I can bless thousands of magical powers.

As a seasoned staff member who had worked as a private advisor for two or three decades, Li Shiwen's biggest fear was encountering a shrewish boss.

They are the kind of greedy people who are self-righteous and arrogant.

Although Li Shiwen and Li Heng share the same surname, they are not related. The only position he truly served was that of the garrison commander of Danyang.

This is also one of the reasons why he will not go to Shangjingtian with Li Heng.

Zhang Yuan, who has now taken over the position of garrison commander, is worthy of my service, regardless of his cultivation level or strength, simply because he regards money as dirt and cares for soldiers and civilians.

Therefore, Li Shiwen's words came from the bottom of his heart and were not false in the slightest!
Zhang Yuan keenly sensed the change in the other party's mood and smiled, saying, "Also, next month's salary will be doubled. You should spread the word first so that everyone knows."

Li Shiwen bowed again: "Yes, sir!"

In fact, Li Shiwen could easily come up with several strategies to appease people and stabilize morale.

The key lies in whether those in power are willing to implement it.

Now that Li Shiwen no longer needs to advise the emperor, Zhang Yuan has taken the initiative to bring it up himself, which he greatly admires.

A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Zhang Yuan looks very young, but his interpersonal skills are in no way inferior to Li Heng's.

Moreover, it also exudes a vigorous and enterprising spirit!

"Report~"

Just then, a fully armed Taoist soldier rushed into the hall, knelt on one knee, and anxiously reported: "My lords, the barbarians have attacked again!"

Li Shiwen and Lü Xiong were immediately taken aback, and their expressions turned extremely grim.

Zhang Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

Lu Xiong swallowed hard and said in a low voice, "My lord, you don't know..."

The canyon guarded by Danyang Daocheng is an extremely important passageway through the southern Taishan Mountains.

Without this strategic pass, the barbarian tribes of the southwestern wilderness and marshes could easily have entered the territory of the Great Qian Dynasty, causing havoc and plundering.

This pass was originally built by the Daqian Dynasty, and later entrusted to Shang Jingtian for its defense.

The specific reasons are probably only known to the bigwigs at the top of the sect.

But none of that matters. The key issue is that recently, barbarian experts have been constantly crossing mountains and valleys to harass Danyang City, causing heavy losses to the sentries stationed in the surrounding areas.

In such a situation, the Danyang Dao Camp should have sent out experts and powerful warriors to give a fierce counterattack.

Only by thoroughly defeating and killing these barbarians will they truly cease their strife.

Barbarians fear power but do not cherish virtue!
The problem is that Danyang Dao Camp, having just experienced a severe internal strife, has neither the time nor the energy to deal with the provocations of the barbarian experts.

The only option is to seal off the city and defend it to prevent the enemy from invading.

Simply put, it's like becoming a tortoise!
However, the barbarian experts became increasingly unscrupulous, raiding cities more and more frequently.

They may not know that Zhang Yuan has come to take over the position of garrison commander today, but this move undoubtedly gave him a great warning, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it humiliation.

"I see."

Zhang Yuan nodded expressionlessly, then said to Li Shiwen and Lü Xiong, "You two stay here and keep watch. I'll be right back, in no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

"grown ups…"

Just as Lü Xiong was about to volunteer to deal with the barbarian expert, Zhang Yuan's figure flickered and instantly disappeared from the spot.

In an instant, he darted out of the hall and disappeared into the darkening night outside!
The deputy commander of the garrison and Li Shiwen exchanged glances. The latter exclaimed, "Sir, you are truly...a true hero!"

After Zhang Yuan, whom Li Shiwen called a "hero," used his movement technique to rush out of the garrison, he immediately leaped high into the air, stepping on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, and under the cover of night, he sped towards the outside of the city.

At the same time, the Crimson-Eyed Crow spread its wings and soared straight into the sky.

The mystical spirit traced a long trail in the night sky, its scarlet eyes gleaming with strange light.

He scanned the rolling mountains below.

Although visibility is poor at night, its unique vision makes enemies hidden in the darkness nowhere to hide.

Ga~
It opened its mouth and cried out, conveying to Zhang Yuan that it had locked onto the target.

Zhang Yuan had just landed on the city wall when his eyes flashed, and he soared into the air again, heading towards the forest on his right.

He moved through the dense forest like a ghost, and in a few leaps he arrived at a watchtower not far from the city.

To guard against attacks from enemies and strange entities, Danyang Daocheng set up many watchtowers around the city and stationed Dao soldiers to guard them.

However, recently, many watchtowers have been attacked by barbarian experts, resulting in the deaths and injuries of some Taoist soldiers.

Only a few watchtowers are still in use.

As a result, tonight, the unbridled barbarians returned with renewed force, attempting to remove the last few nails.

That's incredibly arrogant!
The watchtower Zhang Yuan arrived at had just collapsed, and the bodies of two sentries lay scattered on the ground, a bloody and gruesome sight.

But they also fulfilled their mission, issuing a warning to Daocheng.

Witnessing this scene, Zhang Yuan felt a surge of inexplicable anger.

He wants to kill someone!
Clang!
The next moment, the Taotie sword was suddenly drawn.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhang Yuan swung the Xuanbing weapon in his hand with all his might straight ahead.

He has already imbued himself with the extraordinary abilities of the Jade Mantis.

Advanced swordsmanship, profound and mysterious!
A streak of light, like a bolt of lightning, instantly tore through the darkness, leaving a trail of light and shadow dozens of steps long.

It cut straight into the depths of the dense forest.

"what!"

A short, sharp scream suddenly rang out in the mountains and forests.

call out!call out!call out!
Zhang Yuan's strike was like a spark thrown into an anthill, causing an instant explosion in the forest.

More than a dozen crossbow bolts, imbued with powerful force, shot toward him from different directions, each bolt's arrowhead gleaming with a bluish light.

It's clearly been coated with a deadly poison!
At the same time, a series of burly figures appeared around them, shouting and rushing towards Zhang Yuan.

They lay in ambush near the watchtower, waiting for the people from Daocheng to come to their aid so they could launch a surprise attack.

Unexpectedly, the sneak attack failed, and Zhang Yuan discovered the clues first.

With a single strike, he killed one of these barbarians!
The other barbarians could not bear it any longer; their eyes were bloodshot as they sought revenge for their comrades.

Zhang Yuan swung his sword to deflect the crossbow bolt aimed at him. When he saw the barbarian expert rushing towards him, he smiled coldly, and the Taotie sword in his hand suddenly burst forth with thousands of rays of light.

After upgrading the Jade Mantis to level six and evolving it into the advanced sword technique Xuan Tong, Zhang Yuan's sword technique level achieved another leap forward with the support of his extraordinary abilities.

At this moment, he was comparable to a true master of swordsmanship!
With a single swing of the blade, over a dozen heads shot skyward! (End of Chapter)