After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

In the city lord's palace.

When the guard came in to report, Jiang Yan was reviewing the register of new recruits' organization.

"Liu Qingyi?"

He put down his pen, somewhat surprised.

He quickly got up and walked towards the door.

In the open space outside the main gate, Liu Qingyi stood there leaning on her old cane, with a young boy beside her.

Jiang Yan quickly went out to greet them and bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

"Teacher, what brings you here?" Her voice was filled with undisguised joy.

Liu Qingyi looked him up and down. This kid had grown much taller than when she taught him swordsmanship at the Jiang residence. His childishness had faded, and now he stood here with the composure of a city lord.

"I've come to seek refuge with you." Liu Qingyi grinned. "Will you accept me?"

Jiang Yan smiled and shook his head, inviting him into the main hall for a talk.

"Teacher, you're joking. I'd be more than happy if you came."

The two took their seats in the main hall, and Liu Qingyi gave a general overview of the situation in the capital.

When Jiang Yan was labeled a traitor, they were out on training, so they went back specifically to investigate.

Jiang Yan nodded after listening.

Ao Tianxin had already brought back these details, but hearing them from Liu Qingyi made him feel more at ease.

After finishing their business, Liu Qingyi stepped aside to let the young man beside her pass.

The boy took a step forward, standing upright like a pine tree, with an old sword on his back.

Jiang Yan's gaze fell on his face, and she vaguely felt that his eyebrows and eyes were somewhat familiar.

"Do you still remember him?" Liu Qingyi asked.

Jiang Yan observed carefully for a few moments, and then suddenly remembered.

That year, at the market in the capital of Tushan, the little boy I saved.

"It's you." Jiang Yan seemed to realize something. "What's your name again?"

"Reporting to Young Master, it is Jiang Shouzhou."

The boy's voice trembled slightly, and his eyes were already red.

Jiang Yan smiled and said, "No need to call me Young Master. We are destined to meet, so there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Big Brother."

Jiang Shouzhou paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

His lips moved several times, as if he had a lot to say, but his throat seemed to be blocked by something, and after a long time he could only squeeze out three words: "Brother Jiang".

Jiang Yan smiled and patted his shoulder, somewhat sighing. He never expected that the little boy he had casually saved would now become a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Since you have talent for cultivation, you will stay in the City Lord's Mansion and follow me from now on."

Looking at the face in front of him, which was much more mature than it had been back then, Jiang Shouzhou couldn't suppress the surge of emotion in his chest.

Over the years, he has been cultivating day and night, and a large part of his motivation comes from the person in front of him.

He wanted to keep up with him so that when he needed him, he could step forward and help.

Liu Qingyi watched this scene from the side and stroked the stubble on her chin with satisfaction.

……

Jiang Yan prepared to take Liu Qingyi and Jiang Shouzhuo to settle down, and the three of them walked out of the main hall.

As Jian Li passed by the training ground, she was putting away her sword after finishing a set of sword techniques. She turned around and saw her master leading two people over. She quickly went to greet him and said, "Master."

Jiang Yan introduced her to Liu Qingyi and Jiang Shouzhuo.

Jian Li bowed to Liu Qingyi with the respect due to a junior sword cultivator. Liu Qingyi nodded slightly in return, her gaze fixed on the sword intent around Jian Li that had not yet been fully subdued.

A look of amazement flashed in his eyes. This girl's talent was no less than Jiang Yan's. He really didn't know where this kid found his apprentice.

Just as Jiang Yan was about to continue walking forward, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them.

Ao Tianxin's gaze fell on Liu Qingyi, and she raised an eyebrow slightly: "It's you?"

Liu Qingyi raised his head, and the moment their eyes met, he was terrified.

For the first time, Jiang Yan saw an emotion in those cloudy eyes that she had never seen before.

"Senior!" He took a step forward, leaning on his cane, his voice trembling, "You...you still remember me."

