54: Build elite troops

“Currently, we have a total of five hundred and sixty-two people, all of whom possess the strength of Vigorous Blood and above. The vast majority have already reached Skin Refining, and a few have even achieved Major Achievement in Flesh Refining!”

Thanks to the significant increase in young adults, the number of martial artists under Gu Chang’s command also grew considerably.

These martial artists were almost all incorporated into the army, then subjected to unified training and armament.

“All soldiers use the three-layer armor you requested, Chieftain. It has an inner layer of cloth armor, a middle layer of chainmail for arrow defense, and an outermost layer of molded plate armor. The complete set of armor can protect the soldier’s entire body.”

“Weapons are mainly long spears, military sabers, bows and arrows, and thick iron shields. Soldiers can choose different weapon combinations according to their requirements.”

“Food supplies primarily consist of dried rations made from cooked beans, rice flour, and ground dried meat. These dried rations are easy to carry and store; each soldier can easily carry a ten-day supply. They can be eaten dry with water or used to make porridge.”

“…”

Thanks to Gu Chang’s requests and suggestions, coupled with the industrial foundation he had previously established, his various ideas were realized.

Simply put, he advocated for elite troops with reduced numbers, providing soldiers with better equipment and conditions to achieve stronger combat effectiveness.

Unless necessary, even the Auxiliary Army was not needed; army combat was never about quantity over quality.

“Has no one broken through to the Refining Bone Realm yet?”

Hearing the report from his subordinates, Gu Chang couldn't help but feel somewhat dissatisfied.

“The brothers usually train very hard, but only a minority can reach Skin Refining Perfection. Even if the others were to force themselves to begin Refining Bone, their progress would likely be incredibly slow…”

Upon hearing Gu Chang say this, the voices of Li Ergou and the others immediately grew much softer.

Ultimately, they were just ordinary martial artists. Even with Gu Chang’s extensive resource assistance, their Aptitude was simply limited.

“Alright then! Have them assemble; I want to see the results of this period!”

Hearing him say this, Gu Chang also shook his head. That was true; after all, not everyone could continuously undergo Reincarnation like him, utilizing the advantages of two worlds to constantly achieve Breakthroughs.

“Yes!”

Li Ergou and the others were immediately invigorated upon hearing this, and they promptly relayed Gu Chang’s command!

“All troops assemble!!!”

As the command was relayed, all the soldiers immediately assembled. Each Platoon Leader led his soldiers to appear neatly in front of Gu Chang.

Since Gu Chang currently only had over five hundred soldiers, he could at most divide them into six platoons. There was no capability to form an army at present.

“Clang! Clang!”

“Rumble!”

Nevertheless, even so, when all the soldiers, clad in steel armor, holding long spears, with military sabers at their waists, and bows and arrows on their backs, assembled, they still exuded a magnificent Aura.

“Your subordinate Zhao Changkong greets the Army Lord!”

After this group of soldiers completed their assembly, a martial artist, also clad in armor, came before Gu Chang and said loudly to him.

“Hmm, very good. As expected of a military family scion, to be able to drill them to this extent indeed shows skill.”

This person was a military martial artist who had pledged allegiance to Zhou Qing. He was well-versed in military law, skilled in both civil and martial arts, and specialized in deploying troops.

Before pledging allegiance to Gu Chang, he was merely a concubine’s son in his family, and the resources he could obtain were not abundant, to the extent that his own strength was only at the Flesh Refining Realm. In order to seek greater development, after hearing about Gu Chang’s experiences, he unhesitatingly entered Da Wu Mountain and pledged allegiance.

Gu Chang was quite satisfied with his arrival, so after a simple assessment, he allowed him to participate in the soldiers’ training. Now it seemed the other party had done well; at least, there was already a sense of elite troops.

“Thank you for the Army Lord’s praise!”

Facing Gu Chang’s praise, Zhao Changkong merely accepted it with a calm expression, showing no arrogance on his face, as this was merely basic skill for him.

“Have them conduct a live-fire drill; I want to see the specific results.”

Gu Chang was also someone who disliked excessive pleasantries; only practical results could satisfy him.

“Understood!”

Zhao Changkong immediately assented, then returned to the army and loudly ordered: “Shield formation! Defend!”

Instantly, the soldiers at the front of the army immediately raised their thick iron shields. All the thick iron shields were joined together and locked with clasps, leaving only specific holes for thrusting spears.

