“Long Haochen smiled slightly and continued, “The Sa Mo Province is the farthest province from the Central Province in the Demon territory. Unless the Demon God Emperor leads only his Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon Clan and all the Demon Gods to arrive immediately, it will take at least twenty days for him to lead the army from the Central Province to our side. After breaking through the defenders outside the Yulong Pass, at least five or six nearby Demon Provinces will be exposed to us, with extremely limited defense forces. Now we are most afraid that the Demon God Emperor will recklessly lead the army to directly attack the Southeast Fortress and the Myriad Beast Pass, which are closest to the Central Province. Therefore, we must attract the Demon God Emperor’s attention.”

“As the first pillar Demon God of the Demon Race, the Demon God Emperor must be able to sense the damage to other Demon God Pillars. And within the Federation, only my power can destroy the Demon God Pillars. Therefore, I believe that after the Demon God Emperor senses the death of the Tree Demon God, he will clearly know that I am on the Yulong Pass side. But the Demon army here has completely collapsed. It will take at least five days to transmit the specific battle situation back. This is the fastest estimate. Plus the twenty days needed to arrive. So, we have plenty of time now. During this ample time, we must let the Demon God Emperor know as much as possible about our actions.”

Xiao Huo said, “Little Long, what are you planning to do? Slaughter the Demons in the neighboring provinces?”

Long Haochen shook his head and said, “No. Mass slaughter is detrimental to heaven and harmony. Moreover, among the Demons, only a portion are truly pure Demons. I once came into contact with a Demon organization composed of human-Demon hybrids. They secretly resisted the Demon God Emperor and accumulated some power. Moreover, I also heard that the head of this organization is a very important Demon God in the Demon Race. This force may not be enough to affect the entire battle situation, but if we can win their assistance, our chances of victory will be greater. If we rashly launch a massacre, it will definitely make this organization afraid to contact us, and it will also arouse a sense of shared hatred.”

Shu Yongxiao said, “Will we be plotting with a tiger for its skin?”

Long Haochen said, “I don’t think so. The ultimate goal of this organization is to integrate into our human race. The member I contacted told me that if humans ultimately defeat the Demons, they only hope to leave a self-governing territory for these human-Demon hybrids, not too large. And then gradually be assimilated by humans in the process of interacting with humans.”

Cai’er said, “Then what should we do?”

Long Haochen said, “War is cruel. Even if we don’t launch a massacre, we must target the main force of the Demon Race for attack. And if we want to inflict enough damage on the Demon Race in the shortest possible time, then we need to divide our forces. Look here.”

As he spoke, his right hand tapped several times on the map, all at the locations of the capitals of some nearby Demon Provinces.

“The strongest forces and most important resources of the Demon Race are concentrated in the capitals. And the Demon Race has always been strong on the outside but weak on the inside. The external defenses are strong, but the true internal strength is relatively empty. Hasn’t the Demon God Emperor transferred a large number of Demon Gods away? We will take this opportunity to destroy their foundations. Therefore, I have set the attack targets on the capitals of the six Demon Provinces closest to Yulong Pass. Kill the main Demon forces in these capitals and carry out a certain degree of destruction. We don’t need to kill too much, but looting or destroying the resources accumulated in these capitals will be enough to give the Demon God Emperor a headache.”

“The six northern provinces account for a quarter of the Demon Race’s twenty-four provinces. According to the characteristics of the Demon Race, most of their resources are concentrated in the capitals of each province. If the plan succeeds, it will be difficult for the Demon God Emperor to directly attack the Southeast Fortress and the Myriad Beast Pass. He must consider the factor of instability in the rear while attacking the Federation.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Long Haochen’s strategy. In fact, they already had a general battle plan before the expedition. Long Haochen was just explaining it in more detail at this time.

Cai’er said, “Then let’s do it this way. After we finish resting, we will divide into six groups and go deep into the Demon territory to fight.”

Long Haochen said, “The six groups must maintain close contact with each other. As soon as you find that a Demon God is stationed in a province, notify me immediately. I will rush over to destroy its Demon God Pillar as soon as possible. Compared to resources, the Demon God Pillar is even more fundamental to the Demon Race, and it is also the foundation of the Demon Race’s existence.”

Lin Xin said, “Now the most frightening thing is that the Demon God Emperor is recklessly making a desperate move. If he ignores our actions and still leads the army to attack the Myriad Beast Pass or the Southeast Fortress, and uses this as a breakthrough to go deep into our Federation’s interior to burn, kill, and loot, we will also be very passive. The key is that the Federation’s resources are much richer than the Demon Race’s. We can rob, and so can they.”

Long Haochen nodded and said, “I have carefully considered the problem you are worried about. It is possible. After all, it takes enough time for the Demon God Emperor to lead the army over. Therefore, I estimate that the Demon God Emperor’s greatest possibility is to divide his forces into two groups.”

Xiao Huo’s eyes lit up, “How do you divide the forces into two groups?” Long Haochen’s simple words coincided with what he was thinking.

