The barbarian soldiers quickly finished assembling.
Aside from the twenty thousand men originally stationed to guard Shanhe City and another twenty thousand transferred from the barbarian tribes, the rest were the remnants of the defeated army from this recent battle.
Tuoba Xiangtai deliberately placed them into different camps, completely breaking up their original formations to prevent any potential troublemakers who might still be loyal to Tuoba Ashina and the First Prince.
Of course, he clearly remembered every single person who had insulted the Female Emperor Xiao Mingzhao. Once things settled down a bit, he would not let a single one of them off the hook.
In addition to these men, there were also scattered stragglers returning one by one.
They were all survivors from the battlefields of the Left and Right Peaks.
As a bystander, and even a chess player in this game, Tuoba Xiangtai naturally did his best to gather them.
After all, those who could survive such a tragic battlefield and manage to escape were either extremely lucky or elite veterans.
Even in defeat, they were still elite soldiers.
Unfortunately, the number of people who managed to return was truly small.
In total, there were no more than one or two thousand men.
The main reason was that the Yu soldiers pursued them too ruthlessly!
They did not spare a single corner. After winning the battle, they patrolled back and forth across the battlefield. Whenever they saw a barbarian, they would howl and charge forward.
Any wounded who were not completely dead were ruthlessly finished off.
As soon as any trace was found, they would immediately rush up and slaughter them.
They simply did not give them much of a chance to escape.
As a result, as soon as these lucky barbarian survivors rejoined the barbarian ranks, the morale of the army immediately plummeted.
Although the forty thousand troops stationed at Liebu Village had not experienced such a bloody battle or taken such a beating, the dead were, after all, their brothers and their tribesmen.
Seeing their ever-victorious barbarian army beaten into such a state by the Yu people, how could they possibly feel good?
How could their morale be high?
Tuoba Xiangtai saw all of this, and he had already anticipated it.
Standing on a pre-built high platform, he faced the barbarian soldiers and spoke in a calm, rational voice: Warriors, a small defeat is nothing.
We barbarians are the wild grass on the grassland!
No matter how fierce the fire, it cannot burn us all!
Right now, even though we only have fifty thousand men left, fifty thousand is still enough to conquer the world of Great Yu!
If these words had been spoken earlier, the fierce and tough nature of the barbarians would have been instantly ignited.
After all, at that time, they had the highly coveted Shanhe City.
They had a hundred thousand mighty troops!
They had the momentum to dominate the world!
But right now...
Having been beaten to a pulp, what grand ambitions could they possibly talk about?
Tuoba Xiangtai was not in a hurry, and he continued slowly: Warriors, regroup!
We will immediately set off southward.
As long as we survive these next few days and reach Yanji City, we will have everything!
There, the Female Emperor has already prepared a massive amount of horses, rations, and gold and silver treasures for us!
Once we get there, we can replenish our forces!
Warriors, follow me south!
Witness my marriage to the Female Emperor!
The effect of these words was immediately different.
After all, he mentioned Yanji City.
That place could be considered a location overlooking the capital. It was very close to the capital, the heartland of the Great Yu dynasty, and reaching it was essentially entering the core of Great Yu.
Moreover...
Horses?
Rations?
Gold and silver treasures?
There were actually so many things there?!
They raided southward, painstakingly trying to take Shanhe City and the Northern Frontier, all for what?
Was it not for these very things?
Instantly, the crowd boiled over with excitement.
South! South! South!
To Yanji City!
Go south with the Third Prince and marry the Female Emperor!
...
Morale instantly soared.
Tuoba Xiangtai smiled faintly and immediately ordered: Everyone, head south at once! While the Northern Frontier is still in chaos and desolation, bypass them!
We will...
Head straight for the capital!
...
Thus, whether they were well-rested troops or the battered remnants of the bloody battle, those with horses mounted up, and those without ran on foot.
Southward!
...
Inside Shanhe City, Ren Tianye conducted an inspection.
Up to this point, he still had not figured out why the barbarians had abandoned Shanhe City.
However, the fact remained that Shanhe City had fallen into his hands!
Then he had to defend it.
Fortunately, after experiencing such a thrilling and decisive battle, military morale was greatly boosted, and his personal prestige suddenly reached an unimaginably high peak.
The loyalty of the soldiers, already highly motivated by rations and pay, was now off the charts!
He no longer had to worry about any mutiny from these men.
Therefore, after a simple inspection, Ren Tianye planned to return to Yunji City.
As for Shanhe City...
Ren Tianye looked at Wang Ming: You guard it for now!
In addition to the men you brought before, I will leave you some capable and battle-hardened soldiers who fought bravely in this recent battle, making up a force of fifty thousand.
You must defend it well!
Yes, General! Wang Ming replied loudly, his courage greater than ever before.
The barbarians had suffered a crushing defeat, losing their eighty thousand-strong army entirely.
This was an unprecedented victory not seen in a century.
It could be said that they had completely crushed the barbarians in one fell swoop.
Without the barbarian threat, this already sturdy Shanhe City was now virtually impregnable.
As long as they didn't do anything foolish, they would absolutely not fall.
Besides, there were fifty thousand troops guarding it!
Ren Tianye nodded, sharing the same thought, and did not give Wang Ming any further instructions. Instead, he ordered: Pass down the command. Except for those staying in Shanhe City.
The rest will rest and recuperate for half a day.
Then, I will lead you back to Yunji City!
Half a day later, the army marched back toward Yunji City.
Su Jin, as a clerk under Ren Tianye's command, accompanied them. Unlike before, when she followed the logistics team all alone, she now had personal guards protecting her, clearly treated as a person of importance.
This was Ren Tianye fulfilling his promise.
It was also Ren Tianye making a show for everyone to see.
Under his command, merits were rewarded, and faults were punished!
No one was an exception!
Report!
A scout exploring ahead rode back quickly.
There was a hint of urgency in his tone: General, an army has appeared ahead, numbering in the tens of thousands, and they are also heading toward Yunji City!
Ren Tianye, sitting on his horse, was suddenly startled.
Tens of thousands of people?!
And heading toward Yunji City?!
Where did so many people suddenly come from?!
The barbarians had already been beaten into the ground and completely routed; it could not possibly be them.
Could it be forces from other parts of Great Yu?
But as far as he knew, although the world was in turmoil, the only ones capable of assembling an army of tens of thousands, aside from the imperial court's forces, were the rebel armies that had risen in the south.
Under the banner of avenging Lin Yi, the commander of the Chifeng Army, they had gathered a force of over a hundred thousand, led by the descendants of the Chifeng Army, marching straight toward the capital.
But they shouldn't be coming to the Northern Frontier either?!
...
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
