However, Tucker had not expected Fraser's next move. The moment the other man took office, his first
order was to transfer Tucker and his army to the front line, the Heavenly Rain Valley, which was
notoriously famous for being extremely difficult to defend. Various spiritual armies tended to target it
and frequently attacked there, leading to countless casualties.
At that moment, Rocky, Eunice, Bertram, and three other deputy commanders were gathered in
Tucker's tent.
"Damn it! I don't even know what I did to offend Fraser.
How could he transfer my army to that shitty place?"
Since he had heard about the transfer order, Tucker hadn't stopped pacing and cursing up a storm.
"That's right. How could this happen? Commander Wang won the first-class merit this time, and even if
he can't be promoted to the grand commander, he shouldn't have been transferred to such a place,"
Deputy Commander Lin agreed with a peculiar expression on his face as if he too was perplexed about
how this came to be.
Meanwhile, Bertram had been quiet for a while, but he suddenly recalled something from the past.
"Yeah, I can't believe it myself. But maybe it's because Spiritual King Basil offended him some time
ago," he chimed in.
"It's the first time I've heard of this. How did Spiritual King Basil offend Fraser?" Tucker asked as he
looked at Bertram in surprise.
"Well, you see, it happened not too long ago. Spiritual King Basil had predicted that the spiritual race
army would attack the Celestial Gate Position, and he correctly surmised that the Bear Pass was just a
diversion. However, Fraser didn't believe him. Nevertheless, the result was exactly what Spiritual King
Basil had anticipated, which must have embarrassed Fraser. I guess Fraser harbored a grudge against
Spiritual King Basil because of that!" Bertram lengthily explained.
"What? He's such a jerk!"
Tucker cursed through gritted teeth.
"It seems that this is all my fault, Commander Wang!" Hearing this, Rocky could only shake his head,
as a bitter smile graced his face.
But Tucker vehemently shook his head and retorted, "Of course not! It's not your fault that Fraser is a
petty brat. He never takes others seriously because he came from the Sky-suppressing Mansion. In
fact, I'm sure that he only became the grand commander this time because he secretly pulled some
strings."
He was infuriated, as he knew Fraser very well. He had received the first-class merit this time, which
Fraser most likely took as a threat to his position. There was no doubt that Fraser had taken this
opportunity to take revenge.
"Commander, do you know when we are supposed to leave for the Heavenly Rain Valley?"
Bertram asked after a moment of silence.
"We will be setting off as soon as the troops that will defend the Tiger Whisker Pass arrive," declared
Tucker with a put-upon sigh.
At this point, he was in no position to go against Fraser, so he could only obey Fraser's order.
Two days later, the troops that would defend the Tiger Whisker Pass finally arrived. And soon after that,
Tucker led his army off to the Heavenly Rain Valley.
His army traveled smoothly and quickly, marveling over the changing scenery since the Heavenly Rain
Valley was located left of the front line, and it was also close to the spiritual race's border.
Three days later, Tucker's army finally arrived at the Heavenly Rain Valley.
The place was basically an unfinished barracks, and it was the most underdeveloped among the
human race's entire front line. The other front lines at least had some castle buildings where the
soldiers could take shelter, as opposed to the Heavenly Rain Valley where the valley's natural terrain
was their sole refuge. However, the valley's terrain was also extremely narrow, which meant that the
defending soldiers wouldn't be able to escape once the enemies broke inside.
Tucker had expected all these, but it was different seeing it with his own eyes. When they arrived and
he saw the dismal state of the valley, he couldn't help the grim look that clouded his expression.
But he was already there, so he had to accept the truth. Thus, he deployed his soldiers and spies,
setting up sentries within a radius of three miles. In that way, he could secure their camp better and
prevent the spiritual race's troops from sneaking up on them.
"Spiritual King Basil, I'm afraid we have to increase your patrol duties because of the Heavenly Rain
Valley's terrain. We have to be extra careful so that our enemies won't catch us off guard," Tucker told
Rocky with an apologetic smile. The Heavenly Rain Valley's terrain followed a winding and tortuous
course with a smattering of forks that could get one utterly lost. That was why the spiritual race often
used this kind of terrain to ambush and attack. If they were not prepared, it would be hard to contain
the casualties, and the damage would be irreparable.