Long Haochen said, “The Demon God Emperor wants to get rid of me quickly, and we are stirring up trouble in the north. He will definitely not let go of the opportunity to deal with us. Therefore, I estimate that he is likely to lead a group of the strongest Demons to fight us in the shortest possible time. This group of Demons is likely to be a part of the fifty-four Demon Gods he has mobilized, as well as a part of the Heaven-Defying Demon Dragon Clan, the Moon Demon Clan, and the Star Demon Clan. The Demon God Emperor has absolute confidence in his own strength, so he will not bring too many Demon powerhouses. The total number may not even exceed a thousand people. And in fact, under normal circumstances, such a force would be enough to defeat us. Because the Demon God Emperor does not know about the addition of the ancestors.”

“On the other side of the divided forces, the Demon God Emperor’s attack target is most likely to be the Southeast Fortress. The Demons may have already learned that we are mobilizing troops. But he can’t know too accurately about some of our important deployments within the Federation. He will definitely think that the Southeast Fortress where the Warrior Temple is located is still the weakest point. But he doesn’t know that we have already averaged the occupations of the six major Temples. Moreover, before we set off, we also arranged for part of the Assassin Temple’s forces to reinforce the Myriad Beast Pass and the Southeast Fortress respectively.”

“The Demon God Emperor has mobilized a terrifying number of troops this time, and he will also leave at least twenty Demon Gods to command the army. If they attack the Southeast Fortress directly, it is indeed a huge threat to us. But the Southeast Fortress is not so easy to handle. After the last Holy War, the major fortresses have strengthened their defenses. At the same time, once the specific movements of the Demon army are clearly detected, the Myriad Beast Pass and the Galing Pass, which are closest to the Southeast Fortress, will also send reinforcements at the first time. Most importantly, there are now nine ancestors stationed in each major fortress. Once a fortress is attacked, with the strength of the ancestors, they can reach the fortress within one to three days. Concentrating the power of more than forty ancestors, even if the enemy is strong and there are more than twenty Demon Gods leading them, it will not be so easy to break through our majestic pass. There is even a possibility of suffering a great loss.”

After listening to Long Haochen’s analysis, everyone was moved.

Xiao Huo’s face could not produce any expression, but the appreciation and admiration in his eyes were clearly revealed. He thought to himself, “It’s no accident that Little Long can become the number one person in the Federation at such a young age! Not only is he extremely talented in cultivation, but his mind is also calm and meticulous. With such a person in control of the overall situation of the Federation, the chances of winning this decisive battle with the Demons will be much greater.” Long Haochen’s conjecture was exactly the same as what he was thinking, so he didn’t say much, just silently watching Long Haochen make arrangements.

With the strategy and tactics determined, the next step was to divide the forces.

The Sharp Knife Corps was divided into six groups, led by Long Haochen, Cai’er, Chen Ying’er, Wang Yuanyuan, Han Yu, and Zhang Fangfang respectively. Each army had three Eternal Heroes stationed in it. Sima Xian followed Chen Ying’er’s group, Lin Xin followed Wang Yuanyuan’s group, Duan Yi followed Han Yu’s group, and Yang Wenzhao followed Zhang Fangfang’s group. Ya Ting followed Cai’er’s group. The forces were divided into six groups and set off at the same time.

Long Haochen was responsible for the most central of the six provinces targeted. This would make it easier for him to rush to other provinces where Demon Gods appeared to destroy the Demon God Pillars at the first time.

Although Long Haochen’s group did not have partners to follow, he was the strongest and had Xiao Huo’s assistance. His overall strength was definitely not inferior to the other five groups.

After the Sharp Knife Corps, which originally had only ten thousand people, was broken up into smaller units, it became more agile, like six true sharp knives, thrusting straight into the northern hinterland of the Demon Race.

This life-and-death game between the Temple Federation and the Demon Race has finally fully unfolded.

…Demon Race, Demon Emperor Palace.

“Tree Demon God Busong is dead, and his Demon God Pillar has also been destroyed.” The Demon God Emperor’s face was very ugly.

He felt it the first moment the Tree Demon God’s Demon God Pillar was destroyed. This was already the third Demon God Pillar that had been damaged.

Dozens of Demons stood densely below. Each one had a powerful aura. They were the foundation of the Demon Race, and also the strongest group of existences in the Demon Race, the Demon Gods!

However, these powerful existences, who were all hegemons in the Demon Race, did not dare to breathe loudly at this time, and stood there quietly. Only a few in the front row dared to look up at the Demon God Emperor.

Tree Demon God Busong was dead. He was responsible for staying behind at Yulong Pass. The destruction of the Demon God Pillar undoubtedly meant that Long Haochen had taken action.

“Your Majesty, I have already ordered to find out the accurate information there as soon as possible. But Xin City is too far from Sa Mo Province, and it will take at least three days for accurate news to arrive,” Moon Demon God Agares said respectfully. He knew very well that what the Demon God Emperor was most eager to know was whether it was Austin, Griffin, or Long Haochen who destroyed the Demon God Pillar. If it was just Long Haochen destroying it with some of Austin and Griffin’s bloodline power, then the problem would be relatively small. But if Austin and Griffin were not dead, then the problem would be big.

(To be continued)