Start with a red name

At this moment, Geng Xuan was immersed in exploring the "mind-controlling technique".

It was already the first day of the second lunar month, and the "long" first lunar month was finally over.

When he starts "running" at high speed, time seems to slow down, and everything else seems to be slowed down.

But when he calms down and immerses himself in his personal cultivation and progress, the "slow motion" disappears, and time seems to return to its normal flow.

While he continued to practice the "Heaven and Earth Stance" and immersed himself in a deeper exploration of the "Mind-Bewitching Technique,"

The following day, which was the second day of the second lunar month, the "Black Wind Army" once again engaged in a fierce naval battle with the surging navy from the south, which lasted all day.

The naval battle ended with the "Black Wind Army" retreating once again.

Before nightfall, the "Black Wind Army" retreated to the waters further north.

Having won this naval battle once again, Dong Guan's navy simply watched them leave quietly, without any intention of pursuing them.

After a day of intense fighting, everyone was exhausted.

Even those high-ranking officers who didn't participate in frontline combat but were responsible for planning and commanding from the flagship felt dizzy and as if their brains had been completely drained at this moment.

It's not easy.

Although they successfully carried out their sovereign's orders, they gradually tightened the reins around the enemy's neck.

But only they themselves know just how difficult it was.

More and more frontline commanders are also experiencing something unsettling in these actual confrontations and clashes.

Judging from the results and the progress of the battle, they were undoubtedly the beneficiaries.

But only they themselves knew best that the rhythm of the entire battle was basically controlled by the seemingly retreating enemy.

"Something's wrong."

"Something's wrong."

Many people have already realized this.

This time, however, those who realized this only pondered it in their minds and did not voice their guesses.

Because these are all just their personal conjectures, speculations without any evidence.

At this moment, the emperor wouldn't care about any of that; he only needed a definite result.

Besides, what if the enemy has other schemes?

The troops involved in the naval battle, apart from a small portion used for supervision and support, consisted of elite soldiers who were trusted by the emperor and did not participate in frontline combat.

The remaining troops were drawn from various tribes in the Xuanyou and Xuanyou prefectures.

Just like grass on the ground, it grows back as soon as it's cut, endlessly, so there's absolutely no need to worry about using it.

Moreover, based on various unofficial but implied hints and explicit suggestions from multiple channels, His Majesty was pleased with their practice of expending a large amount of their forces in the Xuanqing Sea.

At present, the emperor is suffering the most brutal humiliation in history. Not only has his most elite and trusted troops suffered heavy losses, but his authority is also being challenged like never before.

In this situation, weakening the remaining forces of Xuanyou and Erzhou as a whole would be beneficial to the ruler.

In addition, some of the troops that participated in the battle came from some water gangs and villages on the south bank of the Hanghe River.

Originally, in order not to arouse suspicion from the Yuan and Hao prefectures to the south, Dong Guan did not take action against these forces.

Now that the southward strategy has been abandoned, Dong Guan has no more scruples.

Without any attempt to conceal their actions, they directly used conscription to send those forces that could be considered powerful figures to Xuanqinghai to fill the fire pit.

In the eyes of Dong Guan's faction of generals, these people were just waste materials, and they wouldn't care how many died.

Therefore, the pace of these naval battles was under the control of the enemy.

In order to achieve their current results, they have also lost far more troops than the enemy and paid out far too many lives.

But for Dong Guan himself, this did not cause any harm at all.

Instead, they indirectly became his tool, clearing away some "weeds" that were not suitable for him to handle personally.

……

Although the number of prisoners was not large, after three consecutive large-scale naval battles, the number of prisoners exceeded one thousand.

More than 600 people have successfully completed the transformation and become members of the "Black Wind Army".

The Black Wind Army, including Geng Xuan, was already very clear about the composition of Dong Guan's naval forces.

Even the reasons behind his arrangement are speculated to be highly consistent with the truth.

The leaders of the "Black Wind Army" were quite indignant about this.

Because the losses outweighed the gains, including the battle of "Nightlight Island" and the current battle, the size of the "Black Wind Army" has shrunk one after another.

Although the losses were less than one-tenth of the Black Wind Army's total size, it was enough to put pressure on Song Mingzhu, Tie Lang, and others.

