Eva needed time to recover, time to digest the gains from that great victory, and time to fully integrate the newly surrendered troops into the Northern Frontier's system.
So she was willing to maintain this unspoken standoff. As long as Spirit Hall did not launch a large-scale offensive against the Northern Frontier, she would not rush to advance south.
Moreover, she truly intended to let the other factions wear down both themselves and Spirit Hall first.
The greater the pressure borne by the Star Luo Empire and Three Sects Alliance armies on the front lines, the more Spirit Hall's forces would be tied down. Once every other front had fought itself to exhaustion, the Northern Frontier's well-preserved strength would become the piece that decided victory or defeat.
It was on this battlefield, neither fiercely active nor truly peaceful, that Xiao Wu first came to understand the weight of war.
That evening, she followed a Northern Frontier Allied Army scout squad on a border patrol.
The mission itself was not complicated. They merely had to inspect an area along the border where Spirit Hall scouts were suspected to be operating. But on their way back, they ran into a Spirit Hall patrol squad.
The battle did not last long. Neither side had brought heavily equipped units; both were lightly armed scout formations.
During the fight, Xiao Wu dealt with two opponents in her usual manner, her movements clean and decisive, even effortless.
But when the battle ended and she stood upon the ground dyed dark red by the sunset, looking at the bodies that no longer moved, she suddenly felt that something was wrong.
She stood there, blood still dripping from the short blade in her hand onto the mud by her feet, spreading into a small patch of dark moisture.