Moving In and the 'Blade Army Handbook'

"Brother Beile, what status does that Lady Befona have?" On the road, Mosang reverted to his curious-baby self and asked.

Beile shot Mosang a glance, his tone suddenly turning stern as he warned, "Befona is the Army Lord's own younger sister. Just show her proper respect whenever you see her."

Mosang immediately behaved himself again.

Jie Ning sighed inwardly. Hell truly could not do without Mosang.

The group then obediently followed Beile to the southwestern corner of Blade City.

Unlike the uniform, pleasing architecture in the city center, this area was filled with buildings of all shapes and styles, with a vast stretch of open ground beside them.

It was hard to imagine that a great city like Blade City still had a place like this.

"We're here." Beile pointed at the area before them and said, "This is where you'll be living from now on."

Jie Ning pondered briefly, waiting for a certain voice.

Sure enough, Mosang spoke up. "Brother Beile, what do we do next?"

"As members of the Blade Army, you can simply choose an unoccupied house and move in directly. As for which ones are unoccupied..." Beile gestured for the two to look at a red sign standing in front of one house. "Like the sign outside that house—don't choose any house with one of those. It means the owner inside is still alive, and the house still has an owner."

"Or you can build one yourselves." Beile pointed toward another patch of open ground. "The booklet states how large you're allowed to build it, or you can use other people's houses as a reference."

"Alright, choose for yourselves now." Beile turned to leave, but suddenly seemed to recall something and added, "Right. Once you've chosen a house, don't casually enter anyone else's home unless invited—not even if it's empty. Remember that."

With that, Beile vanished from where he stood.

The scene fell quiet at once. Mosang looked at Jie Ning and Korur. "How do you plan to choose?"

"Hahaha, Jie Ning, you've finally arrived." Suddenly, a voice came from one of the nearby houses.

Following the voice, Jie Ning saw a familiar figure. "Kala, have you finished handling your business?"

Kala came straight over to them. "Hehe, that little matter was settled in no time."

"From the looks of you, you're here to pick houses, right?"

"That's right. Do you have any advice?" A thought stirred in Jie Ning's mind, and he asked Kala.

"Haha, you've come to the right person." Kala puffed out his chest and slapped it twice. "Let me tell you, no one knows the houses around here better than I, Kala."

Kala looked at them and said mysteriously, "Brother Beile must have told you that you could either choose a house or build one yourself, right?"

"That's right." There was nothing to hide, so they readily admitted it.

Kala considered his words for a moment before saying, "Actually, both options have their advantages. It just depends on what you choose."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Mosang grew curious again.

"First, if you build one yourself, the advantage is that you can construct it entirely according to your own ideas, and you won't have to worry about whether the previous owner left anything unpleasant behind."

Mosang found this strange. "What bad things could there be inside a house?"

Kala casually gave an example. "For instance, some fellows studying Fire Profound Mysteries might leave behind things from their research. You might walk in and happen to trigger an Explosion."

Jie Ning raised his brows. "When the original owner dies, doesn't Blade City clear out the house first?"

"Those who want to do it can't, while those who can do it don't want to."

"The Castle has rules: you may only freely enter and leave your own house. Everything else is property of Blade City."

"And the important figures who can ignore that rule couldn't care less about the little things inside these houses."

"What could be in there?" Even Korur's curiosity had been piqued.

Kala explained, "Many God-level experts have a habit of studying things while comprehending Profound Mysteries—experimental items, perhaps, or secret techniques and moves."

"Simply closing your eyes and comprehending Profound Mysteries may be something only true geniuses can accomplish."

"Thus, many houses retain traces left behind by their previous owners while they comprehended Profound Mysteries. They may be wondrous creations, or marks left by secret techniques used during comprehension. For ordinary God-level experts, that counts as a small gain."

Suddenly, Kala looked at Jie Ning and Gru and sighed.

"What is it?" Jie Ning found it strange. Why had Kala suddenly sighed at the two of them?

Kala looked at them with some regret. "Among the houses currently vacant, none had previous owners who studied Earth Profound Mysteries or the Destruction Rule."

"Though there are several who studied water." Kala then gave Mosang a look that said, You've struck it rich.

"Really?" Mosang instantly became excited, but remembering that Jie Ning and Gru were beside him, he hurriedly suppressed his excitement and glanced at them apologetically.

Korur suddenly leaned forward. "Are there any that belonged to someone who studied Lightning Profound Mysteries?"

In an instant, Dinar stared at Korur in shock.

Jie Ning's expression also turned strange.

Kala looked back and forth between Korur and Dinar several times, then said in an odd tone, "There is one vacant set belonging to someone of the lightning element."

"Then I'll choose the lightning-element one." Korur said decisively. "Kala, please take me there later."

"It's no trouble at all." Kala smiled.

Thus, Korur chose the house whose original owner had been a Lightning-element Mid-level God.

