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

On the afternoon of the day the imperial edict arrived, a sharp glint of light flashed outside the gates of the northern camp.

As the flash of the blade faded, a burly middle-aged man was revealed, with a square face, thick eyebrows, stubble-covered beard, a pair of small bull horns on his head, and a heavy sword wider than his shoulders strapped to his back.

He strode into the military camp, and as he passed the drill ground, he saw several demon soldiers wrestling. He stopped to watch for a while, then burst into laughter.

This is Lu Zhanshuang, the city lord of Muyun City and a sword cultivator at the Refinement Realm.

Jiang Yan stood behind Tu Shan Jing, watching the man stride towards them from afar, her eyes showing some surprise.

He had assumed that Lu Zhanshuang was a refined and elegant person, but he was surprised to find that he was a rough and unrestrained man.

"General Jing!" Lu Zhanshuang's voice boomed like a bell, making the flagpoles outside the camp gate hum.

He walked up to Tu Shan Jing, looked him up and down, and grinned: "It's been years, and you still look like a scholar."

Tu Shan Jing smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Lord Lu, it's been a long time."

Lu Zhanshuang waved his hand, his gaze passing over Tu Shanxiang and landing on Jiang Yan.

His eyes lit up, and he strode over, slapping Jiang Yan's shoulder with his thick hand so hard that Jiang Yan's feet sank.

"So you're Jiang Yan? Good lad, your name's known throughout Muyun City now. Well done!"

Jiang Yan cupped his hands in greeting: "Lord Lu, you flatter me."

"What praise! I never hold back when praising people." Lu Zhanshuang patted his shoulder again, then turned to Tu Shanjing and said, "I like this kid. This time, let him fight freely during the siege. With me in charge, Tuoba Feng won't be able to turn the tables."

Blitzkrieg emphasizes speed.

That afternoon, the Northern army was ready.

Thirty thousand soldiers rode warhorses imbued with the blood of demonic beasts and set off in unison, the dust kicked up by their hooves leaving a long yellow trail across the Gobi Desert.

A day later, the army appeared fifty miles away from Broken Monument City.

The scouts of the central army had already infiltrated the city with enemy intelligence.

Inside the city lord's mansion in Broken Stele City, Tuoba Feng's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Before him lay a military report detailing the fall of all eight outposts on the front lines, and he smashed the teacup on the table to dust with a single blow.

"A bunch of useless idiots! They only realized we were being blocked at their doorstep!" Tuoba Feng gritted his teeth. "The royal army is still gathering; even if we set off immediately, it will take two or three days to arrive..."

He took a deep breath, suppressing his surging anger, and turned to his deputy general behind him, saying, "Report to the capital truthfully that Tushan launched a surprise attack on Duanbei City, and request His Majesty to send reinforcements immediately. Also—" He looked at the aura coming from afar outside the city, "Prepare for war."

At this time, it was fifty miles away.

Inside the central command tent of the Tushan army, the strategy for attacking the city was quickly decided.

Based on the known intelligence.

Lu Zhanshuang restrained Tuoba Feng, while Tu Shanjing, with his peak Nascent Soul cultivation, held off two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators on the opposing side.

Pei Xiao led several Nascent Soul generals to launch a frontal attack on the city, while Jiang Yan led the Northern Expeditionary Army to wait for an opportunity to strike.

"We outnumber them, so the advantage is on our side." Tu Shan Jing tapped the map lightly with his fingertip. "Let's finish this quickly and decisively, without giving them a chance to breathe."

In the afternoon, the army lined up in battle formation.

Thirty thousand demon soldiers lined up outside Broken Stele City, their black armor forming a vast, iron-gray tide under the sunlight.

The flag of the Northern Expeditionary Army was raised at the forefront, with the large character "Jiang" on it fluttering in the wind.

Jiang Yan stood at the front of the formation, holding the ancestral sword upside down.

Lu Fa and Tu Shanye stood on the left and right respectively, while the five thousand armored soldiers of the Northern Expeditionary Army stood silently in formation, creating a solemn atmosphere.

Lu Zhanshuang took the lead and rose into the air, standing more than a hundred feet above Broken Stele City. His rough voice pressed down like rolling thunder.

"Tuoba Feng! Come out and show your skills!"

A cold snort rang out from within the city, and a majestic figure soared into the sky.