"I remember." Ao Tianxin nodded, her gaze slowly moving from his lame left leg to his temples where his hair had turned gray.

"You two know each other?" Jiang Yan asked, somewhat surprised.

"That happened many years ago," Ao Tianxin said.

Liu Qingyi took a deep breath and explained to Jiang Yan.

"Back in the Vast Domain, I was fortunate enough to meet Senior Ao. At that time, I asked her to teach me a few sword moves."

He didn't continue.

Ao Tianxin looked at him and remained silent for a moment.

The young man who once chased after me, wanting to become my disciple, was full of vigor and his sword flashed like snow.

Now, the corners of his eyes are etched with the marks of time.

Later I heard that he had died in battle at the border, I never expected he was still alive.

"It's a pity that I failed to live up to your sword techniques, senior." Liu Qingyi gave a bitter smile.

"It's not a matter of letting you down." Ao Tianxin shook his head. "Living is a skill in itself."

Liu Qingyi lowered her head respectfully and did not reply.

Jiang Yan stood aside, watching this scene with a sigh.

……

More than a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Chang'an City was no longer what it used to be.

The original old city wall was demolished and expanded outward, and replaced by a new city wall that was tens of feet high, built with special stone and covered with reinforced array patterns.

The entire city was shrouded in a defensive array that had not yet been activated, with faint light patterns flowing around it.

At this moment, the city gate was wide open, wide enough for five or six carriages to enter side by side, and the gate was covered with black iron engraved with defensive runes.

The city underwent a complete transformation, with the expanded area spreading outwards along the main street, and the newly designated wards and markets were laid out in an orderly fashion, like a chessboard.

The density of people on the street had increased several times over. Everywhere there were laborers hurriedly unloading goods, craftsmen building walls and houses, and independent cultivators selling elixirs and talismans at roadside stalls.

Shouts rose and fell, mingling with the battle cries from the distant military camp, creating an unbearable cacophony.

Chang'an City can now be considered a truly magnificent city in the Demon Realm.

The reason it went so smoothly is probably because many humans in the Demon Realm have been oppressed for too long.

Now that Chang'an City has become a variable, many humans naturally came to support it without hesitation. Even knowing that the army to punish them was on its way, no one backed down.

Recruiting had stopped two weeks ago.

At this time, the Chang'an army had expanded to nearly 500,000. Although more than half of them were humans in the Qi Refining stage who had never been on the battlefield or worn armor, they were sufficient for defending the city and operating basic machinery.

What Jiang Yan didn't expect was that the core strength of the army had increased significantly, with over a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators and more than a dozen newly joined Deity Transformation cultivators.

Several Void Refinement cultivators who had long been famous in the Myriad Demon Realm even came to join them, two of whom had even reached the late stage of Void Refinement.

One was a lone swordsman who had single-handedly killed three generals of the same rank while being pursued by the demon dynasty; the other was an old woman who lived in seclusion in the desolate mountains on the border, and it was said that she had some connection with Wangchao City back then.

But bad news also came.

The allied forces have assembled from all sides and are heading towards Chang'an to encircle the city.

Jiang Yan already knew about the military expeditions of the three dynasties: Tianlang, Tushan, and Xuanyu.

But the latest intelligence brought back by the scouts revealed the presence of another faction.

Yinshan Dynasty.

This youngest and most unique dynasty in the Myriad Demon Realm has only a few hundred years of history and is located in the Yinshan Mountains in the far north of the Myriad Demon Realm.

It is a "republic of villains" formed by criminals, traitors, and exiles from various countries.

There are no hereditary kings, nor a respectable court; might makes right. Every survivor in Yinshan is a desperate criminal who has crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

They have always harbored deep hatred for the human race, so their participation in the siege was somewhat expected.

Soon, Chang'an City began to operate at full speed, like a giant war machine.

The carving knives on the city wall work in shifts day and night, constantly reinforcing the array patterns.

The shadow of war is looming, but no one in the city intends to leave.