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

In the following days, the imperial edict was not issued immediately.

Tu Shanlie seemed to know that the two little ones needed time, so he deliberately gave them a few days' rest.

Ruoshui rushed to the Jiang residence early in the morning and pulled Jiang Yan outside.

Jiang Yan accompanied her as they strolled through the streets and alleys of the capital, revisiting all the places they had visited before.

A new dessert shop opened near the city wall of the capital. Ruoshui dragged Jiang Yan to try it. She ordered a bowl of sweet rice wine dumplings with osmanthus, took a bite and said it wasn't sweet enough. Then she naturally pushed the bowl to Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan took it and finished eating.

Ruoshui watched him eat, resting her chin on her hand, and suddenly said, "If I ever eat something that's not sweet enough in the future, there will be no one to help me eat it."

Jiang Yan put down the bowl.

"There are also dessert shops on the border."

"Liar." Ruoshui snorted. "There are only sandstorms and wolf demons on the border."

"Then I'll help you eat when I get back."

Ruoshui didn't speak, but lowered her head and stirred the empty bowl with a spoon.

After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Then come back quickly."

On the morning of the fifth day, the imperial edict arrived.

The attendant delivering the imperial decree stood in the main hall of the Jiang residence, read out words of encouragement, and expressed His Majesty's expectations.

Jiang Yan accepted the imperial edict and bowed.

Jiang Wuchen stood behind him, without saying a word.

That evening, Jiang Wuchen went to the ancestral hall alone.

When he came out, he was holding that sword in his hands.

The scabbard is ancient and simple, with intricate patterns engraved on it that remain clearly visible even after thousands of years.

The ancestral sword that the Jiang family has worshipped for generations sounded the incense stick's chime in its box on the day Jiang Yan was born.

"This is a decision made jointly by all the elders." His voice was deep. "You are the hope of the Jiang family, so this sword should go to the battlefield with you."

Jiang Yan took the sword with both hands, and the blade trembled slightly.

"I will not fail you."

The next morning, at the entrance of the Jiang residence.

Liu Qingyi leaned against the doorpost, still looking like she hadn't woken up yet.

Jiang Wuchen stood at the door, with his mother standing beside him, her eyes still slightly red.

Ruoshui arrived earlier than anyone else.

She arrived before dawn, standing at the entrance of the Jiang residence, clutching a bundle in her hand.

When Jiang Yan came out, she was talking to her mother, her expression serious, counting on her fingers.

"It's cold in the North, so I had someone prepare several extra thick clothes and medicine for wounds. Although he has his own, mine is even better. There's also dry rations. It'll be a long journey, and the food in the military camp certainly won't be as good as what we eat at home."

She spoke very quickly, as if she wanted to explain everything she could think of in one go.

Jiang's mother listened from the side, and although she was feeling somewhat heavy-hearted, she couldn't help but smile when she saw Tu Shan Ruoshui's appearance.

This girl, even though she's still a young girl herself, speaks like a young wife when she's giving instructions. She tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Yan'er will take good care of herself."

Tu Shan Ruoshui stopped, bit her lip, and stuffed the items one by one into Jiang Yan's storage bag.

Then she took a step back and looked up at him.

"You promised me."

"I promise you."

"Alright, go ahead, don't worry this princess."

Jiang Yan reached out and gently rubbed the top of her head.

"understood."

Liu Qingyi leaned against a pillar in the porch, watching this scene from afar.

He raised the wine pot in his hand and waved it at Jiang Yan in the distance as a farewell.

He mounted his horse.

He didn't turn around, and the sound of horses' hooves gradually faded into the distance.

Ruoshui stood on tiptoe, watching that figure until it disappeared from sight.

……

The royal army camp is located in the northern district, and Jiang Yan will be traveling to the border with this group.

Dust billowed across the training ground, and shouts of battle filled the air.

Hundreds of demon soldiers were drilling their ranks. The demons, with their beast-headed bodies and human bodies, wore uniform leather armor, and the spears in their hands gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

When Jiang Yan led his horse into the camp gate, the commotion on the drill ground paused for a moment.

