It was a short walk to Qing Mao Dao Settlement's Army Hall.
The Cultivators of the Retaliatory Division converged with the Warriors of Qing Mao Dao Settlement, dividing the front and back of the hall between their respective parties.
Silver Extreme was present at the front. Warrior of Spring stood beside him.
The general from before, Feng Jiangjun, was also here. He was standing behind another man dressed in yellow robes.
As everyone settled before the three men on an elevated stage.
The man in yellow was the first to speak; while he spoke casually, the authority in his voice was amplified.
"I, Settlement Lord of Qing Mao Dao Settlement, Fend Di Ji, greet the people of my home and the people of Union Settlement, with my sincerest gratitude.
"In the ordeal we face in the near future, you will lay your lives down to build the wall that will withstand a terrible disaster.
"With this in mind, resolve yourselves, prepare to breathe your last, to have your sacrifice honoured, and to know of the security you will bring with it."
As he concluded, Silver Extreme roused his voice with a similar tone of authority.
"But we, kindred souls, Warriors and Cultivators, are here to prevent any deaths. Among the ordinary people, and among ourselves.
"We will not fall in the war soon to come!"
It was a short opening speech, but it moved the hearts of the people in two different ways.
Sun, too, felt the two emotions rising within him. Their intensity was quite abnormal.
Confliction, that his life rests on the border of death, and ambition, to fight for his life and the people behind him.
Two conflicting notions that told him to run away and stay and fight.
'If I feel troubled by something like this...'
He stifled the 'urge to run'.
Sun could not let something like fear overwhelm him. What right would he have to call himself a Warrior?
From another perspective, this ordeal was supposed to be Sun's first steps into becoming a 'Warrior'.
Looking around would reveal shivers among the Warriors of Qing Mao Dao Settlement, and the quickened breaths of the Cultivators.
But none of them wavered.
The wave of intense emotions gradually waned, and the people calmed themselves.
A contended light flickered in Feng Di Ji's eyes, as it did in Silver Extreme's.
"Keep your resolve intact. The night when the first hints of the ordeal arrive will loom over us in just three nights."
"Three nights...?"
"So soon..."
A wave of murmurs arose among the people, but none had let this information affect them so greatly.
Three nights were not a long time, but it certainly was a generous amount.
As far as the ordinary people knew, this was like a natural disaster, but to the few...
'When the fog arrives, just how many of us can keep their cool?'
Sun questioned inwardly.
His scant experience with the fog was more than enough to bring him to his knees.
Just the memories of what the fog had done to his people were more than enough to raise bile out of his stomach.
Yet, he stifled that, as he did with his worries and fears.
'I might have only had a few nights to cultivate, but my strength is gradually returning in plentiful handfuls...
'Before the fog arrives, I would have three more nights to make quick progress and plans...
'In these three nights, I will prepare myself wholeheartedly...!'
Feng Di Ji raised his finger and pointed towards the middle of the hall; the people there instinctively moved.
Wisps of pale light coalesced and formed the vague image of a mountain with something protruding from it.
It was a conjured map of Wind Shaven Mountain, as well as the surrounding area, extending past the foot of the mountain and beyond the forests surrounding it.
"The fog will arrive from the southwest. It will breach the foot of our mountain and flood upwards.
"Within the fog are beasts. As their form is conjured from the fog, their visage is elusive, capable of disappearing from one's vision entirely.
"However, the most fatal aspect of this ordeal is not the brute strength of either beast or fog, but the disorienting influence it has on one's mind. Should you come into contact with the fog, it will attack your Sense of Direction and, thus, the perception of the world around you.
"I can only grant you this warning. Venerated Immortal Union and Brother Silver have provided this information to us, but... We do not have a method to effectively resist these effects...!
"The matter of resisting the disorienting influence of the fog is wholly in your own hands!"
A faint crease twisted Liming Zi's brow.
She believed that Immortal Union could have found a solution to this fog, despite the fact that he claimed himself incapable of doing so.
Liming Zi knew of an Immortal's nature; her father was once such, and he put her through a few trials to aid her Cultivation.
So, she held a faint belief that Immortal Union was testing them.
If this were true, then Silver Extreme would carry Immortal Union's wish to test the Cultivators and relay to them that overcoming the fog was entirely in their hands.
'Should the people be unable to overcome the fog, they will fall victim. In this regard, the people incapable of overcoming the fog's influence would undoubtedly be slaughtered by the tides of fog, and the blame would rest in Immortal Union and Silver Extreme's hands.
'But these Cultivators, as well as these ordinary Warriors, even if they are unknowing of the horrors of the fog, and choose to believe that their lives are solely their own responsibility, are likely willing to put their lives on such a precipice.
'With this in mind... then it should be fine to turn a blind eye to this. They will be tested, but it is wholly by their hand that they have staked their lives.'
As she thought about this, she spared a glance at Sun beside her.
'Although... I have already given Sun advice on how to deal with the fog's influence. As long as his own capabilities don't fail him, then he should be fine.'
"Now, to discuss how we approach this ordeal, we will appoint each of you to a group, representing the four locations that will experience the greatest suffering."