"Have you seen the latest imperial proclamation posted at the Camp Mansion gate?"

Outside the towering Camp Mansion, the military market was bustling. A few merchants and travelers with Huainan accents sat in a roadside teahouse, trading stories of recent days. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

As the war expanded in scale, the Imperial Court was forced to enact laws regarding military markets, allowing merchants, under the organization of the Government Office or on their own, to travel with the army. Now, whenever a corps-level force was redeployed, a marketplace comparable to a commandery’s busy town could spring up outside the Camp Mansion’s station.

One of the merchants, surprised at these words, looked at the one who had spoken:

"Mr. Li, you want to respond to a procurement notice and bid? Where would you get the qualification documents?"

To make up for the shortage the authorities couldn’t supply, logistics clerks would post all kinds of procurement demands for materials outside the Camp Mansion gates, but those were aimed at large merchants with credentials. Their little merchant guild also had supplies of grain, fodder, and weapons, but they had no door through which to enter that path.

The issuing of qualification documents had to be reviewed by the Black Scale Guards and the Imperial Shadow Guard; how could characters who could reach the heavens be anyone a small merchant guild like them could curry favor with.

Mr. Li rolled his eyes, though his tone carried a hint of respect:

"I’m talking about an imperial proclamation, not a procurement notice. An imperial proclamation, understand? It says that His Majesty and Prince Han have already issued a final ultimatum to the Sect Alliance, and the war will end in a few days."

"...."

The other merchants fell silent at these words.

After a long moment,

someone finally spoke:

"The war will end?"

"Isn’t that just for show."

"How the hell is this kind of war supposed to really end?"

"Ah, stop talking about that stuff....."

"It’s true."

Mr. Li cut off their gradually joking chatter and said seriously:

"That proclamation bears Prince Han’s personal seal. That’s something that’s never happened before!"

The other merchants knew that Mr. Li only had his cultivation because of the public academies, and they also knew his respect for Prince Han. Though they didn’t want to embarrass him, reality was what it was.

"We naturally trust Prince Han, but is that pass really so easy to take? Would Marquis Wucheng, in his venerable age, be stuck here for nearly half a year? I heard from a relative that Lord Zong’s Black Scale Army is already about to rush over from Jingjiang Prefecture....."

In an unnoticed corner of the teahouse, a young man casually set down a few Bronze Coins, then rose and walked out. The peddler’s voice grew faint in his ears, and as his body rose into the air, as his vantage gradually lifted, the din and bustle of the military market slowly receded.

Suspended in the sky, Xu Yuan looked toward the southwest.

Crossing mountains, crossing rivers, at the edge of his vision, a towering giant peak that even mortal eyes could see clearly suddenly came into view.

Clouds and mist coiled around its mid-slopes, dead pines hung upside down from sheer cliffs, jagged rock faces that were impossible to climb thrust up to the heavens, stone walkways linked together at the summit, and palace-like immortal abodes loomed faintly atop.

That was where the Sword Pavilion lay.

Or rather,

its other name was even more widely known under heaven,

Sword Gate Pass.

Here, the Six Dragons Returning Sun Peak met the rivers that surged and twisted against the current; as long as this ancient, mighty pass was knocked open, the iron hooves of the Imperial Court could carve a path into the Shu Heavenly Land. But accomplishing that was easier said than done.

And looking down from the sky,

two vast, sharply divided military encampments had already risen before this ancient, mighty pass, Black Dragon Flags and Imperial Dragon Banners fluttering endlessly within them.

Contrary to what those merchants had heard, Zong Qingsheng’s Central Army Group had already arrived at this Sword Gate half a month ago.

Under the original plan, he and Marquis Wucheng were to combine their forces here to assault the Sect Alliance’s final barrier.

But the birth of the Fallen Sun caused that military order to be delayed. Once he personally arrived at the front line, the Fallen Sun would be detonated atop that towering peak.

To annihilate this ancient, mighty pass with absolute violence.

...It was time.

Xu Yuan lifted his gaze to the clear blue sky, where not a cloud was in sight, and took out a Tianxun Crystal Orb, infusing Origin Qi into it.

From the other end of the Tianxun Crystal Orb, a low, authoritative voice soon emerged:

"Han King."

"I’m here."

"....."

The other side said nothing more at that. A sigh rose unbidden in Xu Yuan’s heart as he looked toward the camp where the military formation was beginning to move.

That was where Marquis Wucheng was.

So it really is you....

He knew

the other man was using the faint fluctuations of Origin Qi during this communication to pinpoint his location.

Without cutting off the Tianxun Crystal Orb’s connection, Xu Yuan simply gazed calmly in the direction of the army camp, waiting for the words that would follow the other man’s silence.

After a short while,

that low and authoritative voice sounded again, carrying final respect:

"Have you...prepared yourself?"

When tens of thousands of officials were thrown into prison, when Di’an sent down the order to delay the delivery of the Fallen Sun, both sides had already understood.

The man who wished to set the world in motion would come to the front line, to give this old era a chance to face him directly.

The Profound Black Dragon Robe fluttered in the wind. Xu Yuan did not answer, but instead said evenly:

"Before we begin, let me ask you a question."

"Please ask."

"If...Qingyan had come with me, would you still act?"

"Yes."

The deep voice held not the slightest hesitation.

After that single word came utter silence.

Xu Yuan lifted his eyelids and looked up at the sky, then smiled:

"Come, then."

Wmm——————

As his words fell,

a vast, blazing beam of light suddenly descended from the heavens, striking the void where Xu Yuan stood without the slightest error.

It came from the Sect Alliance’s space-based weapon.

The tremendous roar caused by this abrupt change instantly sent shockwaves through the distant Camp Mansion, but after so long at war, beyond-line-of-sight strikes were nothing new to the officers and generals. What alarmed them was why the Sect Alliance’s space-based weapon had suddenly detonated over the mountains far from the camp.

But very soon,

an absolute military order from the very top pressed them into silencing their discussions.