"Okay. It's time to start choosing!" Rocky stated.
Soon, an incense stick was selected, lit, and inserted into the burner beside him.
The soldiers and spirit warriors that were standing on the battlefield looked at each other, unsure of
which to choose. Of course, they were afraid of dying, but they didn't want to be deserters because
what Rocky had said was true. If their relatives and friends were killed by the spiritual race after they
fled, then guilt would consume them for the rest of their days. It didn't seem worth it.
As the soldiers hesitated, Maxwell stepped forward and shouted, "Everyone, we can't be deserters. If
we run away now, how can we be strong in the future? How can we explain this to our parents,
brothers, and sisters? We joined this army and we have been prepared for the possibility of death on
the battlefield. Right now, the Tiger Whisker Pass is faced with great peril, and we have no reason to
flee from it. We have followed Commander Wang for a long time, and he has never treated us badly. In
fact, he often shows great concern towards us. If we become deserters, how will we live with
ourselves?" There was a pause as he looked into the faces of the soldiers.
"We're not deserters! We will guard the Tiger Whisker Pass!" Maxwell continued, yelling at the top of
his lungs and thrusting his fist into the air.
Multitudes responded with fervor. Before long, all the soldiers were shouting in unison, and the morale
was increased.
That was what Rocky had wanted to see the whole time. However, Maxwell's assistance was beyond
his expectations. It seemed that he hadn't wasted his time helping Maxwell.
The most surprise was displayed from Tucker. He hadn't expected anything, let alone Rocky's and
Maxwell's words to improve the low morale of his army. Despite leading the army for so many years, he
had rarely seen a scene like this.
"Commander Wang, the spiritual race's army will attack within three days. That's all the time we have to
prepare. I want to temporarily replace you so that I can train the soldiers," Rocky said to Tucker.
"Basil, do you really have the confidence it takes to defeat our enemy?" Tucker asked, looking at
Rocky. At this point, he didn't care about losing face. As long as Rocky could protect the Tiger Whisker
Pass, he would do anything. He would even treat Rocky as his ancestor.
"Of course. Why else would I come back?" Rocky answered while certainty swam in his eyes.
"I believe in you, Basil, so I appoint you as deputy commander and give the command of the army over
to you," Tucker agreed. All of a sudden, Rocky was under the weight of very high expectations and
responsibilities.
"Thank you for your support, Commander Wang!" Rocky said, cupping his hands.
"I should be the one thanking you. If I were you, I would cower at the sight of war. After all, the spiritual
race's army far overpowers us. I feel ashamed," Commander Wang said honestly.
"It happens to the best of us. You don't have to feel ashamed, Commander Wang." Rocky knew exactly
why Tucker felt that way. After all, with less than twenty thousand soldiers, even a veteran commander
would struggle to calmly fight against a spiritual race's army that was made up of at least thirty
thousand soldiers.
"I know. But look at you! Within minutes, you've boosted the morale of all the soldiers. That's
impressive, Basil!" Tucker praised.
"To tell you the truth, Commander Wang, this is not the most difficult war I've been a part of. So, for me,
it's not difficult to fight enemies that have better numbers and power using a small force!" Rocky
reassured Tucker by revealing a small part of his secret.
Tucker was stunned by his words. Apparently, he was able to read between the lines. 'Does Basil have
another identity?' he wondered.
After being promoted to deputy commander, Rocky gathered the troops that were left guarding the
Tiger Whisker Pass and immediately got to work training them.
This time, it was not ordinary training. It was military tactics training. And at that critical moment, the
mysterious military arrays needed to be used.
Those arrays were divided into three levels according to their power and complexity. Level three was
the weakest and level one was the most powerful.
However, since there were only three days left, it was impossible to ask the soldiers to practice all of
them. In the end, Rocky chose three military arrays, which included the Dragon Swimming Array for
attacking, the Shield Array for defending, and the Changing Array for both attacking and defending.
These three kinds of arrays were all at the third level, which meant that they were the simplest ones.
They didn't change much, but if they were performed accurately, the soldiers could fight against three
enemies with only one person.
In other words, three thousand soldiers could fight against an army of about ten thousand men.
As time went on, Rocky saw that the soldiers were struggling to be proficient in all three kinds of
military arrays at the same time. Therefore, he divided the troops into three groups and named them
after the military array they were assigned to practice. They became the Swimming Army, the Shield
Army, and the Changing Army.
After the division was complete and the men were all organized, Rocky taught each army one of the
military arrays and spent two days and two nights training them without breaks.
All the soldiers were anticipating a tough battle in order to save the Tiger Whisker Pass, so they didn't
fear the hardships and put their best efforts into the training.
On the third day, the three groups had nearly mastered their respective military arrays. But the
effectiveness of their training would not be known until they were on the battlefield fighting their
enemies.
As Rocky had foretold, the spiritual race's army sent ten thousand vanguard troops to the city in the
early morning of the third day.
"Commander of the Tiger Whisker Pass, exit your city and prepare to die!" the deputy commander who
led the vanguard troops of the spiritual race shouted, holding a long axe in his hand. His face was
distorted and long beard protruded from his cheeks and chin. However, his strength could not be
underestimated. He was at the middle stage of the Spiritual Infant.
"Commander Wang, send me outside. I want to fight them!" Deputy Commander Ma volunteered.
Tucker immediately cast a glance at Rocky, asking for his opinion.
"Let Deputy Commander Ma try. Deputy Commander Ma, do you know how to use the Dragon
Swimming Array?" Rocky asked him.
"Of course." Currently, there were only two deputy commanders in the Tiger Whisker Pass—Rocky and
Deputy Commander Ma. Therefore, Rocky had spent the past two days teaching Deputy Commander
Ma one-on-one how to use all the three kinds of arrays.
"Then go ahead." Rocky gave him a nod.
The moment he received the order, Deputy Commander Ma scaled down the city wall and quickly
gathered the Swimming Army to fight the spiritual race's army.
"Your spiritual race has offended our human race. Don't be so arrogant. Tell me your name. I don't kill
nameless people!" Deputy Commander Ma demanded when his feet hit the ground. He exuded a
powerful aura. After all, as a man at the primary stage of the Spiritual Infant, he possessed some
confidence.
"Ha! Fine! I am Stuart Kui. Remember my name!" The vanguard troops of the spiritual race were led by
him. After reporting his name, Stuart Kui commanded for all of them to launch an attack.
"Deploy the array!" As soon as Deputy Commander Ma gave the order, the Swimming Army behind
him quickly assembled into a dragon-like, long queue and then surrounded the deputy commander.
As the vanguard troops of the spiritual race drew nearer, three hundred soldiers from the Swimming
Army that were led by several spirit warriors held their spears in their hands and charged into the crowd
of enemy forces like a snake striking its prey. They kept rushing forward until they destroyed their
enemy's array.
Obviously, the vanguard troops hadn't expected their array to dislocate so soon. As a result, they were
caught off guard.
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