Mosang fell into agonized indecision among several houses.

Jie Ning casually picked a set for himself. After all, he did not consider himself an architectural master, so he might as well live in something already built.

Although Jie Ning could now use Earth Element to directly create all sorts of materials, there was no need for that.

Whether it was good luck or bad, the house Jie Ning chose bore no trace whatsoever of its previous owner.

Still, he was perfectly at ease and paid it no mind, naturally moving in.

After he settled in, the Blade Army "acquaintances" he had met on the journey back came to visit one after another. They brought Jie Ning quite a few gifts as well, which happened to let him decorate his new home.

They were basically all things Jie Ning could use directly.

Clearly, these old Blade Army members knew perfectly well what newcomers like Jie Ning would encounter.

In less than half a day, Jie Ning had already finished arranging his new home.

Korur came to find Jie Ning. "Jie Ning, can you let Dinar stay at my place?"

Jie Ning had foreseen this the moment Korur chose his house. "I have no objections."

"You can have one of your people stay over here." These houses generally had rooms reserved for the Reserve Army.

Since Dinar was going over there, Jie Ning did not mind having one of Korur's people stay on his side.

Korur smiled and shook his head. "No need. The rooms in that house are enough."

Jie Ning did not press the matter.

Once everything was done, Jie Ning let Mondoka choose a room for himself before returning indoors.

He reached into his badge and took out a book. The words Blade Army Handbook were written bluntly across its cover.

After roughly reading through it, Jie Ning found that becoming a member of the Blade Army really did seem like quite a good thing.

First of all, the Blade Army was broadly divided into five ranks: Army Lord, Deputy General, Hundred Guards, Captain, and Soldier.

At present, aside from the Army Lord, the entire Blade Army had three Deputy Generals, fifteen Hundred Guards, and more than ten thousand Captains and ordinary Soldiers.

Reserve members did not count as part of the Blade Army's official establishment.

The Blade Army Handbook contained basic introductions to the nineteen people ranked Hundred Guards and above. These people were essentially the pinnacle of power in Blade City.

Naturally, it did not record any specific details, merely stating that these individuals were all High-God-level powerhouses.

The Beile Jie Ning was most familiar with was naturally listed there as well. He was one of the fifteen Hundred Guards.

The Blade Army generally recruited Middle-Gods who had only recently arrived in Hell and had no backing. Low-Gods entered as the Reserve Army, and if they could make a breakthrough, they could become official members.

God-level natives of Hell, on the other hand, had to undergo strict assessments if they wished to join.

The Blade Army's duties were actually quite relaxed. Its main requirement was that every Blade Army member complete one Blade Army mission every twenty years on average. Missions could be accepted on the second floor of Blade Castle.

If one had no time for the moment, a mission could be postponed and completed together with the next round. However, this could only accumulate up to five times—meaning five missions had to be completed within a hundred years.

Once that limit was exceeded, the person would be killed outright. Even if they managed to escape for a time, they would be hunted by the Blade Army forever.

Whoever killed them would also receive a generous reward from the Blade Army.

Of course, the above referred to ordinary missions. Blade Castle would occasionally release missions of "high difficulty" or "long duration." Not only did these missions offer greater rewards, but completing one could offset several ordinary mission requirements. The exact number depended on the mission's actual difficulty.

Then there were sudden special circumstances. Blade Army members ranked Hundred Guards and above had the authority to forcibly requisition members beneath their rank for missions. Lower-ranking members had no right to refuse, and their rewards would be issued afterward once the mission's difficulty had been assessed.

For example, going to the Teleportation Array to bring back "Recruits" was a routine mission the Blade Army had every year. It was generally led by a Blade Army member ranked Hundred Guards or above, with a team of twenty, and took around a month.

Serving as Blade City's "patrol guards" was another routine mission. Because the risk and difficulty were both relatively low, each mission generally lasted around three years.

These two were considered relatively sought-after missions within the Blade Army.

The Blade Army Handbook also listed several popular routine missions, whose main attraction was basically their low difficulty.

Along with obligations, there were naturally rights as well.

Most basically, Blade Army members could earn Blade Points by completing missions. These points could be used to purchase goods at low prices or buy certain precious items in Blade Castle, and could also be used to post missions of one's own at Blade Castle.

Furthermore, all Blade Army members possessed law-enforcement authority within the city. If they confirmed that someone posed a threat to Blade City or themselves, they could take the initiative to attack that person and immediately request assistance.

If outsiders attacked an individual within the Blade Army's sphere of influence, then regardless of the reason, it would be regarded as a provocation against the Blade Army.

Looking at it as a whole, the Blade Army gave Jie Ning the impression of a warlord faction. Everyone within its territory had to accept its protection and pay the corresponding fees.

And so, Jie Ning settled down in Blade City with peace of mind.

He planned to make Blade City the starting point for understanding Hell.

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