Wild Goose Return Pass

On the other side, Lu Feng and his troops, leading an army of 100,000, finally arrived at Wild Goose Return Pass after three hours.

Looking into the distance, a majestic pass stands between two mountains at the mouth of the valley.

The city wall was built of black stone blocks and was over twenty feet high. The surface of the wall was covered with old marks from knife cuts and arrow chiseling. Several crenellations still had dark stains that could not be washed off, the blood of which year was unknown.

The door was covered with sheet metal, and its hinges were thicker than a person could hug. Just standing there, it made people afraid to speak loudly.

"Her Highness the Princess has arrived!" Lu Xinghan and several other princes were already waiting to greet her at the city gate.

"The barracks in the city have been arranged for you; they're located in the northwest," Lu Xinghan said.

Seeing that there was no fighting in the city, Lu Shuang asked, "What's the situation?"

"The Great Chu army is currently encamped more than two hundred li away and has been there for a day without showing any sign of advancing. However, according to scouts, this time there are not only 500,000 troops, but also nearly 200,000 demonic beasts!"

Lu Shuang nodded, then led the army into the city.

The streets inside the city were narrow, and the garrison patrolled back and forth. Most of their armor was old, and their faces showed signs of fatigue, but their steps were not slow.

Upon seeing the reinforcements enter the city, the soldiers along the roadside quickly made way and saluted, while some peered out to examine the new force and whispered among themselves.

"Another brother unit has Wild Goose Return Pass is going to be quite lively."

"Lively? Another big battle is about to begin."

Lu Feng listened, but a look of doubt appeared on his face. Humans and demonic beasts attacking humans together?

Lu Shuang keenly noticed his expression and whispered, "Besides dynasties like the Great Qian Dynasty, which are irreconcilably opposed to demonic beasts, there are a small number of dynasties that choose to cooperate and coexist with them."

"In the Great Chu Dynasty, almost every cultivator contracts with a demonic beast, which greatly increases their combat power."

Lu Feng was even more puzzled. "Don't demonic beasts feed on humans? How can a dynasty like Great Chu support so many Demon Race?"

"That's war, of course. The Great Chu for less than twenty years, and for more than half of those twenty years, it has been invading other dynasties."

Lu Feng immediately understood.

The Great Chu fed the demon beasts with war, and the demon beasts fought for the Great Chu, expanding their territory with each battle.

No wonder the Great Chu for less than twenty years, dared to wage war against the Great Qian, a dynasty that had stood for hundreds of years.

As they spoke, Lu Xinghan Lu Shuang and the others to the Northwest District.

This camp was about two miles in circumference, with rows of old barracks stretching out. The yellow earth of the drill ground was compacted by footsteps, and there were still swords and spears waiting to be repaired piled on the armory racks in the corners. It was more than enough to accommodate an army of 100,000.

"This is the place, Your Highness. What do you think?"

"Yes, thank you."

"In that case, we'll discuss this further at the central camp once Her Highness has made the arrangements." With that, Lu Xinghan and the princes departed.

"General Xiao, please make sure the soldiers are settled in."

"Yes! I will arrange it immediately!"

Xiao Zhenbei then went to coordinate, while Lu Shuang waited on the side.

Although she is now the commander-in-chief, she knows in her heart that Xiao Zhenbei is far better than her at leading troops into battle and settling soldiers.

After a while, Xiao Zhenbei returned to report, "Your Highness, everything has been arranged."

"Alright, then come with me to the central camp."

"Me too?" Xiao Zhenbei clearly hadn't expected Lu Shuang to invite him.

"You're a general; you know better than I about leading troops in battle. Let's go."

After saying that, the three of them headed towards the central camp.

The Central Camp was the location of the Central Army within the pass. Two rows of armored soldiers stood solemnly in front of the gate, and the banners outside the tents were pulled straight by the valley wind.

Inside the tent, Lu Xinghan and the princes all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I just saw the princess, and she showed no dissatisfaction with this arrangement. I wonder what Father Emperor was thinking, letting the princess lead the Northwest Army Camp," a prince said, looking at Lu Xinghan.

"Now is not the time to discuss these things. Once the princess arrives, we should first discuss how to deal with the Great Chu."

A short while later, Lu Shuang and the other two arrived at the tent, and the group began to discuss matters.

