Chapter 354 The Battle of Guanzhong (Final)

With the defeat of Gao Long, the major combat of the Battle of Guanzhong had come to an end, but this was not yet the final outcome.

Across the vast land of Guanzhong, there were still many scattered remnants of the Northern Liang Army, as well as local powerhouses and warlords like the Ma family of Fufeng and the Fa family; without eliminating these people, long-term peace and stability were out of the question.

However, Gao Yuan did not need to worry about this task. He left behind Gao Xianzhi and Zhao Meng, along with the First Division of the Beiwei Army and the Xiaoguo Army.

At the same time, he issued an order for Xue Linfeng to lead a division of Jiannan soldiers to Chang'an to form the Yongliang Corps. The position of Commander of the Jiannan Corps was handed over to Wu Ban, with its strength reduced to five divisions, totaling forty-one thousand men.

The newly formed Yongliang Corps was planned to consist of five divisions, with a total strength of forty-one thousand men.

Additionally, Gao Yuan ordered the construction of a fortress city at this end of the Hangu Pass, naming it Tong Pass.

In the original timeline, Tong Pass was built by Boss Cao, who loved other men's wives, to defend against raids on the Central Plains by Ma Chao and Han Sui of Western Liang. Here, Gao Yuan was building it to resist the Northern Liang's westward expansion.

Once Tong Pass was completed, it would be equivalent to closing the gate from the Central Plains to Guanzhong, completely severing the connection between Gao Wu and his birthplace, Western Liang.

Then he could slowly deal with Western Liang, a place overrun by warlords, local powerhouses, and the qiang people. As for this important task, Gao Yuan had already communicated privately with Gao Xianzhi.

Currently, Gao Yang was in Tianzhu, specializing in dealing with those weaklings in Mughal, while Liu Rengui was in the southeast, blocking the southward advance of the two northern powers.

He, on the other hand, could hold military power to conquer Western Liang or even charge out of Yumen Pass to open up the Silk Road. This mission made Gao Xianzhi extremely excited; if conditions had allowed, he would have wanted to set out from Chang'an immediately.

With the war over, Gao Yuan was too lazy to stay in Chang'an. The place was currently a mess, and who knew how many people with ill intentions were hiding there; it was truly unsuitable as the imperial capital.

Therefore, after arranging the tasks, Gao Yuan accompanied his wife and sister-in-law for a two-day tour of Chang'an. After experiencing the prosperity of this former capital, he set out for the return journey.

As for the system rewards, he naturally intended to return to Guangzhou, to Panyu, and soak in the bathtub within the imperial palace before redeeming them.

As an ambitious youth born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, Gao Yuan had become extremely superstitious. There was no helping it; when things as ridiculous as transmigration and a system had happened to him, what reason was there not to believe in metaphysics?

On the way here, it was a military campaign, so they naturally traveled day and night. The return journey was different; having won a great victory, he was in a good mood, and Gao Yuan was naturally willing to accompany the two ladies to enjoy the scenery along the way.

Occasionally, he would take the two women hunting in the mountains, catching some animals that would be protected species in later generations to satisfy their cravings.

In this regard, one had to admit the wisdom of the ancestors; the taste of these so-called exotic game animals was really not that great. Thinking about it, if swans tasted better than chickens, why wouldn't the ancestors have domesticated swans?

After a few attempts, the women lost interest in these strange-tasting animals, and Gao Yuan no longer needed to create more unnecessary slaughter.

The return journey took nearly two months. It wasn't until the end of December in the twentieth year of Daqian that the army returned to Panyu, just in time for the New Year.

The news of the great victory had long been delivered by the Red Plume Messenger. Every part of Daqian knew the heartening news that the Prince of Tang had crushed the Northern Liang Prince and wiped out the Dragon Soaring Army.

Zhao Xiyao personally led the civil and military officials ten miles out of the city to welcome Gao Yuan's triumphant return. The scene was truly blood-boiling.

