Captain

"Stay away from there. A strand of true qi from a congenital martial practitioner can kill us," Wang Wu said.

"I'm not an idiot, charging in headfirst," Sheng Huai'an shot Wang Wu a glare.

"Stop the nonsense and kill the enemy quickly. These damned Xiongnu bandits are getting more numerous." Wang Wu raised his saber and slashed at a Xiongnu enemy.

At this moment, more and more Xiongnu enemies were climbing onto the city wall.

The two battalions and four thousand troops that were brought up also reached the city wall, barely managing to suppress the Xiongnu army.

Seeing that the attack was not progressing, the Left Virtuous King sent out another five thousand troops to attack the city.

"Send another guard battalion to participate in the assault, and severely deplete the Anning defenders' fighting strength," the Left Virtuous King ordered the general below.

"Yes!"

The messenger issued the king's order again, and a Xiongnu army of five thousand men emerged from the large encampment, beginning their charge and surging towards the city wall pass.

"Wuwuwu..."

The Xiongnu army's charge horns echoed through the sky.

Over ten thousand Xiongnu troops pressed forward, continuously climbing the city wall.

At this moment, Sheng Huai'an was facing the siege of over twenty Xiongnu soldiers.

It was truly because he was too fierce. In a short time, he had killed more than a dozen Xiongnu enemies. His performance was too conspicuous, so he naturally received special attention.

"Kill!"

A Xiongnu centurion led his men to surround and kill Sheng Huai'an.

By this point in the battle, he had also fallen into a bitter struggle.

Wang Wu saw Sheng Huai'an being surrounded and, after killing his opponent, rushed over to help Sheng Huai'an break free.

"Brother Huai'an, don't be afraid, brother is here to save you."

However, before Wang Wu could reach Sheng Huai'an, he was entangled by the surrounding Xiongnu army.

Sheng Huai'an saw that Wang Wu was also surrounded, but he breathed a sigh of relief. Why did this guy always try to snatch his kills?

Sheng Huai'an wielded the Blood Fiend Saber Technique with airtight defense. The Xiongnu enemies surrounding him fell continuously, unable to get close to him.

The Xiongnu centurion who led the attack was also at the early stage of the congenital realm and could not do anything to Sheng Huai'an.

Slaughter became the color of the battlefield, and blood dyed the colors red.

With a single move, Saber Strike Sparrow, Sheng Huai'an killed the Xiongnu centurion, splitting him in half from bottom to top.

Seeing this, many Xiongnu soldiers were terrified.

This was the first time they had seen such a way of dying.

After killing the centurion with one saber strike, the remaining Xiongnu soldiers who had surrounded him were quickly killed.

The war continued until evening, and the Xiongnu army still could not capture the city wall.

"Dong dong dong..."

From within the Xiongnu army, the drumbeat of "jin" to signal retreat sounded. The Xiongnu soldiers who failed to climb the city wall retreated like a tide.

The five congenital experts of the Xiongnu could not do anything to the five brigade generals defending Anning Pass, so they could only retreat. The Xiongnu soldiers on the city wall who did not manage to retreat in time were all killed by the defenders.

Looking at the ground filled with corpses, blood flowed like a river, a vast expanse of scarlet.

At this moment, only about three thousand defenders were still standing on the city wall.

Of the more than ten thousand Xiongnu troops who attacked the city, less than four thousand finally retreated.

Sheng Huai'an leaned on his saber, panting heavily. He had been fighting since noon and was already exhausted, with over a dozen bleeding wounds on his body.

Fortunately, the injuries were not severe enough to be fatal.

"The Xiongnu enemy has retreated!" A soldier suddenly burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face.

Today, of the eight thousand men from the four battalions defending the city, only about three thousand soldiers could still stand. It was imaginable how difficult their defense had been.

Many soldiers looked at the corpses of their comrades and the Xiongnu enemies with grief on their faces.

Perhaps tomorrow, they would be the ones lying down.

