I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

As the lights in the council chamber came on one by one, the twilight outside the window was spreading from the horizon into the city.

On the long, narrow rosewood conference table lay a military map of the area surrounding Fen Gu Pass. The map, outlined in fine, spiritual ink lines, depicted the main pass of Fen Gu Pass, the four side passes, and the surrounding mountains and rivers. Each strategic point was marked with a small label, the handwriting neat and dense.

The map shows signs of multiple folds along its edges, and several markings have been repeatedly modified. The ink has been layered on top of each other, and in some places the writing is so blurred that it is difficult to recognize.

Lin Che sat in the main seat, his gaze fixed on the map.

Both sides were filled with people: Lin Xuanqi, Lin Xuanjing, Lin Xuanfeng, Lin Xuandong, Zhihei, Lin Xinyao, Lin Xinqing, and Lin Xinyao, filling both sides of the long table in the council hall.

The light from the lamps fell evenly from the array of patterns on the ceiling, casting a halo of light at the same angle on every face, illuminating the expressions of those deep in thought.

"This is the latest situation at the Burning Bone Pass." Zhihei spoke first, his voice coming from behind the mask.

He stood up, walked to the map, pointed his fingertip at the location of the main pass of Burning Bone Pass, and pressed a shallow indentation into the paper with his knuckle.

"According to the intelligence sent back by the last batch of spies from Xuanwang, the main pass of Burning Bone Pass is currently occupied by the tribe of the Gale Eagle Demon King. The number of demonic birds entrenched in the city is about 12,000 to 15,000, mainly Gale Eagles and Iron Feather Eagles, with a small number of Crimson Beak Eagles as the elite force, distributed on the top of the pass walls and the high points in the city, controlling the airspace of the main pass."

His finger moved eastward along Burning Bone Pass and stopped at Listening Wind Pass: "The situation at Listening Wind Pass is slightly different. There is no large-scale garrison there, only scattered monsters roaming around. They are mainly some scattered monsters that have fallen behind in the beast tide and have not formed an organized defense."

The situation at Zhan Yao Pass was similar to that at Zhen Yue Pass; the defensive forces were clearly insufficient. This was mainly because the tribes of the three demon emperors split up after breaching Fen Gu Pass. The Mad Wind Eagle Demon Emperor occupied the main pass, while the tribes of the Earth-Splitting Bear Demon Emperor and the Azure Ridge Python Demon Emperor continued their advance towards Black Wind Ridge, leaving very few troops at the side passes.

"In other words, the real resistance lies at the main pass." Lin Xuanjing tapped his finger lightly on the table, his gaze falling on the map. "If we cut in from the direction of Tingfeng Pass, take the side pass first, and then concentrate our forces to press on the main pass from the flank, wouldn't that be easier than a frontal assault? Although the walls of Tingfeng Pass are also damaged, they can at least serve as a staging area for ground troops, which is better than facing an air raid directly on open ground."

Zhihei shook his head: "The tribe of the Gale Eagle Demon King controls the airspace. If we advance along the ground from the east, they will discover us immediately and then concentrate their superior forces to suppress us in the air."

Their air superiority is immense. Although the Dawn Army is equipped with a certain number of flying spirit beasts, their numbers and experience are insufficient to confront tens of thousands of demonic birds in the air. Once ground troops are exposed in open areas, their dive attacks will inflict heavy casualties on us.

"Then we won't walk on the ground." Lin Xuanfeng's voice came from the corner. He had been sitting quietly at the very end of the long table, and only spoke now, leaning forward slightly with his hands folded on the table.

"We have the Azure-Eyed Eagle army. If we can find a hidden aerial route to cut off the Gale Eagle Demon King's airspace perception and destroy their air superiority, the pressure on the ground troops will be much less. Although the Azure-Eyed Eagles are not as fast as the Gale Eagles, when they fly low and close to the ground, their outlines are difficult for high-altitude sentries to detect."

Lin Xinyao opened the notebook in front of her, the rustling of the pages clear in the quiet council hall: "There are currently 3,600 Azure-Eyed Eagles with second-tier strength. If we can achieve numerical superiority in a local area, we can suppress the local airspace for a short time. When 3,600 Azure-Eyed Eagles take off at the same time, their coverage area is enough to form a temporary aerial shield zone above the cliff platform, which will last for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Lin Xuanfeng added, "The locations of the demonic birds' nests on the main city wall are distributed in a regular pattern. They are stationed in sections along the wall, with obvious gaps between each section. If we can first establish temporary air control points in these gaps, the ground troops can carry out the siege operation under relatively safe conditions. There will be a gap about every 150 zhang, and the width is enough to allow a small team to pass through at one time."

Lin Xuanjing pondered for a moment, then drew a circle on the map at the location of the cliff platform: "There's another question. The defensive array on the city wall. The Gale Eagle tribe has occupied Burning Bone Pass for almost three years. Is it possible that they have repaired some of the defensive array patterns? If there is an array, even the most basic defensive array will make the siege much more difficult."

