servants who were following Qiyana in a panic, and saw the tension and fear on their faces.
These people seem so humble and powerless. But:
“I trust them.”
“They will stand up.”