War drums first sounded from the depths of the sea of clouds. Dong. Dong. Dong! The drumbeats were heavy, one pressing down on the next. Sun Lingtong had just stepped into this trial realm when the sound of the drums shook him and made his body sway.
The usual playful grin on the young boy’s face faded somewhat. His eyes darted about, first looking at the sky, then the ground, and finally toward the massive, dark army in the distance. It was a Cloud Shadow Army, ten thousand strong!
The Green-Armored Left Army was as swift as the wind, the White-Armored Center Army as steady as a mountain, and the Black-Armored Right Army as thick as a city wall.
Behind the three armies, cooking smoke rose from a hundred great cauldrons, ten supply-transporting cloud paths coiled like white pythons, three spirit springs shimmered with clear light, and in front of two medicine tents, white-robed military medics had already lit the Miasma-Cleansing Fires.