"Soldiers, there is no need to be sad. We won today, killing many Xiongnu bandits. Not a single Xiongnu bandit managed to breach the city. They sacrificed themselves to protect their families and country behind them; they are all heroes," a brigade general appeared on the city wall to comfort the defenders.

"General, can we really hold the city wall?" a soldier asked tremblingly.

Today alone, they had suffered five thousand casualties. If this continued, how many more days could they hold on?

"Yes, we absolutely can. The General Who Pacifies the North will share our fate, and we swear to defend Anning Pass to the death, never allowing the Xiongnu bandits to enter the pass," the brigade general said with a resolute expression.

Sheng Huai'an recognized the general as one of the five generals who resisted the Xiongnu congenital experts.

"This is the General Who Breaks the Barbarians, one of the five brigade generals of the defenders, a martial practitioner at the congenital middle stage," Wang Wu said softly, standing beside Sheng Huai'an.

Sheng Huai'an nodded. A brigade general was a sixth-rank official. To be promoted to brigade general, one had to first break through to the congenital realm of the martial path.

Secondly, one must have sufficient military merit to be appointed as a brigade general.

A brigade general commanded a regiment of five thousand men.

The garrison at Anning Pass had only five regiments, totaling thirty thousand men.

After half a month of fighting, with the war intensifying, less than twenty thousand soldiers remained.

The four battalions that fought today were all withdrawn to the barracks for rest.

Another battalion, brought in as replacements, was handling the battlefield cleanup, corpse removal, and the treatment of the wounded.

Sheng Huai'an and his comrades returned to the barracks, their wounds simply treated with medicine and bandages.

Sheng Huai'an was wrapped up like a mummy.

"Brother Huai'an, you really went all out," Zhang Da Niu said, looking at Sheng Huai'an, who had over a dozen wounds.

"It's fine, they aren't very serious injuries," Sheng Huai'an waved his hand.

Their ten-man team was all wounded. Li Bu San's injuries were severe, and he had been sent to the military medical office in the city for treatment.

Li Bu San, Zhang Da Niu, Wang Wu, and the Old Soldier had sustained lighter injuries and only needed bandaging.

The four newly arrived soldiers had already died in battle.

"Kid, don't be too brave, or you'll attract the attention of Xiongnu powerhouses," Zhang Da Niu warned.

If it weren't for the Old Soldier helping Sheng Huai'an block the Xiongnu powerhouses in the army, Sheng Huai'an would have long been targeted by them.

Of course, Zhang Da Niu didn't say this out loud.

"It's fine, I'm tough, hehe," Sheng Huai'an chuckled.

"Woooo..."

From some barrack, the mournful sound of a Qiang Flute could be heard.

It was melodious and beautiful!

Hearing the Qiang Flute, everyone fell silent.

The atmosphere in the barracks became a bit somber.

In the barracks of General Who Pacifies the North, Yang Ye, several high-ranking generals of the Anning Pass garrison were gathered.

"General, can't they really send reinforcements from Jubei Pass?" asked General Who Breaks the Barbarians, Sun Hao.

"Jubei Pass has two hundred thousand Northern Garrison Army soldiers. Can't they spare even ten to twenty thousand for reinforcements?" another Brigade General chimed in.

"Alas, Jubei Pass is being attacked by the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu with three hundred thousand Xiongnu troops," General Who Pacifies the North, Yang Ye, sighed.

"At Qishan Fortress, the Xiongnu Right Worthy King is also leading a hundred thousand troops. How can the General Who Guards the North send reinforcements?"

After Yang Ye's words, the five Brigade Generals fell silent.

Without reinforcements, how long could the remaining men at Anning Pass hold out?

"What about the imperial army?" one Brigade General asked, unwilling to accept the situation.

Yang Ye didn't speak, his gaze fixed on the distance.

The other four Brigade Generals also fell into silence.

After a long while, General Who Pacifies the North, Yang Ye, finally spoke, "Have someone inform the commanderies and counties within the pass to send their County Soldiers and Commandery Soldiers for support. Tell them that if Anning Pass falls, they won't fare any better."

