Returning to the Pass to Set the Strategy

The battle at Poison Dragon Ridge had settled into dust.

Lu Chen, Mo Qianqiu, and Zhou Xuanzi led their men swiftly back to Northern Garrison Pass.

All along the way, they saw the Northern Frontier's soldiers and civilians brimming with fighting spirit. Beacon fires linked one military camp to the next, while messengers and scouts streamed back and forth without pause. The grim, killing air of an imminent great war filled heaven and earth.

By the time they returned to the commander's residence at Northern Garrison Pass, it was already the following morning.

Upon receiving the news, Xu Polu personally came out to greet them. Seeing that they were only slightly weary yet full of vigor—and especially upon learning of the great victory at Poison Dragon Ridge, the annihilation of the undead emissaries, and Fu Ku's grievous injury and flight—even this old marshal, hardened by countless campaigns, could not hide his excitement.

"Good! Good! Good!" Xu Polu exclaimed three times in a row, heavily slapping Lu Chen on the shoulder. "Duke Lu, you deserve the foremost merit in this battle! Burning the grain at Gray Valley severed one of Wolf Owl's arms, while wiping out his reinforcements at Poison Dragon Ridge has crushed his last hopes! Those eighty thousand Sky Wolf Sect elites are now turtles in a jar!"

The generals gathered in the main hall of the commander's residence.

Scouts continuously delivered the latest intelligence:

"Wolf Owl's forces have provisions enough for only three days. Their morale is wavering, and small units have already attempted to cross the river and flee on their own, only to be executed by his supervisory troops!"

"There has been no large-scale movement of reinforcements from the Sky Wolf Sect headquarters. Their Grand Elder remains in seclusion."

"On the western bank of Blackwater River,