World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 285 - 169: Suo Lun’s army! Proposing to Gui Qinshao!_2

Chapter 285: 169: Suo Lun’s army! Proposing to Gui Qinshao!_2

After this catastrophic defeat, the fragile alliance of eleven families completely disintegrated.

And it was the Silver Wolf Legion that emerged victorious in the end, becoming the most formidable force in Tianye City. Moreover, Yan Yan has been resurrected.

From now on, no one could prevent the Silver Wolf Legion from dominating Tianye City, consolidating the positions of supreme commander and city lord in one hand.

Unfortunately, these several large families did not know that the Silver Wolf Legion had already decided to leave and pledge absolute loyalty to the Suo Family.

Two days later, Yan Yan led the elite forces of the Silver Wolf back into the military camp.

The former encampment of the Silver Wolf Legion had been occupied, and all the stationed Silver Wolf mercenaries were disarmed.

After the collapse of the allied army, they hastily released all the Silver Wolf soldiers, giving back the military camp.

Thus, the camp was still intact and back in the hands of the Silver Wolf.

If that day Yan Nai’er had chosen to defend the camp rather than decisively abandon it and flee into the desert, the Silver Wolf Legion would have been annihilated by now, their bodies rotting away.

Upon returning to the camp, the first thing that Suo Lun did was to take out a banknote for one hundred thousand Gold Coins and hand it to Yan Yan to recruit troops, purchase military equipment, and provisions.

Out of this hundred thousand Gold Coin banknote, eighty thousand were his own, and the remaining twenty thousand were from that box of Xuesha.

Seeing this banknote for one hundred thousand Gold Coins, Yan Yan was instantly taken aback. Suo Lun had already lost Tianshui City, where did he get so much money from?

This amount of money, even he, Yan Yan, couldn’t produce. Moreover, the military expenses for this time’s fifty thousand allied army only amounted to around one hundred fifty thousand Gold Coins, which was contributed by the twelve major families and the Rage Wave Kingdom together.

"How many troops do you want to recruit?" Yan Yan asked.

"Twenty thousand," Suo Lun said.

Yan Yan replied, "Twenty thousand troops will have to travel thousands of miles to Tianshui City, and then lay siege to it. I’m afraid one hundred thousand Gold Coins won’t be enough."

Yan Yan then said, "We will only recruit soldiers, not officers."

Suo Lun understood what Yan Yan meant; he didn’t want a mob, but an elite force.

All officers would be promoted from within the Silver Wolf, requiring an army as responsive as his own limbs.

What was a mob? The battle in Huangquan Ancient City had made that abundantly clear.

Yan Yan said, "My samurai can command at most ten thousand troops."

Suo Lun said, "The Suo Family has one hundred more samurai, all of whom are grand swordsmen and knights."

Yan Yan replied, "Then let’s recruit fifteen thousand. I’ll send out invitations to have the eleven major families of Tianye City come for negotiations, aiming to not spend a single Gold Coin of our own, not even for a bushel of grain or a war horse."

That very evening, Yan Yan and Yan Nai’er attended a negotiation held at the round table in the wilderness.

Yan Yan proposed that the eleven major families of Tianye City compensate the Silver Wolf Legion for damages of one hundred ten thousand Gold Coins. Moreover, the share of the Silver Wolf Legion would increase from twenty percent to forty percent.

This was essentially demanding the lives of the other eleven major families. After bargaining for several hours, they finally agreed to give the Silver Wolf a thirty percent share of Tianye City’s profits and together compensate the Silver Wolf Legion with thirty thousand Gold Coins.

A thirty percent share amounted to roughly thirty thousand Gold Coins a year.

Just when everyone thought the negotiation was over, Yan Yan suddenly proposed withdrawing from Tianye City, expressing his willingness to auction off the thirty percent annual income of Tianye City to the highest bidder.

This was like a bombshell that left everyone stunned.

In the end, this thirty percent share sold for one hundred twenty thousand Gold Coins. Including the earlier compensation, Yan Yan extorted a total of one hundred fifty thousand Gold Coins from the eleven major families.

Then, he divided this one hundred fifty thousand Gold Coin into two parts.

"These fifty thousand Gold Coins, I am willing to offer to my liege for the recruitment of troops and purchase of horses. The remaining one hundred thousand Gold Coins, I intend to keep as Nai’er’s dowry."

...

The subsequent recruitment of troops went very smoothly.

Not only did the other eleven major families not hinder the process, but they also fully cooperated, eager for the Silver Wolf Legion to leave as soon as possible.

In just three days, they successfully enlisted twelve thousand mercenaries.

All were soldiers without a single officer, as all officer positions had to be kept under tight control, immune to outside infiltration.

