If You Want to Be My Dog, Barking Isn't Enough-You Need to Get Things Done! (Please Subscribe and Vote!)

"Let him in."

Judging by Eunuch Cui's manner, Li Chen figured the Ice Bear Tribe had requested a secret audience.

Still, he was somewhat puzzled. Hadn't intelligence from the northern front reported that the Ice Bear Tribe's city had gathered soldiers from all the northern tribes and prepared its defenses? They were clearly turning it into a frontline battlefield, so why request an audience now?

The major northern tribes had cities of their own. Li Chen had never visited them, but according to the intelligence reports, their towering walls were built from countless enormous, indestructible crystals of Unmelting Ice. Anyone approaching could feel waves of bone-piercing cold radiating from the walls.

The greatest advantage of these cities was that they were not only sturdy but also easy to repair quickly after sustaining damage, and they were particularly suited to the local climate.

The deeper one ventured into the Far North, the colder it became.

According to the records, the last time the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty's soldiers reached the vicinity of Great Snow Mountain, their fighting ability had dropped drastically. Only then had their commander halted the advance.

The northern tribes certainly possessed an innate advantage when it came to resisting the cold.

When Eunuch Cui returned to the Imperial Study, a mysterious figure in a cloak followed beside him.

After entering, the man removed his cloak and knelt. "Huyan Lan, envoy of the Ice Bear Tribe, pays his respects to Your Majesty!"

Li Chen was a little surprised that it wasn't Waganbu.

Huyan? Li Chen had seen that surname before. It belonged to the royal lineage of the Ice Bear Court six hundred years ago.

"Why have you requested an audience with me?" Li Chen continued reading the records without looking directly at Huyan Lan.

Unlike Waganbu, however, Huyan Lan