The Blade-Wielding Legend

Behind the trenches stood tall wooden fort walls, with watchtowers and lookout towers set at intervals along the walls. Shadows flitted above, their vigilant eyes scanning the surroundings.

At the four corners of the camp, several towering earthen platforms were erected, mounted with fearsome new-style heavy cannons with dark muzzles pointing toward the direction of the Goryeo Ghost Land.

Inside the camp, banners fluttered in the wind, with large flags emblazoned with the characters for "Xuan," "Liaodong," "Border Pacification," fluttering in the cold wind and snow.

The shouts of men, the neighing of horses, the clashing of weapons, the drilling of firearms, and the deep sound of horns mingled together, forming a vast and oppressive atmosphere of war.

The air was filled with the smells of smoke, horse manure, rust, and a faint, pervasive heat formed from countless campfires and human bodies, lingering in the harsh cold.

The entire camp exuded a suffocating aura of deadly intent.

This was the frontline headquarters of the Great Xuan Dynasty’s conquest of Goryeo, where hundreds of thousands of elite troops were stationed!

The Twelve Yuan Chen Squad brought the patrol survivors, and after verifying their identity, entered the camp through a side gate.

The paths inside the camp were wide, but the snow had been trampled into a solid icy crust, and piles of various supplies lined the roads: bundles of swords, spears, and arrows, crates of firearm ammunition, cannon components covered with tarpaulins, and mountains of provisions...

Soldiers in uniforms of various colors shuttled between the tents, some returning from drills, some transporting supplies, and some hurriedly carrying stretchers with wounded towards the medical camps.

The atmosphere was tense yet orderly, with solemnity etched on every face.

They were led to a camp area near the Central Army for settlement.

As soon as the wounded were settled, a soldier came to deliver orders: The Marshal was busy with military affairs and had no time for a personal meeting, but General Gao, who was coordinating, summoned them to the side tent for a discussion.

Inside the side tent, the charcoal fire was burning brightly, dispelling the cold from outside.

An old general, clad in finely crafted mountain-patterned armor and draped in a bearskin cloak, stood with his back to the entrance, gazing at the large map of Liaodong and Goryeo hanging inside the tent.

He turned around at the sound of footsteps, revealing a weathered, chiseled face with eyes that shone like lightning, commanding authority without anger.

Particularly striking was a scar on the left side of his face, slashing diagonally from brow to jaw; though healed, it still exuded a fierce bravery.

"Young Hero Li? Brother Sha? It truly is you!"

The old general, upon seeing Li Yan and Sha Lifei, had a flash of surprise in his eyes and came forward with big strides to greet them.

"General Gao! Long time no see!" Li Yan cupped his fists in salute.

Sha Lifei and the others also paid their respects.

During the previous Southwest War, this General Gao had been stationed in Chengdu and had witnessed Li Yan’s dragon subjugation skills, for which he held great admiration.

The atmosphere instantly became lively at the meeting of old friends.

"Unscathed, my ass!" Gao Zhenxiong waved his hand, dismissing the personal soldiers, and invited the crowd to sit around the charcoal brazier. The joy on his face was soon replaced by heavy worry.

"This damned place is ten times more sinister than back in the Southwest! I’d rather fight with savages in the mountains than gamble my life with invisible ghosts in this icy wilderness!"

He picked up the fire tongs and poked at the charcoal; sparks crackled and snapped. "Your arrival is timely! Lord Pei’s secret letter has arrived, praising you all to the skies. However, the situation here is more troublesome than over in Kuerka!"

Gao Zhenxiong pointed at a heavily marked large arc region along the Yalu River and Changbai Mountain on the map, speaking with a serious tone: "Do you see it? This is the ’Grinding Plate,’ or rather the range covered by the ’Yin Yang Inversion Array,’ which is still slowly expanding!"

"During the day, the fog obscures the eyes, Ghost Walls are commonplace; at night, a Hundred Demons run rampant, with all sorts of evil spirits emerging. Not to mention those ghostly soldiers and horses controlled by Evil Skills from Japan, specifically targeting supply routes, appearing and disappearing unpredictably, impossible to guard against."

"The main force of the army is being held firmly along this line, unable to move an inch. The court has sent a large number of Mystical Sect experts, Daoist priests from Dragon and Tiger Mountain, Gezao Mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, Maoshan... elders and elite disciples of every faction are present, dispersed across major camps and crucial points, setting up ’Soul Suppressing,’ ’Evil Exorcism,’ ’Breaking Evil,’ and various Great Arrays, collaborating with the army’s elite to continuously suppress and eliminate the ghosts infiltrating and the Evil Cultivators attempting to sabotage the array lines."

Li Yan nodded and said: "With so many people here, it should be stable, right?"

Gao Zhenxiong paused, his brows tightly furrowed, "The problem lies exactly there. Just like what you guys encountered earlier, there are always some small elite ghost soldiers that slip through like shadows!"

"They specifically target patrols on the outskirts with brutal tactics, striking and retreating instantly, never lingering. We’ve lost quite a few good brothers!"

Gao Zhenxiong stood up, pacing a couple of steps in the tent, his voice filled with suppressed anger and profound confusion: "The Daoists in the army are also baffled by this."

"The sensing array they’ve jointly laid out covers most of the border area and several passes, but there’s no response. We suspect there’s a secret passage, but we can never find it."

"If the Yin Yang Reversal Formation is broken, and the army advances, yet these guys aren’t found, we will be attacked from both sides. The General is very concerned about this issue."

"Please rest first, and try tomorrow; if we can find them, it will remove a major worry from our hearts!"

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