Shen Ce stood in the commanding general's tent. After a brief silence, he bowed with clasped hands and answered in a ringing voice:
"This officer accepts the order!"
A trace of approval appeared in Xiong Jian'an's eyes.
"Do your best. The Cloudborne Dynasty sent Sevenfold Pass more than a dozen urgent letters, insisting I put you on the first list of troops to withdraw..."
Xiong Jian'an fell silent again for a moment.
"But I think this is an opportunity you may never get again, and not just because of the withdrawal. You've heard that the acting lord from the Far Western Lands took command at Dao-Suppressing Pass a few days ago."
Shen Ce's expression grew solemn.
Of course he had heard.
For days, the army's commanders had talked of little else but the acting lord who was about to take command at Dao-Suppressing Pass.
Word had it that as soon as the news broke, before the acting lord's Ferry Ship had even risen from the Far Western Lands, the emperors of the dynasties, the marshals of the armies, and the generals at the passes had all sent letters of congratulations.
Dao-Suppressing Pass.
The seat of power in the Far Eastern Lands.
Three hundred legions of the Far West Elite Army, nearly a thousand dynasties of the Far Eastern Lands, more than two thousand legions of the Far East Army, and ten million mighty passes all obeyed its commands.
Dao-Suppressing Pass was the lord's will.
And the acting lord was the lord's incarnation.
The Cloudborne Dynasty naturally carried considerable weight within the Far East Army.
But in the eyes of Dao-Suppressing Pass, a mere Cloudborne Dynasty counted for less than a fart.
"I hear the acting lord is watching the withdrawal from many frontline passes, including Sevenfold Pass. If you do