(First update)
The Heaven Dou Imperial Army seemed to have stacked a frenzy buff, every soldier racing like the wind.
The Spirit Hall Empire's troops defending Gengxin City had long since been scattered by Yang Ming's series of Tengai Shinsei meteor strikes. Even their defending commanders had died in the shock waves of the recent explosions. They could offer no meaningful resistance and were defeated one after another in no time.
On the city walls, the flags bearing the Spirit Hall Empire's emblem were taken down and replaced with those of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Flags fluttered, and morale soared.
A general hurried over, dropped to one knee before Yang Ming, and declared in a ringing voice:
"I have fulfilled my duty and successfully captured Gengxin City, taking 1,275 enemy soldiers prisoner. Several hundred others seized a gate and escaped. Men are being dispatched to pursue and kill them."
As a relatively unimportant major city, Gengxin City had been garrisoned by an army of three thousand Spirit Masters from the Spirit Hall Empire.
Those three thousand were not to be underestimated. The entire army consisted of Spirit Masters of various kinds, ranging from those in their teens in level to Spirit Kings above level fifty. In sheer combat strength, they rivaled an ordinary army of thirty thousand—a ratio of roughly one to ten.
Most of the time, however, without outside interference, those three thousand Spirit Masters could thrash an ordinary army of thirty thousand.
One crucial reason was that everyone was flesh and blood, with their own joys, anger, sorrows, and pleasures—and, of course, fear. Once an army's casualty rate reached 10%, deserters would appear. At 20%, a full-scale rout would follow.
An army that could maintain its fighting spirit with casualties above 20% was usually considered elite. One that