Chapter 128: The Military Saint Sun Wu

Yang Tiancheng's military competence is formidable, and Mu Yi can tell from his troop deployment that he vaguely feels he is largely not a match for him.

Whether it's the formation or the dispatch, they are unquestionably above him.

Yang Tiancheng's arrangement is very reasonable: one hundred war chariots are lined up in a single file at the center, infantry on both sides guard the archers who press forward slowly, and each of the left and right wings has five hundred cavalry roaming, continuously pressuring the soldiers of the black defending army.

Yang Tiancheng himself leads two thousand cavalry, charging straight around to the rear of the black army.

The disciples of the Military Strategists, from a god's-eye view, see Yang Tiancheng's strategic layout crystal clear.

But what puzzles them is that Sun Wuzi never makes a move; the army seems to casually form an outer circle with an inner square formation, quietly waiting for Yang Tiancheng's attack.

Yang Tiancheng's gaze is solemn; he sees not a single flaw, even as the cavalry on both wings weave back and forth to apply as much pressure as possible on the black infantry, the black side's formation remains steadfastly unmoved.

"We cannot keep dragging this out!" Yang Tiancheng's expression is grim; his momentum cannot be sustained long, and if it drags on, the morale of his troops will wane.

"All troops, obey the order: attack!"

Since no flaw can be seen, he decides to go all out; after making up his mind, Yang Tiancheng launches a full-scale assault.

Boom—!

The front-line war chariots roar as they charge; the simulated battlefield terrain is relatively flat, ideal for chariot charges.

Yang Tiancheng imbues the war chariots with Cloud Energy; the chariots, already at their limit, seem to have crossed a barrier, and their momentum surges wildly.

"Fire arrows!"

Accompanied by sharp whines, the archers within range, under Yang Tiancheng's command, unleash countless arrows densely toward the black legion.

"Battle! This battle will be won!" Yang Tiancheng raises his long spear, roaring, pushing his army's innate talent to the extreme, continuously channeling power to the cavalry behind him.

"Impressive!" the onlookers' expressions turn serious; they are all young talents of the Military Strategists, and even though their specialties differ, they can still understand.

Yang Tiancheng's attack appears scattered, but its rhythm is tight, almost wave after wave; if any wave is handled poorly, the following attacks could directly break the defense line.

Yet immediately everyone witnesses an incomprehensible scene.

The chariots do not slow at all, roaring as they charge at the black army, but when the chariots are about to collide with the defense line, the black army splits to the sides like a tide.

"Fire arrows!" arrows rain out from both sides; in an instant, even the chariot soldiers bearing shields suffer near‑mad assaults.

The Cloud‑energized arrows possess tremendous power; the soldiers of the red chariot legion are instantly struck heavily.

Armor is pierced, horse armor torn, shields crackle, all indicating the ferocity of the blows; even with armor and shields, the chariot troops are nailed dead to the chassis.

Immediately the black army's line closes, like a huge mouth swallowing the chariot legion in an instant.

"How on earth is this done?" everyone's mind goes blank.

The fierce chariot legion not only fails to cause turmoil for the black side, but directly sacrifices its own lives.

The whole process flows like clouds and water, with no flashy tricks; it is so smooth, as if rehearsed millions of times.

But everyone understands this is not a performance—indeed, it could not be acted out; this miracle‑like command appears before them.

The black side, having swallowed the chariot legion, contracts its formation, then pushes forward as a whole, proactively meeting the infantry and archers that follow the chariots.

The two sides clash fiercely, blades and shields, spears and halberds, simple yet effective collisions.

The wing cavalry crash into the wing infantry squares; although they impact the line, they are soon held by the infantry due to lack of support.

Since they are not heavy cavalry, after their speed drops, facing the archers' small groups' point attacks, they achieve little before being annihilated.

Yang Tiancheng's three‑strike axe turns to nothing, providing no disruption at all.

Yang Tiancheng, positioned behind the black army's main force, cannot see the front battle at this moment; he also does not place hope in the three‑strike axe—can the three‑strike axe defeat a Military Saint?

Only a fool would imagine that; merely restraining the opponent's forces is already the greatest victory for him.

The earlier three‑strike axe was just a prelude; the rear‑flanking cavalry he leads is the sword in his hand.

