Chapter 1830: Practical Combat Training

Ye Liuyun said to the soldiers, "For now the formation is like this and may be adjusted later according to the situation. Even if it's temporary, don't forget that the members of each squad are now brothers who live and die together. The more you trust each other, the more the formation's power can be unleashed!"

Afterwards, Ye Liuyun let them board the Flying Boat directly; at that moment Xiao Yunfang hurried over, wanting to go with Ye Liuyun to see the results of his training in actual combat.

Ye Liuyun did not refuse, took Xiao Yunfang along, and had the soldiers pilot the Flying Boat, rushing toward the Three‑Beam Ridge outside the city.

When the Flying Boat left the city, Ye Liuyun complained, "I still need to buy another Flying Boat; the Imperial Guard's Flying Boats are too slow!"

Xiao Yunfang laughed, "Let's see how many resources you can loot this time, enough for you to break even?"

Ye Liuyun smiled and said, "Then just wait and see!"

At that moment, a soldier on the Flying Boat suddenly used True Essence, and no one knew what he intended to do.

Ye Liuyun rushed over, kicked him, and scolded, "You've got excess True Essence with nowhere to use it, right? If you have nowhere to use it, go outside and run with the Flying Boat!"

The soldier hurriedly withdrew his True Essence and dared not show off any further!

"Everyone must conserve True Essence and make it a habit. Remember my words: True Essence is for combat, not for showing off or intimidating!" Ye Liuyun reminded them.

"Yes!" the soldiers replied, and no one dared to use True Essence casually again.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Xiao Yunfang said, not understanding Ye Liuyun's approach.

"Make it a habit!" Ye Liuyun said, only those four words.

Then, the Flying Boat stopped before reaching the Three‑Beam Ridge.

Ye Liuyun directly ordered Lei Ming and others to scout the situation.

Soon, Lei Ming transmitted back the terrain information and the conditions inside the mountain stronghold in full.

After reviewing it, Ye Liuyun immediately sent the troops to charge forward.

He went ahead first, using the speed of the You Tian Boots, and together with Lei Ming and others, seized the stronghold's gate.

The sole Fourth Realm stronghold leader inside the mountain was killed by Ye Liuyun and his men. The rest, they held the gate, waiting for the soldiers to rush in.

Afterward, Ye Liuyun did not take part in the battle; he went straight to confiscate the stronghold's Treasure Vault, truly throwing the soldiers to the bandits for a firefight.

Lei Ming and the others were only responsible for dealing with some mid‑to‑late Third Realm strong opponents. Even the early Third Realm bandits were left for the soldiers to handle.

The result of the first battle was far from ideal; more than two hundred died at once.

After Ye Liuyun led them to clean up the battlefield, he did not leave the stronghold immediately; he promptly had them begin a debrief.

He let the surviving members of each squad recount how their comrades were killed.

Then Ye Liuyun helped analyze their tactics and coordination, going through each squad one by one.

Next were the other squads; although no one died, the problems they encountered were all raised one by one.

After Ye Liuyun answered them, he immediately reorganized them into new groups.

At this point, Lan Xin had roughly tallied the seized supplies.

Ye Liuyun kept half for himself, announced the other half, and promised to divide it equally among everyone.

The soldiers immediately became excited.

"Excited about what?" Ye Liuyun said disdainfully, "Do you think that's all? This little amount is enough for you to cultivate for only a few days?"

At those words, all the soldiers looked at him with expectant eyes.

Ye Liuyun smiled and announced, "Board the Flying Boat; I've already chosen the target. Everyone, quickly restore your True Essence; conserve whenever you can, we have plenty of battles ahead!"

"Oh!" the soldiers cheered, immediately lining up to board the Flying Boat.

Xiao Yunfang only then realized that Ye Liuyun intended to raid several more places.

Previously, when she carried out orders, she would finish and return immediately, never causing trouble midway, fearing mistakes that would prevent completing the mission.

But she thought that only because Ye Liuyun possessed such strength could he dare to do this.

Sure enough, Ye Liuyun's next target was larger than the Three‑Beam Ridge bandits. Yet the soldiers' casualties were much lower, with only a little over fifty dead.

Yet Ye Liuyun was still dissatisfied.

"Coordination, got it? You all think you've lived enough, complaining that your lives are too long?" Ye Liuyun began chastising them again.

Then he began instructing them on formation coordination.

This time, he also produced a third‑tier whip. For issues repeatedly raised and still repeated, he would directly whip them.

What surprised Xiao Yunfang was that the ones being beaten had no complaints at all and humbly accepted the lesson.

Afterward, Ye Liuyun announced the loot from this raid, and the soldiers went into a frenzy of joy.

Thus these people rushed again toward another bandit camp. The next camp was small but very close; some soldiers had only half of their True Essence restored and already began fighting again.

It was only then that they realized how important conserving True Essence was.

But regarding this round's casualties, Ye Liuyun thought it acceptable: only two dead and three or four wounded.

However, the bandit group was small, so nothing could be inferred.

Ye Liuyun's main aim was to have them, through constant battles, develop the habit of instantly replenishing True Essence without regular consumption.

Immediately after, Ye Liuyun and his group stopped using the Flying Boat, directly charging the next bandit camp; after that battle, they charged another.

This time, the successive raids and exertion finally increased casualties, with over twenty dying in a single battle.

After the fight, Ye Liuyun finally stopped.

He asked the soldiers a question: "If we are pursued on the battlefield by tens of thousands of enemy troops, what should we do?"

"Run!" a soldier said.

"Running is correct! But how to run is a great question!" Ye Liuyun laughed.

He told everyone, "The soldiers' cultivation realms are roughly equal; one side runs, the other pursues, both consume True Essence. If our True Essence exceeds the opponent's, we could even counter‑kill tens of thousands of them, right?"

"Right!" a soldier replied.

Another soldier asked, "Then how can we consume less than the opponent?"

Ye Liuyun laughed, "With the same realm and the same distance, it's unlikely you'll consume less than the opponent. But you can recover faster than them!"

The soldiers didn't understand, but Ye Liuyun showed them the Crystal Stone he was holding.

Then he asked, "Who said cultivation can only be done sitting down, not while running and absorbing at the same time?"

"Exactly!" some soldiers exclaimed, "In critical moments, you can use this method to save your life!"

Ye Liuyun pointed at the more than twenty corpses on the ground and asked, "Isn't this still a critical moment to save one's life?"

At that moment, only some soldiers suddenly realized, took out their Crystal Stones, and began to absorb.

Ye Liuyun then laughed and scolded, "A bunch of idiots, only now do you understand? From now on, you must cultivate the habit of practicing cultivation while doing things, and always keep part of your Divine Sense in a state of alert."

Starting now, we will recover while cleaning the battlefield, and then we will rush to the next bandit gang!

"Yes!" the soldiers all began to practice doing things while cultivating.