Chapter 215: Returning In Triumph
Translator: KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor: Lucas
"Toast!" Duan Ling Tian was influenced by the atmosphere as well, and he stood up with heroic spirit that could pierce through the sky as he drank the wine in one go.
In his previous lifetime, he was born in the army, so before long, he’d mixed in with the 100,000 officers present and drank until deep into the night before finally resting.
At dawn the next day, they left Southern Barbaric City and headed towards the direction of the Crimson Sky Kingdom.
It was precisely the Crimson Wyrm Army!
Presently, Southern Barbaric City had already been captured, and the following matters were thing the border army would need to deal with.
As the reinforcement troops, their assignment had already been completed, so now it was time to return to the Imperial City!
The Crimson Wyrm Army’s cavalry of 10,000 plus officers only spent a few hours to traverse the Crosscut Mountain Range and arrive at the Crimson Sky Kingdom’s Relentless Thriving City.
The residents of Relentless Thriving City stood outside the city and gazed at the Crimson Wyrm Army go off into the distance with extremely excited expressions.
There was a group of border army cavalry troops that had brought the news of Southern Barbaric City being captured deep into the night yesterday, causing many of Relentless Thriving City’s residents to be excited to the point they were unable to sleep the entire night.
"The Crimson Wyrm Army has once again fully revealed their invincible might!"
"The Crimson Wyrm Army being able to successfully launch a surprise attack this time is all thanks to the youth strategist, Duan Ling Tian."
"It’s truly unbelievable…A mere 18-year-old youth was actually able to direct a huge army of a 100,000 and capture Southern Barbaric City without losing a single soldier."
"From today onwards, this Duan Ling Tian will surely be famous throughout the Crimson Sky Kingdom, and his name will go down in history.
"Humph! I just thought of that son of the Prime Minister, Gu Xiang. He’s utterly incapable of being compared with Duan Ling Tian! That day, he had a huge army of 110,000 under his command, but not only was he unable to breach Southern Barbaric City, he even led over 10,000 border army officers to their deaths."
"Gu Xuan? In my eyes, he can’t even compare to a hair on Duan Ling Tian’s head. Son of the Prime Minister? He’s lost all the face of our Crimson Sky Kingdom!"
...
The residents of Relentless Thriving City deeply remembered the name "Duan Ling Tian," and they deeply remembered Gu Xuan’s name as well.
The former made them feel respect, whereas the latter made them feel disdain.
The Crimson Wyrm Army arrived in a formidable array and left in a formidable array as well. Overall, their trip as reinforcement troops this time could be considered to have been perfectly accomplished.
At the front of these 10,000 troops, Duan Ling Tian and Nie Fen galloped their horses forward side by side, and the old man that was sparing in speech followed behind the two of them as if he was a shadow.
"We’re returning!"
"Once we return this time, I wonder what rewards his majesty the Emperor will grant us."
"Our rewards ought to be about the same…What I’m curious about is what reward will his majesty the Emperor grant Duan Ling Tian."
...
The group of Paladin Academy students discussed enthusiastically.
Duan Ling Tian could be said to have been the core when capturing Southern Barbaric City this time, and without Duan Ling Tian, the Crimson Sky Kingdom would have been unable to come so far. Thus, Duan Ling Tian’s bestowal from the Emperor would surely be the most and of the highest variety, and this was something they didn’t doubt in the slightest.
Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun galloped side by side, and their faces revealed heartfelt smiles, as the trip this time made their blood boil and they had fought to their hearts’ content!
"That fellow Tian Hu will surely grumble when we return."
"That’s for sure."
Both of their faces revealed wide grins.
Two months later, their group once again returned to the Imperial City.
"Little Tian, the Paladin Academy students will be led back by you personally…I’ll lead the Crimson Wyrm Army’s officers back to the campsite first before going to look for my father and entering the Imperial Palace to have an audience with the Emperor," Nie Fen said to Duan Ling Tian outside the Imperial City.