"Impossible." Lin Xuanqing's voice came from the other side. Today she was wearing a dark gray short-sleeved outfit that was easy to move in, and the traces of Lingmo were faintly visible on the cuffs, as if she had just rushed over from the workshop.

"Based on my master's observations when he broke through the Burning Bone Pass, all the core array patterns were damaged. Even if the Gale Eagle tribe could understand the array pattern structure, they couldn't activate the array. They could only reinforce some physical facilities, but the array system could never be repaired. Those core array bases were completely destroyed in the beast tide. The broken spiritual paths were concentrated at the bottom of the array base, which is the foundation of the entire array."

Zhihei also corroborated this: "According to our long-term observation, there is no trace of repair to the formations along the Burning Bone Pass. Our spies have never seen any formation light up during months of surveillance, not even the most basic warning formation has been activated."

Listening to their discussion, Lin Che's gaze moved across the map, finally settling on the south side of the main pass of Burning Bone Pass, where there was a location marked as "Cliff Platform".

"I remember the battle report mentioned that this was the breakthrough point. When the beast tide broke through Burning Bone Pass, the monsters broke through from this platform. If there are still physical traces left on the platform, it means that the structure of that section of the wall has been damaged. Even without the assistance of the formation, that is the easiest entrance to open."

He pressed his fingertip on that spot, his fingertip tracing the edge of the mark: "That section of the wall suffered the most concentrated impact during the beast tide. Not only is the wall cracked, but the foundation may also have subsided. As long as we can reach the bottom of that section of the wall, the engineering team can complete the demolition in a very short time."

Lin Xuanqi had been listening quietly, and then spoke up: "The problem is how to reach that section of the wall under the aerial blockade of the Gale Eagles. The ground advance from the direction of Tingfeng Pass will be detected in advance, and the air route will also be at risk of being intercepted. If the Gale Eagles deploy defenses above the cliff platform in advance, we will face the strongest air suppression in the early stages of the siege."

"Then we'll prevent them from deploying in advance." Lin Che's gaze lingered for a moment on the location of the cliff platform on the map. "We'll split into three groups. The first group, led by Xin Qing, will infiltrate the outer perimeter of Burning Bone Pass in advance, approaching the area below the cliff platform from the ground to confirm the basic condition of the city wall there."

They need to operate at night, using the terrain for cover to approach the target, and return to report before the main attack begins.

The second route, led by Xuan Jing, will advance the main force of the Dawn Army from the direction of Tingfeng Pass. The speed does not need to be fast, but it is essential to make sure that the sentries of the Gale Eagles see it, thereby attracting the attention of the main force of the Gale Eagles.

This is a feint attack force. We don't need them to actually breach the city walls; we just need to make Gale Eagles think that the main attack direction is from the east.

The third route, led by Xuanfeng, involved the Azure Eagle Brigade and elite guards circling from high altitudes to break through airspace control behind the main pass on the south side and establish an air control point at the cliff platform.

Their flight path needed to bypass the main patrol area of ​​the Gale Eagles, approaching their targets by flying low to the ground and using terrain cover.

Lin Xuanjing's gaze moved between the markings on the map: "If the main force of the Gale Eagles is drawn to the east, there will indeed be gaps in the airspace defense on the south side. However, the Gale Eagles fly very fast, and once they discover an aerial threat on the south side, they will not have much time to return to defend."

The Gale Eagle's cruising speed is nearly 20% faster than the Azure-Eyed Eagle's, and it only takes about a hundred breaths to return from the east to the south.

"It doesn't need to be too long." Lin Che pointed to the location of the cliff platform. "The time it takes for an incense stick to burn will be enough for the ground troops to complete their advance from the east towards the cliff."

Once the ground troops are in place, the air force's mission will be complete. The cliff platform is less than ten feet above the ground; the engineers can breach it in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea after reaching the base.

Zhihei was silent for a moment, then his voice came again from behind the mask, lower than before, as if he were verifying the flaws in the deduction one by one: "The demon beast garrisons at Zhanyao Pass and Zhenyue Pass are not many, but if the battle at the main pass begins, will the scattered demon beasts at the side passes be attracted by the commotion at the main pass and put pressure on us from the flank? Although those scattered demon beasts do not have a unified command, once they are attracted by the smell of blood in the battle, they may spontaneously gather towards the main pass."

"This is also a problem we need to consider." Lin Che's gaze swept across the two side passes on the map in turn, and then fell back to the cliff platform. "If the monsters at the side passes really move towards the main pass, then let them come. What we need is for the feint attack force in the east to hold back the main force of the Gale Eagles in the air, not to actually block all the flank threats."

Once the cliff platform is breached, the main gate's monster defense line will collapse, and the monsters on the side gates will not be able to mount a sustained counterattack without unified command.

Lin Xinqing said in a deep voice, "If the Gale Eagles choose to abandon the main pass and retreat northeast after discovering that the cliff platform has been captured, will we pursue them? Given their flight speed, once they leave the pass's perimeter, it will be difficult to form an effective interception on the ground."

