"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The wind and clouds surged, and war drums thundered.
Spirit arks lay arrayed across the border of the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
Cultivators clad in helmets and armor prepared for military duty aboard the vessels.
These spirit arks were positioned tens of miles apart, nearly encircling the entire Duravia Trade Prefecture.
This arrangement allowed them to communicate and provide rapid mutual support, or at the very least, to track the enemy's movements.
The largest among these spirit arks was heading toward the heartland of the Duravia Trade Prefecture, carrying elite soldiers.
Two soldiers were drawing back a giant crossbow inscribed with runes, loading the massive war spiritual artifact.
As is common on the battlefield, the soldiers chatted to ease their tension before the fight.
"You're from the Northern Border? I heard the Demon Clan there is ferocious, and your General has a resounding reputation."
"Hmph, I've survived twenty-seven battles.
Go ask around and see how many can live that long under my Commander's command.
Your 'Blood-Red Armor General' is better; she's famous for winning battles."
"Brother, you don't actually think our victories come easy, do you?
Once you're on the battlefield in Duskwild Prefecture, it's nothing but a sea of people.
A single battle involves tens of thousands; you can't even tell friend from foe.
An expert unleashes a technique with a boom, and people just die."
"Is it... Really that brutal?"
As they chatted, they glanced toward the Immortal Domain of the Duravia Trade Prefecture. The two looked at each other and smiled.
"I have to say, the scenery here is truly fine. The twenty thousand brothers who came this time are in for a treat; the long trek wasn't in vain."
"We brought thirty thousand from the battlefields of Duskwild Prefecture.
We're itching for the command arrow to be fired, just to see who dares to provoke the War Goddess of the Duskwild battlefield."
At the stern of the spirit ark.
Clad in her blood-red armor, Li Tianyue stepped into the territory of the Duravia Trade Prefecture, yet she could still feel the cold wind blowing from Azure Cloud Prefecture.
She had remained on the battlefields of Duskwild Prefecture for decades, even centuries at a time.
"Xinghuo, Wandong, have the two of you arranged matters at your home in the Northern Border?"
Li Tianyue spoke these words lightly, causing Li Xinghuo and Zishu Wandong, who were also clad in armor, to nod.
Li Xinghuo replied, "Reporting to High Ancestor Tianyue, this child has already ordered the concubines and unworthy juniors of the family to go to the Grand Tutor's estate.
Even if the Zhao Clan has some influence outside, it will not reach the younger generation."
As they spoke, the couple's respect for Li Tianyue grew even deeper.
Even though Li Xinghuo's reputation as the Commander of the Asura Army was significant in the Northern Border—famous, even, throughout the world—he knew full well that if his Asura Army were to set foot on the battlefields of Duskwild Prefecture, they likely wouldn't even be able to touch a hair on Li Tianyue's grand army.
In recent years, Li Tianyue's fame had not been as great as Li Xinghuo's, yet Li Xinghuo knew that Li Tianyue was no different from a Commander-in-Chief.
Even back when she was at the Nascent Soul stage, she was often at Old General Dongfang Lianwu's side.
That the Azure Dynasty's defensive line in Duskwild Prefecture has resisted Prince Yu to this day is due, in no small measure, to Li Tianyue's contributions.
And the battle against the Zhao Clan in the Duravia Trade Prefecture is under Li Tianyue's command!
"Good." Li Tianyue nodded with a calm expression.
Returning once more to the family's land, she was filled with emotion.
During the many years she had spent fighting in Duskwild Prefecture, the family had grown to its current state.
This was something her generation had longed for, yet had struggled in vain to achieve themselves.
Now, under Li Xinnian's leadership, the family has truly grown to such magnitude.
She was particularly concerned about the safety of the family's future generations.
"Since the arrangements have been made, then let us throw caution to the wind and fight."
With those words, the two entered the cabin of the spirit ark.
On the table, a spirit stone buzzed incessantly with the voices of the Li clan's spies.
"There is unusual movement among the members of the Immortal Zhao Clan; they must have learned of the events in the Imperial Capital."
"Of the twelve regions in the Duravia Trade Prefecture, the six major Regional Cities are preparing for war, and their experts have already been invited to the Immortal Domain."
"The Zhao Clan has fifty-three Divinity Transformation cultivators.
After the Martial Emperor arrived in the Duravia Trade Prefecture, nearly half of them vanished.
I suspect they have gone to our Azure Cloud Prefecture, or perhaps to the other territories held by our Li clan."
"The Zhao Clan has raised their grand formations. Within the Immortal Domain, there are Killing Formations, Illusion Formations, and Trapping Formations—all of them Rank 4!"
"..."
Li Tianyue's expression remained calm. Having commanded a grand army in the Grand Duskwild Prefecture for many years, she had seen battles of every magnitude.
She looked at Li Xinghuo and spoke calmly, "The Zhao Clan has raised their formations and dispatched their Divinity Transformation cultivators, yet their Void Refining cultivators are nowhere to be seen.
I surmise they intend to send a portion of their forces to wreak havoc in Azure Cloud Prefecture.
If a fire starts in our backyard, our Li clan's reinforcements will be forced to return.
As long as the grand formations in the various Regions remain unbroken, they can support one another and subsequently besiege our Li clan."
Li Xinghuo gazed at the sand table on the desk, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Could the Zhao Clan have laid a trap? Such a deployment of troops is riddled with flaws."
"You forget: they have never fought a war."
Li Tianyue remained expressionless. "It is just like how they imitate my Li clan in everything, yet accomplish nothing."
She simply stopped looking at the sand table and walked to the prow of the spirit ark.
Gazing at the Duravia Trade Prefecture and letting the fierce wind beat against her face, she said, "No wonder the Old Ancestor said to crush them. Notify Xinnian."
"Charge in!"
In the distance, the juniors of the Northern Border Li family had also arrived.
Li Xinghuo had fathered many concubine-born heirs over the years, but the eldest among them, Li Xinri, was a notorious profligate scion.
Of the entire Northern Border Li clan, only one young girl had truly risen to prominence.
Li Zhijing.
This young girl was sitting on the back of her grandfather's Nine-Headed Ghost Lion.
The Ghost Lion seemed displeased, yet it dared not provoke the granddaughter its master doted on, so it could only snort continuously in protest.
"What's your problem? Hmph! If it weren't for the fact that you're my grandfather's mount, I'd stew you for my daddy to eat!"
Li Zhijing was not 'still' or 'quiet' in the slightest.
She wrinkled her nose, and as she gazed at Li Tianyue's upright back, her face was filled with envy.
"Is this an ancestor from the Main Family? She's so formidable; even Grandfather is respectful and submissive in front of her. I heard there are many such elders in the clan."
As she spoke, she looked in the direction of the Immortal Domain.
"The Zhao Clan must be an incredible aristocratic family, perhaps even as powerful as the Grand Commander of Northguard City. Hee hee, once I establish merit, I can take Daddy to see the Old Ancestor."