They purchased an astronomical amount of provisions, bows and arrows, armor, and weapons.

They bought countless war horses, mules, carts, and more.

It was only because Tianye City could supply such staggering numbers of goods—other places, even the largest cities, couldn’t procure thousands of war horses.

This was because Tianye City was a hub of trade and smuggling.

The Night Orchid Duchy and Xiliang Kingdom were the biggest smugglers of war horses each year.

Previously, the trade routes had been blocked for a month, and countless goods were stranded near Tianye City. The merchants were going mad.

Now, with Suo Lun’s more than one hundred thousand Gold Coins spent, many of the merchants’ stockpiles were swept clean.

An army really is a gold-devouring beast. After spending one hundred thousand Gold Coins, Suo Lun had a fully armed army of fifteen thousand men.

Whether they were elite troops or not remained to be seen.

But at least the entire officer corps consisted of veteran elites!

Ten days later, Suo Lun and Yan Yan, leading an army of fifteen thousand, left Tianye City. They advanced eastward along the southern border plains.

The distance from Tianshui City was over five thousand miles.

This army would continue to march eastward along the plains at the foot of the One Hundred Thousand Mountains, without setting foot in even an inch of Rage Wave Kingdom territory, so the kingdom’s army had no right to attack or obstruct them!

At this time, there were still thirty-nine days left until the deadline Suo Lun had set to quell the rebellion.

Leading an army of fifteen thousand over a journey of more than five thousand miles was perhaps an unprecedented experience for Suo Lun.

Seven days later, Suo Lun’s army had marched fifteen hundred miles.

After ten days, Suo Lun’s army had covered two thousand three hundred miles.

After fifteen days, Suo Lun’s army had traveled three thousand five hundred miles.

Throughout the process, the army continuously moved along the base of the One Hundred Thousand Mountains, staying at least one hundred miles away from the borders of Rage Wave Kingdom.

Thus, the kingdom’s troops watched the entire time without making any moves to attack.

The One Hundred Thousand Mountains were full of wandering Samurais, and there were countless Barbarian Tribes on the mountains.

However, facing an armed legion of fifteen thousand men, whether they were Barbarian Tribes, wandering Samurais, or even bandits, all of them trembled with fear.

...

Suo Lun’s fame once again spread throughout the City of Rage Wave.

Now, almost everyone knew that he had gathered more than ten thousand mercenaries from Tianye City. He had embarked on a trek of over five thousand miles to Tianshui City to suppress the rebellion.

At this time, another person’s name was resounding through the city, and that was Ling Ao.

Half a month earlier, the five major academies of the Human Kingdoms held their annual Martial Arts competition in Yanjing of the Flame Empire.

Ling Ao had won the championship, becoming the number one young master among the academy students.

This was the best result Rage Wave Kingdom had achieved in more than a decade; Ling Ao became the pride of the entire kingdom.

Returning from Yanjing laden with honors, he was personally received and commended by His Majesty the King.

Immediately following, he graduated from the Royal City Academy with top honors and became an attendant to Prince Zili, shining brighter than anyone else for a time.

Virtually countless nobles extended olive branches, trying to marry off their daughters to him and acquire him as a prestigious son-in-law.

But in Ling Ao’s heart, there was only one woman, Gui Qin Shu.

Having traveled through half of the Human Kingdom, he had seen hardly any woman more beautiful than Gui Qin Shu.

He felt that only a woman of Gui Qin Shu’s noble stature and peerless beauty was worthy of a talented and outstanding person like himself.

Of course, he was actually quite bothered by the fact that Gui Qin Shu had once gone through a wedding ceremony with Suo Lun. However, Gui Qin Shu humiliating Suo Lun in the most thorough manner at that time brought him some consolation.

Today, he had officially graduated from the Royal City Academy and become an attendant to Prince Zili.

He felt it was time to take the first step in his life and propose to Gui Qin Shu.

As for the wedding, it would have to wait until he had made his mark and was conferred the title of noble by the King.

At this time, Gui Qin Shu was staying with her mother as guests in the Turing Clan. She was so arrogant that even within the Turing family, she looked down on everyone else, which resulted in poor relations with several young ladies of the Turing family.

Half a month ago, Turing Duo had been injured by Suo Lun’s radiant energy arrow. She collapsed unconscious on the spot. After being treated by the Dragon Temple, her life was no longer in danger, but she was still quite weak and recuperating at home.

Now, she was playing chess with Gui Qin Shu.

"Miss, Young Master Ling Ao is requesting an audience," the close maid reported from outside. "He’s also holding flowers."

Turing Duo glanced at Gui Qin Shu and smiled, "Cousin, someone is about to propose to you."

...

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