The demon soldiers who were practicing in the front row stopped, and some people in the back row also craned their necks to look in this direction.

"Am I seeing things? That's a person?"

"What are the humans doing at the military camp? Delivering a message?"

"Look at his waist, he has a sword hanging there."

"With his build, can he even lift a sword?"

Jiang Yan nodded to them, found a corner to sit down, took out two swords, and slowly wiped them clean.

One of them was given to him by Liu Qingyi; the scabbard was covered with scratches of varying depths.

The other sword was an ancient sword passed down through the Jiang family, with inscriptions on the hilt that he couldn't understand.

These past few days, he spent his days with Ruoshui and his nights studying the "Two Elements Dividing Light Sword Technique".

This sword manual seemed to be tailor-made for him. He held a sword in each hand, and could switch between hardness and softness in an instant. The two swords could also be released from his hands and transformed into yin and yang energies, evolving into myriad phenomena outside his body.

Where the mind goes, there is the sword's edge.

It is a pure killing sword technique, which is exactly what he needs right now.

Soon, we set off.

The bugle sounded, and the procession set off from the north gate.

Jiang Yan was mixed in with the demon soldiers, his horse's hooves pounding through the thick dust on the official road.

As he exited the city gate, he seemed to sense something and looked back.

A figure dressed in a moon-white palace gown stood on the city wall, her fox ears swaying slightly in the breeze.

The convoy turned a corner, and the city wall disappeared from view.

Ruoshui stood on the city wall, watching the black dot grow smaller and smaller. Her fox ears slowly drooped, but quickly perked up again.

She rubbed her eyes hard, turned around, and strode back.

Anyway, he said to come back as soon as possible.

……

Tushan and Tianlang have been fighting for over a thousand years.

The border stretches for thousands of miles and is garrisoned year-round.

The climate in the North is completely different from that in the capital. The further north you go, the stronger the wind becomes and the drier the air gets.

The greenery along the official road gradually faded, replaced by gray-yellow shrubs and exposed rocks.

Two weeks later, Jiang Yan arrived at the northern military camp.

As I entered the camp gate, the sounds of drills around me fell silent for a moment.

Several demon soldiers who were resting by the training ground turned around and saw a human boy, dressed in a clean white shirt and leading a horse, walk in.

"What's going on? When did humans start in our camp?"

"Look at his build, he's not even as thick as one of my arms, what can he do?"

"I heard this was arranged by His Majesty."

"His Majesty's arrangements? Then it's alright."

Everyone knows that His Majesty treats the human race exceptionally well.

The murmurs subsided, but curious glances still gathered from all directions.

Soon, a fox spirit approached, looked him up and down, and said expressionlessly, "Come with me."

Jiang Yan was brought before a tiger-headed general.

This general was in charge of all the new recruits' assignment and training. He was a burly man with a tiger's head and a human body, sitting in his tent like a small mountain.

He looked down at Jiang Yan, put down the military register in his hand, and spoke in a rough and loud voice.

"You're that human His Majesty planted here? What's your name again... Jiang Yan?"

"Yes."

"Looking so frail, how can he fight?" General Tiger Head stood up, circled Jiang Yan, his tiger tail sweeping behind him. "I'll give you two choices. One, stay in logistics and do some support work, which is relatively safe. Two, go to the front lines and fight face-to-face with those wolf cubs, Tianlang. It's dangerous, but exciting enough, and you can hone your skills in real combat. You choose."

"Go to the front lines." Jiang Yan said without hesitation.

General Tiger Head raised an eyebrow and looked down at the tiny human in front of him.

Then he grinned, and the sound of his laughter made the candlelight in the tent flicker three times.

"You've got some guts, kid." He stopped smiling, made a heavy mark on the military register, and roared towards the outside of the tent, "Men! Take this kid to the C-Class Battalion! Give him two sets of armor, a set of weapons, and a warhorse, the standard rations for frontline recruits!" Then he looked down at Jiang Yan, "Kid, the battlefield isn't a training ground. Once you're on the front lines, nobody cares who you are, especially those wolf cubs from Tianlang."

"Don't go too fast."