The journey to the front lines did not happen all at once.
Under General Li Huxin's banner, they moved from one subsidiary clan to the next, stopping briefly at each stronghold along the way. Orders were delivered, banners unfurled, and cultivators—young and old—answered the call.
Some came out of loyalty.
Some out of ambition.
Others because this was the only chance they would ever get to step onto a real battlefield.
Each stop added more men to the growing force behind them.
By the time they reached Li Huxin's assigned military camp, the column stretched long across the plains—armored cultivators, spear units, scouts, and reserve forces from dozens of subsidiary clans. Many were not Li Family clansmen at all, but powerful individuals who had sworn temporary military service.
