Of course, Chen Qi also understood that although Ye Jingyu did not employ any conspiracies or tricks, he had executed a strategy of pure overt action. Especially with that formidable weapon he used, the so-called Sniper Cannon, which had managed to kill the commander of that legion, Bai Xiaomo—that figure of genius had died so ignominiously. His death brought immense chaos to the Silver Armor Legion, and their morale instantly plummeted to its lowest trough. Coupled with the ferocious charge of the Qilin Horned Rhinos, their spirit was utterly crushed. As a result, the eight thousand Iron Cavalry who arrived shortly after routed the legion with practically no effort...

If even one of these conditions had been missing, they could never have achieved such a complete victory. This fact alone demonstrated Ye Jingyu’s exceptional insight and his keenly sharp strategic vision...

To capture the leader first is to capture the king...

It was his single, precise strike that completely blew away the brain of the Silver Armor Legion, and then, with the overwhelming power of the Qilin Horned Rhinos, he shattered their heart. What awaited the eight thousand Iron Cavalry was nothing more than a doomed Silver Armor Legion; only then could such an easy victory be secured...

Thinking of this, Chen Qi’s gaze toward Ye Jingyu was filled with worship, so intense it was almost scorching. He might not be a qualified general, but he was undoubtedly an outstanding military genius. This grasp of the situation, this precise vision, was something no ordinary person could achieve...

Only he could achieve the greatest victory in the simplest manner...

Ye Jingyu, however, had already ceased his charge. His long outer robe was already soaked crimson with blood and utterly tattered, having been slashed by enemy weapons. Yet, he himself bore not a single scratch. On the battlefield, without wearing any armor, to be the first to plunge into the enemy ranks and emerge completely unscathed—surely, in all of history, he was the only one...

This was also a form of self-training for Ye Jingyu; he intended to use this kind of brutal fighting to temper himself, making his essence even more solid, making himself even stronger...

Liang Xiaoke, who was still clad in chainmail, secretly gasped at such recklessness. He himself was a zombie, no weaker than Ye Jingyu, yet facing so many cavalrymen, he dared not rashly charge in. Who knew if one of those countless swords or blades might pierce through his...

He certainly had no desire to test this mutated form of body fusion, even as a zombie...

Ni Bo, whose body was entirely black, was also stained red with blood. Man and mount stood upon the highest Qilin Horned Rhino, like a demon god, watching the Iron Army soldiers cleaning up the battlefield below with supreme divine might...

"I say, are you done showing off?" Seeing Ye Jingyu sitting motionless, Liang Xiaoke muttered under his breath. He then extended his tongue, licked a smear of blood from his lips, and sucked it in viciously, faintly revealing his blood-caked fangs—truly terrifying. During the recent battle, he had secretly drained much blood and was now fully focused on digesting the energy he had absorbed...

Ye Jingyu paid no heed to Liang Xiaoke’s words. He simply stared quietly at the soldiers below clearing the battlefield, gazing at the shattered corpses, at the earth dyed entirely red with blood. There was no pity, no sympathy, no sorrow, no joy of victory—only a faint clarity of understanding...

Was it an understanding of the victory in this war, the fate of these soldiers, or perhaps the very meaning of warfare?

No one knew. Even Liang Xiaoke, who knew Ye Jingyu best, looked at his retreating figure with some bewilderment. For a moment, the silhouette seemed immensely tall, immensely vast, like a giant standing between heaven and earth...

A moment later, a faint smile touched the corner of Ye Jingyu’s lips. Without turning around, a distant, ethereal voice drifted from him: "Strength, absolute strength..."

"Hmm?" Liang Xiaoke blinked, then recalled the recent engagement—wasn't it all about absolute strength? If it hadn't been for those four hundred Qilin Horned Rhinos, even if he had killed the enemy leader, there would have been absolutely no chance of victory for eight thousand cavalry against forty thousand. In fact, without those four hundred Rhinos, charging forty thousand with eight thousand troops wouldn't be courage; it would be suicide...

But all of this was completely overturned by the appearance of the four hundred Qilin Horned Rhinos. After all, the destructive power of these beasts was too immense. Such formidable combat strength was simply something ordinary cavalry could not withstand; the difference in level was too vast. Was this the so-called absolute strength?

In an instant, Liang Xiaoke seemed to grasp what Ye Jingyu had realized: to conquer skill with force, to subdue all finesse with sheer power. As long as one possessed overwhelming strength, any scheme became futile...

Not far away, Bing Ming, clad in black armor and mixed in with the soldiers, also watched Ye Jingyu with a sense of confusion. He found the eighteen-year-old, soon to be nineteen, increasingly inscrutable. How could he turn a suicidal situation—charging forty thousand with eight thousand men—into such a resounding victory? Was it luck? Or skill?

Bing Ming was unsure, but he faintly felt that staying by Ye Jingyu’s side might indeed be the best decision for his own cultivation...

This one-sided slaughter lasted less than an hour. When Luo Ruofeng arrived with his army of over seventy thousand, the battlefield had already been meticulously cleaned. However, the air still reeked heavily of gore, and the earth was a deep crimson. Over ten thousand corpses were stacked aside, awaiting cremation. Ten thousand prisoners, stripped of their gear and bound, were guarded by just over two thousand soldiers. The remaining five thousand Iron Army soldiers and eight hundred warriors from the Southern Wilderness Forest had long since departed...

Seeing all this, and learning the details from the remaining soldiers, Luo Ruofeng and Zhuge Yishi were struck dumb with astonishment. They had rushed over upon hearing news that Ye Jingyu’s vanguard had encountered the Silver Armor Cavalry, only to find the battle already over. The Iron Army, despite being vastly outnumbered, had annihilated twenty thousand enemy troops while capturing ten thousand, suffering fewer than a thousand casualties themselves. This...

If recorded in history, this campaign would undoubtedly be the most classic battle ever fought, one that would shake the entire world...

Even Zhuge Yishi’s eyes were filled with reverence. From what the soldiers said, he had roughly guessed something, but he absolutely did not believe it was merely a disparity in strength. Indeed, those four hundred Qilin Horned Rhinos could inflict tremendous damage on the enemy, but relying solely on them to wipe out forty thousand men was impossible...

Such a complete victory could only signify that Ye Jingyu's grasp of the critical moment in battle had reached an almost unbelievable level...