Tuoba Feng was clad in black armor and held a twelve-foot-long horse-slaying saber, the blade swirling with a dark blue aura of malevolence.

The two exchanged a glance and flew away from the battlefield.

A moment later, the distant horizon echoed with the deafening roar of clashing blades, tearing open huge rifts in the clouds.

Tu Shan Jing drew his sword.

With the sword pointed forward, a deep voice echoed throughout the army: "Attack the city."

The bugle call sounded.

Thirty thousand troops surged toward Broken Stele City like a flood bursting its banks.

A rain of arrows, shimmering with spiritual light, poured down from the city walls. Shield bearers raised their massive shields, which suddenly enlarged, transforming into a phantom image that blocked all the arrows.

Pei Xiao took the lead, and his Nascent Soul stage spiritual power blasted a gap in the city wall.

If it were an ordinary city wall, it would have collapsed under this attack.

Several Nascent Soul generals followed closely behind, colliding violently with the Nascent Soul cultivators guarding the city.

Each clash unleashed a visible shockwave, causing city bricks to crumble and cracks to spread across the ground.

The ordinary demon soldiers around them were thrown about by the shockwave and retreated to avoid it. No one dared to approach the battlefield filled with murderous intent.

Jiang Yan looked up and around, her brows furrowing slightly.

The opponent has gained an extra Nascent Soul.

The man was a tall, thin wolf general who was circling around Pei Xiao's back from the flank, his hands holding a pair of short halberds that gleamed with a cold, eerie green light.

Pei Xiao was directly clashing with a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. The shockwave from the collision of the tiger's claws and the spear collapsed half of the city wall's crenellations. He didn't even notice the commotion behind him.

Jiang Yan moved.

He drew both swords, holding the ancestral sword in his right hand and the old sword in his left.

It shot out, spinning as it cut into the attack path of the Nascent Soul Wolf General. The ancestral sword in its right hand, wrapped in golden sword light, slashed out horizontally, clashing head-on with the pair of short halberds.

The immense force from the short halberd made his hands go numb, and he slid back several feet before the impact dissipated.

The early stage of the Nascent Soul realm is almost a whole realm higher than the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. The quality and quantity of spiritual power are on completely different levels. If it were an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, this attack would have already severely injured them.

The wolf general glanced at him, recognizing him as the human general who had risen to prominence recently. He grinned maliciously and turned his attention to the arrogant young man in front of him.

The short halberds slashed down in succession, their eerie green blades weaving an increasingly dense net around Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan blocked another heavy blow with his twin swords, but the hard stone slab beneath his feet shattered and collapsed, and his legs below the knees sank into the broken bricks.

He gritted his teeth, his spiritual energy surging wildly within him, pouring into his twin swords like a flood bursting its banks.

The golden sword light on the ancestral sword suddenly surged three inches, while the dark light on the old sword meandered through the halberd's edge, searching for every fleeting weakness.

Ice, fire, and lightning exploded in the air.

Jiang Yan's body was covered in wounds, with a deep, bone-revealing halberd wound on his left shoulder, right rib, and thigh, and a trickle of blood was also seeping from the corner of his mouth.

The wolf general on the other side was starting to get impatient. He, a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator, had been held up for so long by a mere Golden Core cultivator.

The two halberds overlapped and unleashed a dark green beam of light, blasting Jiang Yan back dozens of feet until his back slammed into a crumbling wall, barely bringing him to a stop.

But in that instant when he had just unleashed his ultimate move and was running out of steam, Jiang Yan made a move.

The old sword slipped from his left hand, tracing a strange arc as it hurtled towards the back of his opponent's neck.

Wolf dodged to the side, his right hand already slashing towards him with his ancestral sword. He raised his halberd to block, and then he saw Jiang Yan loosen his grip on the sword hilt, form a hand seal, and a fire dragon burst forth from his palm, slamming into his face.

Fire is an illusion.

The truly fatal flaw was the loosened ancestral sword.

Taking advantage of the moment when the fire dragon blocked his vision, he flipped over and cut into his arms, gripping his sword with one hand and severing the wolf general's arm in one strike.

The wolf general's body stiffened for a moment before he was forced to retreat violently due to his severe injuries.

On the battlefield, a deafening cheer erupted from the Tushan side.

"Lord Marquis, you are mighty!"

Jiang Yan wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, but instead of giving chase, she flew towards the flagpole not far behind her.

The Heavenly Wolf Army flag still flutters in the wind atop the city wall of Broken Stele City.

