The eastern and southern garrisons arrayed themselves on the left and right, forming their respective formations.
Fan Cheng and Bai Zhan appeared in the air, each issuing commands to their subordinates.
"All soldiers! Rouse yourselves! Today may well be a 'tough battle.' I want you to exert twelve parts of your usual training strength! Can you do it!?"
Bai Zhan stood with his hands behind his back, his voice as resonant as a temple bell.
"Yes! We fight for His Majesty!!"
"Yes! We fight for Da Gan!!"
Thousands of soldiers roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens and earth, exuding an imposing aura!
Bai Zhan, pleased with the high morale of the southern garrison, turned to Fan Cheng and smiled.
"Old Fan, aren't you going to boost the morale of your eastern garrison before the battle?"
Fan Cheng shot him a glance before flying in front of the eastern garrison. With a grave expression, he boomed,
"Soldiers! The time has come for Da Gan and His Majesty to test us!"
"As long as the threat from the Endless Sea does not recede, we, the eastern garrison, will remain here, defending Da Gan's borders. We have no regrets!"
The soldiers' faces flushed, their expressions resolute, and they shouted in unison:
"No regrets! We fight for His Majesty! We fight for Da Gan!"
Fan Cheng declared, "Good! Depart immediately, target the Giant King Forest!"
With a wave of his hand, the vast legion of cultivators surged towards the Giant King Forest like a dark, oppressive cloud.
The pressure and aura emanating from the battle formations caused the surrounding demon beasts to tremble in their dens, daring not to show themselves.
As the army arrived at the Giant King Forest, a ten-meter-tall Iron-Winged Tiger within the forest suddenly bristled, raising its head to gaze at the dense legion of cultivators.
This was an Earth-tier peak Iron-Winged Tiger, just one step away from entering the Heaven-tier, possessing terrifying strength.
But now, it felt the oppressive aura of the cultivator legion and the presence of two cultivators at the half-step Divine Rope realm. Terrified, it turned, spread its iron wings, and fled desperately towards the Demon Beast Mountain!
The demon race was finished!
The humans had gone mad, deploying such a large army and two half-step Divine Rope realm cultivators to hunt it down. Who could it complain to?
It mused that it hadn't caused any trouble recently. Why would the humans deploy so much force to hunt it?
Could it be that some minor demon under its command had caused trouble?
The Iron-Winged Tiger King couldn't figure it out and could only frantically flap its iron wings, striving to reach Demon Beast Mountain quickly and seek refuge for a few months.
From the rear of the army.
Bai Zhan looked with slight dissatisfaction in the direction the Iron-Winged Tiger King was fleeing and said,
"This big cat is too ungracious. As the local demon king, it didn't even come out to welcome us?"
He abandoned the thought of pursuing, a look of regret on his face.
The bones and whip of the Iron-Winged Tiger were excellent treasures, highly beneficial!
Especially those of an Iron-Winged Tiger King, they were even more so. His Majesty was currently selecting consorts and would surely need such things in the future. He had hoped to capture the Iron-Winged Tiger King and present its bones and whip to His Majesty.
Alas, the beast had sensed them and escaped.
Fan Cheng glanced at Bai Zhan, immediately understanding his thoughts. However, he harbored similar intentions.
But the Iron-Winged Tiger King was close to the Heaven-tier and possessed strong vigilance. It had sensed the danger from afar and fled.
"Let the Iron-Winged Tiger King escape for now. We'll capture it another time. Let's focus on the main task!"
Fan Cheng said with a serious tone.
Bai Zhan nodded, saying no more, and the army headed towards the camps of those humans from the Endless Sea.
Soon, the army encountered Wang Hao and another soldier who had been monitoring the camps.
Wang Hao stepped forward and reported, "Reporting to the generals, all of them are staying in the camp and have not left!"
Fan Cheng nodded and activated his ocular techniques, looking down at the camp below.
Strange tents were erected one after another on the ground. Those people resided within, estimated to be around two hundred in number.
At this moment, these individuals appeared extremely tense and worried, their gazes towards the Giant King Forest filled with apprehension.
Human guards in black clothing stood at the outermost perimeter of the camp, holding dark iron implements and maintaining vigilance against the Giant King Forest.
Bai Zhan also observed this scene, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Are those dark iron implements the 'magical artifacts' you mentioned that can emit loud noises?"
He was curious about the items possessed by these Endless Sea humans, as he had never seen them before.
Especially the peculiar brick-like objects each person held, which could emit light but gave off no discernible trace of extraordinary power, which was quite mysterious.
Chen Wu nodded and replied, "Reporting to the general, yes! Those dark iron implements are the 'magical artifacts' that emit loud noises. There's a small switch beneath them, and a gentle pull will cause a loud sound!"
They had observed for a long time and had already figured out the general usage of firearms.
"This is quite interesting..."
Fan Cheng nodded lightly and continued, "Are these iron implements their weapons? How powerful are they, and do they pose a threat to cultivators?"
Upon hearing the general's inquiry, Chen Wu quickly answered one by one.
"Reporting to the general, these iron implements are indeed their weapons. As for their power, they are roughly equivalent to the bows and crossbows used by mortals, though slightly more powerful."
"However, the power of these weapons poses no threat to cultivators; they cannot even penetrate the spiritual energy shields of our soldiers."
"Of course, it's not impossible that they possess even more powerful weapons, but with two generals present, even the strongest weapon would be no match for your divine might."
At the end, Chen Wu offered a flattering remark.
Bai Zhan felt quite pleased and nodded. "These humans are too weak. Not only do they lack extraordinary power, but even their weapons are so feeble. It seems the Endless Sea isn't that impressive either; only the sea beasts in the depths are worth mentioning."
The others agreed, also feeling that the Endless Sea was somewhat overrated.
Before the mist dispersed, its mysterious veil had yet to be lifted, and everyone thought the Endless Sea was extraordinary.
But now, with hundreds of humans arriving from the Endless Sea, they appeared to be nothing special, even inferior to the incredibly backward Southern Wasteland!
"General, what should we do now? Should we descend and capture these people directly?" the副将 asked Fan Cheng.
Fan Cheng pondered. If they were all mortals, a small team would suffice.
But he couldn't be certain they were mortals yet; perhaps they were feigning weakness from the start.
After a moment of hesitation, Fan Cheng spoke:
"I will go and test them first. If there are no issues, we will capture and interrogate them all."
"You will form your battle formations here and be ready to fight at any moment. If these people are indeed suspicious, do not hesitate; attack immediately!"
The副将's expression turned solemn, and he nodded heavily!
Bai Zhan's expression also became serious. He looked at Fan Cheng and said, "I'll go with you. If there are real problems, we can watch each other's backs."
"Good!" Fan Cheng readily agreed without refusal.