Become a king right from the start, beginning with receiving rewards from all the heavens.

In the Great Xia army camp, Xu Da and Guo Jing sat in the main seats.

The usual relaxed atmosphere was gone; several of the generals looked dejected and remained silent with their heads down.

"Tell me, why did we lose so many warships and suffer so many casualties this time?"

Guo Jing's voice was filled with a subtle air of authority.

From the moment he took command of the Heavenly Punishment Army, Guo Jing's aura grew stronger day by day.

Especially after the Heavenly Punishment Army's campaign to destroy the Great Yu, and the various wars that followed, Guo Jing's current prestige is no less than Xu Da's.

The generals below stood up and glanced at the other generals out of the corner of their eyes.

Their eyes pleaded for help, but at this moment, who would dare to stand up and plead for them?

In yesterday's battle, the Great Xia lost more than sixty warships in one fell swoop.

This was the largest loss since the start of the war.

In particular, it resulted in the casualties of five million soldiers.

These five million people are all cultivators.

With such casualty figures, let alone pleading for them, it would be good enough if they themselves weren't implicated.

"I hereby inform the two generals that we acted rashly yesterday."

"This led to the army being ambushed by the demon royal family, even though the enemy did not send out any Dragon Transformation Realm cultivators."

"But they dispatched twenty Shattered Realm experts at once, and we didn't have any Shattered Realm experts on our side, so we were caught off guard."

At this moment, Guo Jing did not speak, but looked at Xu Da beside him.

Xu Da's expression remained unchanged, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Even Guo Jing felt somewhat suppressed when facing Xu Da.

After all, this is a genuine immortal realm!

Suddenly, Xu Da spoke up.

"That's not an excuse!"

"As soldiers, you failed to adhere to the overall strategic plan."

"Your past achievements have fostered pride and arrogance, making you regard the demon royal family as ordinary demons."

"Moreover, leading a large army to attack without a Shattered Realm expert present is a violation of battlefield orders."

With each sentence spoken, the faces of these generals grew paler.

"I have already reported the situation to the imperial court."

"The decision on how to deal with you next shall be made by the court and His Majesty."

Although Xu Da was highly skilled, he was not in charge of the Great Xia military.

He has no authority to deal with the commander of a legion.

The generals turned completely pale and slumped into their chairs.

After glancing at it, Guo Jing waved to summon the guards outside.

"Someone come here!"

Splash!

A series of hurried footsteps sounded, and dozens of guards entered.

"Take these generals away and keep them under strict guard while awaiting orders from the imperial court."

...

Looking at the empty chairs, the other generals present had mixed expressions.

To say those people had no merit is an exaggeration; they did lead the annihilation of ordinary demon races.

However, this small achievement is not enough to offset yesterday's mistakes.

Besides, merits are merits and demerits are demerits, and there is no precedent for the two to cancel each other out.

At least during the reign of Emperor Zhaoyan, there has been no such precedent.

At this moment, the other generals secretly reminded themselves that they must not make the same mistake.

Never overestimate your abilities!

The Great Xia Dynasty's current glory and military achievements are entirely due to the powerful warriors under His Majesty's command.

It has little to do with us ordinary generals.

Those idiots who were just taken away were simply overestimating themselves.

This resulted in a major defeat. The loss of warships was a minor matter; the key issue was the loss of more than five million soldiers.

Such a crushing defeat means those generals will be lucky to even land safely, let alone be granted titles!

Just as everyone was making wild guesses, Xu Da's voice rang out again.

"Gentlemen, since failure has already occurred..."

"That was unavoidable, but our Great Xia is not a country that repays evil with kindness."

"Tomorrow, I will witness the downfall of that royal family!"

Having said that, he turned to Guo Jing and said...

"General Guo, you will lead the main force tomorrow. I will inform the Underworld to send out two Underworld Emperors."

"One day, I will show the demon race that annihilating their royal family will only take us one day!"

...

The news of the Great Xia's defeat spread far faster than the military had anticipated.

Within just half a day, all the major forces in Tianhuang learned of the defeat.

"Hahaha... The myth of Great Xia's invincibility has finally been shattered!"

...

"It seems that only the top tier of the Great Xia Dynasty is powerful; the strength of the middle tiers is truly mediocre."

At the same time, the demon race was also spreading rumors, making it seem as if the demon race was about to change the balance of power from now on.

The next day, when five hundred Netherworld warships descended upon the Stone Ape Clan once again, the royal family's high command received the news instantly.

"Do they dare to come again?"

...

"This time, they're probably up to no good..."

At this moment, some of the Dragon Transformation Realm cultivators had already sensed the auras of those Dragon Transformation Realm cultivators in the distance.

"Is this the demon clan?"

Guo Jing's voice rang out on the warship, and the next moment, he waved his hand.

"All Heavenly Punishment Army soldiers, listen to my command! The hunt begins!"

In an instant, an army of one million Grandmasters appeared in the void.

These people are on average at the mid-stage of the Grandmaster realm, with combat strength at the late-stage of the Grandmaster realm.

A group of ten can rival an invincible Grandmaster, and even hunt down early-stage Grandmasters.

A military formation consisting of fifty men can annihilate any Grandmaster.

Grouped into teams of five hundred, once they form a military formation, they can even contend with those at the Dharma Aspect Realm.

Once the army formation reaches a size of a thousand, any cultivator at the Dharma Aspect Realm can be killed.

Even a Celestial Realm expert can be killed by the Heavenly Punishment Army soldiers if trapped in the military formation.

This is the Heavenly Punishment Army as it is today; the buffs from their formations are mutual.

The commander and other generals in the army can benefit from the strength of the military formation, and the soldiers who make up the military formation can also benefit from the strength of the general.

The remaining four million troops also dispersed, each with a Dharma King from the underworld overseeing them.

In an instant, the Stone Ape Clan felt the true terror of the Great Xia Dynasty.

In particular, the Heavenly Punishment Army did not attack any cities, but instead specifically targeted and killed cultivators from the Stone Ape Clan.

They were too lazy to bother with anything below the Innate Realm; only those above the Innate Realm were their targets.

With Guo Jing in charge, and the Heavenly Punishment Army also having combat power at the Shattered Realm and dozens of combat power at the Celestial Realm.

The speed at which they pushed sideways was incredibly fast!

...

"Roar!! Guo Jing, how dare you be so insolent!"

"What kind of skill is it to bully the weak!"

Auras of the Dragon Transformation Realm instantly enveloped the Heavenly Punishment Army.

Guo Jing's eyes lit up; these foolish demons couldn't resist any longer.

They knew it was a trap designed to lure them in, but they didn't understand why the demons chose to jump in.

"Oh, so you're allowed to bully the weak, but we're not?"

"What right do you have to criticize me?"

At this moment, fifteen figures at the Dragon Transformation Realm stood in the void.

Looking around, they all had hairy faces and pointed mouths, and were a full five feet tall.

The Stone Ape Clan is one of the oldest royal families of the demon race.

It is born with tough skin, and the strength of the skin continues to increase as its cultivation level grows.

Its defensive capabilities are renowned throughout the entire Tianhuang world!