"The commander of this Great Chu is Chu Xiong, the third uncle of the Great Chu Emperor, whose cultivation has reached the Celestial Person Realm Fifth Layer. The demonic beast Profound Water Crocodile, which is bound to him, is even Sixth-Transformation Demon Emperor!"

"The success of Great Chu's conquests of other dynasties over the years is largely due to the efforts of Chu Xiong."

"My idea is this: when the Great Chu attacks, we will set up the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation outside Wild Goose Return Pass to meet them. No matter what schemes the Great Chu has, we can continuously replenish our troops inside Wild Goose Return Pass. In this way, the enemy will have no chance of breaking through Wild Goose Return Pass!"

The speaker was an old general standing beside Lu Xinghan, with graying temples and a hoarse voice; it was General Guan.

"What kind of formation is the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation?" Lu Feng suddenly became interested and asked Lu Shuang in a low voice.

Lu Shuang was not quite sure about this either, and turned to look at Xiao Zhenbei.

Upon discussing military formations, Xiao Zhenbei immediately perked up. "The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation is formed by 100,000 troops arranged according to the eight trigrams, creating an iron wall. Once the enemy steps into it, it's like being trapped in a maze, making escape extremely difficult. Moreover, even against a Celestial Person Realm expert, 100,000 troops in formation can withstand it!"

Lu Feng instantly understood. These soldiers, by borrowing the power of the military formation, could reach the strength of Grandmaster, Great Grandmaster, or even Celestial Person Realm.

"Is there an army formation with a million soldiers?" he asked.

A force of 100,000 is equivalent to the Celestial Person Realm; wouldn't a force of 1 million be equivalent to the Yin Spirit Realm?

"Yes, a million-strong army formation is equivalent to the Celestial Person Realm Ninth Layer, but it requires extremely high standards from the soldiers and is generally not used unless there is a crisis that threatens to destroy the country," Xiao Zhenbei said.

"Only equivalent to the Celestial Person Realm Ninth Layer? Not even reaching the Yin Spirit Realm?" Lu Feng wondered.

"Lord Lu is joking. Yin Spirit Realm expert has opened up their Sea of Consciousness and possesses divine sense. An army is utterly vulnerable before Yin Spirit Realm expert."

Lu Feng didn't press the matter further.

After a while, General Guan finished speaking, and Lu Xinghan asked, "What do you all think of General Guan's idea?"

"Very good! We agree!" Everyone nodded in agreement, even Xiao Zhenbei felt that this plan was sound.

Lu Xinghan frowned. "This method is good, but it can only be used defensively. Isn't that too passive?"

"What are Your Highness's thoughts?" General Guan asked.

"Here's what I'm thinking, what do you all think? Is it feasible?" Lu Xinghan looked around at everyone.

"Set up the formation as General Guan suggested. Also, send a few experts to flank the enemy from the rear and kill their Demon Emperor!"

"The Demon Race is different from the human race. Once the Demon Emperor dies, these demon beasts will be a disorganized mess. Without the assistance of the demon beasts, the Great Chu army is nothing to fear!"

What do you all think?

"That's a brilliant idea! I never imagined His Highness the Crown Prince had such a strategy; he's truly a brilliant strategist!" Several generals praised in unison.

Even Lu Feng thought this was a good idea. To shoot a man, shoot his horse first; to capture a thief, capture his king first.

Then, silence fell over the tent.

The method is good, but the risk is extremely high. To kill the Demon Emperor, one's cultivation level must be at least at the Celestial Person Realm. Apart from Lu Shuang, the other Celestial Person Realm cultivators present are either generals of their respective factions or people sent by the Dragon Protection Pavilion to protect the princes.

"How about this? To be fair, each of us will send one Celestial Person Realm to go to the enemy's rear together. What do you think?" Lu Xinghan said.

The princes turned to look at the elders of the Dragon Protection Pavilion behind them, and seeing them nod, they all replied, "We agree!"

Lu Xinghan looked at Lu Shuang.

"Your Highness, may I ask what Brother Lu's cultivation level is? If he hasn't reached the Celestial Person Realm, then we will send someone this time, and you don't need to."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the tent looked at Lu Shuang. Although no one spoke, their dissatisfaction was written all over their faces.

We've all contributed, why shouldn't you?

Lu Shuang was about to speak when Lu Feng raised his hand to stop her.

He always felt that Lu Xinghan was going around in circles just to get him to go with him. As for the reason, he couldn't figure it out.