From their perspective, it was as if they saw the "Black Wind Army" rapidly ascend to the peak, and then begin to turn around and charge downwards.

If this momentum cannot be contained in time, and the losses reach a level that everyone can clearly perceive, the hearts and minds that have been united by "blessing" will eventually be unable to maintain their current almost fanatical steadfastness.

Geng Xuan himself was the calmest in response.

His emotions were also transmitted to the senior members, which was the key to the "Black Wind Army" being able to maintain stability.

During the routine post-war briefing, a passage that Song Mingzhu casually mentioned caught his attention the most.

"...Among the troops that Dong Guan forcibly conscripted from the south of the Hang River, their strength was not bad and their organization was also very high."

They were even stronger than the troops conscripted from various parts of the two states.

In particular, there was a force forcibly conscripted from a place called Lianyun Village in Lianyun Lake, Yuanzhou, to the south. This force was extremely powerful and inflicted considerable casualties on us.

Seeing that Geng Xuan showed obvious interest, Song Mingzhu casually added a few more words.

"...Among our newly recruited members, several happen to be from Lianyun Village."

According to them, if all those with cultivation were included, the troop strength of Lianyun Village alone would be nearly ten thousand.

If we hadn't been worried that deploying too many soldiers from Lianyun Village at once might lead to defections and loss of control on the battlefield, and had actually only deployed fewer than a thousand soldiers from Lianyun Village, our losses might have been even greater.

Song Mingzhu recounted all the information he had gathered about "Lianyun Village" before continuing to report on other matters.

Geng Xuan, who seemed to be listening attentively, was still thinking about "Lianyun Village".

"...What a wonderful coincidence."

Finally, he felt this way.

This "Lianyun Village" was not unfamiliar to him.

To ensure a smooth invasion to the south, Dong Guan's subordinates had long been planning against this force.

In Yuanzhou, this can be considered a top-tier power.

Their specific strengths may vary, but there is no problem in placing them in the same category as "Wuyou Palace" and "Jinsha Gang".

These two figures, who were equally renowned, once put immense pressure on him.

For a long time, he even tried to avoid direct confrontation with them, postponing the outbreak of conflict as much as possible to give himself more time to grow.

But now, this "top-tier" force was directly reduced to dust in the aftermath of his power struggle with Dong Guan. When a military leader set his sights on it, the troops that "Lianyun Village" regarded as a solid reliance crumbled like paper.

"The entire Yuanzhou is probably no different from this 'Lianyun Village' in the face of a bloodthirsty bastard like Dong Guan."

"This is a piece of fat meat for all military commanders."

"The only thing they need to worry about is the other military commanders, not the piece of fat meat itself."

After glancing at Yuanzhou again from the perspective of a "carnivore," Geng Xuan calmed down once more and immersed himself in self-cultivation.

Time flows like water, passing by silently.

Five days later, after retreating nearly two hundred miles north from the waters of "Lubo Island," the "Black Wind Army," which had just established itself in another body of water, suffered another fierce attack.

A larger and more imposing navy is pressing in from the southern waters.

After another day of fierce fighting, the "Black Wind Army" abandoned their position once again and continued to retreat to the northern waters.

Originally, the Black Wind Army had worked hard and spent a lot of time swallowing the Xuanqing Sea.

Under the enemy's relentless attack, which disregarded casualties, it was gradually vomited out again.

After this retreat, the Black Wind Army was forced to the Huangwei Island line at the southernmost point of Xuanqinghai.

Counting from the point where it meets the "throat waterway", the distance between the north and south of Xuanqinghai is 1,500 li, and "Huangwei Island" is located 500 li north of the waterway where they meet.

In other words, after four consecutive naval battles, nearly one-third of Xuanqinghai has returned to Dong Guan's hands.

Meanwhile, based on the information gathered by the Xuanqinghai sand eagles, the forces scattered along both sides of Xuanqinghai and highly concentrated in six locations are also continuously adjusting and moving northward as Xuanqinghai is gradually conquered.

The result is that the six forces, which were originally very far apart, are now spaced further apart, and the enemy's troop density is becoming increasingly higher.