The soldiers in the rear also changed formation according to the command. Behind the defensive iron shields were three rows of soldiers holding long spears. They could use their long spears to extend through the gaps in the shield formation to slaughter enemies.

Behind the long spear soldiers were archers, with bows drawn and arrows nocked, ready to directly fire at distant enemies at any moment.

Both sides of the shield formation also had soldiers defending, but what extended from behind the shields were not long spears, but rather bloodthirsty military sabers.

“Advance! Fire! Kill!”

As the shield formation quickly took shape, Zhao Changkong continued to give orders. Instantly, all soldiers began to stride forward, and a large number of arrows were directly shot out. The entire military formation was like a beast devouring life, constantly slaughtering all life in front of it!

“Change formation! Encircle and kill!”

However, the drill was not yet over. As Zhao Changkong continued to give orders, the military formation changed again. The front defensive shields opened, like a fierce beast opening its mouth wide.

If an enemy were to rush into it at this moment, they would inevitably face attacks from three sides.

“Change formation! Break the Army!”

Immediately after, the formation changed again. The original encirclement formation became an arrowhead shape, and the army began to accelerate its charge, solely to completely tear apart the enemy forces from the middle.

“…”

The entire set of formation changes involved a total of nine stances. Each stance corresponded to different battlefield situations. After soldiers practiced and became familiar with them, they could complete formation changes in an instant, whether it was transitioning from defense to offense or pursuing and killing enemies.

“Reporting to the Army Lord! The Heavenly Soldier Nine Formations drill has been completed!”

Finally, Zhao Changkong ordered the soldiers to return to their initial formation. Only then did he return to Gu Chang’s presence and report to him.

“This battle formation is indeed extraordinary. Its flexible evolution in battle means it can even contend with elite troops on the battlefield.”

“However, this set of battle formations has quite high strength requirements for the soldiers. Ordinary Blood Refining soldiers simply cannot sustain it for so long.”

“Skin Refining, no, it should be Flesh Refining. Only an army composed entirely of soldiers at Flesh Refining and above can truly unleash the power of this battle formation.”

After observing the practical drill of this battle formation, Gu Chang quickly identified the core issue.

Firstly, although his soldiers were fully equipped, the weight was inevitably heavy. It was already quite difficult for them to fight normally while wearing full gear; now, wanting to constantly change formations on the battlefield would be extremely arduous.

To completely disregard the burden on their bodies and maintain rapid movement, it would only be possible if all soldiers reached the Flesh Refining Realm!

“Yes! Your subordinate also believes so.”

“However, your subordinate believes that since we already possess such refined equipment, we can reduce the time spent on Skin Refining and instead strengthen Flesh Refining, so that every soldier possesses a thousand jin of strength!”

“Only then can the full power of all weapons and armor be unleashed, and they will also be able to bear large quantities of supplies for marching and combat!”

“If we have such an elite army, no other army in this world will be able to contend with us!”

Zhao Changkong immediately added to Gu Chang’s words, and also presented his own solution. As he spoke, his eyes couldn’t help but erupt with a fervent divine light.

“A good idea. In that case, for Skin Refining, reaching Copper Skin will be sufficient from now on. After Copper Skin, focus can be concentrated on Flesh Refining.”

“Of course, if one’s Aptitude is good, after Flesh Refining Perfection, one can still continue Skin Refining to Break through to a higher Realm of the Martial Dao!”

After listening to his suggestion, Gu Chang made a decision after some thought.

Indeed, he did not have many Martial Dao masters in his hands right now. Instead of spending a lot of time on Skin Refining, it would be better to proceed with Flesh Refining first.

“Yes! Your subordinate obeys!”

Seeing Gu Chang agree, Zhao Changkong was instantly overjoyed and immediately accepted without any hesitation.

After checking the current state of the army, Gu Chang had a clear understanding of the situation, so he continued to focus on cultivation and development.

The situation outside Da Wu Mountain remained chaotic. More and more common people, unable to survive, sought a way out by entering the mountains.

However, Gu Chang understood that it was not yet time. The strength he had accumulated was still incomparable to that of the rebel kings who held sway over various regions.

What he needed to do now was to continuously accumulate strength and improve himself. When all preparations were sufficient, he believed that the various forces outside would also have exhausted their foundations due to prolonged warfare.

That would be the time for him to truly act and sweep across the world!