Start with a red name

Geng Xuan, whose cultivation had advanced further, did not take immediate action.

At least, that's how it appears to others.

But in reality, he spent a day conducting a close-up, on-site inspection of the troops along the coast.

These days, Geng Xuan has been immersed in cultivation, not only bringing his fundamental technique "Heaven and Earth Stance" to a new level.

The "mind-controlling technique," which he had only recently begun to master, was progressing rapidly under this mindset, with improvements every day.

Although this is a self-created secret technique, it cannot be improved simply by consuming luck.

However, with the blessing of the wondrous state of mind attached to the "Heaven and Earth Stake", the "Mind-Bending Technique" has still made considerable progress. Now, Geng Xuan has pushed this secret technique to its peak.

Compared to when you first started learning, its effects have become increasingly powerful.

With the combined enhancement of "Heart-Reading Technique," "Star-Fixing Technique," "Disguise Technique," and many other methods, Geng Xuan felt as if he were in an empty land while conducting reconnaissance along the Xuanqing Sea coast.

He didn't actually possess any invisibility technique.

However, as long as the hundreds of thousands of troops along the coast are not all at the peak of the Marrow Refining stage or even at the peak of the First Realm, he can make them ignore him even if he appears openly in their sight.

Therefore, the massive force that seemed to have completely surrounded the "Black Wind Army" was utterly useless to him.

—Although there were enemy Xuanqing Sea Sand Eagles in the sky, there were countless scouts rushing back and forth along the Xuanqing Sea coast where hundreds of thousands of troops had gathered. Such an environment was beyond the mental capacity of the Xuanqing Sea Sand Eagles. As one of these hundreds of thousands of people, even if he was exposed to the Xuanqing Sea Sand Eagles' vision without any concealment, they would not be able to detect this slight abnormality.

As the "Black Wind Army" continued to retreat northward, the enemy navy continued to advance from the south, and the waterway was completely blocked.

The coastal troops were also "squeezed" northward.

The coastline, garrisoned by hundreds of thousands of troops, stretches for only a little over a thousand miles.

A day is enough for him to easily make a round trip and still have time to make some other arrangements.

When Geng Xuan returned to Xuanqinghai, it was around three or four o'clock in the afternoon on February 19th.

He recruited all of his core executives.

Although they all concealed themselves well, Geng Xuan could tell at a glance that they were not in good spirits.

Geng Xuan can understand this.

For him, these water battles were like a perfect harvest in autumn, and a feeling of "abundance" filled his heart uncontrollably.

For the "Black Wind Army," however, this was indeed an unprecedented setback.

The total size of the army has fallen from its peak of over 67,000 to less than 50,000.

Since the battle of "Nightlight Island", more than 18,000 members of the "Black Wind Army" have been lost in one increasingly fierce naval battle after another.

This brought Geng Xuan nearly 460,000 points of good fortune.

Although the enemy navy suffered even more casualties, the total number of casualties in all naval battles exceeded 42,000.

This brought Geng Xuan over 1.1 million points of good fortune.

Judging solely from the casualty statistics, the "Black Wind Army" has never lost.

Both sides can sense the change in "momentum".

With each victory and the passage of time, the enemy navy's momentum grew stronger and stronger, not only increasing its troop strength but also its overall strength.

The situation on our side is completely the opposite.

Even with Geng Xuan investing over 300,000 points of good fortune, he only barely managed to stabilize the already extremely unreliable hearts of his followers. The sheer number of people who had broken through to higher levels from below the Marrow Refinement stage was staggering.

But now, from skin refining to bone refining, everything has been "slimmed down" compared to before the naval battle.

Even in the early stages of marrow refinement, after one decrease and one increase, a slight decline also occurred.

Only those at the mid-stage of Marrow Refinement or above could barely avoid losses and even make a slight "surplus".

However, this had a very limited effect on boosting overall morale.

However, Geng Xuan felt that the current structure of the "Black Wind Army" was actually healthier than before.

Compared to the power in Dong Guan's hands, the previous "Black Wind Army" made him feel a sense of disharmony, as if its body was very large but its head was very small.

Now, after a brutal transformation, the "body" has undergone a massive weight loss, while the "head" is much larger than before.

Overall, it looks more harmonious and flexible.

In terms of numbers, the number of core high-ranking officials above the first realm of perfection increased from more than twenty to thirty-eight, an increase of "only" nine.

But the quality has at least doubled.

Song Mingzhu and Tie Lang were both "promoted" to the fourth realm perfection level by him, finally standing at the same level as Liu Mu.

Although, compared to Liu Mu, who stood firmly on the ground, their feet felt very unsteady.

However, the increase in power they, and indeed the entire "Black Wind Army," gained was also real and true.

In addition, the number of those who have reached the Three Realms Perfection has increased to six, with Hu Yuan, Zhang Kai, and Guo Nan being the three new additions.

The number of those who have achieved the second realm of perfection has increased to thirteen, and the number of those who have achieved the first realm of perfection has increased to sixteen.

After everyone had arrived, Geng Xuan looked them over and said, "You have two hours to prepare. After dark, we'll all be moving."

Everyone suddenly looked up at him.

Liu Mu went straight to the point and asked, "What are your plans?"

Liu Mu had strong opinions about Geng Xuan's actions during this period.

He even mentioned it to Geng Xuan in person on several occasions.

What bothered him wasn't Geng Xuan's laxity, but rather that he was almost entirely immersed in his personal cultivation.

What bothered him most was Geng Xuan's "unreasonable" rejection of the operational plan devised by his staff, which was clearly more appropriate and reasonable.

According to the initial operational plan formulated by the General Staff, the "Black Wind Army" could engage the enemy navy in the Xuanqing Sea for a longer period of time.

It is impossible to hand over more than three-quarters of the sea area to others in less than a month, with such a huge loss.

Ultimately, Geng Xuan did not adopt this plan, but instead asked him to formulate the current battle strategy.

Why not use a better strategy that is more advantageous to our side?
What's the difference between this and stabbing yourself in the back?
Geng Xuan looked at Liu Mu, smiled at him, but did not offer an explanation for his previous actions, instead saying directly:
"I will not hold you back tonight. You can go all out."

Previously, one reason was to prevent Liu Mu and Tan Ze from overshadowing Song Mingzhu and others, thus damaging the hard-won organizational framework.

Secondly, it was to mislead Dong Guan. If he believed that Liu Mu and the others were all dead, that would be for the best.

Now that the preliminary preparations are complete, there's no longer any need to worry about this. (End of Chapter)