Simulated trials could be considered single-player mode, so there was no need for loading, just the construction of a small Trial Illusion around the player would suffice.

However, both the ultimate trial and the Return Order Expedition were large-scale networked modes, requiring the construction of a large Trial Illusion. The entire process of being extracted and drawn into another world might just be the loading process for the large-scale networked instance.

In fact, their guesses were not wrong, and they even got the principle right.

The simulated trial was an Illusion Realm created by Meng Yuan using the power of the Returners, which faithfully replicated historical slices, allowing players to repeatedly conquer them. It indeed could be seen as a single-player mode.

Whereas, the ultimate trial and the Return Order Expedition actually took place within real historical slices, necessitating the transfer of all players there.

Now, all the players ready to step into the simulated trial encountered the same problem.

They had been drawn into the actual historical slices.

...

Meanwhile, in the genuine Return Order Space, Meng Yuan and Can Shan were also busy.

"Meng Yuan! It's bad news. The Chu Dynasty historical slice under demonic control is constantly absorbing the surrounding Trial Illusions! I can't hold it back anymore!"

Meng Yuan's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked toward the core historical slice in the river of history.

This was a first encounter of such a situation.

The so-called Trial Illusion could be considered a high-quality replica of the real historical slices, which couldn't be exactly the same as the real historical slices, but could highly restore them.

As a result, once players cleared the simulated trial, they would have a high degree of mastery over the actual historical slices. Then, even if unexpected situations occurred when conquering them later on, they could handle them adaptively.

And the Trial Illusion could be seen as shadows created by the power of the Returners, hovering around the true historical slices.

Although they seemed close, they would not overlap, because they existed in different spacetimes.

Moreover, the demons did not care about this previously, so there was no incident of simulated Trial Illusions being attacked by demons.

But this time was different.

Demon Lord Chi You seemed to be consuming a large amount of Demonic Qi, attempting to absorb all the simulated Trial Illusions around the historical slice!

This action was indeed not cost-effective; it was a huge depletion of Chi You's power, and it could even be said to be a pyrrhic victory.

But obviously, after several defeats, especially after Fei Lian had the experience of being repeatedly ground into the dirt by the Returners, they had also undergone some strategic changes.

Can Shan's first reaction was to deplete her power to resist, but clearly, her strength was inferior to Demon Lord Chi You's, and this kind of spacetime tug-of-war would also rapidly deplete her power.

Meng Yuan asked, "What would happen if we let the demons pull all these simulated Trial Illusions over?"

Can Shan furrowed her brows, "That would mean the players would enter the historical slices directly without any preparation.

"Without going through the ultimate trials to conquer the core of the slices, our power will be somewhat suppressed. And without prior rehearsals, it means the enemy's strength is completely unknown, and many unexpected situations are very likely to occur in battle."

Meng Yuan thought for a moment, "But this process would greatly deplete the demons' power, right?"

Can Shan nodded, "Yes, these simulated trial environments actually exist in different spacetimes. The demons will suffer a tremendous loss trying to force them over.

"But if I were to prevent the demons, I would also consume a great amount."

Meng Yuan immediately made a decision, "Then let's not bother, just let Chi You pull all these Trial Illusions over!

"We don't need to engage in a tug-of-war with it. It's not worth it."

Can Shan hesitated, "But that way, the players will have to directly face the demons."

Meng Yuan nodded slightly, "That's right. But don't worry, you can always trust the players.

"The strength we save, we can use to summon those once powerful spirits to fight the demons head-on!"

Can Shan hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Alright, let's do as you say! But, won't the players panic when faced with such unexpected situations?"

Meng Yuan chuckled, "No worries, such a small issue can be solved with just an announcement."

...

In the dusky sky, a meteor streaked across.

Immediately, the meteor fell onto the desolate lands beyond the border, transforming into a man of unremarkable appearance.

Zhao Haiping looked around somewhat blankly.

This seemed somewhat different from the simulation trials he had experienced before.

The previous simulation trials generally had only two scenarios: either you landed and identity cards and talent skill cards appeared directly, and after making your selections, you began to attempt to clear the instance; or a piece of story CG played, during which you couldn't do anything, and you only started the challenge after the CG had finished.

But this time, after he landed, he found that the world around him didn't enter a static state, no identity or talent skill cards appeared, nor did any story CG play.

He was completely free to move around, just like when the Return Order Expedition first started.

Then, meteors began to flash densely across the sky, and more and more players descended from the heavens!

"What's going on?"

Zhao Haiping was somewhat surprised, as this situation had clearly never occurred before.

And just then, he saw a notice appear in his field of vision.

[The Demon Lord Chi You has led the main forces of demons to intercept, initiating an early decisive battle with the Return Orders! All players, please prepare yourselves, adapt on the fly, and win this war!]

The players who had landed looked at each other, all a bit dumbfounded.

So... hasty?

They're really coming!

The announcement did indeed mention that an early decisive battle was possible, but most players didn't think it would come this early!

They all felt that, following the official game's development process, the Chu Dynasty, as a major event, would definitely have a lot of resources invested into its development, and simulation trials, ultimate trials, to the last stage of Return Order Expedition, were all basically done using the same set of resources.

In this case, the fewer times the resources are reused, the more losses the developers would incur, right?

So, even though it was written in the announcement that the decisive battle could come at any time, most players still felt that the officials would dutifully let everyone experience the simulation trial fully, and as for the later ultimate trial and Return Order Expedition, it might come a bit early, but mostly not too much.

But they never expected that Dark Sand's game officials would actually break the mold like this, pushing directly into the stage of Return Order Expedition just as the simulation trial started!

But nobody even knew the specific details of this historical slice yet!

A sense of panic instantly emerged among the crowd.

"What's the situation? Are we going straight into the decisive battle without even a simulation? Isn't that too hasty?"

"It's not hasty, it's the demons launching an offensive, we have no choice."

"What demons launching an offensive, this is a game, it must be the developers' arrangement."

"So will the difficulty be lowered this time?"

"Do you think, given the official's inconsiderate nature, it will be lowered?"

"No."

"Then what do we do?"

The players were all dumbfounded, after all, the vast majority had never really experienced an ultimate trial, and the Return Order Expedition was only challenged after several days of attempts at the simulation trial, with a sense of security in their minds.

Now everyone thought it was just a simulation trial, but it turned out to be the Return Order Expedition, and even a decisive battle... Many people were struggling to accept it momentarily.

Chuge hurriedly said, "Everyone, don't panic, let's first determine our current situation and come up with a strategy! This is a game, since the developers threw us here, it means there definitely is a way to clear it!"

Indeed, after these elite players reassured them, the players quickly regained their composure.

Yes, this is a game! Since the developers threw us in here, there must be a way to clear it.

Just like before, when facing the union of three great demons under a disadvantage, it seemed difficult, but didn't we eventually find the solution?

Thinking this way, the officials, in order to keep the game fresh for the players, are willing to waste resources; a resource that could be used three times is only used once... I'm literally crying!

The players then turned their attention to observe the specific details of this historical slice.

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