With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

Lin Ye stood on the city wall, looking at the orderly military formation on the drill ground. At least now, Qinghe County had a team capable of fighting tough battles and a working team.

Gongchang Prefecture will not be peaceful for long. There will definitely be more big bandits in the future. Without a stronghold to suppress them, the people cannot survive. The bandits will always be able to call upon their men.

Therefore, the army in Qinghe County must be well integrated and have combat effectiveness.

After arranging military affairs in Qinghe County, Lin Ye returned to Xiang County.

Not long after, Lin Hu, Liu Yun, and the others finally returned from Beiyuan County.

Lin Ye personally came to the gate of the fortress to greet them. Looking at the seven familiar faces in front of him, he was filled with mixed emotions.

The numbers in the battle reports are not as shocking as seeing them with your own eyes.

Ten third-rate martial artists, all of whom have contracted with third-rate mounted Taoist soldiers.

A third-rate martial artist can take on twenty-five elite soldiers; in another world, he wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a mini-superman.

Yet, even with such an elite force, three out of ten were ultimately wiped out.

Lin Ye thought he had a good understanding of the brutality of the Northern Xiongnu's offensive, but faced with the situation where seven out of ten men returned, he realized that he had underestimated the bloodshed and madness on that wasteland.

He stepped forward and patted each of the seven men on the shoulder, his voice loud and solemn, "Your return alive is the greatest achievement."

Immediately, Lin Ye announced a generous reward, distributing a large amount of spiritual plants, gold, and silver on the spot to recognize his merit.

Liu Yun was promoted to captain and given command of a thousand soldiers.

Lin Ye also publicly promised the other six that as long as they broke through to the second-rate martial artist level, he would immediately grant them the position of captain and command an army of a thousand men, and he would never break his promise.

Lin Ye also did not forget the three martial artists who failed to return.

He ordered that his family be properly settled, and the compensation he provided far exceeded the usual standard.

His family members were fully supported by the Lin family until they reached adulthood.

Those with exceptional qualifications, upon passing the Lin family's assessment, can be directly appointed as town stewards to manage local affairs, ensuring the continuation of the heroic spirits and the continuation of the bloodline.

After entering the fortified village, Liu Yun and Lin Hu did not rush to rest, but instead told Lin Ye in detail about their experience in the battle.

From beneath Shuofang City, ten thousand Northern Xiongnu cavalry charged like a black tide, only to be held back by the Northern Han army. Later, a shaman warrior led a group of high-ranking warriors, easily tearing apart the army's formation.

Then comes the ultimate showdown between martial artists, and the battle between Dao soldiers on the battlefield.

And the final battle and defense under Beiyuan City, the suicide squad leaping down the city wall along ropes to kill the Northern Xiongnu's siege soldiers, and how the aerial soldiers later reversed the battle and ended the war.

These scenes were reenacted by the two of them.

Lin Ye closed his eyes, as if he were on that battlefield filled with smoke and fire, with banners obscuring the sun and shouts of battle shaking the heavens, where every clash was a matter of life and death.

His heart surged with emotion.

This is where a real man should be.

A contracted lair, a peaceful lord, even if one becomes incredibly wealthy, is nothing more than a rich man who maintains the status quo.

Once his martial arts rank is higher and the danger is lower, he will definitely step onto that battlefield himself and slay generals, instead of just strategizing from the rear.

Only in this way can one say that this life has not been in vain, and that this journey has not been in vain.

But when Lin Ye heard that Liu Yun had broken through to the second-rate level on the battlefield, his heart sank.

With Li Fuyun, Liu Yun, and himself, the Lin family now has three second-rate martial artists.

However, the family lair in his mind remained unresponsive.

It seems that it wasn't as I initially thought, that I could simply gather a few warriors from outside the clan to activate the nest.

It is highly likely that three members of the Lin clan must reach the second rank for the clan's nest to be qualified to summon second-rank Dao soldiers.

This threshold has suddenly been raised considerably.

Lin Ye gritted his teeth inwardly. He had originally planned to find a loophole and recruit more experts from outside the clan to join the family and meet the requirements.

It now appears that this path is no longer viable.

In addition, recent intelligence indicates that the Northern Hungarian offensive is exceptionally fierce, far exceeding that of previous years.

Lin Ye's mind couldn't help but fall on the batch of spiritual plants that had just been transported back a few days ago.

Those were spoils of war seized during the attack on the three counties of the Wang family. They included not only treasures from the Wang family's warehouse, but also spiritual plants confiscated from other small families in the three counties.

After 30% was handed over to the imperial court, the Lin family received 50% of the remaining 70%.

This batch of spiritual plants was overseen and distributed by Zhang Yuan in Qing County, and he escorted them back a few days ago.

Liu Yun continued talking about Beiyuan City, and one point in particular made Lin Ye's attention suddenly tighten.

He mentioned that one night, a battle also took place in Beiyuan City. They did not participate, but later heard that it was to wipe out the rebel army of the Wang family of Qingyang Prefecture.

At the time, Liu Yun was secretly worried that the Lin family, who were also in Qingyang Prefecture, might be affected.

As it turned out, all the other families were unharmed, only the Wang family's army was besieged and wiped out.

Later, Liu Yun broke through to the second rank and joined the martial artist team. He heard the first-rank martial artist captain mention this matter.

He also participated in the encirclement and suppression at the time. According to him, one particularly strange thing was that there were an unusually large number of martial artists in the Wang family's army, and many of them were Jianghu martial artists of very high rank, and some were even first-class.

These martial artists caused great trouble for the encirclement and suppression forces, and the battle was extremely fierce.

In the end, some of the Wang family soldiers chose to surrender, but none of the warriors surrendered; they all died in battle, killed one by one.

They must be specially trained assassins.

When Lin Ye heard that the Wang family had so many hidden martial artists, and even death warriors at that, a thought flashed through his mind, and he finally understood the purpose behind the court's previous generosity.

First, they agreed to give Qing County to the Lin family, and then they handed it over to the Qingyuan Sword Sect.

On the surface, the Sword Sect only occupied a county, but everyone knew that with the strength of the Qingyuan Sword Sect, given time, the minor lords of Qingyang Prefecture would eventually side with the Sword Sect.

The gap in strength is too great; only by relying on others can they survive.

At that time, the entire Qingyang Prefecture will once again fall under the sphere of influence of the Qingyuan Sword Sect.

The Wang family's rebellion was more than just a local uprising.

It concerns the safety of Kitahara Castle.

It seems that the Wang family and the mastermind behind them want to repeat what happened in Shuofang City.

They hid so many high-level martial artists in the royal army, definitely not to deal with the Northern Xiongnu, but to force open the city gates and let the Northern Xiongnu army in at a critical moment.

If the Lin family and Qingyuan Sword Sect hadn't promptly reported the Wang family's rebellion to the imperial court, the Wang family warriors who were defending Beiyuan City would have launched a surprise attack.

If the city gates are opened in the moment of laxity, Beiyuan City will likely suffer the same fate as Shuofang City, with the Northern Xiongnu cavalry sweeping through and changing hands overnight.

By then, if Beiyuan County falls, a huge gap will be torn in the entire northern border defense line of the Northern Han, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

Lin Ye took a deep breath. It turned out that he and the Qingyuan Sword Sect had unintentionally made such a great contribution.