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

The battle ended quickly.

Most of the defending troops were captured, and the prisoners were taken to a temporary camp outside the city, where the surrendered soldiers were organized into groups to await their fate.

The Tushan army did not disturb the people. The people were asked to stay at home temporarily, and apart from the patrolling soldiers, there was not a single idle person to be seen on the streets.

Having spent a long time in the Northern Army camp, some rules no longer need to be repeatedly emphasized.

The city lord's mansion was brightly lit.

Lu Zhanshuang strode across the threshold, laughing all the way.

He put his arm around Jiang Yan's shoulder, and their horns almost bumped into the door frame.

"When I was at the Golden Core stage, escaping from a Nascent Soul cultivator was already quite an achievement!" His booming voice echoed throughout the hall. "But you went and just killed him! Impressive." He slapped Jiang Yan hard on the back, almost making him stumble.

"I'm lucky." Jiang Yan stood firm.

"Bullshit." Lu Zhanshuang retorted without any politeness, "If that's called luck, then the Myriad Demon Domain has no strength."

The generals took their seats one after another inside the city lord's mansion.

Tu Shan Jing unfolded the city defense map of Duanbei City, clearly marking all the passes, granaries, and water sources.

After assigning military duties, he closed the picture book.

"We need to leave someone to guard Broken Stele City. Although the probability is low, we still need to guard against the possibility of the Heavenly Wolf side launching a counterattack. So someone needs to keep things under control." He looked at Lu Zhanshuang, "City Lord Lu, please keep watch."

He then looked at Jiang Yan and said, "Jiang Yan, lead half of the garrison to stay behind. I will escort the prisoners of war back to the main camp in the north to coordinate reinforcements and supplies. The capital is also sending reinforcements on their way."

After everything was arranged, he smiled and looked at Jiang Yan.

"You're probably going to get promoted again. It took me five years to go from a centurion to a general."

"...General Jing is joking."

"I never joke," Tu Shan Jing said seriously, his smile fading. "This time, I will personally recommend you for credit."

After Tu Shan Jing left, Lu Zhan Shuang leaned back in the armchair and crossed her legs.

"I'll just keep things under control. You handle things in the city. If Tuoba Feng dares to come back, I'll chop him up. Don't come to me for anything else." He closed his eyes after saying that, and a moment later, he started snoring.

Jiang Yan looked at this hands-off manager and shook her head.

Managing a city was something he was most familiar with.

In the vast realm, he governed Shigou County, Yunzhou Prefecture, and Jingzhou, as well as the Ministry of Works, and finally the entire imperial court of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Duanbei City is just a border town, not large in size, but it has all the necessary functions.

Jiang Yan first ordered people to bring together the list of surrendered soldiers and the household registration book, compare the two, and screen out the deserters who had taken advantage of the chaos from the civilian houses one by one.

Then three more patrol teams were deployed to take turns patrolling day and night, with someone watching every street and alley to prevent fires, thefts, and disturbances.

At the same time, notices were posted to reassure the public, announcing the market would open the next day, so that residents of all neighborhoods would not have to worry.

In less than a day, the operation of Broken Monument City returned to normal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

However, Jiang Yan noticed something while looking through the household registration book.

In the north of the city, there was an area without an official name, which was simply marked with two words in vermilion ink on the yellow register: "North District".

He closed the booklet and called Lu Fa and Tu Shanye out the door.

The north side of the city is the most dilapidated corner of the entire Broken Stele City.

The streets were narrow, the stone pavement was uneven and potholed, and there were piles of debris in the corners that hadn't been cleaned up for who knows how long.

The people living here are all humans.

According to the military report, while Tuoba Feng did not have a favorable impression of the human race, he did not deliberately mistreat them either.

He would restrain his men from harassing the area, but that was all.

As for how the people in the North District are doing, that's not within his consideration.

So the people here live a hard life, but it's still relatively safe.

As Jiang Yan walked in, several people squatting in the corner at the street corner slowly raised their heads.

Looking at the young human leader, their gazes shifted from bewilderment to surprise, and then from surprise to wariness.

Someone recognized the Tushan emblem on his armor and whispered about it.

There will be no supplies coming and going to this city for some time to come.

So Jiang Yan had several carts of supplies brought in, and they unloaded them one by one and stacked them on the open ground at the street corner.

The crowd gathered around, but kept a distance.

No one dared to step forward first.

Jiang Yan made way for him to lead people to distribute supplies.

Lu Fa's loud voice worked as always: "Line up, line up, one by one, everyone gets a share!" Tu Shanye stood by the car without saying a word, handing out bags of grain.

The people who received the food looked at the heavy bags in their hands, their expressions changing from disbelief to excitement.

In the past year, the messages that the Tianlang Army sent back from Tushan never had a single good word to say about Jiang Yan.

Although they are both human, in the minds of the people of the Northern District, the name Jiang Yan has been fabricated by popular belief as a fierce god with a face full of scars and three heads and six arms.

Otherwise, how could the Sirius Army have suffered so many losses?

Only then did they realize that the person standing at the street corner was actually a teenager.

He was tall and slender with handsome features. He wore a fitted soft armor and had two swords hanging at his waist. He looked to be no more than fourteen or fifteen years old.

This person is completely different from the ferocious god in the rumors who made the Sirius Army grit their teeth in hatred.

Jiang Yan ignored the stares. After distributing the supplies, he neatly stacked the remaining bags of grain and dusted off his hands.

As I was leaving, my gaze inadvertently swept across the street corner and then stopped.

A child squatted in the shadows at the alley entrance, not going to collect the item.

Short hair, face filthy, making it impossible to see his features.

Jiang Yan suddenly noticed the child, mainly because of the ancestral sword at her waist, whose blade was trembling slightly.

It wasn't murderous intent; it was more like a resonance.

If my information is correct, the Ancestral Sword has only resonated with me over the years.

He walked through the crowd to the child, squatted down, and looked directly into the eyes hidden behind the disheveled hair.

Why aren't you going to collect your things?

The little boy looked at him for a while, then spoke.

The voice was crisp and clear; it was actually a girl.

"There are too many people now," she said in a clear voice. "I'll pick up the rest after everyone else has received theirs, so I won't have to squeeze with others."

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Aren't you afraid of being robbed?"

"I'm not afraid." The little girl pointed to several boys lining up at the alley entrance to receive food. "They can't beat me."

Jiang Yan looked at her and couldn't help but smile.

As he drew closer, the tremor of the ancestral sword became increasingly pronounced.

Jiang Yan looked down at the sword, then looked up at the little girl.

"May I shake your hand?"

The little girl blinked, her eyes, which looked exceptionally clean against her dirty face, showed no fear.

She looked at Jiang Yan and nodded.

"Yes, you're a good person, I can tell."

Jiang Yan was surprised, "You can tell from anyone?"

"Yes." The little girl nodded seriously, "Whether it's an adult or a child, I can tell if they have any ill intentions as soon as they get close to me."

Jiang Yan gently grasped her slender wrist.

The moment the fingers touched her skin, the ancient sword at her waist emitted a clear and melodious sword cry, vibrating violently within its scabbard.

Jiang Yan loosened his grip, and the sword's clang gradually subsided.

He looked at the dirty, thin little girl in front of him, and his expression became serious.

"Would you like to come with me?"