Chapter 3376

Ao Feng saw the situation clearly. He knew the cost of launching another large-scale divine soul attack.

“What if we could take out their leader, the one called Ye Liuyun, in a single strike?” one of the elders asked.

“Qi Sang and Yu Lei both failed! He must be the hardest one to kill. His sea of consciousness probably contains a protective treasure! And supposedly, he has also cultivated a soul origin, so his divine soul power is not weak to begin with!”

Although Ao Feng believed Ye Liuyun would be difficult to kill, he did not think it was impossible. He was simply waiting for Ye Liuyun to fight his way to their lair, where he could kill him in one fell swoop.

Therefore, even if the other elders proposed it now, he would no longer send small groups of powerful experts to their deaths.

Qi Sang and Yu Lei had both failed to complete their missions. Sending more divine soul experts would be pointless; they might as well wait and attack together.

Thus, he merely ordered the entire army they had assembled to go out and meet the enemy, urging them not to split up and denying Ye Liuyun any chance to defeat them one by one. He knew Ye Liuyun had fewer troops, so they could only make up for their inferior equipment by relying on their numbers.

After several months of preparation, the demon race’s troop strength had recovered to ten million. However, the newly recruited soldiers had received neither training nor the tempering of major battles, so their combat strength was rather poor. They could only be used to bolster their show of force.

Ye Liuyun’s army launched an attack on a planet in the Sacred Demon Galaxy, with the demon legion led by Black Mountain serving as the vanguard.

The demons here still operated under a tribal system and had originally lived scattered across the region. But after learning that they were coming to attack, they had all gathered together, forming another vast army of a million demons.

However, this demon army was far weaker than a regular army. Black Mountain did not even need reinforcements from the other routes. Leading the demon legion, he killed his way through, captured prisoners, and seized resources. With an army of just over three hundred thousand, he cleared the entire planet.

The large number of prisoners they weeded out were handed over to the Death Legion for practice. Xiao Heng and Jiang Yuanhai’s armies merely followed behind to watch the show, without any chance to take action.

In battles this simple, the army would not use firepower chariots in order to conserve energy. Heavy crossbows alone were more than enough to deal with the enemy.

As a result, Black Mountain’s demon legion had so many resources that they could hardly use them all. Their cultivation realms rose rapidly. Black Mountain and the other commanders had already broken through to the ninth layer of the Guiyi Realm. The original veteran soldiers had also reached the eighth layer of the Guiyi Realm.

As for the newly captured surrendered soldiers, those with low cultivation realms were not cultivated. Instead, they concentrated all their resources on the original veterans and the demon soldiers with higher cultivation realms, continuously improving the strength of their elite troops.

Thus, the cultivation realms of their current elite legion of two hundred thousand soldiers were basically at the eighth or ninth layer of the Guiyi Realm.

The cannon fodder legion constantly underwent survival-of-the-fittest selection. Whenever someone with a higher cultivation realm joined, those with lower realms would be eliminated. The eliminated soldiers then became food and cultivation resources for the others.

The soldiers of the Death Legion improved much more slowly. The cultivation realms of several commanders, including Yu Xiaofeng, had yet to reach the late Guiyi Realm, while even the fastest-improving soldiers had only reached the sixth layer of the Guiyi Realm.

The main reason was that they had too many people. Once the resources were distributed among them, very little remained for each individual.

Moreover, the Death Legion spent a long time cultivating inside the spatial world and little time fighting. Ye Liuyun also wanted to preserve as many of its soldiers as possible, since these soldiers still possessed superior combat qualities. Consequently, their improvement gradually slowed further.

“They still need more tempering. Some losses are unavoidable! If they keep cultivating like this, the Death Legion will become the imperial guard of the Fire Seal Dynasty!”

Yu Xiaofeng also discussed the matter with Ye Liuyun, hoping to have the Death Legion undergo more tempering and exchange the resources obtained from the demons for cultivation resources.

Thus, Ye Liuyun finally steeled himself to let the Death Legion go out for training. This time, he even sent the female soldiers out to gain experience.

He had the demon army hold this planet and sent the Death Legion and the female soldiers out to sweep the surrounding planets. Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan’s armies followed behind the Death Legion to provide support.

This time, the Death Legion and the female soldiers did not even use heavy crossbows. Instead, they fought the demons head-on, resulting in heavy casualties.

They annihilated the demons on four surrounding planets. By the time they returned, only one hundred thousand soldiers remained in the Death Legion, while the female soldiers had been reduced to eight thousand five hundred.

Even Ye Liuyun was startled by the extent of these losses. At this rate, once the entire Sacred Demon Galaxy had been conquered, barely any soldiers would remain in either of these two forces.

“Some losses are normal. Although the casualties were somewhat heavy, the soldiers’ cultivation realms have risen rapidly, and their combat strength has improved as well.”

Yu Xiaofeng was afraid Ye Liuyun would grow reluctant again, so he repeatedly tried to persuade him.

Qin Peng, Tie Jun, and the others also joined in, trying to persuade Ye Liuyun. “Without undergoing hardship, it is difficult for soldiers to grow. Only after experiencing life-and-death battles themselves will they have the motivation to improve their strength!”

“All right, then! But they still need proper rest and recuperation. They cannot fight continuously!”

In the end, Ye Liuyun could only agree. He also knew that these soldiers had to temper themselves in battle if they were to improve more quickly.

Afterward, the Death Legion and the female soldiers began resting where they were to recover their true essence. The Black Armored Elite Soldiers, meanwhile, continued expanding into the surrounding areas with Xiao Heng and Li Zhaoyuan’s armies, sweeping the demon planets.

However, just after they occupied two planets, the demon army of ten million arrived. Thus, they had no choice but to withdraw.

“Ten million troops! It seems that even if we win this battle, our casualties won’t be small!”

Ye Liuyun, Yu Xiaofeng, and several other commanders all estimated that the demons outnumbered them ten to one. The disparity was simply too great.

Even with superior equipment, they were no match for the demons. They could only fight while retreating, occasionally using their old tactic of launching surprise attacks to gradually wear down the army’s patience.

Thus, for their first battle, they sent Xiao Heng and Li Daoyuan’s armies out, with Ye Liuyun leading the Black Armored Elite Soldiers to protect them. They went to the planet ahead to meet the enemy, but attacked only with firepower chariots and heavy crossbows, fighting as they retreated without engaging the demons in a head-on clash.

However, the demons had ample troops this time. They immediately sent a hundred thousand soldiers charging forward, while large forces also closed in from both sides to encircle them, without spreading themselves too thin.

Ye Liuyun saw no opportunity to attack any of the enemy forces, so after briefly intercepting them, he simply continued leading his army in retreat. After using firepower chariots and heavy crossbows to kill roughly thirty to forty thousand demon soldiers, they withdrew from the planet.

The demon army did not stop to reorganize. Taking advantage of their superior numbers, they let the legion that had led the charge rest while the other armies continued the pursuit.

As a result, the planet where Ye Liuyun’s forces were stationed soon became impossible to hold, and the entire army retreated into the starry sky.

The demon army used the same tactic again. After reorganizing, the previously attacking legion caught up, while the other legions continued advancing toward Ye Liuyun and his forces.

However, Ye Liuyun’s forces had an even greater advantage in the starry sky. Their warships were faster, giving them a greater advantage whether retreating or launching surprise attacks.