Ren Tianye steadied his mind.
"Investigate further and report back!"
Soon, the scout returned to report: "General, their... their commander is coming toward you."
"He is alone!"
"He's a burly man, carrying a tiger-head wolf-fang mace."
Ren Tianye immediately realized who it was.
Shi Hu!
Outside Sifang City, Shi Hu had been a scattered border soldier forced to become a bandit. Because he lacked equipment and horses, he had been pinned down and beaten by Sifang City's elites.
Therefore, he had come to surrender.
He had brought ten thousand men with him.
Later, Ren Tianye had sent Shi Hu in his name to recruit men in the Northern Frontier. It had been many days since they last met. Was Shi Hu back?
That's right!
Shi Hu was leading his men directly back to Yunji City!
He might not have been able to figure out Ren Tianye's exact whereabouts right away, but Yunji City was their home base—he knew that clearer than anything else.
Thinking of this, Ren Tianye spurred his horse forward.
Zhang Shi, worried about potential mishaps, followed closely behind.
Then, they saw Shi Hu riding a horse, carrying his tiger-head wolf-fang mace, galloping toward them. When he got close, he immediately dismounted and bowed deeply: "General, Shi Hu pays his respects!"
Ren Tianye also dismounted and helped him up.
He said, "General Shi Hu, it has been several days since we parted. How did the task I gave you go?"
Shi Hu looked very excited and deeply moved.
"General, I am convinced, I am truly in awe of you!"
"I followed your orders to recruit soldiers in the Northern Frontier. As soon as I mentioned that you would pay them 2.5 taels of silver a month, the vast majority agreed."
"Those who initially disagreed also agreed after hearing that you had conquered Sifang City."
"As a result, I recruited thirty thousand men in one fell swoop!"
Thirty thousand!
Ren Tianye was pleasantly surprised!
There were actually a full thirty thousand!
This was something he hadn't expected!
He had thought that it would already be extremely rare if Shi Hu could recruit ten thousand men for him. He never expected him to bring back thirty thousand!
Zhang Shi, standing to the side, felt a bit sour.
A newly surrendered general had achieved a greater merit than him!
"I originally thought that recruiting thirty thousand men would be enough to return and report back!" Shi Hu continued, "But I didn't expect that on the way back, people kept contacting me."
"They wanted to pledge allegiance to you, General!"
"After asking carefully, I found out that Shanhe City is completely empty. Countless prominent families inside wanted to defect, causing many scattered soldiers to want to ally with the prominent families of Shanhe City to take the city together."
"Knowing that I was recruiting for you, they all came to join me."
"They hope that you, General, will lead them to conquer Shanhe City."
"So, later on, I recruited another forty thousand men!"
"Seventy thousand in total!"
"They are waiting just up ahead!"
Ren Tianye was even more thrilled.
Seventy thousand men?
Are you kidding?!
He clearly remembered that when he left Yunji City to pursue Ye Fan, he only brought 3,800 men!
Which included the Eight Hundred Army!
As a result, in the blink of an eye, upon returning to Yunji City, he now had...
170,000 men!
If he added the roughly ten thousand men inside Yunji City!
He had 180,000 men in his hands!
With 180,000 soldiers, even if not many were elites, as long as they were trained a bit, they could sweep across the Northern Frontier and swallow the world!
In this Great Yu world, did he, Ren Tianye, finally have enough power to claim a piece of the pie?
He ordered, "Command them to make camp where they are!"
"I will bring my men to go see them right now!"
"And bring them back to Yunji City!"
Shi Hu quickly accepted the order and added, "General, their intention is to attack and capture Shanhe City. What do you think..."
"I have already taken Shanhe City!"
Ren Tianye immediately went to dispatch his troops.
After all, he couldn't go alone into an army of seventy thousand whose background he hadn't fully figured out yet.
This left Shi Hu stunned.
"Shanhe City has already been taken?"
"Shanhe City is taken!" Zhang Shi muttered gloomily from the side.
"Really?" Shi Hu's previous official position was a participating general, which was one rank higher than Zhang Shi's guerrilla general rank. But now that Zhang Shi had been following the General for a long time, he naturally didn't dare to underestimate him.
