The Sage Meets the King, Admonishment and Audience

Once the autumn harvest was completed in October, the kingdom immediately raised its armies. Tzintzuntzan City was filled with clamor, and the horns of war rang out.

The Guachichil Legion marched south from River Mouth County, covering a hundred li a day, and in two days arrived at the military camp outside the Royal Capital. Twenty thousand of the Capital Region's Tuntian Army marched south and set up camp south of Ihuatzio City. Olorosh's Capital Region Legion had finished its preparations and could strike at any time. And within the king's Imperial Guard Legion, an Artillery Battalion had been formally incorporated. At present, the Artillery Battalion had five hundred gunners, ten Divine Eagle Cannons, and thirty tiger-crouching cannons. The needed gunpowder and shot were being urgently allocated, and would soon be fully supplied.

The morning sun had just risen, and cooking smoke curled upward. Prayers to the Main God rang out through the Royal Capital, as if the Divine Kingdom had descended upon the mortal world. This was the morning prayer, before breakfast began. The sound of prayer, like a grand movement of music, carried into the Palace of Wind and fell on Xolotl's ears. He gave an invigorated smile.

"Praise the Main God! After years of hard labor, the faith of the Main God has finally taken firm root in the Royal Capital."

Then the king lowered his head again and looked at the sand table before him. This was a terrain model of the kingdom's south. Though roughly built, it was extremely clear at a glance. On the sand table, towns, villages, and easily passable roads had all been marked out, including those in Purple Grass County and those in the southwestern mountains.

Around the sand table stood three legion commanders: Bertad, Olorosh, and Toltec. Ezpan of the