That night, the young Taoist returned from Asgard accompanied by Chang Ruo and Cao Yu, the two great ancestors of Shang.
Chang Ruo and Cao Yu had now successfully advanced to the Middle-level Great Emperor realm, and with the added advantage of their human official titles, their combat power was formidable within the Great Emperor tier.
In Great Shang currently, there were two Middle-level Great Emperors, Chang Ruo and Cao Yu. Zi Ming had reached the peak of the Great Emperor realm, and Shang Jia Wei, who had previously been at the Emperor tier, had now advanced to the Early-level Great Emperor.
As for the elder ancestor Zi Qi, he had become a peak existence at the Half-Ancestor level.
Zhao Ming and Xiang Tu, father and son, had one successfully advanced to the High-level Half-Ancestor, and the other to the Middle-level Half-Ancestor.
Moreover, these three men all possessed the fortuitous title of Grand Duke of the Human Race, making their combat prowess undeniable.
It was said that these three, armed with simple bricks, could defeat Zhang Zhen, the first generation Grand Celestial Master of the Heavenly Master's Mansion, who was also a High-level Half-Ancestor, in a single encounter.
And they had proceeded to beat this old man, who was over 4,000 years old, for a full three minutes.
"Ancestor, you are quite fast," Lin Zhan said with a smile as he watched the three men shatter the void and return.
"Alas, who would dare disobey the command of the Human Grand Marshal? We two old fellows are hoping the Grand Marshal will grant us more pension," Cao Yu said with a chuckle, looking at Lin Zhan.
Hearing Cao Yu's words, Lin Zhan, for once, blushed slightly, muttering to himself, "This old fellow is truly something. He knows I'm so poor I'm practically bleeding, yet he still makes such jokes."
"Hahaha, I never expected you, kid, to have such a day... ah." Before Cao Yu could finish laughing, Chang Ruo kicked him away.
"You little brat, who are you calling an old fellow? What, are you trying to be brothers with me?" Chang Ruo glared, saying irritably.
"No, no, you are my father," Cao Yu quickly scrambled up and said, while also unable to help but complain in a low voice.
"Is this old man senile? If I'm a little brat, then what does that make you?"
Lin Zhan looked helplessly at these two ancestors who were gradually losing their inhibitions as their strength grew.
"Alas, brother-in-law, how much did you borrow this time?"
The young Taoist produced a large spatial bag and said, "Eighty million Lord-tier crystal stones. Not bad, those fellows in Asgard were quite considerate, handing over ten million Lord-tier crystal stones without a second word at first."
"Later, after the 'heart-to-heart' persuasion from the two ancestors, they directly added another seventy million. Big brother, such fools...呸, such honest people are rare."
Lin Zhan nodded and said, "Alas, Thor's family are all good people. Brother-in-law, when we have time, let's send two cartloads of our Hua Xia specialty, the Great Wall brand bricks, to them. We have to thank them properly."
"Mmm, don't worry, big brother. When I have time, I'll take the Iron-Eating Beast legion there again and teach them how to smash heads with bricks," the young Taoist said in full agreement.
"Right, brother-in-law, I called Da Zhuang and the others today. We've decided that Hua Xia will form three new group armies, with He Da Zhuang, Leng Shan, and Zhang Cong serving as their commanding generals."
Lin Zhan took the storage bag while discussing the day's agreed-upon results with the young Taoist.
"The personnel will be formed with their respective special forces legions as the backbone, supplemented by reserve soldiers. Furthermore, the military expenses for the next three months will be borne by the nine group armies respectively. We only need to ensure the supply of weapons, equipment, and materials."
"The most important point is that I plan to make a move against the Beastmen tribe in a week."
Upon hearing Lin Zhan's words, Chang Ruo, without time to scold his son, quickly said,
"Zhan'er, why are you choosing the Beastmen tribe first? Also, the combat effectiveness of the newly formed group armies is not up to par."
Cao Yu, who had just received a few hefty blows, also hurriedly said,
"Kid, although the high-end combat power of the Beastmen tribe is not worth mentioning, their planetary defenses are quite fierce. If you send a group of raw recruits up there, you might suffer a great loss. It would be better to send your own trusted subordinates."
Lin Zhan quickly poured two cups of tea for the two ancestors who had just sat down and said,
"Ancestors, there is no other way. Although the First Front Army has sustained some damage, it has not been fundamentally crippled. Its overall strength can still be maintained around 27 million. However, we must guard against the Divine Race causing trouble."
"Without the First Front Army to block them, our current nine mediocre group armies would be utterly incapable of stopping the Divine Race's advance."
"I know that attacking the Beastmen tribe with newly formed group armies will result in heavy casualties, but there is no other way. As for them being new recruits, they can only gain experience by fighting more battles and seeing more blood."
"As for why I chose to strike the Beastmen tribe first, it's because most of the Beastmen are not very bright. The only intelligent ones, the Foxmen, were wiped out by me and Xiao Ming. Furthermore, the Beastmen have internal collaborators, so they are perfect for training our troops."
At this time, the spiritual tigers, which had always been treated as mascots of the Tigermen tribe in the War of Ten Thousand Races, had already been collected by He Da Zhuang into a secret realm before the decisive battle began.
This created the illusion that all the spiritual tigers of the allied forces of the ten thousand races had been annihilated. As for the spiritual tigers themselves, they were still undercover among the Tigermen, waiting for the human race's main forces to attack.
Chang Ruo sighed and said, "We Great Emperors will not act against the ordinary tribesmen of the Ten Thousand Races unless it is absolutely necessary. These matters will have to trouble you."
"However, Zhan'er, I have a good idea. We can ask the major clans for some clan soldiers to reinforce your army. These people are quite strong, and they would certainly be a great help in battle."
Lin Zhan quickly shook his head and said, "Ancestor, please don't. When an army is in battle, orders must be followed. It's better not to insert people who have not received complete military training."
"Also, brother-in-law, we should reclaim the rights of the All-Heavens Merchant Guild. I, Old Xiao, will reorganize an organization that spans all heavens, and we will need to borrow the help of the All-Heavens Merchant Guild for the initial phase of operations."
The young Taoist looked at Lin Zhan with an expression as if he were dreaming and said,
"Holy cow, big brother, when did the 'big green stick' get to your head? How much fake wine have you drunk to say such a thing?"
"Seriously, big brother, I advise you not to have such unrealistic thoughts. Don't you know our status at home?"
"Our mother is first, our two wives are second, the dog raised by our mother and our two wives is third, and then come the two of us. Although your father, my father-in-law, is behind us, do you think that with our current family status, these are thoughts we should have?"