Battle for Northern Frontier: The game begins with the grassland woman buying him.

The chilling autumn wind whipped up dust and sand, which lashed against the rough, cold-looking armor.

Behind him stood a forest of elite soldiers, each over ten feet tall. Although the soldiers were exhausted from the raids and battles, their killing intent, forged in the crucible of blood and corpses, was even more intense.

Hanging on the flagpole at the very front of the procession was a head that had been simply treated with lime. It was the unwilling face of Batu, the leader of Fenglang Valley, and also the most eye-catching and intimidating battle flag.

On the horizon ahead, the outline of the White Deer tribe's camp gradually became clear.

Wool felt tents are scattered among the relatively gentle grassy slopes, with flocks of sheep dotting the landscape.

The atmosphere seemed calm, but it was tense and oppressive.

The stockade walls were low and simple, far less precipitous than those of Fenglang Valley.

At this moment, their village gate was tightly closed, and shadowy figures could be seen behind the wooden fence, clearly indicating that they were ready.

Su Zhan reined in his warhorse and raised his hand to stop the army behind him.

His sharp gaze swept over the antler totems on the White Deer tribe's camp. A smile played on his lips. Without saying a word, he gave a wink to the guard beside him.

Two guards immediately rode forward, one holding a long pole with Batu's unseeing head atop it; the other raised the great banner of Stone City. The banner fluttered and gleamed in the sunlight, exuding a menacing aura.

The two stopped a short distance from the gate of the village.

"Listen up, people of the White Deer Tribe!" the man holding the large banner shouted, his voice carrying clearly into the stronghold. "Batu of Fenglang Valley was ignorant of the times, attempting to stop a chariot with his bare hands. Now he has been slain here by my Stone City, and his head hangs right here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the guard holding the pole suddenly thrust it forward.

Batu's head flew through the air in an arc, landing in front of the gate not far away. It rolled a few times, covered in dust, and its empty eyes stared intently at the guards behind the gate.

Several exclamations came from the gate of the stockade, followed by a deathly silence.

At this moment, Su Zhan rode forward and walked alone to a place closer to the gate of the village.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough to drown out the wind: "Su Zhan of Stone City is here! Where is the leader of the White Deer tribe? Come out and speak!"

After a brief silence, the gate creaked open a crack.

An elderly man with gray hair and wearing a long robe walked out, surrounded by a group of young guards. The old man's face was pale.

As he glanced at Batu's hideous head on the ground, his eyelids twitched violently. He then forced himself to remain calm and looked at Su Zhan, cupping his hands in greeting, "I am Amur, the Grand Elder of the White Deer Tribe. The Third Leader has come in person; what brings you here?"

His voice trembled slightly, clearly as he tried his best to suppress his emotions, but his heart was churning with turmoil.

Su Zhan sat upright on his horse, looking down at Amur with his gaze fixed on him: "What do you mean? Has the Bailu tribe received the invitation to the Anbian Banquet? Stone City doesn't want to make things difficult for you. We use both kindness and force; those who submit will enjoy peaceful trade, while those who resist will suffer the same fate as Batu! Does your Bailu tribe want to be honored guests of Stone City, sharing the benefits of this grassland with us? Or do you want to follow in Batu's footsteps and have the name of the Bailu tribe vanish into thin air?"

His words were firm and unequivocal, leaving no room for negotiation.

As soon as the words "vanished into thin air" were uttered, the thousands of iron steeds behind him spurred their horses forward simultaneously, their hooves striking forward in unison with a resounding thud, causing the ground to tremble.

The concentrated killing intent instantly surged towards the White Deer tribe.

The guards behind Amur turned pale, and some of them subconsciously took a half step back.

Elder Amur broke out in a cold sweat. He looked again at Batu's head, then at Su Zhan's eyes, and at the torrent of steel behind Su Zhan that contained the power to destroy the world. Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

Finally, Amur seemed to have all his strength drained away, and his whole body hunched over.

He took a deep breath, as if making a painful decision, and said in a trembling voice, "Chief Su, please calm your anger. My Bailu tribe is willing to surrender and obey the orders of Stone City. We will immediately send people to Anbian County to offer gifts and submit, only asking that Chief Su give my people a way out!"

Su Zhan sat upright on his horse, looking down at Amur's hunched body, showing no sign of relaxation despite the other party's verbal surrender.

