Time was like a wheel with no brakes—it would never stop to wait for anyone. Black Iron Calendar 906 was a relatively peaceful year since Great Xia entered the Holy War. That year, after Thousand-Machine True Lord slew a Devil Race Sky Knight and several Phantom Knights in the battle at the Wei River, the Devil Race's eastward advance was checked. The great armies of humans and devils on both banks of the Wei River remained comparatively quiet for the entire year, entering a state of confrontation. Small-scale clashes occurred every day, and the ground legions on both sides continued to fight fiercely in the Helan Mountains, but overall, battles involving more than a thousand knights were few enough to count on one's fingers.
Compared with the previous two years, such circumstances could only be described as peaceful.
As the fighting at the Wei River eased somewhat, Great Xia itself was gripped by Torch Oil fever that year. More than sixteen thousand new Torch Oil production bases sprang up across its provinces. From Xuanyuan Hill to the powerful clans and local governments, all of Great Xia placed immense hopes and enthusiasm in Torch Oil. As Torch Oil production bases bloomed everywhere, under the banner of resisting the Devil Race and defending Great Xia, a wave of new industry represented by Torch Oil aircraft and all manner of Torch Oil weapons formally swept across Great Xia. The entire country was like a machine that had suddenly been switched on—once filled with Torch Oil, it began to unleash tremendous energy.
In barely a year, independent air cavalry regiments had been established province by province throughout Great Xia; even the slower ones had put up their skeletons. The Four Upper Armies had already begun forming entirely new mechanized legions. Such a grand spectacle