At the current rate, if the "Black Wind Army" retreats north once or twice more, the hundreds of thousands of troops along the coast will truly form a complete ring, leaving no weak points.

By then, the "Black Wind Army," trapped in increasingly narrow waters, will truly be suffocated.

When they retreated to Huangwei Island, the strength of the Black Wind Army officially fell below 60,000, and even less than 59,000.

Although Geng Xuan immediately bestowed "good fortune blessings" upon all the soldiers who participated in the battle, the rewards were no less than before.

However, Geng Xuan could still clearly sense that the "Black Wind Army," whose mentality had become somewhat morbidly fanatical, was gradually returning to rationality.

Although, no one has jumped ship yet.

Just like gamblers who keep winning and winning big, after losing a few rounds in a row, some more sober and rational gamblers tend to leave the table with the chips they have already won.

Even if they can't leave the table, they'll be more inclined to hide in a safer spot behind them.

The mentality of eagerly seeking battle and feeling like one has lost a fortune if one does not participate in frontline combat is gradually fading.

Of course, this was a clue that only Geng Xuan could see.

This is just a "distraction" that gradually emerges in the minds of a small number of individuals, but they dare not share it with others.

It has no impact on the "Black Wind Army" as a whole.

So Geng Xuan did nothing and continued to immerse himself in self-cultivation.

After staying on Huangwei Island for four days, Dong Guan had no choice but to retreat north with the main force once again.

The "Huangwei Island" was returned to Dong Guan.

By then, it was February 13th.

The "Black Wind Army" has re-established itself in the more than 200-mile stretch of water on "Huangwei Island".

If you look down at the entire Xuanqing Sea from the sky, this body of water is located exactly at the midpoint of the Xuanqing Sea's north-south direction.

The entire Xuanqing Sea seemed to be precisely divided in two, with each side occupying half.

The southern half, connected to the Hang River, has seen a continuous influx of new ships carrying new troops.

With the reopening of the waterway and the exchange of traffic far exceeding that of the past, it has become a vital waterway.

Overall, they were unusually active.

In comparison, the northern half truly has a lifeless and dejected appearance.

The signs that had only just begun to emerge within the "Black Wind Army" have become more pronounced.

There are also more gamblers who have regained their senses and rationality.

Proportionally, nearly 10% of the "Black Wind Army," whose total size has fallen to less than 55,000, have awakened from their delusions.

However, by this point, the "Black Wind Army" had already formed a tight and complete system.

Not to mention there's also the "Good Fortune and Blessings" hanging there.

Geng Xuan immediately stopped the "Good Fortune Blessing," and for a while, no one dared to cause any trouble.

Therefore, Geng Xuan remained silent and did nothing unnecessary.

Continue your quiet cultivation.

Four more days passed.

A naval force far larger than any previous one arrived in a mighty procession from the southern waters.

This time, the "Black Wind Army" held nothing back. Apart from the necessary patrol and reserve forces, all other troops were deployed.

The casualties on both sides reached the highest level in all previous naval battles.

Then, after a day of fierce fighting, the "Black Wind Army" retreated again before nightfall.

Both sides have become accustomed to this.

During this retreat, the "Black Wind Army" had to move more than 200 miles north before they were able to regain their footing.

The retreat route to the north is less than 500 li away.

Furthermore, the width of the east and west banks is also rapidly shrinking.

The "Black Wind Army" is being rapidly squeezed out.

The room for maneuver available to them is getting smaller and smaller.

During the necessary post-war handling, Geng Xuan clearly felt that the morale of the "Black Wind Army" had experienced a significant and overall decline.

The proportion of "sober-minded" members in the "Black Wind Army," whose total size is now less than 50,000, has exceeded 40%.

Geng Xuan remained silent on the matter.

He simply followed the fixed procedure, and after completing everything, he immersed himself in cultivation again.

And on this day, the time had quietly reached February 18th.

More than a month has passed since Hake and the others left Xuanqinghai.

On the same day, Geng Xuan's "Heaven and Earth Stake" finally took another step forward after more than a month of continuous practice.

From the Great Completion stage, he quietly broke through to the Master stage.

The Five Realms are complete, achieved. (End of Chapter)