"No pursuit." Lin Che's voice was calm. "Our goal is to recapture Burning Bone Pass and establish a solid defense line, not to annihilate the Gale Eagle tribe. As long as they do not continue to occupy Burning Bone Pass, we do not need to actively pursue them."

Once Burning Bone Pass is recaptured, the Gale Eagles will lose their nesting grounds within the city and will find it difficult to maintain large-scale aerial formations in the wild for extended periods, thus naturally reducing their threat.

The meeting lasted for nearly two hours. Night seeped in through the cracks in the window, dimming the light in the room from bright to dim, and then reigniting the lamps from that dim light.

The group discussed, revised, and confirmed the siege plan item by item. The list of supplies was checked one by one during the circulation of the plan. The marching route was checked three times on the map until everyone had a clear understanding of their respective responsibilities and the timing of the operation.

Finally, Lin Che stood up, placed his hands on the edge of the table, and scanned each face on either side of the long table: "Three days from dawn, the Dawn Army will assemble outside Listening Wind Pass. In this battle, we must not only show the Fang family's spies our determination to recapture Burning Bone City, but also demonstrate the power of the Lin family in the Southern Region! Let's go!"

"Yes," the crowd responded in unison, their voices briefly merging in the council chamber before being replaced by the sounds of chairs sliding back and boots hitting the ground as they rose in turn.

…………

Three days later, the morning light slowly spread over the ridgeline of the eastern section of the Fulong Mountains, gilding the dew-soaked grass with a layer of fine gold, and the air was filled with the scent of earth and dew. At the temporary assembly point eighty miles east of Fen Gu Pass, the six battalions of the Dawn Army had already lined up, their orderly ranks appearing as thousands of figures in the morning light.

The iron-gray spirit armor gleamed with a dark luster in the morning light, and the crimson trim formed a continuous, flowing line in the ranks, spreading along the edge of the formation like a bloodline awakening.

In the air, the army of Azure-Eyed Eagles circled at low altitude, adjusting their formations. The sound of their wings flapping merged into a continuous, tidal wave of sound, stirring up the dust on the ground and then letting it fall back into place.

"Let's go." Lin Xuanjing's voice came from the front of the formation.

He stood on the deck of the airship, his gaze passing over the starting engine of the spirit ship and landing on the outline of the pass wall that was emerging in the morning light in the distance.

The Dawn Army began to move north, with ground and air forces advancing in tandem, pressing towards Burning Bone Pass along the predetermined route.

The sound of footsteps on the ground and the flapping of wings in the air intertwined, like a march composed of two different timbres. As the distance shortened, the density of the sound waves continued to rise.

Lin Che stood at the bow of a flying boat, his gaze passing over the advancing procession and landing on the outline of the dilapidated city wall of Burning Bone Pass.

The once majestic wall took on a grayish-white appearance in the morning light. The wall was covered with dents and cracks left by the beast tide. These cracks stretched from the middle of the wall to the top, like old wounds that had not yet healed, casting shadows of varying depths under the slanting morning light.

The grooves and patterns on the wall have been mostly filled in by the wind and sand, leaving only shallow indentations. These indentations sometimes appear and sometimes disappear into the texture of the wall as the angle of light changes.

When the first advance troops entered Tingfeng Pass, they encountered almost no substantial resistance.

The spirit lamps inside the walls of Tingfeng Pass have all been extinguished, and the array patterns and grooves on the walls have been mostly filled by the wind and sand, leaving only shallow indentations that appear as an almost white gray in the morning light. The direction of those indentations, under the light, resembles an old ditch washed by water, with the edges worn smooth.

A few scattered low-level demonic beasts fled towards the other side of the wall the moment they saw the troops, disappearing into the ruins and rubble to the west. Their footsteps faded quickly on the rubble and were soon swallowed by the wind.

Lin Xuanjing stood on the city wall of Tingfeng Pass, his gaze passing over the wasteland repeatedly trampled by the beast tide, and landing in the direction of the main pass of Fengu Pass.

There, black dots began to appear in the airspace above the barrier, converging at a slow but steady pace, forming a continuous, solidified cloud-like layer covering the area above the barrier.

These black dots rise from behind the battlements, from the top of the city gate, and from the gaps in the broken tower, like numerous tiny fragments awakened by the same command, piecing together a complete shadow at an ever-increasing speed.

"They've discovered us." Lin Xuanjing's gaze was fixed on the expanding dark area. "Proceed according to plan."

The next instant, a continuous, high-pitched cry came from the direction of Burning Bone Pass. The sound pierced through the morning mist, like a stretched metal wire vibrating in mid-air, carrying a frequency that could make the listener's back tense slightly.

The flock of demonic birds that had been hovering above the gate began to move eastward. Thousands of black dots transformed into a flowing arc, breaking off from above the gate and pressing towards the Dawn Army at an extremely fast speed, like a dark cloud that was tilting, with tiny rays of light refracting on the surface of its feathers at the edges.

Lin Che's gaze fell on the dark cloud that was moving, and then he turned his eyes toward the cliff platform to the south.

There, the first airborne troops are approaching its airspace.