"I understand. I'll arrange it immediately," Rocky responded with a nod.
"By the way, I've already reported to those above that I'm recommending you for promotion to deputy
commander, even though you haven't fulfilled all the necessary qualifications. It's highly likely that the
application won't be approved, but we should at least try, right?"
Tucker said after a few seconds of comfortable silence between him and Rocky.
"Thank you for your concern, Commander Wang!" While saying this, Rocky bowed down gratefully with
his hands cupped in respect.
"I hope you won't be discouraged even if the higher-ups reject your promotion. You've only been here
for less than two months after all, and yet, you've achieved so many great things already. I'm sure it's
only a matter of time before you become a deputy commander,"
Tucker reassured him.
"Don't worry, sir, I'm not getting my hopes up. If there's nothing more, I'm heading out first."
Rocky didn't say anything after that. He nodded to Tucker, left the tent, and went back to the team of
spirit warriors to arrange the patrol schedule.
He had previously asked Tucker to transfer Maxwell to his team, and Tucker had not let him down.
Now, Maxwell was a member of the team.
"Kye, please take care of Maxwell for me. He is a loyal follower of mine,"
Rocky requested Kye as he presented Maxwell to the other man.
"Of course! I will certainly take good care of him."
Kye was pleasantly surprised to find out that Rocky had a follower. But when he saw that Maxwell
looked honest and innocent, he felt a connection to him at once.
"Thank you, Deputy Captain Lin. Please take care of me,"
Maxwell respectfully addressed him.
However, Kye didn't want to observe such a formality between them.
"Oh, no! Don't call me like that. You can call me Kye instead!"
He smiled at Maxwell brightly, patting him warmheartedly on his shoulder.
Once Rocky had talked to those he needed to see, he left the camp on his own. He planned to explore
the Heavenly Rain Valley to see what would interest him.
After that, he headed to the south of the Heavenly Rain Valley, where he found some traces of spiritual
beasts along the way. The closer he got to the spiritual race's border, the more spiritual beasts
appeared.
Moreover, the spiritual beasts in this place seemed much stronger than spiritual beasts in the human
race's territory.
However, Rocky didn't see this as a bad thing. On the contrary, it was beneficial to him, as it could
provide him more research materials.
Rocky spent half a day exploring, and he had caught a few valuable spirit beasts one after another. As
he was about to return home, he suddenly heard a deafening roar, and he let his curiosity lead him in
the direction of the sound. There, he found a spiritual race member fighting with a spiritual beast whose
strength was equal to that of a Spiritual Infant at the advanced stage. The man from the spiritual race
appeared to be just as strong as the beast, and they were evenly matched in strength.
But even though they had the same level of power, the spiritual beast with a strong physique naturally
had the upper hand.
The spiritual race member fought hard but was soon struck by the spiritual beast's front hooves. Blood
spurted from his mouth. It was evident that he had suffered a critical hit.
Seeing this, Rocky hesitated in his tracks as he wondered if he should help. After a moment, he pulled
out his Mystical Dragon Sword and rushed up with it, standing in front of the spiritual race member as if
he was trying to protect him with his body. As soon as the spiritual beast launched another attack, he
unleashed the Thousand-star Swordsmanship.
In an instant, the stars brightened like glowing embers and gathered in one place.
The next moment, the spiritual beast let out a tortured howl and fell to the ground. It was barely
breathing.
Meanwhile, the spiritual race member was shocked to see that Rocky killed the powerful spiritual beast
in one move.
"Are you okay?" Rocky asked the man with concern, checking him over with his eyes.
"Don't worry about me. I'm hurt, but I'll be all right. More importantly, are you a human?" It turned out
that the other man had seen through Rocky at first glance. Rocky didn't bother to hide it and nodded
frankly.
"Yes, I am. And you must be from the spiritual race, right?" The man nodded honestly.
"But what are you doing here?
This is the human race's territory," Rocky curiously inquired.
"Well, I am a hunter. I frequently come to this area to hunt spiritual beasts," the man replied.
"Really? But with your strength, aren't you wasted as a mere hunter?" Rocky went on to ask.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda