Death... and me

Welloi and the others were taken aback by those words. However, Roan didn't give them a chance to ask questions before continuing.

"Let's be honest here. You're good at commanding. That's why I taught you guys how to do it. However, your personal powers, and especially your cultivation speeds, are severely lacking. We might be at a similar level for now, but what about five or ten years from now? Wouldn't you just become burdens? You should leave and create your own clans, cultivate peacefully, or whatever."

Rean couldn't help but ask.

"Isn't that a little too harsh?"

Roan snorted in response as he replied.

"Harsh? This is the cultivation world. In this war, we were lucky that the big shots decided to not intervene after the agreement. It was also because of their advantage that they offered such a deal. They thought they would win but lost in the end. Otherwise, what do you think would have happened?"

Rean understood what Roan meant and sighed as he uttered.

"Once the Nascent Soul Realm and higher cultivators saw the problem that our commanders were causing to the low-level armies, they would shift their attention to them. Considering the difference in cultivation, they would only need one strike to end the problem."

Roan nodded as he continued where Rean left off.

"We would need to have our own high-level cultivators, constantly keeping them busy for that to not happen. Of course, since they can aim at our units, we can do the same to them."

Calina then added by the side.

"That's why most of these wars are only fought by low-level cultivators for most of it, right?"

"That's pretty much what it is. No side wants to lose all its geniuses, so the high-level cultivators always keep this unspoken agreement of not intervening unless things get heated. But once that moment arrives, neither side will hold back just because the enemy's commander is low-level."

Welloi couldn't help but ask.

"But couldn't we still help before that moment comes? I can't accept that we're just dead weight."

Roan didn't care what they thought, saying.

"It seems like you don't understand. As far as the low-level wars can go, it will ultimately be decided by the high-level cultivators. That's why any commander that wants to be under me has to have a high level of cultivation."

Roan then continued.

"Do you know? I thought that we would lose most of you, leaders, during this battle. The agreement where no high-level cultivators would appear in the end was unexpected, even for me."

Welloi's group finally understood why. Still, they had to ask.

"Illia was also the main commander of this Death Unit during the last battle. Wouldn't she have been killed too?"

Roan nodded.

"She would."

Of course, Roan omitted the fact that Rean would drag her into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm if that situation really happened. Calina and Malaka also knew about it, so they didn't say anything.

"Does it mean you were ready to have us sacrificed during the last battle?"

Roan snorted.

"Sacrifice you? This is war! How many sacrifices have we made already? You could die, Rean could die, Illia could die, everyone could die! Not only you, but all of us are sacrifices, myself included! Then again, I still have the confidence of surviving in that situation, though."

The unit knew that Roan was straightforward, but he could always make things look worse.

Welloi gritted his teeth before asking.

"Is there really no other way? I really like commanding!"

Salatis, Juka, Zouei, and Verder also insisted.

"Us as well!"

Rean was the one to shake his head now. Although he thought Roan was too harsh with his words, he knew that Roan wasn't wrong.

"Unless you guys can suddenly increase your cultivation speed to somewhere similar to me, Illia, or Malaka, that would not be possible."

Roan nodded.

"That's how things are. However..."

That last word immediately took everyone's attention. Everyone looked at Roan, waiting for the continuation.

"It's mostly during the last stage of a war that the high-level cultivators will join the battle. The several months or even years before the critical point is still fought by cultivators at our low-level. If you want to participate during those times, I don't mind giving you all the same type of role again."

Welloi's group immediately shook their heads.

"That's not what we want! We are talking about being taught by you and Rean in the future. If we need to wait for a war to happen again, just how long will it take? Just a moment ago, Jialin and Cassen closed a deal of non-aggression for the next fifty years! We might even die of old age by the time Jialin goes into war again."

Everyone nodded. That would be quite a useless pact since no one knew when they needed to gather the army again.

"Enough!"

Roan began to lose his patience already.