Finally, he said, "Words are meaningless. According to the rules of Stone City, submission requires three tokens: the chieftain's scepter, the register of hostages, and information about the tribe. Present them immediately!"

The army behind him moved in response, with archers nocking their arrows and firing them in quick succession with a sharp crack, the arrowheads gleaming coldly.

Amur trembled, his fingers gripping the hem of his clothes tightly: "The scepter is in the elder clan's tent..."

Before he finished speaking, one of Su Zhan's personal guards mounted his horse, drew his sword, and strode forward, standing silently beside Amur.

The message was clear: Amur was to lead the way, keep an eye on him, and bring him the scepter.

Amur glanced at the guard, said nothing, and simply sighed. He then led the guard into the camp.

Before long, he staggered out of the village gate with his personal guard, holding a birch box in his hands, followed by a pale-faced boy.

Then Amur, along with his bodyguard and the boy, walked up to Su's warhorse.

He opened the box, revealing a bone staff shaped like a wolf's tooth and a sheepskin scroll.

"This is the scepter of my White Deer tribe and the token of our chieftain," Amur said hoarsely, raising the wooden box high above his head. "This child is the chieftain's youngest son, named Toya. He is willing to go to Stone City with the general as a hostage to show our tribe's loyalty."

The young man, Toya, bit his lower lip tightly, his body trembling slightly, and dared not look directly at Su Zhan.

Su Zhan glanced at the boy's pale face, then simply nodded to the side.

Two soldiers immediately stepped forward. One took the wooden box to examine the token, while the other dragged the boy away from Amur. Their movements were clean and efficient, leaving no room for doubt.

"At dawn tomorrow, the Bailu tribe must hand over 500 warhorses and 300 able-bodied men to the southern camp of Stone City for delivery. From this day forward, all salt and iron trade of the Bailu tribe must be approved by Stone City. Anyone who dares to sell salt privately will be executed on the spot."

Su Zhan's words were like steel scraping across Amor's face.

Amur felt his heart and body trembling; it was an invisible pressure, carrying an endless chill.

Amor's head almost touched the ground as he said in a trembling voice, "Yes, sir."

His back was soaked with sweat, and he looked extremely disheveled.

His people behind him were also kneeling on the ground, begging for forgiveness from Stone City.

They truly had no way out; the Stone City army could easily wipe them all out—that much was undeniable.

If they dare to utter a word of resistance today, or show any disloyalty, they will be plunged into eternal damnation, and everything they have will perish.

Even someone as powerful as Batu has been completely wiped out by the people of Stone City, so how could ordinary people like them possibly withstand an army of thousands?

So, although everyone was terrified, they were also very grateful that Stone City and Su San were able to give them a way out and allow them to live, because just surviving had become a luxury.

Su Zhan stopped looking at Amur on the ground, waved his hand sharply, and shouted: "The army enters the camp, counts the soldiers, and collects the weapons."

The black torrent started instantly, the sound of horses' hooves crushing the withered grass in front of the stockade gate. Soldiers plunged into the camp, and suppressed weeping and the sound of weapons falling to the ground echoed from between the tents.

The White Deer tribe completely submitted to Stone City; their very foundation had been shattered.

At the entrance of the village, Su Zhan stopped his horse and looked back towards Stone City. He only had one target left: Wu Enqi of Buffalo Valley.

So, Su Zhan waved his hand and said, "Now that we've resolved things here, it's time to go check out the last place."

Su Zhan wanted to see if Buffalo Valley's Unchi was really a tough nut to crack, and just how tough he was.

Although they pretend to be deaf and dumb, if they can solve problems by pretending to be deaf and dumb, then all problems in the world will be solved easily.

But if turning a blind eye doesn't work, then one will eventually have to face a bleak life. So all of this is very interesting.

Su Zhan's men are currently riding high, and he wants to see just how powerful these so-called formidable figures really are.

Then, Su Zhan led his men directly in that direction.

But halfway there, a scout suddenly reported that a large group of people had appeared ahead, seemingly the same people from Buffalo Valley, Uenchi.

Without any hesitation, Su Zhan immediately ordered his men to prepare for battle.

