With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

While the crowd was still whispering among themselves, Liu Yun and Lin Hu hurriedly caught up with them.

"What's the matter between you two? I didn't mention it earlier, but I was planning to put you in charge of the territory's guard team, since Uncle Lin Qiang is going to Qinghe." Lin Ye turned to look at them, his brows furrowed with a question.

"Master, we have come for this very reason." Liu Yun stepped forward and bowed.

"We've discussed this carefully. The situation in Xiang County is relatively calm now. Such a stable environment is not suitable for us to hone our martial arts skills and improve our martial arts realm," Liu Yun paused slightly, his tone carrying a hint of urgency.

"We thought, why don't we go to the border and have a real fight with the Northern Xiongnu?"

Upon returning, I happened to hear Chen Hai mention that his Chen family had received a conscription order to send 1,500 men to the border to participate in this winter's fighting.

Upon hearing this, a hint of approval flashed in Lin Ye's eyes: "Good, you have guts. I agree to this."

However, you cannot only think about improving your martial arts level on the battlefield; you must also pay attention to the situation and methods of each lord's participation in the battle.

After all, it will be our turn in two years, and then we will need you to lead the troops into battle.

In fact, Chen Cheng had mentioned this to him before, and it was a method often used by new lords.

Generally, some people will be sent to participate in the recruitment in advance to familiarize themselves with the process and the battlefield situation, so that they won't be completely clueless when they are officially recruited to fight.

Lin Ye had already made up her mind, which is why she agreed. Otherwise, Chen Hai wouldn't have dared to easily say that he would take the two of them to the battlefield.

Just as the Lin family was making arrangements for their people to set off for Qinghe, news of the Lin family's contracted territory and their appointment as lords of Qinghe County quickly spread to Qinghe County.

The county town was immediately filled with jubilation, and the people were genuinely happy that they would have a stronghold to guard it from now on.

Upon learning that the new lord was none other than the Lin family, the benefactors who had previously quelled the river bandits and rescued the region, their anticipation was palpable, and everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of their new home.

Meanwhile, in a secluded manor in the city of Gongchang, several people were having a secret discussion in a private room.

If Liu Zhenghua were here, he would definitely recognize one of them as the Northern Xiongnu warrior he had fought fiercely with on the ship not long ago.

"I learned from the prefect that the clues to the third-rate hideout that Lin Ye contracted originally came from Harile."

"Unfortunately, he beat us to it; we were too late." A man in official robes said in a low voice.

"That's not right. The intelligence that Harile sent back clearly said that a second-rate nest had been discovered, so how come it became a third-rate nest in Lin Ye's hands? Could it be that Harile even got this wrong?" another person frowned and questioned.

"Alas, now that Haryl is dead, there is no way to verify it."

Lin Ye has already returned to Xiang County. With our current strength, we can't do anything to him in the short term. We've completely missed our chance." The man in official robes sighed.

"Moreover, the last operation has already aroused the prefect's suspicion. Now we can only wait for the second prince, and then report the matter to him."

When the topic of "missed opportunity" came up, everyone's eyes turned to the top-notch martial artist.

He could only lower his head, his expression gloomy; he too had his own troubles.

He brought two first-rate Dao soldiers and three second-rate martial artists with him on this trip, so his strength was considerable.

Facing a top-notch fighter like Liu Zhenghua, along with the martial artists and large groups from the Lin and Chen families, the fact that he managed to escape unscathed was a result of his decisive action and all-out effort.

Time flies, and two months have passed in the blink of an eye.

During these two months, Lin Ye, Lin Qiang, and others followed the arrangements of the imperial court and, under the protection and supervision of the soldiers, traveled safely to Qingyuan County to settle their hideout.

After settling in, Lin Qiang stayed in Qingyuan County to oversee the subsequent arrangements and defenses.

Li Liang and more than fifty members of the Lin family stayed behind with him.

In addition, there are more than sixty members of other small families in Xiang County who will be assigned to various villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Qingyuan County to serve as managers and assist Lin Qiang in management.

