After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

The imperial edict from the capital arrived quickly.

The messenger was replaced by an altar servant.

Everyone assumed that His Majesty was well aware of the urgent military situation and had specially dispatched a highly skilled retainer to deliver the order.

He unfolded the yellow silk and read it aloud in front of all the generals in the tent.

The first half is a commendation to the soldiers in the North, and the wording is as solemn as ever.

The latter part of the speech indicates that reinforcements and supplies are on their way and will arrive within ten days. The Northern Army is ordered to remain in place and hold out to trap the remnants of the Sirius forces. Once the reinforcements arrive, the city will be breached in one fell swoop.

Tu Shan Jing received the imperial edict with a joyful expression.

"Good!" He slammed the edict on the table. "His Majesty has indeed not given up this opportunity."

Most of the generals in the tent looked excited.

What no one noticed was that a few generals remained silent, their faces grim.

In the following days, Tu Shan Jing and his generals finalized a series of siege plans.

They are just waiting for reinforcements to arrive before launching a general offensive.

But Jiang Yan noticed some details.

Several of the Tushan retainers appeared less and less frequently in military councils.

Several veterans also seemed to be quieter than usual.

He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

But after two years of fighting, his intuition told him that the atmosphere was changing.

On the evening of the sixth day, Jian Li practiced her sword outside the tent, while Ao Tianxin leaned against a pillar beside her.

Jiang Yan walked over and stood next to her.

"Tianxin, if anything happens in the next few days, have Jianli stay close to you."

Ao Tianxin raised her eyelids and glanced at him, but didn't ask any questions; she simply nodded.

Jian Li sheathed her sword and looked over, seemingly wanting to ask something, but Jiang Yan silenced her with a single glance.

……

Inside the capital of Sirius.

Inside the palace.

Duan Linyuan stood with his hands behind his back by the window, gazing at the gloomy sky outside.

The Heavenly Wolf National Preceptor stood behind him with his hands at his sides.

There was another person standing next to the Imperial Advisor.

The person was tall and slender, with wings on their back, the edges of which were surrounded by a faint, dark golden halo.

Yu Lingxiao, a general from the Xuan Yu Dynasty, is also at the Mahayana stage.

Duan Linyuan stared at the low-hanging clouds outside the window. The wind blew the banners outside the palace, making a fluttering sound.

"The wind is picking up."

……

Noon on the tenth day.

Behind the northern military camp, a dark cloud loomed over the horizon.

The dark cloud moved extremely fast, and in a short while it had covered half of the sky.

Almost all the cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage in the camp simultaneously sensed that undisguised killing intent.

Tu Shan Jing rushed out of the central command tent, looked up at the southern sky, and his expression changed drastically.

It wasn't dark clouds, it was the army of the Xuan Yu Dynasty.

A densely packed army of winged creatures swept in, their ranks so orderly it was breathtaking.

Cangwu stood on a small earthen slope outside the camp gate, staring at the approaching array of wings, his face grim.

He was also a member of the Feather Clan, but he was clearly not one of these people, and there was even some hatred in his eyes.

The army of the Xuanyu Dynasty was composed entirely of winged demon race members.

Although ordinary demons can fly after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, it consumes a huge amount of spiritual energy. Therefore, most armies of various countries mainly ride warhorses with demon bloodlines.

The Feathered Race is different. Every Foundation Establishment Feathered Race member has a flight speed comparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator. Coupled with their innate advantages, their flight consumes almost no spiritual energy.

If we were to make a precise calculation, it would take at least three times the number of troops to fight against an equal number of Feathered Race members, but right now, a full 50,000 are pressing in.

The 50,000-strong winged army stopped five miles away.

Its jet-black wings obscured half the sky, looking up from the ground like an ominous dam stretching across the horizon.

The Tu Shan army was caught in the middle.

Ahead lies the capital of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom, and behind lies the Xuan Yu army.

Everyone can see that this is no coincidence.

Tu Shan Jing took a deep breath, suppressing his surging unease, and said in a deep voice, "Send someone to ask them what they mean."

Before he finished speaking, a commotion suddenly broke out in the army.

It wasn't an enemy attack; it was our own people moving.

Several armies stationed on the edge of the camp suddenly broke camp and quickly broke away to the flanks.

The team was led by several Tushan generals, who moved extremely quickly, clearly having been prepared in advance.

Immediately afterwards, several powerful auras swept out from the offering camp, and several Tushan offerings took off into the air at the same time, flying towards the Xuan Yu army without looking back.

"What are you doing!" Tu Shan Jing's pupils shrank sharply as he shouted.

No one answered him.

The generals had already led their soldiers to retreat to the flanks, while the retainers hovered in mid-air, their eyes fixed on their comrades who remained behind with complex expressions.

In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the original nearly 200,000 Tushan army was reduced to less than 120,000.

These people were almost all of Tu Shan Jing's trusted subordinates who had been with him for many years, as well as Jiang Yan's Northern Expeditionary Army.

The generals who remained were all loyal to Tu Shanlie.

The answer speaks for itself.

Tu Shanxiang watched those departing figures, his clenched knuckles cracking.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

Because the protective formation of the capital city of Sirius has been activated.

A light curtain, tens of feet high, slowly descended from the city wall, and the city gates opened.

The Heavenly Wolf National Preceptor stood atop the city wall, looking down with a cold gaze.

The Sirius Army poured out of the city, their wolf banners unfurling in the wind.

At the same time, the Xuan Yu Dynasty's 50,000 Feather Clan members began their advance from the rear.

The two armies, one in front and one behind, sandwiched the Tushan camp in the middle.

350,000 to 120,000.

Moreover, those troops that broke away encountered no resistance.

The Sirius Army and the Xuanyu Army bypassed their formation without even glancing at them.

"Damn it," Pei Xiao cursed.

"Fight the enemy!" Tu Shan Jing roared, drawing his sword.

In a very short time, the 120,000 soldiers completed the formation change, with shield bearers at the outermost layer, infantry in formation inside, and ranged cultivators at the rear.

Despite being attacked from both sides, morale remains high.

But wars are never won by morale alone.

The aftershocks of spiritual energy exploded across the battlefield, fireballs and wind blades raged through the crowd, and soldiers from both sides clashed together.

In the sky, Cangwu, Lu Zhanshuang, and the other two remaining retainers kept the enemy's Void Refinement and Integration cultivators tightly bound above the clouds.

But the difference in numbers is too great.

The spear formation on the south side was forced to retreat continuously by the wolf cavalry, while the shield formation on the north side began to show gaps under the continuous bombardment and dive attacks of the Xuan Yu army.

Jiang Yanchong was at the forefront, his twin swords clashing and slashing through the enemy ranks.

Jian Li followed closely behind, her white soft armor splattered with blood. The sword light of the Human Emperor's Sword Technique remained precise and ruthless amidst the chaos of battle.

But that's not enough.

The encirclement of 350,000 men is tightening little by little, and more and more Tushan soldiers are falling.

Tu Shan Jing swung his sword backhand, the sword energy surging like a frost-covered river. The approaching Tianlang general was cleaved in two, armor and all. Before the blood mist could dissipate, he had already turned around.

Looking back at the vast, empty southern horizon, the terrifying suspicion in my mind was gradually confirmed.

Reinforcements are not coming.

Something must have happened in the capital.