Upon seeing the announcement, the players following General Wei Huo were somewhat dumbfounded.

"What? Tens of thousands will be reduced to just a few hundred? Is this a joke?"

"That means only one percent will remain?"

"And it's not due to combat losses, right? It's actually the case that we're down to only a few hundred before even clashing with the demons?"

"What kind of trick is the official team playing this time? Do they think it's too easy for us and want to increase the difficulty?"

The players immediately became restless, noticing that their own forces were dwindling, with many disappearing inexplicably as they marched, becoming separated from the main army. Moreover, this trend was not only failing to improve as they moved deeper into the Great Desert, it was intensifying.

At the same time, General Wei Huo was undergoing a transformation.

He was turning into a heroic spirit!

Much like Emperor Taizu of Sheng and General Han Fuyue before, General Wei Huo was undergoing a transformation. The only difference being that his prime was in his youngest days!

For those former heroic spirits, they reached their physical peak when they were young and achieved the pinnacle in strategy and military tactics in their prime years.

People like Emperor Taizu, General Han Fuyue, and General Deng Yuanjing followed this pattern.

In their youth, they charged headlong into battle and were invincible; in their later years, they strategized behind the scenes, achieving greatness in military tactics.

Thus, their heroic spirits often combined the physical qualities of their youth with the wisdom and cunning of their older years.

But General Wei Huo was different, he was like an incredibly bright shooting star, whose peak in both physical prowess and cunning occurred in his youth.

As such, his transformation into a heroic spirit didn't seem to change much, yet compared to before, there was an imperceptible enhancement.

Simultaneously, a vast amount of information flooded his mind about this battlefield, involving the Orderers, demons, and other related contents.

General Wei Huo, facing the vast rolling sands and seeing the spreading dark Demonic Qi in the sky, fell into silence.

The righteous Qi emanating from him kept expanding, only to be continuously suppressed by the black Qi.

"General Wei Huo, if we continue deeper into the Great Desert, I'm afraid there will be only a few hundred of us left before we even encounter the enemy. What should we do?"

Although there were players among them with command abilities like Zhao Haiping, they wouldn't dare to show off in front of General Wei Huo.

General Wei Huo looked into the distance, "What of it if there're only a few hundred of us? My first battle with the Beidi people was fought with just a few hundred men."

The players then remembered that this was indeed the case.

When General Wei Huo first battled the Beidi people, he led a reserve force of eight hundred men and without any clear instructions, he took them several hundreds of miles away, directly thrusting into the Beidi's laxly defended camp.

With eight hundred, he cut down two thousand and even killed the Chanyu's grandfather, capturing the Prime Minister and an uncle of the Beidi.

For him, what were a mere few hundred men? It was enough!

Besides, General Wei Huo was not leading just a few hundred men, but tens of thousands.

Though this force was dwindling, as long as they continued to slay demons and transform the Demonic Qi into righteous Qi, they could regain their senses, and the army could return to its peak state of tens of thousands.

For General Wei Huo, what was the problem?

In the Chu Dynasty, where there were no stirrups and logistics were a massive pressure, he was able to completely disregard logistics and lead tens of thousands of men to charge into the Beidi's rear, raiding thousands of miles. Now, he was leading tireless and fearless players, which was akin to adding wings to a tiger!

General Wei Huo drew his long sword from his waist and pointed it towards the North.

"March!"

...

Meanwhile, the players at the front were also busy.

If General Wei Huo represented a surprise force intended to bypass the demons' senses to strike unexpectedly from behind, then the players at the front had to withstand the full pressure of the main demon army.

They even had to face the Demon Lord Chi You head-on!

And this battle was more perilous than the previous ones.

Because the players couldn't use the Orderers' fortress for defense!

The fortress's strategic location had helped the players withstand many demon attacks before, but now the battlefield was in the lands beyond the fortress, in the vast expanse of the Great Desert, with absolutely no defensible points.

Some players were, of course, unhappy. Why couldn't they use the Orderers' fortress that they had worked so hard to build?

However, after repeated persuasions by the Dark Sand development team, the players had adapted to these sudden changes, so after a few complaints, they quickly got into battle preparations.

Yu Jiaxuan was commanding the players for a well-organized defense.

"All Divine Machine players, set up the chariot formation on the outskirts!

"Position all types of artillery, crossbows, and large mechanical devices at appropriate spots within the chariot formation, with team leaders coordinating!

"Cavalry players remaining on the main battlefield, quickly assemble! Familiarize yourselves with the entrances and exits of the chariot formations!

"Ranger players, assassin players, commoner players, and scholar players, take your positions inside and outside the chariot formation, choosing the spots best suited for your combat style!

"Each area should reserve a space for summoning heroic spirits; report immediately if the line is breached, and summon heroic spirits to block the gaps!"

Players quickly erected vast defenses that continually expanded, swarming with players bustling about like busy ants.