A guard of over three hundred men also accompanied them to ensure stability and order in the early stages of the new territory.

Among this group of people were eight third-rate warriors, all of whom had contracted with shield-wielding warriors and crocodile-armored guards, forming a small team that was good at both offense and defense.

The guard team was led by Zhou Wu, and Guo Sanpao was appointed as the river patrol guard of Qingyuan County, responsible for the security of the waters and along the river.

It is worth mentioning that Guo Sanpao himself has broken through to the third-rate level in the past two months, and even his two confidants have followed suit and crossed the threshold of the third-rate level.

These men, who came from humble backgrounds, were able to rise to the ranks of second-rate warriors in an environment of scarce resources and ruthless training conditions, which shows that they had some talent and ruthlessness hidden in their bones.

After the Lin family took over Qingyuan County, they promptly supplied them with third-rate spiritual plants, which helped them overcome their cultivation bottlenecks and quickly break through to the third-rate level.

At the same time, the Lin family continued to purchase large quantities of supplies from other places and transport them to Qinghe County day and night.

At this time, the bandits had just been eliminated, and the situation in Gongchang Prefecture was relatively stable, making it a good time for Qinghe County to build up its strength.

The two places are far apart and the roads are treacherous, making it difficult to provide frequent support in the future.

Therefore, while things are stable now, we should do our best to supply Qinghe County with as much food, equipment, and spiritual plants as possible to lay a solid foundation so that they can become self-reliant and develop steadily in the future.

Since the ants began to carefully tend to the spiritual plants, the results have been remarkable. The fields are filled with spiritual energy, the crops are growing well, and there have been one bumper harvest after another.

The martial arts atmosphere in the territory has become increasingly strong, and a number of third-rate martial artists have emerged one after another. In just the past two months, eight more people have successfully broken through.

However, Lin Ye knew that such concentrated breakthroughs were mostly due to the accumulation of strength in the early stages. As resources were consumed and the foundation was gradually consolidated, the subsequent growth rate would probably gradually slow down.

On this day, at the gate of Linjiawu, Lin Ye once again saw off a group of people.

Unlike other send-offs in the past two months, which usually involved sending clansmen to Qinghe County for development, the clansmen's caravans were endless, with horse-drawn carriages of all sizes following one after another, fully loaded with supplies.

However, this time, the send-off was exceptionally small, consisting of only ten people, all of whom were in high spirits and straddled the back of a wolf-shaped Taoist soldier, the third-rate Taoist soldier, the Cracked Claw Wolf King.

Leading the way were Lin Hu and Liu Yun, both third-rate martial artists who had already formed a contract with the Cracked Claw Wolf King.

Today, they will set off for Beiyuan County to engage in a direct battle with the Northern Xiongnu, the greatest enemy of the Northern Han.

According to the latest military intelligence, the Northern Xiongnu army has split into two routes and is pressing on the border, reaching Beiyuan County and Yanmen County on the border of the Northern Han respectively.

The Beiyuan County that Liu Yun and his party went to was the main battlefield where the lords of Qingyang Prefecture and even Wuwei County recruited soldiers. In previous years, the winter battles were usually most intense here.

Considering the future need to respond to conscription and combat, it is absolutely impossible to rely solely on Liu Yun and Lin Hu to carry the overall situation.

Therefore, he specially selected eight third-rate martial artists from the guard team to accompany him. They were all captains of their respective teams, familiar with each other, and could take care of each other along the way.

The Cracked Claw Wolf Kings that the Gao family had previously gifted them had all been contracted with them, so that in the event of danger, they could use the speed and power of their mounts to gain a chance to escape, save their lives, and then plan for the future.

Lin Ye raised his hand to bid farewell, his gaze lingering for a long time. He felt both anticipation and hidden worries in his heart. This journey would be both a trial and a test. In the cold wind of Beiyuan County, they would write the first chapter of blood and fire belonging to the Lin family warriors.