He is a legitimate Military Formation officer, whose specialties are extreme: spotting flaws and rear‑flanking interleaving.

In their world, he relies on front‑line containment and rear‑flank interleaving to turn the tide, behead the opponent, and rise to fame across the world, becoming a leading figure among the young generation of Military Strategists.

In his view, the front is fully contained; although the rear appears defended, it is essentially empty, and once he penetrates, victory is within reach.

Yet to the spectators, Yang Tiancheng's charge is not toward victory but a absurd leap into a mountain of swords and sea of fire.

Every step seems flawless for Yang Tiancheng, yet he walks straight into a disastrous defeat.

"Give me an opening!"

Yang Tiancheng roars as he thrusts his long spear, swinging the seven‑foot spear; his power erupts like a valve opened, released with his roar.

The fierce force in an instant knocks the front aside, then the long spear sweeps horizontally, tearing a gap in the line; the cavalry behind follows closely, directly breaking the rear army's defense.

Yet before Yang Tiancheng can revel, he sees the opposing wall‑like spears coming forward.

The long‑spear troops, having waited long, perform no flashy moves, steadily thrust their spears, and the simple straight thrust easily blocks all of Yang Tiancheng's actions.

If not for his personal guards fighting desperately, this single wave alone would have turned Yang Tiancheng into a wasp nest.

Thrust, retract, thrust again; no need to worry about other directions or ranged attacks, just keep advancing with repeated thrusts.

Under Sun Wuzi's command, the spear troops raise a forest of spears, easily coordinating with the blade‑and‑shield troops flanking from both sides, beginning a slaughter of the cavalry.

Pierced by three spears and dozens of arrows, Yang Tiancheng looks resentfully at the wall‑like front line.

From start to finish, he never sees Sun Wuzi, and then he is pierced by dozens of long spears, turning into a flash of white light and vanishing.

Sun Wuzi and Yang Tiancheng reappear on the training ground; Sun Wuzi's expression remains calm, while Yang Tiancheng's complexion is almost pale, growing even paler after seeing the battle losses displayed on the sand table.

He had considered losing, but never imagined such a crushing defeat, especially when the opponent didn't even exert full force, merely using a simple method to eliminate him.

"How is it?" Sun Wuzi looks at everyone present, posing his question.

"Who can tell me why he lost?"

Silence; everyone falls into silence.

Why did Yang Tiancheng lose? They cannot give an answer, because they also do not know why he lost.

If forced to answer, the only answer they can give is that Yang Tiancheng's opponent is the Military Saint Sun Wu.

"The pressure of the frontal assault was insufficient, failing to truly restrain your troop movements!" Yang Tiancheng adjusts his breathing, strives to calm his mind, and gives his answer.

When he sees the organized spear troops waiting for him, he already realizes this.

Not bad, any more? Sun Wu slightly clenched his fist, then continued asking.

He shouldn't abandon command; the moment he personally charges forward, he can no longer make adjustments from the overall battlefield situation!

Lin Yi gave his own answer, and Mu Yi heard from it how he differed from Yang Tiancheng, and also heard that the two followed different schools.

Yang Tiancheng definitely follows the Military Formation school, while Lin Yi likely follows the Military Power Scheme school.

Not bad either, any more? Sun Wuzi did not object to this, likewise nodded his head, and continued asking.

Equipment has no advantage, troop quality hasn't improved, formations are sparse and poor, Cloud Energy is scattered!

Obviously, this person belongs to the Military Technique school.

Mu Yi stroked his chin, thinking how these guys each chose to specialize alone, while his dual cultivation made him an outlier instead.

By the way, why isn't there anyone from the Military Yin-Yang school to speak up a bit?

Just as Mu Yi was thinking, another figure stood up—turns out it was a female general; Mu Yi hadn't seen her clearly before, but now he was somewhat taken aback.

Female generals have always been rare, yet there are not a few famous female generals in history, so it's not exactly something extraordinary.

Did you misjudge the enemy's strength and choose the wrong way of attack?

"Oh?" Sun Wuzi seemed intrigued, and countered: "Then what do you think is the solution to this situation?"

Use defense in place of attack! the female general replied without hesitation.