"So what if you want any of that? That's not my problem! If you really want to become a commander, don't rely on me. Go cultivate, go do missions, go study. There might not be any war going around Jialin at the moment, but you can definitely find them around the empire. Just go anywhere. If I need you one day, I'll tell you, and that's all."

Roan then turned around and left. He really had no intention of taking any of the guys in. One Malaka and one Calina was already annoying enough to deal with.

Rean sighed as he looked at Welloi's group's disappointed expressions.

"Well, you can't blame him for it. We have too many things to care about, so we really have no time to spend on you all. Just take this war as a chance and go out practicing on your own. Who knows, there might be a day where we truly need your help."

Rean then looked at Calina and Malaka.

"You two, it's time to go."

The two girls nodded and quickly followed Rean as well.

*Chick!*

Kentucky, who didn't understand anything that was going on, simply followed as well.

And just like that, the Death Unit was left behind.

However, it was then that Welloi decided.

"He's right. I'm too weak. I thought it was enough to be part of Dalamu's reserve forces and use their name to live in Jialin, but I was wrong."

Salatis shrugged his shoulders.

"You, at the very least, are part of Dalamu's Reserve Forces. I'm just a vagrant cultivator. Not to mention that I'm much older than you."

Zouei couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, this is also a chance, don't you think?"

Verden looked at Zouei and nodded.

"Zouei's right. Didn't Roan already tell us what we need to do? Many wars are happening around the empire. With our cultivation levels ranging around the Core Formation Realm, it wouldn't take too long to arrive in a country where it is happening."

Welloi agreed with him.

"That's what I was thinking. I'm going to leave to cultivate and practice my commanding skills in other countries. Rean and Roan are just teenagers but are already that determined. I won't just sit down and accept the fact that I'm dead weight. I'm going out!"

Salatis quickly decided what he would do.

"This old man might have no cultivation talent, but I can make up for it with effort. I've decided! I'll exchange my merit points for the best cultivation technique possible instead of cultivation resources. I'll then join the wars of other countries and gather the cultivation resources after. Do any of you want to come? Of course, if you have families or anything like that, you better consider it carefully. I'm a lonely cultivator, so I'm okay."

Verden, Zouei, and Juka also agreed to go out together. They already got familiar with each other's strength and knew how to combine their forces.

Surprisingly, a few more cultivators of the Death Unit also joined those five and decided to go out as well. Of course, most of the Death Unit still decided to go back to the sect or go out to do their own things. Not everyone was that passionate about the Death Unit as them.

Back on Roan's group side, Rean couldn't help but ask.

"You did all of that on purpose, right?"

Calina and Malaka got confused.

"What do you mean?"

Roan glanced at the two girls before saying.

"They wanted to follow Rean and me to learn more about being an Army Leader. However, I already taught them enough about it. I wasn't lying. I can't waste more time with them since I already have you two. From now on, they need to rely on themselves, not me or Nightingale here. It would be complicated and above all, extremely annoying."

Rean smiled as he said.

"Well, that's how cultivators are. They have to rely on themselves. It will all depend on how well they can put what they learned into practice."

Calina narrowed her eyes in response.

"Hey, wait! Are you saying that teaching this princess is annoying too?"

Roan snorted.

"Not just annoying. Extremely annoying!"

Malaka didn't seem to care as she uttered.

"Hahaha! I don't mind not receiving any more training from now on, then?"

Rean was the one to shake his head as he said.

"That would make things even more annoying. Who knows what kind of calamity you'd bring if we don't teach you properly. Sigh... such a burden."

Roan immediately agreed with Rean.

"It's rare for us to agree so much with something, but I guess this is definitely one of those. In that case, let's increase Malaka's tasks once we go back."

Calina couldn't help but laugh as Malaka showed a frustrated expression. Even though Roan said it was incredibly annoying to teach her, he didn't seem to care that much anymore.