The Jade Emperor stood on the Southern Sky Gate and looked at everyone standing below him. He looked pleased.

"You're the elites of the Heavenly Palace. The most important battle force of the Heavenly Palace. We must win this battle, and we have to win with pride. Make this a successful battle, show them what we've got. Can we do that?"

"Yes, we can! Win! Win! Win!"

3,000 soldiers chanted at the same time. The 2,000 lousier soldiers yelled loudly.

However, no matter the circumstances, the vibe was achieved.

"Good! Depart!" the Jade Emperor ordered. The 3,000 soldiers instantly hopped onto clouds and headed to the Immortal Realm. They looked powerful and united.

Li Nianfan stood at the frontlines. He felt emotional.

He used to watch 'Journey to the West'. 10,000 soldiers headed towards Huaguo Hill, and he was always fascinated with that majestic sight. He did not expect to lead soldiers to kill Demons. Although 3,000 soldiers were far from 10,000 soldiers, it still felt awesome.

They did not head straight towards the Western Sea. They went to the Eastern Sea instead to meet up with Ao Cheng.

At the Eastern Sea.

Ao Cheng and his Eastern Sea army waited at the sea's surface.

The Eastern Sea was more calm than usual. However, if anyone came to snorkel, they would realize that underneath the calm sea was an army ready for battle. They looked serious.

Ao Cheng stood on the surface and looked at the huge cloud that landed from the sky. He was happy that the Heavenly Palace was reliable. They sent a lot of soldiers for backup.

He instantly levitated and saluted, "I'm Dragon Ao Cheng. Greetings to the Generals!"

"Haha, Brother Ao, we're colleagues now," someone said and laughed loudly. Xiao Chengfeng could not wait to reveal himself. He stepped on a flying sword and flew in front of Ao Cheng. He circled him as he said, "Check it out, how's my outfit?"

He wore silver armor with a long sword on his back. He also had a helmet on. He went from a bohemian sword cultivator to a general.

Ao Cheng was surprised. Then, he laughed and asked, "You also joined the Heavenly Palace, Brother Xiao?"

Xiao Chengfeng gave him a smirk and said, "Of course. I'm now the Northern Heavenly Lord. Cultivator Liuyun, too. He guards the Western Sky Gate."

Ye Liuyun was standing beside Li Nianfan. He saluted from the cloud, "Brother Ao."

He noticed that amongst the soldiers, Pei An, Gu Yuan, and the Gu Sibling had ordinary yellow armor. They were looking enviously at them.

They were not even Golden Immortals so they could only be guards.

They had to train themselves properly. They had friends to look after them at the Heavenly Palace so they would be fine. As for their future at the Heavenly Palace…

The expert was on their side. How would the Heavenly Palace not be successful?

They thought about how glorious the Heavenly Palace once was. If the expert successfully rebuilds it, they would be the originators of the Heavenly Palace. It would be foolish not to join the Heavenly Palace.

"Since you all knew each other, this will be much easier." Lord Taoist Taihua nodded and asked Ao Cheng, "How many Eastern Sea soldiers do you have?"

Ao Cheng finally noticed the leader of the battle.

He furrowed his brow, thought about it, and realized…he had no idea who he was.

'What do you mean it'll be much easier? We know each other but we don't know you.'

However, he still answered, "We have two thousand crustacean soldiers in total and three thousand soldiers of other sea species. They're the best we've got in the Eastern Sea."

Ripples started to form on the calm surface of the water. The sea soldiers appeared with every ripple. They were all holding weapons in their hands. They glistened and looked delicious.

"Very good! You still have an army in the Absolute Era. The Sea Race is indeed huge."

Lord Taoist Taihua nodded with satisfaction. The army of the Heavenly Palace combined with the army of the Sea Race amounted to about 10,000 soldiers in total. The battle to settle the Western Sea problem was the biggest battle in the Absolute Era. It would show them the power of the Heavenly Palace!

He pulled out the Sun Sword and yelled, "Orders to every soldier, follow me… Go!"

Splash!

Every sea soldier started to leap into the sea as if they were surfing. They sprinted towards the Western Sea.

Those who could ride on clouds followed. They headed towards the Western Sea with tenacity. They did not stop at all.

Li Nianfan stood on a cloud and looked at the sea underneath him. They were getting close to the Western Sea. Something felt off to him.

