Three days later, at dawn.

In the council hall of Hangu Pass, Lin Feng sat in the main seat, a teacup in front of him emitting a faint steam.

Liu Zhaowan stood in the center of the hall, holding a newly delivered military intelligence document in her hands.

"Lord Lin, the orc army set off from Chiyo City three days ago and split into two groups."

She opened the document and spoke a little faster than usual, “The main force of the orcs, numbering 200,000, arrived in Dongzhi City yesterday and is currently engaged in battle with the main forces of various countries. The battle is at a stalemate, and the two sides are temporarily deadlocked.”

She turned the page: "Another force of 50,000 men is less than 100 li from Jinyan City."

Liu Zhaowan's voice deepened: "Because the wonders and ultimate moves of Jinyan City and Shenglong City were already used up in the last war of the undead."

Furthermore, the special troops and four deputy city lords of both cities were all lost in Chiyo City. Therefore, after assessment, the high-ranking officials of Annam decided to abandon these two cities.

All awakened beings and adventurers have been transferred to Dongzhi City, and 150,000 natives are being relocated in batches to the four former Anan counties, which are affiliated with Fenghuo Territory. The county magistrates are making every effort to resettle them.

She paused, then added, "Actually, the Annamite leadership initially wanted to directly apply to the Beacon Fire Territory for territorial subjugation. After all, the remaining troops in the two cities were no match for 50,000 orcs. Rather than having the cities massacred by the orcs, it would be better to merge into the Beacon Fire Territory to protect the people."

However, after the application was submitted, the system prompted that there were unknown interfering forces around the two cities, and the attachment procedure could not be completed.

The Annamite leadership attempted three times, all of which failed, forcing them to give up.

Lin Feng frowned slightly, his fingers pausing for a moment on the table. Interference power? It seems there's something else hidden in this area that he hasn't noticed.

But he didn't press further, only nodding: "What about the troops left behind by the Bear Kingdom and the White Elephant Kingdom?"

"They have all concentrated in Shengxiang City. The plan of the three countries, namely the Bear Kingdom, the Annam Kingdom, and the White Elephant Kingdom, is to intercept this detachment in Shengxiang City." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Liu Zhaowan closed the document. "The terrain of Shengxiang City is more suitable for defense than Jinyan City and Shenglong City, and it is not far from Dongzhi City. If the situation changes, Dongzhi City's high-end combat forces can return to support it in time."

Lin Feng leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest twice.

He wasn't surprised that the orcs split their forces. The reason they didn't split their forces at Chiyo Castle was to lure the main human force there and then use the teleportation array to launch a surprise attack on Osaka Castle and Kara Holy City.

Now those two cities are surrounded by the Great Wall, and the teleportation arrays are either one-time use or have been cut off; in short, they are useless.

With no backup plan, the orcs no longer needed to maintain a single-line advance. They could send a detachment to invade the human heartland, eliminating human forces while simultaneously strengthening themselves—killing two birds with one stone.

"Okay." He snapped out of his thoughts. "If there are any new developments, let me know as soon as possible."

Liu Zhaowan bowed slightly: "I obey."

She put away the documents, turned around and walked quickly out of the council hall. Her footsteps echoed hurriedly in the corridor before disappearing outside the door.

...

Dongzhi City.

The city wall is forty meters high and sixty li in circumference. The gray-brown wall is built of huge granite blocks and its surface is covered with bullet holes and marks from swords and axes.

The city wall follows the undulating terrain, with the lowest point being over forty meters high and the highest point approaching fifty meters.

The battlements are square, with an arrow tower every thirty meters. The top of the tower is conical and covered with dark red terracotta tiles. Copper bells hang under the eaves, making a soft tinkling sound in the wind.

But at this moment, the city is under heavy attack from orcs on its east and north sides.

On the north wall, nearly 50,000 orc infantrymen climbed the ladders, while mammoth war elephants repeatedly rammed the wall with their trunks and hooves, each impact causing the defenders to stagger.

Catapults rained down boulders and plague barrels upon the city walls, sending debris flying and billowing black smoke.

The defenders' ballistae also returned fire, arrows and stones pounding into the dense ranks of orcs, splashing up clouds of blood mist.

The attack on the eastern city wall was even more ferocious, as that was the direction in which Saruk was personally in command.

The sky above the city walls was equally turbulent.

More than 150 powerful individuals were divided into two groups, engaging in fierce combat at high and low altitudes.

The flashes of skill light rose and fell, the roar of spells and the clash of weapons exploded in the clouds, and the shockwaves spread out in circles, stirring up and throwing down the dust on the ground.

Jiang Yelan's figure appeared and disappeared intermittently in the low-altitude battlefield.

The Shadow Moon Blade gleamed with a restrained golden luster in the morning light. The blade was almost silent as it sliced ​​through the air, only flashing a brief, cold light when it hit its target.

Her opponent was a level 40 orc warlord, wielding a double-edged battle axe, nearly two meters taller than her, with blood grooves on the axe blade glowing a dark red light.

The war lord swung his axe down, accompanied by a piercing shriek that tore through the air.

Jiang Yelan dodged to the side, his foot sliding half a step in mid-air, and then slashed at his opponent's waist with a backhand.

The blade sliced ​​through the leather armor, leaving a deep, bone-revealing wound on the orc's ribs.

The Shadow Eater effect was triggered immediately, and 20% of the damage turned into golden light spots that flowed into her body along the blade, causing her health bar, which had just been knocked down, to recover.

The war lord, in pain, roared and swung his axe blade.

Jiang Yelan lightly pushed off with his feet, his body floating back ten meters, widening the distance.

She glanced down at the Shadow Moon Blade in her hand.

After being upgraded to gold quality, the changes to this knife are quite obvious.

Attack power jumped from 90 to 150, strength increased by 10 points, Shadow Flash distance doubled from 50 meters to 100 meters, and cooldown time was reduced from 60 seconds to 30 seconds.

It also has an additional passive ability called Shadow Eater, which converts 20% of the damage dealt into its own health.

Previously, when facing a level 40 orc war lord, she could only launch a burst of attacks and then retreat.

Now, thanks to the life-steal effect of Shadow Eater, I've been able to hold off my opponent for quite a while, keeping my health bar consistently above the health threshold.

"Golden weapons are indeed different."

She said something in a low voice, her lips twitching almost imperceptibly.

The orc warlord charged again, his battle axe raised high, the blood-red light on the blade coalescing into a dark red arc, clearly a prelude to some kind of charged attack.

Jiang Yelan did not take the hit head-on. Instead, he moved swiftly, activated Shadow Flash, and instantly appeared sixty meters behind the orc, escaping the coverage of the arc of bloody light.

She steadied herself in mid-air, holding the Shadow Moon Blade horizontally in front of her, the remaining black blood on the blade slowly dripping down the blood groove.

On the other side, Jiang Zhaoyue was facing off against another level 40 orc war lord.

The Silver Moon Spear thrust repeatedly in her hand, each strike precisely aimed at the opponent's vital points.

The Warlord's warhammer was heavy and fierce, but Jiang Zhaoyue's speed was clearly superior.

Her silver spear has also been upgraded to gold quality, with its attack power reaching 150, strength increased by 10 points, the cooldown of Silver Moon Spear's Edge reduced to 30 seconds, and the newly added passive skill "Moonlight Flow" has two effects.

Upon hitting a target, there is a 50% chance to convert 20% of the damage into the target's own health, and an additional 50% chance to inflict a Weakened status on the target, reducing their attack power and healing effects by 20%.