Next, it would be time for a decisive battle with the people of Buffalo Valley. He could only hope that the people of Buffalo Valley would be brave enough to not cower like a bunch of turtles, allowing Su Zhan to have a good fight with them. Su Zhan wanted to test just how powerful these so-called "bullish" people really were.

The army has already formed its battle lines; now it is time for a decisive battle.

But just then, a large group of people suddenly appeared in front of them; it seemed to be the so-called Buffalo Valley Unchi army.

Not only that, but the army is quite large; it seems that everyone from Buffalo Valley has come.

Su Zhan's side is ready.

Su Zhan thought to himself that the people of Buffalo Valley, Uenchi, were probably trying to take advantage of the situation, wanting to fight Su Zhan's men to the death while they were exhausted, and then defeat them.

But if he thinks that way, he's mistaken.

Because Su Zhan's men were never afraid of continuous battles. They fought one major battle after another, and each battle was extremely intense and crazy. So how could they be afraid of a sudden attack from Buffalo Valley?

Everyone was ready and waiting for the people from Buffalo Valley to charge forward.

But at that moment, the people from Bison Valley stopped, and Su Zhan and all the soldiers around him had no idea what they were going to do.

They clearly came with the main army to fight Su Zhan and his forces to the death, so why did they stop now? What do they want to do if they stop? This is really strange.

But what happened next left everyone speechless. The people of Buffalo Valley, Uenchi, raised a white flag in the middle of the group. The white flag fluttered in the wind and was very eye-catching.

Everyone who witnessed this scene was astonished, for they had not expected that the people of Buffalo Valley, Uenchi, had come to surrender.

A warrior from the grasslands, clad in armor, stepped forward, carrying something in his hand. He stopped less than a few dozen meters from Su Zhan's troops and then threw the object to the ground.

Su Zhan looked closely and saw that it was a human head. Some of the sharp-eyed soldiers next to him immediately recognized it.

"This is probably Uenchi's head, it looks so much like him."

Another soldier said, "Not necessarily. Who knows if it's real or fake? Maybe it's an imposter. There are plenty of steppe people who look like Wunqi. They're probably here to lure us."

Immediately, everyone in the room started discussing it.

Su Zhan, however, had other ideas. Since they had come to hand over Wu Enqi's head, they had come to surrender.

Furthermore, the fact that they raised a white flag proves that they had indeed surrendered.

If they're here to surrender, then they need to show some sincerity.

Whether they were feigning surrender or genuinely surrendering, Su Zhan didn't care.

So he shouted at the people in front of him, "Buffalo Valley, what do your people want?"

The armored grassland man shouted, "Are you the Third Master of Stone City, Su the Third Master? We are Wu Enqi's men. Wu Enqi was stubborn and tried to resist Stone City, but we have overthrown him. His head is right here. The Third Master is free to send someone to check it out."

Furthermore, the people of Buffalo Valley have already decided to submit to Stone City. We have come today to discuss the details of our surrender with Stone City.

Su Zhan snorted coldly and said, "Discuss? You seem to be joking."

Stone City never negotiates with anyone. If you surrender now, then lay down your weapons and obediently become our prisoners, instead of negotiating.

If it were the day before the Anbian Banquet, you would still be eligible. Now you are not eligible. You can only be annihilated by us, or rather, taken prisoner.

The people of Buffalo Valley were in an uproar. The men under their command clearly could not accept this fact, because being taken prisoner would be a very unpleasant experience, as their fate would be in the hands of others.

If they come to surrender, they can be treated as subordinates and traded with Stone City; they want to have their own power.

But now they have missed this opportunity. I wonder if Su Zhan will give them another chance to make up for it?

Then the armored general shouted at Su Zhan, "Third Master, this was Wu Enqi's fault. He's dead. Can you spare our lives? After all, this has nothing to do with us ordinary people. It was all Wu Enqi's doing."

Uenchi is already dead, and our true third leader has already seen it.

Therefore, we request that the Third Leader give us a chance. We also want to submit to Stone City and participate in this big family.

"As long as the third leader agrees, we'll agree to any conditions."

Su Zhan snorted and said, "Such arrogance! I'd like to see if you'll agree to any conditions."

Now all of you must lay down your weapons and accept our supervision.

We may not take you as prisoners, but all of you will be inferior to us.

Although you are not prisoners now, you must understand your status and position. You must first show your sincerity so that we can all decide your fate.