It can also be said that from this moment on, the aristocratic families truly embarked on another path planned by Chen Xi. Without private soldiers to support them, the aristocratic families, wanting long-term peace, could only choose either the path planned by Chen Xi or rely on their own wisdom!

When Chen Xi officially began eliminating the cancer of Central Plains aristocratic family private soldiers, Sheni Pei finally found Yuan Tan's army on the northern snow plains. As Sheni Pei went north, he even encountered a sizable pack of prairie wolves. Fortunately, the Wolf King leading dozens of prairie wolves possessed Inner Qi Manifestation; otherwise, strengthening his body, Sheni Pei would have found it quite troublesome.

In the end, neither side initiated an attack, though the ordinary prairie wolves were quite interested in attacking Sheni Pei. However, the Inner Qi Manifestation wolf could feel a hint of pressure emanating from Sheni Pei—an alternative force potent enough to cause its demise. Without necessity, it completely did not want to try.

Naturally, restrained by the head wolf, the ordinary prairie wolves did not attack, and the two sides eventually passed by each other.

It was at this moment Sheni Pei suddenly discovered that animals once considered rare now seemed more commonplace. But honestly, there couldn't possibly be that many Divine Stone Fragments in the world, as for animals cultivating, it's absurd. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

[There might be something else prompting animals to grow stronger.]Sheni Pei thought silently but didn't delve too deeply into it.

It can be said that currently, only Qu Qi discovered that animals were substantially growing stronger, even touching the fundamentals. Yet, Qu Qi himself did not delve too deeply. Perhaps even he hadn't considered that plants are the greatest absorbers of Heaven and Earth Essence in this world.

Regrettably, even if some plants absorbed an immense amount of Heaven and Earth Essence, they couldn't alter their characteristics. Animals' innate instincts make it easy to locate any plant with Heaven and Earth Essence exceeding a particular standard, select it, and consume it, transforming it into their power. This is why animals in this world gradually grow stronger.

Similarly, this is why plants in this world haven't changed in form or yield, but still can sustain a growing energy demand from humans. Because even if ordinary plants' active energy doesn't surpass a certain standard, it already far exceeds the levels from hundreds of years ago.

Of course, this aspect remains shrouded in scientific mystery for now. However, in the near future, once the number of powerful animals exceeds a certain limit, many insightful people will trace back the origins and speculate on what lies hidden beneath the mist.

Yet, humanity's instinct concerning this aspect has long dissipated in the course of evolution. Even if they found the truth beneath the mist, humans might not change immediately. But as intelligent beings, they will eventually solve this dilemma.

When Sheni Pei found Yuan Tan, Yuan Tan had already found traces of the Northern Huns. Previously, the northern snowfall had obscured too many things. Fortunately, with Xuu You and Xun Shen there, they relied on a half-guessing, half-investigative method to stubbornly uncover the migration tracks of the Northern Huns.

Of course, realizing this mid-way, Xuu You began deliberately leaving marks. Half of the reason Sheni Pei managed to find his way so quickly was due to this effort. Otherwise, even with Sheni Pei's intelligence, avoiding direction loss on a prairie with no reference points would be a feat, let alone finding Yuan Tan.

"Zheng Nan, you actually came." Yuan Tan learned from the messenger that Sheni Pei had arrived and personally came out of the camp to greet him, meeting Sheni Pei halfway to the camp.

"Lord!" Sheni Pei dismounted and bowed to Yuan Tan, signifying complete endorsement of Yuan Tan's will, just as he once recognized Yuan Shao.

"Come, enter the camp, we're just waiting for you. Ziyuan and Youruo went personally to scout the terrain, and contrary to previous assumptions, Liu Xuande left us quite a problem." Yuan Tan pulled Sheni Pei directly toward the main tent, speaking fearfully, yet showing no trace of fear on his face.

"Ziyuan and Youruo are actually working so hard." Sheni Pei chuckled, saying, "But looking at this situation, hasn't it snowed for several days?"