The Crimson Wyrm Army’s campsite was outside the Imperial City.
Duan Ling Tian nodded.
"Students of Paladin Academy, follow Duan Ling Tian back!" Nie Fen ordered in a loud voice.
Instantly, with Duan Ling Tian in the lead, the group of Paladin Academy students entered the Imperial City in a formidable array.
When they left, the Paladin Academy students numbered a total 312 people, but now there were only 311.
The missing person was precisely Gu Xuan, or in other words, the son of the Crimson Sky Kingdom’s Prime Minister Gu You Ting, who’d already left Relentless Thriving City more than two months ago.
Duan Ling Tian and the others returned to Paladin Academy. Unsurprisingly, they caused a great stir within the academy.
"They’re back so quickly?"
"Yeah, from here to the northwest border, even if they galloped their horses throughout the journey, they’d at least need four months for a return trip…Now it hasn’t even been five months and they’ve returned. In other words, they stayed less than a month in the southern border."
"Is the Southern Champion Kingdom’s army so useless?"
...
Presently, it was right in the middle of the afternoon. Many Paladin Academy students had gathered at the Martial Arts Practice Grounds and were discussing animatedly amongst themselves.
Before long, along with the return of the group of students Behind Duan Ling Tian that integrated into the crowd, they quickly found out about the sequence of events of the matter…
The Crimson Sky Kingdom’s army captured the Southern Champion Kingdom’s Southern Barbaric City without losing a single soldier!
And it caused all the students that didn’t head to the northwest border to be muddle-headed.
When they found out that all of this was due to the contribution of Duan Ling Tian, their gazes were filled with reverence when they once again gazed at Duan Ling Tian.
This was true for both lower grade students and higher grade students!
Moreover, Duan Ling Tian, who was the focus of attention, bid his farewell to Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun and snuck back home after he saw that the group of students had returned to Paladin Academy.
Standing outside his own courtyard house’s gate, Duan Ling Tian’s breathing become slightly hurried.
I’m home!
After Xiong Quan opened the gate, Duan Ling Tian walked in with large strides.
"Young Master!"
"Young Master!"
...
Within the front courtyard, manager Jing Ru and two servant girls respectfully bowed to Duan Ling Tian.
Duan Ling Tian nodded with a smile to them before impatiently walking into the rear courtyard.
Within the rear courtyard, the two little girls sat around Li Rou, as they hadn’t realized Duan Ling Tian’s return.
"Tian!" Only after Li Rou noticed Duan Ling Tian did the two little girls react as if being struck by thunder.
"Mom, I’m home!" Duan Ling Tian’s face revealed a resplendent grin.
In another few days, it would be a full five months since he’d left that day.
"It’s good that you’re back, it’s good that you’re back." Li Rou’s face revealed a smile, and she obviously heaved a sigh of relief as well.
"Young Master!"
"Scoundrel!"
The two little girls transformed into two gusts of fragrant wind as they threw themselves into Duan Ling Tian’s embrace from both left and right, before tightly holding Duan Ling Tian.
"I’m back." Duan Ling Tian held the two girls in his arms, and a sense of excitement was revealed between his brows.
"Hiss hiss~" Right at this moment, a black and a white bolt of lightning flashed over before directly descending onto Duan Ling Tian’s hand, and they nodded lightly to Duan Ling Tian as if they were welcoming him back.
"Haha! Little White, Little Black." Duan Ling Tian laughed heartily as he greeted the two little pythons.
Duan Ling Tian tossed everything to the back of his mind and spent the entire afternoon and night with the two little girls in his spacious room. Clothes came off, they tossed and turned, and they passionately enjoyed every position Duan Ling Tian knew….
It wasn’t until deep in the night that Duan Ling Tian embraced the two little girls who had satisfaction written all over their faces and fell into a deep slumber.
At this moment, Duan Ling Tian didn’t know yet that many people throughout the Imperial City were bound to have a sleepless night tonight.
