Martial Forest Alliance, council hall.
"Alliance Leader, something terrible has happened!"
The people standing before the sand table in the hall all turned toward the sound. A man raced in from outside, nearly tripping in the hall.
Zhao Yang looked puzzled. With a light sweep of his sleeve, a powerful force immediately steadied the man. His expression darkened. "What has you so flustered?"
"Alliance Leader, Commander Fang, Great Qian's army of two hundred thousand has advanced eastward! Several tens of thousands of barbarian Flying Beast Army troops are coordinating with them, and they have launched a full-scale assault on Mouth Deer City!"
The messenger shouted as he presented the latest urgent report.
"What?" Zhao Yang, who stood beside Fang Li, cried out in alarm and urgently asked, "How is that possible?! Where did Great Qian get an army of two hundred thousand? And the barbarians are so far from our Jing Province—how could their Flying Beast Army appear in Jing Province?!"
Everyone was astonished.
Fang Li hurriedly snatched the report and read it. It detailed every aspect of Great Qian's assault on Mouth Deer City.
After reading it, Fang Li swiftly turned toward the map. He first found Mouth Deer City, then traced westward from it, lightly tapping the location of Tiger Gate Pass with his finger.
His eyes flickered as he stared for a long while before slowly saying, "Great music has the faintest sound; the great image has no form. We were fully prepared for those bandits, yet Great Qian sent us such a 'grand gift.' Li Yixuan truly was no simple man, to carve his way out among so many princes. I underestimated him."
His finger struck Tiger Gate Pass sharply. "Though I do not know how he moved two hundred thousand Great Qian troops from Thunder