"Yes, I will inform them immediately," Sun Hao said, rising and leaving the barracks.

After falling asleep, Sheng Huai'an checked the light screen.

Name: Sheng Huai'an

Race: Human

Realm: Martial Disciple Extreme (+)

Cultivation Techniques: Ferocious Ox Strength (Minor Accomplishment), Blood Fiend Saber Technique (Minor Accomplishment)

Strength: Two Thousand Jin

Talent: Bronze Archer (+)

Slaughter Value: 95

His Slaughter Value had increased to 95 points. The '+' signs were still missing behind Ferocious Ox Strength and Blood Fiend Saber Technique, indicating that this amount of Slaughter Value was not enough to upgrade them.

However, his cultivation could be improved again.

Seeing that his cultivation could be improved, Sheng Huai'an unhesitatingly allocated points to raise it.

He instantly consumed sixty points of Slaughter Value.

Simultaneously, a powerful force surged into his body, continuously tempering and strengthening it.

Every cell was cheering, and his wounds were rapidly healing.

At the same time, a surge of true qi was generated within him. This true qi, located in his dantian, circulated throughout his body with the movement of his cultivation techniques, strengthening his flesh, blood, and bones.

That true qi was Martial True Essence. Silently, he had officially stepped into the Martial Practitioner realm.

Name: Sheng Huai'an

Race: Human

Realm: Early Martial Practitioner

Cultivation Methods: "Ferocious Ox Strength" (Minor Accomplishment), "Blood Fiend Saber Technique" (Minor Accomplishment)

Strength: 2,900 jin

Talent: Bronze Archer (+)

Slaughter Value: 35

Seeing his strength increase to 2,900 jin, he was already close to Grand Perfection Realm.

He hadn't expected this cheat system to be so powerful. He had just broken through to the Martial Practitioner realm and was already comparable to a strong expert at the Grand Perfection Realm.

Perhaps this was the benefit of breaking through the Martial Disciple limit? Sheng Huai'an thought to himself.

He didn't understand this situation very well, as he had only recently started practicing martial arts and hadn't received any systematic training.

He relied entirely on the cheat system to directly add points and cultivate.

If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it. Anyway, his strength improvement was real, so why worry about it?

At this moment, Sheng Huai'an felt an inexhaustible surge of energy within his body.

He felt terrifyingly strong now, capable of taking on a hundred men without issue.

He slept soundly, dreaming no dreams.

The next morning, after morning exercises and breakfast.

Their battalion was on rest today and wouldn't be fighting. Other battalions would take their place.

After all, their battalion, which started with two thousand men, now had less than a thousand after the fighting.

"Wuwuwu..."

"Dong dong dong..."

Outside the city, the Xiongnu army began their assault on the city again.

Unfortunately, Sheng Huai'an and his comrades likely wouldn't be assigned to combat today.

Otherwise, he would have killed two hundred Xiongnu enemies today.

He was just that terrifyingly strong!

While everyone was resting, over a thousand reinforcements arrived from above, replenishing Sheng Huai'an's battalion.

At the same time, several Captains were promoted, and Sheng Huai'an was among them.

"Sheng Huai'an, step forward!" the Martial Commandant shouted loudly.

Sheng Huai'an blinked in surprise, then was pushed forward by Wang Wu.

"Here!"

Sheng Huai'an, pushed forward, answered loudly.

The Martial Commandant looked at Sheng Huai'an, not remembering having such a fierce general under his command!

However, he couldn't say anything about the appointment issued from above.

"This is your letter of appointment. From today onwards, you are the Captain of the Tenth Squad," the Martial Commandant said.

Sheng Huai'an could hardly believe his ears. He had only been a soldier for two or three days, and he was getting promoted?

And directly to Captain.

That was a solid three-rank promotion!

He didn't hear anything else the Martial Commandant said, completely immersed in the joy of his promotion to Captain.