Tangnan Pass had never suffered an invasion by the Outer Dao.
Situated at the forefront of the Far Eastern Lands, this pass had always been peaceful compared with the actual front lines.
Moreover, even among the countless mighty passes of the Far Eastern Lands, it was relatively small.
For precisely that reason, this pass, seventy li long and ninety zhang high, had a permanent garrison of only ten thousand soldiers.
An entire army legion being stationed here, as it was now, had been exceedingly rare over the past three thousand years.
At this moment, the Pass Command of Tangnan Pass was more solemn than it had ever been.
A bluestone road thirty zhang long led from the entrance of the Pass Command to the Council Hall at its center.
Now, guards wearing Golden Lion Cuirasses stood on either side of the road at intervals of one zhang, lining it all the way to the Council Hall.
In the seat of honor inside the Council Hall sat a man who looked to be in his early fifties.
He wore golden robes rather than armor and had a powerfully built frame.
He was Huang Cheng, the current marshal of the Golden-Leaf Lion Legion, the 1,056th Legion of the Far East Army.
Several days earlier, he had received a letter of orders from Dao-Suppressing Pass.
This letter had not come from the Military Affairs Office of Dao-Suppressing Pass. It had been written personally by Tao Jingyan, the acting lord and supreme commander of the Far Eastern Lands.
Naturally, Huang Cheng had been overwhelmed by the honor of receiving this letter and had not dared show the slightest negligence.
Its contents were quite simple.
Huang Cheng immediately handed all his military duties over to his deputy, then set off in person for Tangnan Pass.