In the border area, an atmosphere of tension suddenly appeared. The sound of marching feet from an army numbering more than fifty thousand could make listeners feel spirited, while at the same time being an excellent way to intimidate the enemy.
Just seeing the readiness of these military movements, the high-level group of the dog-ear army trembled with excitement.
They had never dreamed that in just over one month, that mysterious new "marshal" could transform an ordinary army to look this brave and strong, causing their gazes when staring at the tent where the marshal and close associates stayed to be filled with admiration.
"...There's still no news of Grandmaster Bai at all."
In that tent, an elderly man in butler's attire politely poured tea for the other two people, while his expression was full of concern.
"Lady Bai Fanxian will be fine. There's no way anything in this dimension's world could harm her." The one who answered was the man in the position of marshal. He gave thanks and lifted the tea to take a sip.
"The Exalted One definitely won't have any problems."
The other old man who served as the army's "military advisor" also confirmed his thinking in the same way. Although he wasn't close with her, both the power and abilities he'd seen made him dare to decide.
That's right, these three people were Zhang Xianyuan, Huang Zihuan, and that elderly village chief!
After being sucked into this dimension's world, they weren't as fortunate as Bai Fanxian and Xie Suyao who coincidentally appeared near each other. In Zhang Xianyuan's case, he appeared at the northern frontier where he almost didn't encounter any living things at all. But because of his strength at the ninth-stage Grandmaster level, nothing could harm him. He wandered down quietly for nearly a week before coincidentally encountering Huang Zihuan and the elderly village chief by chance.
With Huang Zihuan's abilities, upon arriving in this dimension's world, he surveyed all abnormalities first. What he found was that this world had no "humans" living in it at all. He therefore chose to hide his own appearance through old cloaks and went out searching for information continuously.
Until the elderly butler could roughly conclude the rules and way of life of the people, he then suggested concealing their identities through these cloaks and masks first.
And using joining with the dog-ear tribe, trying to climb up with Zhang Xianyuan's power. How could a marshal-level figure from the previous world be weak or have no knowledge at all? He demonstrated ability in training armies and leading troops marvelously.
As for the village chief beneath the clouds who was stuck with them, he had tremendous knowledge in resource and people management. His position as village chief wasn't something inherited through bloodline, so his abilities in this area were genuine.
All three thought similarly to Bai Fanxian. If they were to search for people in an unknown world, they had to make themselves prominent or have high-level intelligence authority.
"Speaking of which, there's interesting news from the east."
Huang Zihuan spoke up.
"Recently, an extremely skilled swordsman has appeared in the east. It seems that beside him there's always a small child."
"...Sword Saint Zheng Renyi, then?" Zhang Xianyuan nodded in acknowledgment. It seemed he didn't need to worry too much about that old man.
"Honestly, I don't want to help with waging war like this at all..."
The village chief beneath the clouds sighed. He himself was already elderly, and had a rather gentle heart. Using his knowledge for these matters was quite against his feelings.
"That's why we chose this strategy, isn't it?"
Zhang Xianyuan himself was the same. Although he was a marshal, he didn't want his hands unnecessarily stained with blood. So they planned to march suddenly close to the border like this to pressure the cat-ear tribe who couldn't prepare in time to surrender without bloodshed.
If possible, he wanted to negotiate with the city's authorities. If they would let their army pass through peacefully, Zhang Xianyuan wouldn't need to harm anyone.
So it depended on "that side" who they would send to negotiate.
.
.
.
On the side of the cat-ear tribe's border city, the situation in the city was in a state of severe tension. By the time their army could travel here, this city would probably have already become rubble.
The city's high-level officials were urgently trying to find solutions. Even if they conscripted the entire city to go out and fight to receive that army, they feared it wouldn't be enough.
"What should we do, City Lord?" A cat-eared man of some age turned to ask the city lord of this border city with a hopeless attitude.
In this meeting room were about ten people. They were all people with authority in this city one way or another. But when this situation occurred, those authorities of theirs became immediately useless.
"...Has Lord Ethan still not come?" The city lord of the border city himself was worried.
He asked for the old man who had the status of head of this city's Travelers' Association.
"Lord Ethan is trying to gather travelers in the city... but it probably won't help much."