Then you come! Sun Wuzi directly pulled her into the virtual battlefield, and the two began to play.

The woman, just as she said, directly set up a strange formation, holding her position in place, seemingly intending to wait for the enemy to tire.

Heaven's Gate Formation? Lin Yi seemed to recognize the formation the woman had set up, and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

A great formation contains small ones, sub-formations contain mother-formations, formations link, join, touch, rely on each other, crisscross, scattered like stars and chess pieces, altogether one hundred and eight formations—a compendium of formations. Lin Yi spoke fluently and coherently.

That woman's name is Xiao Jin; she seems to be a descendant of the Great Liao from some Liao state during the Song dynasty, skilled with twin spears, and her character is extremely firm.

A compendium of one hundred and eight battle formations?

Mu Yi's eye twitched; just from this number, he could feel the buff effect this formation brought.

Even if they were all basic formations, combined together they'd probably not be inferior to the Yuan Yang Formation and the Four Symbols Formation, let alone the fact that there are obviously advanced formations nested within.

Mu Yi even clearly saw advanced formations similar to the Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain formation.

The heroes of the Multiverse are truly like carp crossing the river; I am merely a lucky one, yet I reveal myself as a frog in a well—truly laughable! Mu Yi felt in his heart.

Although I also have quite a few opportunities, the Multiverse surely lacks nothing in opportunities; whether it's Yang Tiancheng or Xiao Jin now, they far surpass me.

Moreover, these two are both young and will only grow stronger in the future; to catch up with them, he needs determination and will.

In Mu Yi's eyes, Xiao Jin's defense was nearly flawless, yet in the eyes of the Military Sage it was full of holes.

Sun Wuzi simply, after Xiao Jin had made all preparations, chose to press the army forward, splitting the troops into three routes, permeating the formation like a tide.

The originally precise Heaven's Gate Formation, like a machine, under the Military Sage's ordinary suppression, became like a rusted instrument, unable to function at all.

The effect of the combined one hundred and eight formations was not unleashed at all; it was torn apart into countless pieces and then directly slaughtered.

Xiao Jin could not possibly resist this near-tide-like command; no matter which aspect she tried to remedy, it was useless.

Although she lasted longer than Yang Tiancheng, the loss ratio was about the same as his; one could say she was defeated even more miserably.

How? Sun Wuzi still asked calmly.

What do you think is the difference between them?

The difference lies in the basics! Mu Yi hesitated before speaking.

As the person with the worst basics, he was the first to notice this.

Not bad! The difference is in the basics! Sun Wu slightly clenched his fist, affirming Mu Yi's statement.

Their problem applies to you as well—your basics are too weak! Sun Wu said bluntly.

Strengthen your basics well; twisting reality, anchoring victory, locking victory, observing the future—these things are actually useless; true masters actually compete on basics.

For ordinary officers, victory or defeat may rely on powerful legions, talent, will, buffs, etc., but that is merely the level of ordinary people.

Sun Wu sighed as he spoke, recalling some bad memories; within the Military Strategist circle, rankings certainly don't consider age or seniority—basically it's just about who can fight.

Then, as an unfortunate link between superiors and subordinates, he basically got beaten by everyone; winning or losing wasn't the point, nor was it a life-or-death duel, so nobody was really serious.

The point is he discovered that, aside from him, everyone seemed to have some flashy special effects.

It wasn't that he didn't want to do it; rather, the special effects he produced would actually hinder his basics, so he simply gave up on special effects.

When they fought each other, the special effects canceled out, but when used against him they were exceptionally effective, because he is the only god of war among the Military Strategists who has no special effects.

Thinking of this, he paused, then corrected himself; although he was unwilling to admit it, those bastards' special effects combined with their abilities were indeed on par with him.

Special effects are also important, but the basics are everything's main point; compared to those lofty things, they are more meaningful for you!

You are all the future pillars of the Military Strategists, so my expectations of you are higher; you must first learn to exert the power in your hands to the utmost, and what that requires is your most basic command ability.

May I ask, Sun Wuzi, how should we strengthen our basics? Yang Tiancheng was the first to blurt out the question.

Read books! Spar with masters! Go to the battlefield and lead troops! Sun Wuzi pointed out three broad paths for everyone.