He swung his sword and severed the flagpole in half.

The banner of the Sirius army crashed down, rolled off the city wall, and fell into the mud in front of the battle lines, where it was trampled by countless hooves.

In the distance, one of the Heavenly Wolf Nascent Soul cultivators witnessed this scene, and his blood surged.

He recognized the human boy who was severely injured at the Nascent Soul stage and whose military flag had been torn off.

The root cause of the repeated defeats on the front lines these past few months is this kid.

He withstood a sword strike from Tu Shan Jing, and despite being injured, he angrily unleashed a blade of energy at Jiang Yan with his left hand.

Seeing this, Tu Shan Jing flew into a rage and lunged forward, while also glancing at Jiang Yan with concern.

A furious strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator is so fast it takes the blink of an eye.

The blade's energy tore through the air, cleaved the ground, and caused rocks to explode and dust to billow wherever it passed.

Lu Fa saw the scream and Tu Shanye's finger trembled as he nocked the arrow.

"Boss—!"

Jiang Yan had no time to dodge.

He crossed his arms, holding two swords in front of him, creating a shield for himself.

The blade's energy touched the shield, and the shield shattered.

The remaining blade energy struck his breastplate, shattering it.

The blade was about to pierce his chest.

Then, the true dragon bloodline within Jiang Yan's body, which had been dormant for a long time, suddenly stirred.

A powerful and majestic dragon's might erupted from Jiang Yan's body.

A golden dragon-shaped phantom rose around him. The sword energy collided with the phantom, shattering like waves crashing against rocks and dissipating into the air.

The entire battlefield came to a standstill.

Everyone—the Tushan Army, the Tianlang Soldiers, and all demons—felt the suppression emanating from the depths of their bloodlines at that moment.

Tu Shan Jing turned his head in mid-air, his pupils suddenly shrinking.

Lu Zhanshuang also looked over from the distant horizon, a hint of shock flashing in her eyes.

The oppressive aura of the dragon race.

And it's not just any ordinary dragon.

It is a real dragon.

Pei Xiao was engaged in battle with the enemy general when his tiger claws paused for a moment, almost allowing the opponent to counterattack successfully.

He turned his head to look in Jiang Yan's direction, his tiger-like eyes filled with disbelief.

How come this kid has something like this on him?

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jiang Yan no longer had the energy to think about these things.

He swallowed a recovery pill, and his spiritual power surged through his meridians. Taking advantage of the dragon's might within him before it subsided, he shot towards the previously seriously injured wolf general like an arrow. After several moves, the bloodline suppression forced the opponent to retreat step by step, and finally he killed him with his sword.

He picked up the head and held it high.

This is the first Nascent Soul cultivator to fall in this siege.

The momentum of the Tushan army instantly vanished like oil being poured on a raging fire, while the morale of the defending side receded like the tide.

The city gate was blasted open.

The remaining defenders fought and retreated, and the defensive line crumbled layer by layer.

Tuoba Feng swept back from the horizon, looked down at the city that was destined to fall, and his cold gaze fell on the blood-soaked human boy on the city wall, pausing for a moment.

Then, with a wave of his hand, he decisively led the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators through the encirclement and retreated to the rear.

Lu Zhanshuang and Tu Shanjing did not give chase.

First, the Void Refinement Realm expert insisted on leaving, and they couldn't be stopped.

But the results of this battle are enough.

The cheers from below the city walls resounded through the sky.

"Lord Dingyuan! Lord Dingyuan! Lord Dingyuan!" The soldiers banged their weapons against their shields, their shouts rising in waves.

Lu Fa rushed up the city wall, grabbed Jiang Yan, and roared incoherently, "You even cut down the Nascent Soul! Boss, you're fucking too fierce!" Tu Shanye stood beside him, his face also showing a rare excitement.

Jiang Yan leaned on his sword, a smile on his face.

But what he didn't know was...

At the moment his blood erupted.

Far away in the depths of the Dragon Court of the East Sea, Cang Yao suddenly raised her head and looked in the direction of the Heavenly Wolf Dynasty.

Meanwhile, in the market of the Sirius capital, Ao Tianxin was standing in front of a vendor's stall.

Suddenly sensing that familiar aura of true dragon bloodline, he turned his gaze to the border, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.

Without a moment's hesitation, she transformed into a streak of light and flew towards the border.