That evening in Lizheng Hall, Zhao Xiyao held a grand banquet to reward the officials and all the heroes of the campaign, and she publicly announced the rewards and titles.

Gao Xianzhi, Li Siye, and others were all granted the title of Commandery Duke, just one step away from the highest rank of State Duke.

In fact, for these summoned talents, there was no such thing as being 'beyond further reward,' but since Zhao Xiyao had made the decision, Gao Yuan stopped interfering.

The night was naturally filled with passion. Afterward, Gao Yuan lay in bed, holding the woman who was already limp and weak in his arms, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, before the rooster in overalls could crow, Gao Yuan woke up. He opened the virtual training ground to practice his Spearmanship while also taking out his lingbao bow to practice his archery.

Gao Yuan was increasingly enjoying the feeling of being an archer hiding in the back and picking off enemies with a single arrow, so he planned to spend most of his time practicing archery.

The physical exertion from the dual training was staggering. After an hour, Gao Yuan was dripping with sweat, feeling uncomfortably sticky all over. After a simple breakfast, he slipped into the bathroom.

Soaking in the bathtub, having washed away all the dirt and sweat, and having eaten a fresh orange, Gao Yuan comfortably closed his eyes and sent a thought.

"System, settle the rewards."

"ss-rank life segment overlords little notebook Exclusive Event: Brotherly Love (Completed);"

"The Host took the initiative to pursue the enemy army, killing, wounding, and capturing a total of twenty-three thousand Dragon Soaring Army soldiers, causing the Dragon Soaring Army to basically lose its combat effectiveness. Comprehensive score: S-."

"Holy crap, I basically wiped out the Dragon Soaring Army and only got an S-? What do I have to do to get a perfect score?"

"An S-rank score requires the Host to annihilate the Dragon Soaring Army without letting a single person escape. An S+ score requires the Host to kill or capture Gao Long and annihilate the entire Dragon Soaring Army."

Gao Yuan was speechless; this perfect score was clearly not meant for humans.

"Forget it, S- is fine. System, settle the rewards for me."

"System settlement complete. Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: Mysterious Key X5."

Five keys, which meant a minimum of five purple rewards given enough mall coins. Not bad. Gao Yuan comforted himself and opened the mall.

He didn't know if the system had some sort of anti-completion mechanism, but a quick glance showed not a single golden glowing item; he even saw quite a few green rewards.

Seeing that Gao Yuan hadn't made a decision for a long time, the system popped up again.

"Host, you can use one Mysterious Key to refresh the mall!"

Gao Yuan really wanted to complain about this profiteering system, but after thinking it over, he gritted his teeth and clicked the refresh button. And then...

Great, this time there were even fewer purples, and they were all mediocre items. Looking at the screen full of green, Gao Yuan almost cursed out loud.

This is why the system was called a profiteer; it would find every way to make you unable to stop. Gao Yuan admitted defeat and spent another key to refresh.

Half an hour later, after spending three keys to refresh the mall, Gao Yuan finally saw the color he had been waiting for. He was almost moved to tears.

Without even looking closely, Gao Yuan bought the two golden glowing rewards, then watched as his mall coins dropped to less than a hundred million.

The cost startled Gao Yuan so much he stood straight up in the bathtub, his beautiful phoenix eyes staring fixedly at the names of the two items on the translucent screen: S-rank Random Life Mentor, S-rank Random Legion Card.

"Are these two things worth this much money?"

Gao Yuan highly suspected the system was cheating him of his money, but with no evidence, he could only accept it.

Life Mentor—ever since the system had given him First Life Mentor Gao Changgong a long time ago, it had never appeared again. This had caused Gao Yuan to almost forget the existence of this segment, but now it had popped up again.

Thinking that this thing was quite helpful for improving his own strength, Gao Yuan felt slightly comforted and sat back down in the water.

"System, use the Life Mentor."