The Human Race and the Barbarian Race continued trading insults, but with one side refusing to leave the city and the other refusing to attack it, they soon stopped.
The barbarian army, over a hundred million strong, began pitching camp. More than two thousand Demon Barbarian kings hovered overhead. Though they did nothing at all, they radiated immense, oppressive power.
A thousand-zhang tiger pelt lay at the center of the barbarian camp. No barbarian came within a li of it, leaving an empty patch amid the countless Demon Barbarians.
With the barbarians making camp, there would be no fighting that day. The scholars on the walls left one after another, leaving only the soldiers on watch and a few Grand Academicians of Jing Kingdom who lingered.
Zhang Poyue stood atop the wall and frowned. "Is that tiger pelt merely meant to intimidate us, or will Lang Lu truly descend upon Ning'an City?"
"If they can breach Ning'an City, it will naturally be nothing more than intimidation. If they cannot, Lang Lu will certainly descend."
"The Chen Family... have they sent any word?"
"All our kingdom's Half-Sage Families have mobilized, but their focus is on the capital. For now, each has sent only one Great Scholar to Ning'an City. Those who became Great Scholars many years ago have not come."
"In other words, the Sage Aristocratic Clans have abandoned Ning'an?"
"Not necessarily. The two worlds observe parity of rank. Once Lang Lu descends, Sage Chen will certainly arrive as well."
"Alas, I truly hope Sage Chen won't have to fight."
"There is no other way. The Ten Kingdoms fought bitterly among themselves back then. To invite a Half-Sage from another kingdom, we must surrender territory. That is not a bad thing for the Human Race, but it is a difficult decision