In the afternoon, after Divine Might Marquis Nie Yuan and his son entered the Imperial Palace, the news of the war in the northwest border spread out from the Imperial Palace….
The army of the Crimson Sky Kingdom had captured the Southern Champion Kingdom’s Southern Barbaric City in one go!
Moreover, the greatest merit didn’t belong to the Crimson Wyrm Army’s commander Nie Fen, nor did it belong to the border army’s general, He Wei An.
Instead, it was Duan Ling Tian!
The name Duan Ling Tian once again swept through the entire Imperial City and became the hottest topic of discussion within every restaurant.
"I never imagined that not only was Duan Ling Tian’s natural talent in the Martial Dao heaven defying, but he’s even so awesome at commanding troops into battle….He planned very carefully and took every possibility into account to win in every battle!"
"A genius in all aspects, a genius in all aspects! It’s truly the good fortune of our Crimson Sky Kingdom to have Duan Ling Tian!"
"Exactly, Duan Ling Tian is indeed an extraordinary genius! However, compared to Duan Ling Tian, that son of the Prime Minister, Gu Xuan, is ‘remarkable!’"
"He’s indeed remarkable! A huge army of 110,000 listened to his command, but they didn’t even touch Southern Barbaric City’s wall before losing over 10,000 people…Moreover, the Southern Champion Kingdoms army’s casualties didn’t even amount to 1,000!"
"Son of the Prime Minister? Bah!"
...
Whether it was the Imperial City’s outer city or the inner city, every place was filled with similar discussions, and all these discussions praised Duan Ling Tian while disparaging Gu Xuan.
After all, the two of them formed a sharp contrast.
Unlike the Imperial City that was bustling with activity, it was deathly silent within the Prime Minister’s Estate.
Within the spacious audience hall, a middle-aged man with medium stature that was dressed in a scholarly attire was unceasingly pacing up and down.
"Lord Prime Minister!" Before long, an old man walked in with large strides.
The old man’s eyes were dazzling like an array of stars, and he walked with steady steps. Obviously his cultivation level wasn’t low.
"How is it?" the middle-aged man asked in a low voice. Although no expression could be seen on the surface, that pair of anxious eyes completely exposed his currently anxious heart.
"Lord Prime Minister, I’ve gone to question them…They said that the Young Master left Relentless Thriving City two months ago and returned to the Imperial City!" the old man slowly said.
"What?!" The middle-aged man’s face went grim and his pupils constricted. "What actually happened?"
"Lord Prime Minister, allegedly it was the nearly 90,000 officers of the border army that pleaded to General He Wei An to kill the Young Master…Later, for the sake of the Young Master’s safety, General He Wei An let the Young Master leave in private," the old man said.
"Xuan! How can you leave alone?!" The middle-aged man’s pupils constricted, and his entire person seemed slightly dejected….
As the Prime Minister of the Crimson Sky Kingdom, Gu You Ting’s wisdom surpassed all others, and it was difficult for an ordinary person to reach his level.
He knew that his son had most likely been killed!
However, he could only be forced to keep this grievance to himself, because this matter couldn’t be blamed on the border army anymore…
"How are the news being spread outside?" Gu You Ting took a deep breath, and his eyes that were full of wisdom emitted a trace of a dense flowing light. He forcefully suppressed the grief deep within his heart.
The old man was slightly hesitant upon hearing Gu You Ting’s request.
"You don’t have to worry, speak!" Gu You Ting’s gaze was like electricity as he looked at the old man.
"Yes." The old man nodded and then truthfully told Gu You Ting of some of the rumors that were spread and discussed animatedly within the Imperial City.
After he finished speaking, the corners of the old man’s mouth held a bitter smile.
"Duan Ling Tian? He’s indeed an extraordinary genius." Gu You Ting took a deep breath and a strand of killing intent jumped about within his eyes. "However, according to my knowledge, this Duan Ling Tian has been in conflict with Xuan since long ago, right?"