Heaven and earth seemed to freeze, deathly still.
Jiang Ding walked slowly onto the battlefield and took command of this stretch of heaven and earth.
All around him, silence reigned. He strolled through it to the Desolate Flame Sword Heir's side and asked mildly, "You lost?"
"Yes. I lost."
"I wasn't skilled enough."
The Desolate Flame Sword Heir made no excuses. His voice was dejected.
A sword cultivator's life had only ever been about victory or defeat, life or death. Reasons did not matter.
"Judging from you lot, the human Dao Children really are worse at coordinating and organizing than the Divine Path God Heirs."
"What do you think caused that?"
A faint smile appeared on Jiang Ding's face. "A flaw in our species?"
Clearly, this human sword heir had arrived long ago and had merely watched in silence. His appearance now was no last-second coincidence.
He had been curious. In a contest of will and organization, who would come out on top? The answer was painfully clear... The human Dao Children had fallen short. They had held a tremendous advantage, and their earlier tactics had been sound. Step by step, they had built momentum and driven the God Heirs into a corner. It had been a model strategy.
Yet in the end, it had collapsed into an ugly rout.
"A flaw in the human species?"
"Species flaw, my ass!"
The Desolate Flame Sword Heir's face flushed red. "An army fighting on the battlefield relies on only a few things. Clear rewards and punishments, that's all."
"Reward victory. Punish defeat, desertion, and breaches of military law. Punish not only those who retreat, but their sects, their Lineages, and their families. Forge an army's might with ironclad military law."
"With military law properly enforced, sufficient rewards and supplies, and profound inheritances,