As soon as Sikong Jing said this, everyone in the room widened their eyes, not understanding why.
"In the name of Lan Zhuanghe, we will attack the 98th Legion, and after taking it down, we’ll move on to the 97th, the 95th, the 94th..."
"I want to take down five cities in one night!"
The rolling voice of Sikong Jing left the audience dumbfounded, disbelieving.
"What’s the use of this?"
Elder Wei couldn’t figure out the benefit of attacking so many castles, especially in the name of Lan Zhuanghe.
"When the sun rises tomorrow, you will understand."
Sikong Jing didn’t explain but rather left it as a mystery.
An hour later, Sikong Jing personally led the troops to war, attacking the 98th Legion’s castle.
Now he had 80,000 men under his command, while the 98th Legion only had 40,000, so they took it with ease.
After taking the General Token from the 98th Legion, they turned and left.
The General of the 98th Legion watched the departing troops, his face clouded with frustration.
"Is Lan Zhuanghe sick? Why not attack the 95th Legion, and instead hit my lower-level Legion for nothing?"
"And how has such a useless Lan Zhuanghe become so powerful?
"Damn it, it must be Yan Shun who gave him a powerful strategist; otherwise, I couldn’t possibly have been defeated so miserably, damn!"
It was well-known that Lan Zhuanghe had connections, and his reputation as useless was an open secret. But because of the existence of Vice Commander Yan Shun, none dared to say much.
Following Sikong Jing’s plan, city after city was taken throughout the night.
And when they returned to the Ninety-Six Castle, daylight had already filled the sky!
Looking at the five General Tokens in Sikong Jing’s hands, Elder Wei asked again, "What should we do next?"
"Wait, wait for Yan Shun to arrive..."
The eyes of Sikong Jing glittered with cunning light, yet he still offered no explanations.
The hearts of those around him speculated uneasily, wondering what would happen after Yan Shun arrived. Would he appreciate Sikong Jing’s leadership in battle?
At the Central Castle of the Long Night Black Burning Camp, Yan Shun was woken up once again.
And of course, the one who woke him was Niu Canmou.
Yan Shun, not having slept comfortably, yawned heavily and asked, "Why the rush to wake me up?"
"Commander Yan, big things have happened, great things!"
"Lan Zhuanghe suddenly came to his senses. Lan Zhuanghe is awesome. In just one night, he broke through five whole cities!"
As Niu Canmou’s words fell, Yan Shun’s eyes widened, and he asked in disbelief, "Really?"
He was stunned; it was too unimaginable.
Excited, Niu Canmou replied, "Of course it’s true. The generals of several legions have already arrived at the Central Castle, asking what to do about the cities that have been taken. Except for Ning Jingjing, all four generals have come."
Yan Shun couldn’t help but laugh, and suddenly felt wide awake.
"Good, good, good, Lan Zhuanghe has finally seen the light. Now who can accuse me, Yan Shun, of nepotism?"
"Let’s go; we’ll immediately see the Commander and speak for Lan Zhuanghe’s merits."
Saying this, Yan Shun already walked out of the room.
But Niu Canmou quickly followed, asking, "Commander Yan, shouldn’t we go to meet Lan Zhuanghe first?"
"No, I don’t want to give people the reason to say that I helped Lan Zhuanghe. We’ll commend him first, then talk."
Yan Shun shook his head and strode off to see the commander of the Long Night Black Burning Army.
The commander of the Long Night Black Burning Army was a tall elderly man, a highly esteemed old marshal in the Long Night Empire, known as Beigong Xianfeng.
His military exploits were renowned, and his status was exalted, commanding respect from all.
Upon hearing Yan Shun’s request for commendation, Beigong Lao Yan’s face lit up with delight, and he laughed loudly, "Excellent, excellent, excellent! I didn’t expect Lan Zhuanghe to take five cities overnight. He is indeed a rare and promising talent."
"Come, come, I shall go and reward him personally. At the very least, I’ll promote him to above the 80th Legion."
Hearing Beigong Xianfeng’s promise, Yan Shun was overjoyed.
Lan Zhuanghe was someone he had promoted himself. The man had been criticized by other vice commanders for not having reached the Xuantian Five Realms, but now, having conquered five cities, Yan Shun could also stand tall and puff out his chest, fiercely holding his head high in front of the other vice commanders.
Damn, it felt incredibly satisfying.
As Yan Shun followed Beigong Xianfeng out of the Central Castle, the other vice commanders eyed them with icy stares. They all knew what sort of man Lan Zhuanghe was. How had he suddenly become so formidable?
Meanwhile, the generals of the 98th Legion and several others gathered and suddenly realized a common question.
When the cities fell last night, none of them had seen Lan Zhuanghe himself.
Their conversation was overheard by several vice commanders, who exchanged looks of understanding.
One of the thinner vice commanders pondered and said, "There’s definitely a problem. Since we have nothing better to do, let’s go check it out together."
And so, several vice commanders took several defeated generals and headed towards the 96th Legion’s castle.
In the command hall of the 96th Legion’s castle, a Black-armored Soldier came to report.
"Brother Sikong, Yan Shun is here..."
"With him, there’s also an impressive-looking old man."
This announcement immediately sent a wave of tension through everyone in the hall, at which point a deputy general asked, "What kind of old man?"
The reporting Black-armored Soldier hurriedly described the old man’s appearance.
"It’s the Beigong Commander. His Excellency himself has actually come in person." Two deputy generals from the 99th Army widened their eyes in shock, exchanging surprised glances.
The ordinary Black-armored Soldiers might not have seen the commander of the Black Burning Army, but it was impossible for the two deputy generals to not have seen him.
Everyone became tense, instinctively turning their gaze towards Sikong Jing.
"It seems that the Beigong Commander is quite concerned, to have come all the way here himself. This is perfect timing," Sikong Jing said with a smile on his face.
Then came the full-body shock of everyone present as they finally understood why Sikong Jing had been waiting so calmly.
Conquering five cities overnight was meant to draw out an even more significant figure from the Long Night Black Burning Army.
A figure who could suppress Yan Shun.
At this moment, the second deputy general said, "I just fear that Yan Shun and the commander might be in cahoots."
With a slight smile, Sikong Jing replied, "Observing the arrangement of the Long Night Black Burning Camp, I see it is orderly and without major flaws. The commander of the Black Burning Army is definitely not one to favoritism. Rest assured."
The others exchanged looks, wondering how could the camp’s arrangement reveal the commander’s character?
For someone like Sikong Jing who had led thousands of troops, indeed, it was possible to tell, as the saying goes, "like general, like army." Conversely, strong generals lead fierce soldiers.
With the Black Burning Camp being so orderly, how could the Beigong Commander be an ordinary scoundrel?
Just then, Yan Shun’s hearty voice sounded from outside: "General Lan Zhuanghe, won’t you come out to greet the commander?"
Inside the hall, everyone looked towards Sikong Jing, wondering what to do.
"Ignore, deafen, do not inquire," Sikong Jing said, using three consecutive words starting with ’do not.’
The soldiers of the 99th Army stood open-mouthed in astonishment. That was the commander outside, and Sikong Jing seemed to be acting recklessly!