He looked around. Ao Cheng and Ye Liuyun looked like they knew something was off, too. Only two people looked excited.

One of them was Taoist Taihua, also known as the Jade Emperor. Maybe he held it in for too long, but he seemed like he was ready to fight, like he could not wait to battle.

The other one was Xiao Chengfeng. He already had his long sword out. He picked up a rag from somewhere and was using it to wipe his sword. He was probably thinking about how he should make an entrance and what pretentious lines he could say for maximum awesome effect.

"Taoist Taihua!" Juling Shen finally snapped. He stepped out and said, "If you have a strategy, please, share it with us. Let us know what we should expect."

"Strategy? What strategy?" Taoist Taihua paused. Then, he said, "We're only battling a Sea Demon, why do we need a strategy? We'll just win the battle to show them the power of the Heavenly Palace!"

'Just like that?'

Li Nianfan had to look around. He was trying to find a good escape route. He was worried that he would be involved in the battle if he was not careful.

'This Jade Emperor…is so reckless, too reckless.'

"That's inappropriate!" Juling Shen walked out. "As a General, how can you not have a strategy?"

Back then, he took part in battles with King Tota. He learned battle strategies under his influence. It was obviously an unwise choice to go into battle without a strategy.

"Why is it inappropriate?"

"It's inappropriate."

"Why is it inappropriate?"

Li Nianfan felt speechless watching them repeat themselves.

It was clear that… Juling Shen knew it was inappropriate but could not explain. He objected purely because…he was displeased with Lord Taoist Taihua.

If Juling Shen were to lead the army, he would not go into battle without a strategy, but it would just be those dumb little strategies.

The Heavenly Palace lacked soldiers but they also lacked Generals who could lead.

Li Nianfan decided to be the temporary army advisor. He said, "Taoist Taihua, I have something to say."

Lord Taoist Taihua and Juling Shen stopped arguing. His annoyed facial expression quickly went away as he said with friendliness, "Feel free to say anything, Saint."

Li Nianfan said, "Our goal for this battle is to deal with the Western Sea problem in the shortest time and at the lowest cost so that we can show them what the Heavenly Palace is made of. It'll let our other enemies be afraid so they wouldn't dare to cause havoc."

Lord Taoist Taihua was instantly convinced. "So true, Saint. But what should we do?"

"Brother Ao has grudges against our Western Sea problem. We can send Brother Ao out first. Let him announce that he's there to avenge his brother. Hence, the Eel Demon wouldn't be too alarmed, and he'd be lured out. I call this the luring strategy. Then, we'll ambush him and easily kill him in one strike!"

Li Nianfan paused for a moment before he continued, "Meanwhile, we can also split the army in three. The first group will back up Ao Cheng. Once the Eel Demon notices that it made a careless mistake, it'll probably call for soldiers for backup. By then, our second group that stayed hidden will attack. We'll be able to strike them again when they least expect it. As for the third round, they could attack their lair, or use them to clean up what's left."

"Nice, nice!"

Everyone was astounded.

They initially felt insecure heading into battle without a strategy. They instantly felt better and felt like they would surely win.

"Saint, your advice is going to help us so much. Brilliant, it's truly brilliant!" complimented Lord Taoist Taihua genuinely. He could not wait to say, "I'll give the orders this instant."

Juling Shen waited until Lord Taoist Taihua left. He instantly scoffed, "I knew that this fresh-face was unreliable. How did he become the General without knowing any strategies?"

Ao Cheng asked curiously, "General Juling, who is he?"

"Just a new guy…" Juling Shen immediately told him everything. He also added a few exaggerated details to show how wrong he was treated so he would gain some sympathy.

Ye Liuyun nodded and said, "I think the Emperor was too desperate for decent recruits. The General should be you, Juling Shen."

"Thanks for understanding, General Ye."

Juling Shen scoffed, "His actions today showed everything. I'm going to sabotage him in front of the Jade Emperor. Hmph."

"Alright, count me in."

Everyone immediately hit it off. They were going to sabotage Lord Taoist Taihua.

Juling Shen looked at Li Nianfan and asked in a bootlicking way, "Saint, what do you think?"

Li Nianfan remained expressionless. He said calmly, "Me? I'll just stand by and watch."