Jiang Ding passed through the domain passage.
He had returned to the Heavenly Origin Domain, grievously wounded.
The moment he appeared, a cold will surfaced in his mind.
"Reconnecting..."
"Welcome back, Commander-in-Chief."
The Immortal Sect Ninth Front Army's Array Spirit immediately detected its supreme commander. Authority transferred at once from the acting commanders, including Sun Slayer, to Great Sun Heavenly Lord.
At that moment, Jiang Ding's will merged with the Ninth Front Army Fleet's collective will.
He could clearly sense an immense Dao Integration-level military formation around him, along with the wills of more than five hundred million cultivators within it. Some were strong and some were weak, but each was independent. None believed their personhood was any different from that of the blazing sunlike will in the sky.
Equal, independent, autonomous.
Apart from differences in position and power, every one of them was an equal individual.
Yet in another sense, something shared connected those independent wills and made them a whole.
"Salute!"
"Commander-in-Chief!"
Noticing their commander's gaze, Sun Slayer, Pingyang, Heavenly Magnet Heavenly Lord, Fire Leopard Three, Flower Vine, and every officer and soldier of the Ninth Front Army saluted in unison.
Unlike the Dao Soldier forces of any sect, these cultivators—from the lowest Foundation Establishment cultivator to the highest Void Refining cultivator—looked at their commander with respect, admiration, and resolve, but without fanaticism or personal loyalty. Their allegiance was not to him.
This was the Immortal Sect's army, a fleet of citizens, not the army of any one person.
"Greetings, fellow Daoists."
Jiang Ding returned the salute.
"I am issuing the latest orders from the Immortal Sect Military Committee. Please read them carefully and understand the Immortal Sect's strategic intent, so you can prepare fully for the coming war."
He transmitted the deployment orders and the Ninth Front