With a very friendly expression on his face, he said, "General Zhang Shi, you guys are truly amazing!"
"To think you actually captured Shanhe City."
"Mm!"
"General Zhang Shi, what's wrong? Why do you sound so sour?"
"It's nothing, just a toothache!"
...
Yunji City.
The city gates were wide open.
Sun Xiang, who had already received the news, had long been waiting at the gate with his men to welcome them.
Seeing the army approaching, he immediately took a half-kneeling posture to salute.
He felt the horses rush to his side like a gust of wind. Looking up, he saw Ren Tianye leap down from his horse.
Ren Tianye pulled him up in one swift motion.
"Sun Xiang, well done!"
Ren Tianye patted Sun Xiang on the shoulder, his tone full of praise.
This single sentence almost made Sun Xiang burst into tears.
When facing the relentless day-and-night siege of the barbarian army of eighty thousand, he hadn't cried; when facing the chaos in the city and the shortage of equipment, he hadn't cried; when facing mountainous pressure, he hadn't cried.
He had always gritted his teeth and dealt with it strongly.
But Ren Tianye's single sentence brought all the hidden bitterness and grievances in his heart to the surface, surging and unstoppable!
Worthless tears just fell down.
It was like a wandering son finding someone to rely on; all his hardships finally had a place to be poured out!
Ren Tianye patted him on the head to comfort him, took his hand, and headed straight back to the General's Manor.
During this process, Sun Xiang's emotions finally settled down. Moreover, after experiencing this difficult defensive battle, his psychological endurance had become much stronger. In the future, his shoulders would be able to carry even greater burdens!
In Ren Tianye's eyes, he was absolutely a fine general!
—How could there be so many favored sons of heaven in this world? Among the vast majority of famous generals who went down in history, which one wasn't forged step by step on the battlefield?
As long as there was an opportunity!
Even talents from a single county or commandery were enough to rule the entire world!
"Convene the council!"
Ren Tianye gave the order.
All the matters from this recent period were gathered together. The main issue he had to deal with was the matter of military merits!
Especially the military merits of the soldiers!
After all, they were newly subdued and hadn't fully integrated into his Yunji City family yet, so they needed to be rewarded immediately.
Ren Tianye was not stingy.
Merits must be rewarded!
As the rewards were distributed one by one and the news reached the ears of the large army stationed inside and outside Yunji City, waves of cheers erupted.
He dealt with it until midnight before barely finishing.
Then...
There remained those who were not soldiers but had achieved great merit!
Ren Tianye had someone call for Su Hong.
His face was amiable, with a friendly smile on his lips.
"Su Hong!"
"This commoner is here!" Su Hong quickly stepped forward, feeling a wave of daze in his heart. He still remembered that Ren Tianye had previously called him "Second Uncle!"
That was a much more intimate address.
It was also an address that had almost driven him, and their Su Manor, into a desperate situation.
"Sun Xiang told me about your contributions. On behalf of the people of Yunji City, I thank you."
"During this outing, your eldest niece Su Jin also achieved great merit."
"All things considered, your Su Manor has given me a pleasant surprise once again!"
Su Hong knew what Ren Tianye meant by the previous pleasant surprise; those nightmare-like days still left him with lingering fears.
However, this time, there was finally no need to live in constant anxiety.
"From now on, the trade in the Northern Frontier shall be entrusted to your Su Manor."
"Once I conquer the entire realm, I shall continue to rely heavily upon your Su Manor!"
"You had best not disappoint me again!"
...
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
lities. One day, Qi Yuan was buying groceries when he unfortunately came face-to-face with a monster. Just when he thought he was going to die on the spot, he suddenly heard the monster's thoughts... "This aura, he's definitely not an ordinary master!" "So terrifying, so terrifying." "A fight with my back against the wall, I can't take it anymore." Qi Yuan: Ah, no one told me that my awakened ability isn't telepathy, but rather the stronger my enemies imagine me to be, the stronger I truly become. PS: Zhou Hai in the first chapter is not the protagonist.
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.