Previously, players had considered what they might do if one day they no longer had the geographical advantages of their fortress to resist the assault of the demonic soldiers.

The answer wasn't difficult to find, as history had provided countless examples.

That answer was: vehicle formations!

Vehicle formations had not only been used by General Deng Yuanjing, but in fact, when General Wei Huo fought head-on against the Beidi people, he achieved decisive victories with the use of vehicle formations.

The vehicle formations now utilized by the players were effectively an ultimate upgrade compared to those of General Wei Huo's time.

The players' vehicle formations incorporated the essence of General Deng Yuanjing's strategies and were further enhanced with an array of hand cannons, artillery, and large catapults added by the Divine Machine players, also including designated areas for summoning heroic spirits.

General Deng Yuanjing, Emperor Taizu of Sheng, Yu Jiaxuan, Wang Wenchuan, General Han Fuyue, Yuchi Jingde, Lord Qin...

All these heroic spirits were top historical figures, not only possessing tremendous combat strength but also radiating a powerful righteous aura.

They were like stabilizing anchors in a tower defense game; whenever an area seemed on the verge of being breached by demons, the arrival of these spirits could instantly turn the tide, stabilizing the players' defenses from danger to safety.

Thus, the players on the front lines busied themselves, preparing for the imminent arrival of the demonic forces.

...

Swiftly, the sky darkened with thick plumes of black smoke.

In the distant sky, a massive outline of a demon emerged!

The Demon Lord Chi You appeared as a giant who touched the heavens, his entire body exuding powerful Demonic Qi as he loomed over the battle formations formed by the distant players.

All the players could do was look up.

Around the Demon Lord Chi You, four major demons circled, each seemingly restored to their prime, their presence starkly conspicuous from afar.

Feilian, Xingtian, Gonggong, and Kua Fu, these four powerful demons too showed their fangs and claws, surrounded by swirling tendrils of black Qi. A mere flick of their appendages would scatter Demonic Qi onto the ground, where it turned into demon soldiers.

Players began to murmur quietly among themselves.

"Eh? Weren't these four major demons supposed to have been seriously injured? Especially Xingtian, we basically finished him off, didn't we? How come they seem even stronger now?"

"Probably just the game developers creating a big scene. If it were based on actual strength, only Kua Fu and Feilian out of the four demons would barely maintain their powers. It's more like two adults dragging along two kids, which doesn't look too impressive!"

"Right, it's just a transitional cutscene, nothing to be scared of."

The players did not take to heart the oppressive entrance of the enemy; instead, they simply continued their preparations for battle, waiting to engage.

...

Chi You slightly furrowed his brow.

"Why do these native phantoms seem utterly unafraid of us?"

This was perplexing to him.

For demons, such a display would generally be infallibly intimidating. Order Restorers were protected by a righteous aura and wouldn't fear demons, but ordinary natives lacked this capability.

On one hand, Order Restorers couldn't possibly distribute a large amount of righteous Qi to the ordinary native phantoms; on the other hand, ordinary historical natives would already be tremendously stressed facing Barbarians, let alone true demons.

Therefore, every time the demons fought against Order Restorers, they would strike a fearsome pose to deal a psychological blow to the native phantoms, causing disarray in their ranks.

This would then lead to the Order Restorers engaging in a more passive battle.

However, this time, the native phantoms appeared utterly indifferent!

Chi You had even deliberately expended some energy to supplement the depleted demonic power of the four demons, enabling them to appear in such an imposing manner.

But now, it seemed somewhat unnecessary.

Feilian quickly spoke up, "Demon Lord! I've already said that this Order Restorer is very cunning and exceptionally talented in controlling native phantoms! The main reason for our previous defeats is largely due to this!"

Chi You glanced at him, "Are you suggesting I might make the same mistake as you?"

Feilian immediately fell silent, "I dare not!"

While Feilian could barely contain his excitable chatter when fighting alongside other major demons, he didn't dare in front of Chi You. So although his comment was mostly a well-meaning reminder, sensing Chi You's dissatisfaction, Feilian wisely chose to shut up.

Chi You, with his enormous stature, overlooked from the heavens down to the giant vehicle formation below, which roughly resembled a circle, but its internal structure was quite complex.

It housed various siege weapons, entries suited for Cavalry troops, and some empty spaces, whose purpose was unclear.

"You four!

"Attack this formation from four different directions. Whoever breaches it first will be rewarded!"

At Chi You's command, the four demons grew excited, "Yes!"

The strategy was not ingenious, but it conformed to demonic tactics.

After all, Chi You was set on a direct confrontation with the Order Restorers, and the demons working together risked disaster. Hence, after much consideration, he decided that having them attack from separate directions was the best approach.

"Attack!"

With Chi You's order, the four major demons immediately transformed into gusts of black wind, sweeping countless demon soldiers with them as they attacked from four different directions!

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