Just as Chu Xisheng was making his way to the Canglang Plain battlefield, twelve thousand li away, inside the central command tent of the Great General Who Pacifies the North's field headquarters.
Qin Sheng was staring at a Message Talisman before him, his brows deeply furrowed.
An oppressive gloom hung over the entire command tent. Neither the personal guards inside and outside nor the assembled advisers dared breathe loudly.
A moment later, the newly appointed Army Inspector of the Northern Pacification Army, "Galloping Beyond the Dust" Zong Qianliu, hurried into the tent with a puzzled expression.
"General Qin, I heard you're moving troops toward Canglang Plain? You've also dispatched quite a few experts, who are rushing toward the battlefield there. What exactly is going on?"
Great General Who Pacifies the North Qin Sheng looked up and saw the cold severity in Zong Qianliu's face and the questioning intent in his eyes.
He sighed inwardly, but his expression remained solemn and righteous as he said, "Three hundred and fifty thousand of our Ice Province troops are surrounded on Canglang Plain, their lives hanging by a thread. As commander of Ice Province's armies, how could I stand by and watch?"
Even as he spoke, he handed the Message Talisman before him to Zong Qianliu.
Zong Qianliu accepted it suspiciously.
A single glance made his expression change drastically. "The crisis at the Formless Divine Sect's Ten Thousand Demons Grotto has been resolved, and Supreme Saber Shu Huaishi has fallen? Is this true?"
Previously, to prevent surviving members of the Formless Divine Sect from finding evidence afterward and fighting to mutual destruction, venting their anger on the Great Ning Imperial House, and to silence the countless mouths under heaven, they had withdrawn every last one of their forces from the vicinity of the Ten