One month later

"You may arise." Nightin says, his voice sounding so calm that Ash was worried as he asks "Nightin, is everything fine?"

"Yea, it's just that I realised how much more I can change. I spent too much time on unnecessary emotions and feelings, too much time wasted on miscellaneous tasks. It's about time I make up my mind and have a clear goal of the future I seek."

Ash wrinkled his brows, but gives in as he says "If that's what you think suits you best, I'll be supportive of you. We are still friends right?"

"Haha yea." Nightin appears briefly as he tells Ash "I'll be returning to my army first."

Ash nods in approval as he focuses his senses towards all the vortexes going on at the moment, he would have to prevent any accidents from happening even though it rarely happens.

Out of a hundred thousand cultivators, not even one might fail during a breakthrough due to heart demons and considering that his army consists of past elites, heart demons shouldn't prove to be a dangerous foe. But after years of rest, their armors and swords are rusty, their body have forgotten what it means to fight, leading to a losing battle.

Sure enough, after about twenty seven percent of them finished their breakthrough, one of the vortex spirals out of control. The spirit essence was chaotic and it if isn't stop soon, all his friends around him will suffer and the after effects of failing a breakthrough will get them.

Rushing forward to help, Ash surrounds the area around the soldier with a imaginative barrier, locking all the spirit essence within this constrained space as he guides the spirit essence of the soldier towards the gate.

I can only retain about eighty seven percent of the initial amount of spirit energy. This might be cruel, but he might have to stop at the fourth gate of the Martial Emperor realm while his friends start anew from the fifth gate.

"General, do not help me. If it means losing this amount of spirit energy to save my life, then I would rather die. At least I'll die with honour and pride without going against my will." The soldier opens his mouth and speaks weakly, shocking Ash as he reprimands "Who gives a damn right now, focus on your breakthrough1"

"General, back off or I'll kill myself."

"Tch!" Left with no choice, Ash leaves the imaginative barrier and gave in the the wish of that soldier. If his man wanted to take a gamble, then he'll be supportive of them whatever the consequences they must shoulder.

Even if Ash wanted to push on, the soldier might just die because of him, because he distracted the soldier during the crucial moment of a chaotic breakthrough.

Back in the training area, Matthias was already waiting for Nightin as he stands at the entrance of their army grounds.

"Knight of Ray Matthias pays respect to General Night" Before Nightin can even react, Matthias hurriedly gets on one knee to greet Nightin.

"You may arise." Matthias stands back up as Nightin instructed him to drop the formalities next time.

"But, that's still the basic form of greeting." Matthias says, doubtful as to why Nightin wants to avoid being greeted by him.

"You can keep the greeting, but don't ever drop to your knees ever again. That's the first order issued and I expect you to follow it without questions, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes General!" Matthias replies back after a moment of hesitation, the feeling of not having to half kneel feels awkward to him.

"Follow me, I have some announcements to be made to the army. Are they at the training grounds right now?" Nightin asks Matthias, but his body was already moving towards the training grounds.

"Yes, they are currently training at the training grounds." Nightin picks up speed after hearing Matthias reply.

Along the way, tents set out on a whim and mattresses in disorder could be seen scattered across the ground, making it clear that the soldiers were limiting their rest time just to train, just to take another step forward before stepping onto the battlefield.

At this point of time, one of the strategists walked in, the great strategist of the army who he hasn't fully see through.

"General Night, I'm sure that you have questions for me." The great strategists speaks first, his voice full of respect. This isn't because of Nightin being his superior, it's due to him having seen Nightin make strategic plans which has never came across his mind. Especially that strategy to make use of the yellow river, none of them thought to make use of the geographical advantage even though they understood it better than their general.

"I do. Just how did you get this strong all of a sudden when you were with the army the whole time?" Nightin cuts straight to the chase and asks, beating around the bush would just be a waste of time.

"This, I'm unable to share it at this point of time. But it only happened because you attempted to obtain the yellow river, resulting in the corrosion of the grounds which led to me finding this newfound strength. The ability of the origin and elements."

"Look, I may have the intention to make you stand out and have the other forty-seven strategists under your lead, but you'll have to prove to me your loyalty and that you have the abilities to do so. You may stand out from the rest, but don't ever expect me to jump to conclusions until you prove to me that you have the abilities to, before the war breaks out."

"I understand your concerns general, if I were to be unqualified to lead them when an actual war breaks out, then taking a back seat would be better. At least I won't have to be a burden and watch all of them die while the opponent strategist counters me back, playing around with me with just his fingertips."

"General, please follow me to study the training sessions and possible formations suitable for the upcoming war, I've also figured out the geographical locations such as the mountains or water bodies nearby that might come in handy, inclusive of the amount of resources we have and where more of them can be gathered if needed at the lowest costs."

Looking at the lists and map, Nightin nods his head in approval and asks "What about the nearby cities and towns, have you thought about what to do with them?"

"Yes, I've searched around on horseback for a month when I first arrived here. Based on the map I've made up myself, there are 108 villages and 9 towns and there are twenty seven common routes for at least three villages to travel together, the towns will each travel on the same direction as 12 villages."

"If everything goes well and we send manpower to inform all of them to evacuate right now, we should have ample time for them to make preparations to leave before the upcoming war breaks out."

"Pretty well done. I'll give you seven days to settle everything and compile them for me while sending out manpower to get people to evacuate, can you do that?"

"Yes general!"