Atop Tower City's gate tower, Bu Yuan sat in a grand armchair draped with tiger hide, holding a teapot and gazing into the distance.
Directly before him was a gap in the battlements, through which he could see the battlefield outside the city. Large numbers of troops from the Southern Wilds Allied Army were moving out, advancing in their respective formations, slow and steady as a forest.
A little over a foot behind his chair, a Warrior a full ten feet tall, so burly he scarcely looked human, held the commander's banner and stood like an iron tower. He was Bu Yuan's personal guard, a trusted confidant much like Lin Xiong and Lin Bao at Fang Qianyuan's side.
From time to time, advisers stood by the wall and surveyed the distance with the Eagle Eye Art, then returned to report the battle situation in low voices. Nearby, the stewards were busily operating formation arrays, projecting images gathered by spirit creatures soaring high overhead onto screens of light roughly ten feet across.
Suddenly, someone cried out, "Why has Elder Fang gone over there?"
"He's still pushing deeper... still pushing deeper! This is bad, Grand Elder Bu! Elder Fang has charged into the enemy's main formation all by himself!"
"What?" At the news, the teapot in Bu Yuan's hand trembled almost imperceptibly, spilling a few drops of hot tea.
But he reacted swiftly, setting the teapot on a nearby table without betraying his feelings, then rising in the same motion and walking over to the light screens.
Sure enough, one of the screens was locked tightly onto Fang Qianyuan. He was pressing deeper at tremendous speed and had already charged dozens of li away, into the main formation where the enemy commander was stationed.
From that point onward, the Thunder Eagle transmitting