The dull war drums of attack sounded through the North Sea Heavenly Wave Army's rest camp.
Like the most stimulating signal, the attack drums roused the North Sea Heavenly Wave Army warriors who had been meditating to restore spiritual power, tending their wounds, or sleeping to recover their strength. One after another, they opened their eyes.
As the drums grew louder and faster, the warriors methodically arranged their equipment: heavy outer armor, inner armor protecting vital points, weapons, and emergency talismans.
One by one, they cocked their crossbows, fitted them with all manner of powerful bolts, twisted taut the bowstrings, then poured spiritual power into them to the threshold of release, ensuring they could fire at the slightest touch in battle.
Even as they prepared their crossbows, the warriors had risen and assembled, taking their positions as they readied themselves.
The instant the seventy-second drumbeat ended, the one hundred eighty thousand North Sea Heavenly Wave Army warriors had formed a battle array brimming with murderous intent.
Not a single sound came from the entire formation.
Yet at that moment, that silent solemnity was the greatest pressure they could impose upon the enemy.
Years of tempering, coupled with these past months of exceptionally brutal real combat, had turned Ye Zhen's North Sea Heavenly Wave Army into battle-hardened veterans, the elite among elites.
In terms of battle formation strength, they were no weaker than Liu Bufeng's Pingxi Army. The only shortcoming was that the soldiers' overall individual strength still lagged a level behind the Pingxi Army.
However, Ye Zhen had largely made up for that gap in strength through superior preparation.
One Heavenly Patrol General after another silently flashed into key positions within the battle formation.
These Heavenly Patrol Generals would be the backbone for restraining enemy experts and assassinating the enemy