"What's wrong?" Yuan Tan asked curiously, "Is there a problem?"

"How far is it to the site of the Northern Huns' migration?" Sheni Pei asked, slightly furrowing his brows.

"Over fifty miles; otherwise, Ziyuan and Youruo wouldn't need to scout personally." Yuan Tan replied naturally.

"Haven't Ziyuan and Youruo told you that we might have already been spotted by the Northern Huns? Does Lord have confidence in directly defeating the migrating Northern Hun population?" Sheni Pei said with a wry smile, "Though I detest the Northern Huns, we must admit, we absolutely cannot view them as ordinary Miscellaneous Huns. We have just over twenty thousand troops, right?"

"Yes, although Jia Wenhe indulged us, we ended up taking only twenty-four thousand troops, including six thousand cavalry. The rest are mostly infantry, and by our observation, the Northern Huns have around four hundred thousand, close to five hundred thousand." Yuan Tan said with a bitter smile.

"About as I expected. Didn't Ziyuan and Youruo have any ideas?" Sheni Pei frowned while speaking. He couldn't believe that with Xuu You and Xun Shen's methods, they would not notice that the Northern Huns were aware of their presence.

"They did, but all dismissed any plan for a direct confrontation. They also failed to provide a suitable strategy. The Northern Huns are too numerous. Even though Ziyuan's calculation of extracting suitable soldiers from the Northern Huns only resulted in roughly thirty thousand men, this scenario still presents a tough challenge for us." Yuan Tan said with a slight headache.

"I fear Youruo is already anxious. He might be more capable than Ziyuan at the moment. He probably realizes that dragging out the time will only allow the Northern Huns to prepare more thoroughly. Investigating the terrain was likely proposed by Youruo." Sheni Pei's expression remained calm, but his mind had already begun pondering. Compared to the ordinary Xuu You, Xun Shen was in fact quite outstanding.

"Just as Zheng Nan predicted." Yuan Tan praised. With Sheni Pei, he felt as though he had a pillar to rely on; at least, with Sheni Pei present, even taking risks wouldn't be out of the question.

"How long can our provisions sustain us?" Sheni Pei asked Yuan Tan while observing him.

"For a long time, because when I left, I had the feeling that I might never have to return to the Central Plains. So besides taking the provisions prepared by Jia Wenhe, I also plundered the grains brought north by the aristocratic families and the grains used by the Zhen Family in Jicheng for stabilizing grain prices."

"So, Lord, you actually brought more than fifteen thousand warhorses?" Sheni Pei calculated the grain volume and the marching speed before looking at Yuan Tan in disbelief.

"No, it's twenty-five thousand horses, though a small fraction are just pack horses. But it's enough to maintain the soldiers' combat power." Yuan Tan said calmly, "Moreover, those willing to follow me north have been screened. They all have brothers, or are direct orphans."

"This…" Sheni Pei fell into silence, finally beginning to understand the pride Li Youu displayed when gazing at him. Li Youu's focus was not on the Central Plains, but the world. Cao Cao, Sunx Ce, Yuan Shao were never Liu Bei's ultimate rival; his opponent has always been history!

"Well, but we cannot delay any longer. The longer we drag on, the stronger the Northern Huns will become. Scattered troops are entirely different from prepared soldiers." Sheni Pei forcibly reined in his thoughts, realizing they had little time left.

"Ha, I believe, Zheng Nan, you can certainly solve this issue." Yuan Tan was quite confident, and Sheni Pei gave a slight nod as agreement.

[The Northern Huns are not easy to deal with, let alone completely annihilate. How exactly to resolve this, what are the Northern Huns using for provisions?] Sheni Pei thought quietly while following behind Yuan Tan, [Best to consider this; the Northern Huns undoubtedly experienced successive drafts of the young and strong, but even so, the remaining ordinary tribesmen still number half a million.]