A scout squad of puppets shot out like lightning from behind a massive star fragment, focusing fire to instantly take out a few isolated enemy transport puppets, then vanished in a blink. A few archers hidden atop ruined structures fired cold arrows with deadly precision, targeting the enemy's ranged units. Even a few engineering puppets had secretly planted concealed traps and explosives along the enemy's critical paths.
The battlefield instantly turned into a massive guerrilla hunting ground.
Xie Zhaolin's divine sense swept across the field, constantly tracking changes in the battle, and through her Primordial Soul connection, she issued precise commands to the scattered squads.
"Area Three, enemy left wing gap spotted. Third scout squad, ambush their supply convoy!
High Ground Seven, enemy ranged unit forming up. Fifth archer squad, cover fire! Disrupt their spellcasting!
Attention! Enemy dispatched a rapid response unit to clear Northeast Zone. All units in that area, immediately retreat southwest!"
The enormous enemy corps had overwhelming strength, but nowhere to unleash it. Their march slowed drastically, morale dropped, and scattered units kept getting picked off. Though she couldn't deliver a decisive blow, she successfully dragged the battle into a deadlock.
Time in the first simulation flew by amid the fierce guerrilla warfare. But the absolute power gap couldn't be fully bridged by strategy alone. Three thousand elite enemy puppets were better equipped, better coordinated, and individually stronger.
Xie Zhaolin's spearhead formation had torn through the enemy vanguard, causing notable chaos, but the massive enemy quickly encircled her layers deep.
Casualties skyrocketed.
Puppet after puppet shattered before her eyes, but she remained ice-cold, unwavering. She continuously adjusted tactics, searching for any possible opening amid the desperation.
The battle was brutal.
After nearly an hour of fierce combat, her three hundred puppets were entirely wiped out. She herself, after personally destroying dozens of enemy puppets, was surrounded and overwhelmed by three Nascent Soul enemy generals, and "fell" in battle.
The starry battlefield fell silent again.
Only the lingering energy remnants of countless dissipated puppets remained.
"First simulation, defeat. Rest for one incense stick, then proceed to the second simulation," the ancient voice said, still icy.
Xie Zhaolin re-formed at the battlefield start point. She panted slightly, her face pale from the strain on her divine sense, but her eyes burned intensely.
"Exhilarating!" she licked her dry lips. No trace of frustration remained, only a blazing warlust.
"Though we lost, …the feel's back!" she murmured and immediately began reviewing the battle.
"The spearhead formation hits hard, but its defense and endurance are too weak for a war of attrition…"
"The enemy center command seems to have a habitual delay in issuing orders…"
"The traps set by those few Qi Refinement engineering puppets performed better than expected…"
She didn't rest, her mind racing, merging past-life experience with the recent combat data to devise new tactics.
An incense stick's worth of time passed in an instant.
"Second simulation, begin!"
This time, the enemy clearly adjusted tactics. They no longer rushed forward but started methodically consolidating, securing flanks and rear, and dispatching more patrols to eliminate guerrilla units.
Pressure intensified.
But the smile on Xie Zhaolin's lips only deepened.
"Changing formation? Good! Let's see who adapts faster!"
Her command style shifted too. She no longer relied on sporadic harassment. Instead, she began quietly concentrating scattered units in localized areas, creating temporary superiority for small-scale annihilation strikes.
"Northeast Zone, an enemy patrol has fallen far from the main force. Third, Seventh, and Eleventh squads, converge on that coordinate! Within five breaths, eliminate it!
Southwest, an enemy auxiliary array node is lightly defended. All nearby fast units, strike that point! Destroy the node, then withdraw immediately!"
Her orders grew bolder, more aggressive!
The second simulation became more intense and exciting. Xie Zhaolin fully exploited guerrilla warfare tactics. Enemy advances were harassed, enemy encampments disrupted, exhausted forces struck, and retreating units pursued. She even personally led a team of elite assault puppets in several brilliant flanking and decapitation maneuvers. Though she still lost due to the power gap, the damage inflicted and the time held were far greater.
"Second simulation, defeat. Rest for one incense stick, proceed to the final simulation," the ancient voice announced.
Xie Zhaolin re-formed at the start point. She panted violently, sweat dripping from her brow, divine sense even more exhausted than before. Two consecutive high-intensity, high-precision command sessions had drained her mind and soul. The first two failures eliminated several impractical strategies, and her understanding of the enemy's and her forces' true capabilities grew sharper and harsher.
"Not enough …almost there …" she gritted her teeth, forcing her mind to integrate all previous experience.
Every minor tactical adjustment, command habit, and unit coordination flaw of the enemy…
The extreme performance of each of her puppets in specific scenarios, and effects of various tactical combinations…
Every exploitable detail of the terrain…
"Direct confrontation is hopeless. Guerrilla harassment can only delay defeat, not reverse it …we have to risk it all and find that single fleeting decapitation opportunity."
An extremely risky plan with minimal chances of success—but theoretically the only path to victory—took shape in her mind. She'd exploit the enemy command system's extremely brief coordination delay when responding to simultaneous, multi-point, high-intensity attacks, to strike a decapitating blow!
"All units, force breakthrough to coordinates Tianshu, Disha, and Renshang, disregard energy loss!
Upon reaching target points, execute the pre-planned final assault on the enemy's three main formations!"
This command was perilous.
It would heavily drain the puppets' energy cores and might even destroy some outright. Assaulting the three main formations was like snatching a tiger by the fangs. But it was the only way to tear open the enemy's ironclad lines.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Hundreds of dazzling lights lit up across the starry sky. The three hundred puppets streaked like burning meteors, striking their three designated attack points almost suicidally with deadly precision.
"What?!" The enemy command system was clearly caught off guard.
The junctions of the three main formations instantly descended into chaos.
"Now!" Xie Zhaolin personally led all commanding puppets straight through the gaps into the enemy core.
"Stop them!" the enemy commanders scrambled units frantically.
But the brief delay gave Xie Zhaolin a critical window. Squad after squad fell in the blockade, but she kept her eyes locked on the enemy's glowing banner, surging forward relentlessly.
Fifty zhang!
Thirty zhang!
Ten zhang!
Closing in!
Even closer!
She could already make out the runes swirling across the banner!