One person in the room answered. In a crisis situation where they could barely save themselves, most travelers naturally would choose to abandon this city without care.
They weren't that attached to the city. Therefore, their lives and safety were more important.
At that very moment, the tightly closed room door suddenly opened. It was the old man Ethan they'd just spoken about who came running breathlessly into the room with joy on his face.
"Lord Ethan, where have you been..."
Before one man in the room could finish scolding with displeasure, Ethan interrupted first.
"They... they've agreed to help..."
"What? Who? Please speak clearly." The city lord himself frowned. He tried to tell Ethan to calm down first.
"The two sisters... those two sisters have agreed to help us!"
.
.
.
The atmosphere at the border was heating up. The dog-ear tribe's army had marched until close, with only a few more steps before they could cross the border between the two species.
Opposite was the cat-ear side, which had only a small patrol unit sent to face them. They numbered only a few hundred people because they had to divide some soldiers to protect the city.
When comparing quantities, it seemed like they were clearly being sent to sacrifice.
The patrol unit leader was trembling. He was shouldering the lives of several hundred subordinates on his shoulders. But now, because he was pressured until there was no choice—no matter how brave he was—he thought his patrol unit couldn't handle an army of over fifty thousand people!
When the situation was about to become hopeless, from that side about three representatives walked forward.
They proclaimed loudly:
"This is an order and mercy from our marshal! Border city, listen well! If you surrender and let us pass, no one will have to die. We promise we won't create damage to your city, and will treat you according to the rights the defeated should have!"
At first, they were quite displeased with this course of action decided by the marshal. But since no one could oppose the marshal, and he had created such evident achievements, they could only concede.
Because the conflict between species didn't disappear easily!
"What should we do, leader?" One patrol soldier turned to ask the leader with a trembling voice. They seemed to have no other choice besides this.
"...We'll have to surrender accordingly." Their leader gritted his teeth. Although they'd lose dignity, if they could preserve lives first, it was naturally best.
But before he could go out to agree, in front of him suddenly appeared the figures of two women.
No one saw where they came from. But what confirmed they were women was the curves under those large cloaks that still protruded prominently.
Although they wore hoods completely covering their faces, they still recognized both of them!
"Elder Sister... Second Sister?"
It seemed this form of address had spread even to the soldiers. Bai Fanxian turned back to that patrol unit leader and spoke one sentence.
"Leave this to me to handle..."
The situation on this battlefield looked extremely strange.
Because after the dog-ear side proclaimed their demands, not long after, two women appeared walking straight toward their army of over fifty thousand without fear.
"I want to speak with your marshal."
The soldier who had held the proclamation earlier had a hesitant expression. But before he could do anything further, the high-level soldiers who had followed along came out to obstruct first.
"Wait a moment! How dare cat-ears like you request to meet the marshal?"
"That's right. Do you know how noble our marshal's status is?"
They spoke several sentences pompously. Seeing that the marshal's tent, which wasn't set up far away, still remained silent, they became even more emboldened.
Bai Fanxian glanced toward that tent as well. Her Heaven Sense swept through once and could already sense the identity of everyone in that tent.
"Go back! Bring someone with authority to decide this matter."
One of them came to block in front of Bai Fanxian, partly because they wanted to see the faces of these two women that were concealed by cloaks and hoods.
And at that very moment—
"...Huang Zihuan, have you prepared tea for me?"
Suddenly the young woman in front spoke one sentence casually. The soldiers of the dog-ear army all didn't understand the meaning of this sentence. Did she want tea? Or was it some kind of secret code?
Whoosh!
But before they could finish being surprised, the marshal's tent opened. Before three figures burst out from the tent with frightening speed.
"The marshal is about to act!" They spoke to each other excitedly. One of those shadows was their mysterious and powerful marshal.
Those two young women definitely won't survive!
But—
"Lady Bai! It's really good to meet you this quickly!"
"Grandmaster Xie, my lady—both of you are safe and sound?"
"Excellent, truly excellent!"
Both the skilled marshal, the sharp military advisor, and the capable assistant of their army—all three people were currently surrounding those women who were representatives of the cat-ear tribe!
What kind of madness is this! This battlefield situation has become completely strange!?