Trying to show off, but ended up getting crushed instead.
Looking at Raymond Lei's awkward face, Ian Song nearly burst out laughing.
"Ahem!"
Raymond Lei coughed lightly to cover his embarrassment. "Little Huang, what's your take on the situation ahead?"
Ian thought for a moment and said, "For the next half year, the Blood River front will be completely quiet."
"Why do you say that?" Raymond Lei pressed.
Ian continued, "Our Assassin Camp's recent operations only cost the Ninth Prince four Martial Saints and crippled six hundred thousand of his troops. He commands a total of about 1.5 million soldiers. If he wants to attack us, he'll need to leave at least five hundred thousand to garrison his territory—after all, his brothers are all eyeing his lands.
So at most, he can mobilize four hundred thousand troops.
We, on the other hand, have a million soldiers.
We outnumber them in Martial Saints, and our regular troops are more than double theirs.
As long as the Ninth Prince isn't an idiot, he won't start another war."
"Hmm, solid analysis. Still, we can't let our guard down. If you have time, go scout the Strongarm Bull Devils' territory and keep an eye on their movements."
"Got it!" Ian nodded.
The next few days passed rather leisurely for Ian.
During the day, he played Go and chatted with Snow Yue; at night, besides cultivating, he also wandered into the Bull Devils' territory to check on their activity.
Just as he'd expected.
The Ninth Prince had no intention of continuing the war. He even abandoned the opposite bank of the Blood River and the small city, clearly realizing that no matter how many troops he sent, they'd just be feeding themselves to us.
So until he gathers another 1.5 million troops, the Ninth Prince will be lying low.
But once he does get his army together, his revenge will probably be brutal.
Ian's guess was spot on. After canceling the war order, the Ninth Prince issued a new conscription order—not for six hundred thousand, but for 1.1 million fresh troops.
Also, after being crushed by Ian Song, Lance Xuanyuan quietly left the Blood River front.
Which meant, his bet with Lance Xuanyuan was now meaningless.
So, Ian also planned to leave the Blood River front soon.
As for Yoon Zhengyang and the others, they came to the battlefield with Ian for training, but after just two battles, there was nothing left to fight. They were all pretty frustrated.
Finally, on the fifth day—
The Military Council's rewards were distributed: every Martial Saint in the Assassin Camp got a first-class merit, a ninth-grade spirit weapon, a bunch of pills, and five million taels of silver.
As the commander of the Assassin Camp, Ian couldn't receive military merit since he wasn't officially enlisted. So, his ninth-grade spirit weapon reward was doubled—he got two. The pills were doubled too, and the silver was tripled: fifteen million taels.
Three days later, Ian went to say goodbye to Raymond Lei.
Raymond didn't try to keep him, but his eyes were full of regret.
When Ian left, all twelve Martial Saints came to see him off. Snow Yue wasn't there—she'd already left the Blood River front two days earlier.
This time, Yoon Zhengyang and the others didn't return with Ian. Instead, they used the teleportation array at the Blood River front to travel to another battlefield, where they'd start a new round of training.
"Whoosh!"
A flash of light, and Ian stepped out of the teleportation array, once again setting foot on the soil of Holy Spirit Island.
Compared to the bloody air of the battlefield, the air on Holy Spirit Island was almost too fresh.
He slipped into the city quietly and returned to the academy without a fuss.
Even though Ian didn't want to make a scene, word of his return still spread.
So he'd barely been back in the intermediate dorms for half an hour when Winnie Shentu, Rose Changsun, Yvette Xue, and Celine Murong showed up together.
After a bit of small talk, Rose Changsun asked worriedly, "Senior Brother Huang, why didn't my brother come back with you?"
"Yeah, Senior Brother Kou and Senior Brother Guan didn't come back either. Did something happen to them?" Yvette Xue chimed in.
"Don't worry, they're all fine. They just went to another battlefield to keep training," Ian explained with a smile.