Expansion Contest (2)

"You're no match for me. Surrender." Jie Ning looked at the opponent surrounded by his five 'doppelgangers' not far away.

"Damn it." Limus cursed the unscrupulous black market dealer who had sold him the intelligence.

'Jie Ning arrived in Hell less than a hundred years ago. He is an Earth-element Mid-level God skilled at summoning Mudstone Puppets for group combat. It is speculated that he is best at the Earth Element Profound Mystery.'

'You are a Wind-element Mid-level God, and you excel at swift attacks. An ordinary Middle-God like him definitely won't be your match.' The intelligence dealer had sworn this guarantee to Limus.

That was the intelligence Limus had bought.

Jie Ning had entered Hell less than a hundred years ago. That was true.

He was an Earth-element Mid-level God. That was also true.

But who the hell called these 'Mudstone Puppets'?

Limus looked at the five 'people' blocking his path. If not for their lack of soul auras, there was absolutely no difference between these so-called 'Mud Golems' and the original standing in the distance.

I'd swear that making these so-called Mud Golems required the fusion of at least two Mysteries... Limus looked at Jie Ning in the distance as though he were a monster.

Although Limus did have an Earth-element Divine Avatar, he knew perfectly well how powerful a single Mystery could be.

With the strength of these 'Mud Golems,' they could not possibly have been created through the Earth Element Mystery alone.

There's definitely something wrong with this man's head. Instead of comprehending more Mysteries and becoming a High God as quickly as possible, he wastes time on something like Mystery Fusion.

Limus simply could not understand his opponent's actions. In his eyes, fusing Mysteries was far more difficult than comprehending new ones. With that much time, one ought to strive toward becoming a High God.

After once again doing everything he could to break free from the encirclement of two 'Mud Golems,' Limus swiftly escaped the surrounding formation and tried to close in on his opponent.

He clung to a hopeful thought. What if everything this lunatic can do lies in these Puppets?

Jie Ning saw the look in his opponent's eyes and inexplicably felt displeased.

It seemed his kind offer of surrender had been ignored.

Jie Ning decided to show the other side a little something.

After dodging another attack, Limus searched for gaps between the 'Mud Golems.'

Suddenly, a chill ran down his back. He hurriedly shifted position, only to discover that four new figures had appeared behind where he had been standing.

Limus's face instantly turned green. Five had already been enough to exhaust him. Nine...

"I surrender!" Limus hurriedly shouted, terrified that if he were even a moment slower, he would suffer the fate of being surrounded by nine opponents.

Jie Ning was slightly displeased. What a pity...

"Arena 201 has won two matches." Beile announced, "Does the champion wish to rest?"

Jie Ning shook his head and looked directly at the third person. "I'll continue."

He was in a bad mood right now and needed someone to cooperate.

Under Jie Ning's gaze, the third challenger, Yikas, felt an enormous pressure bearing down on him.

He gritted his teeth and stepped forward. Everyone could only challenge the arena once on their own initiative. If he wanted to get ahead of others in the Blade Army, he had no other path.

"Begin."

The moment Beile gave the announcement.

Water Element surged, and the entire arena was instantly filled with moisture. To those watching from the side, Jie Ning and Yikas both vanished into the mist.

You are a Middle-God skilled in Illusion Techniques. Once your illusions confuse the direction of a man who only knows how to control Mud Golems, he will naturally lose his footing. Defeating him should be effortless for you.

Yikas recalled the advice given by the intelligence dealer and felt that his chances of victory truly depended on his Illusion Technique.

The instant he stepped onto the arena, he used his strongest method, filling the area with an illusion and concealing his own figure. Once his opponent fell into confusion, he would wait for an opportunity to strike.

Relying on his control over the Water Element, Yikas could clearly sense his opponent's location while carefully concealing his own traces.

Is this guy not creating Mud Golems this time? Yikas felt uneasy.

For the sake of 'fairness,' Jie Ning had dispersed the previous nine doppelgangers before his opponent stepped onto the stage. He simply stood in place and waited for his opponent to perform.

An opportunity must not be missed. Yikas had initially worried that Mud Golems would block attacks for his opponent, but since the other party had been careless enough to leave himself exposed, Yikas could not let this chance slip away.

In an instant, he controlled the water vapor and transformed it into countless sharp Ice Arrows that shot toward Jie Ning from every direction.

These Ice Arrows appeared to be formed merely from condensed water vapor, but in truth, they contained all of Yikas's comprehension of the Sharpness of Ice Mystery. Even a Lower Divine Artifact would be pierced through instantly by Yikas's Ice Arrows. To Yikas, this was his strongest attack.

The moment Jie Ning saw his opponent take the stage, Yikas filled the arena with mist, making Jie Ning's field of vision appear completely obscured.

In reality, however, every trace of Yikas was laid bare before Jie Ning's eyes.

Jie Ning had already fought three matches. After each match, he would proactively disperse his 'doppelgangers.' By the time Yikas stepped onto the arena, most of the Earth Element throughout the entire arena had originally been Jie Ning's divine power.

A smile appeared at the corner of his lips as he prepared to give this fellow a shock.

"Bang, bang, bang~" Yikas heard the countless collisions of Ice Arrows, and delight began to appear on his face. As expected, I succee...

Unfortunately, the delight did not last long before freezing into terror on his face.

Hiding within the mist, Yikas stared in Jie Ning's direction and groaned inwardly. How am I supposed to fight a monster like this...

"Not bad." Jie Ning brushed the ice fragments from his body. At some point, he had donned a set of Yellow Battle Armor.

This was not a divine artifact. It was merely armor Jie Ning had temporarily condensed using the Earth Element.

Before the Ice Arrows reached him, Jie Ning moved his thoughts, and a suit of armor directly wrapped around his entire body.

The Ice Arrows struck the armor. At the points of impact, they released sharp energy in an attempt to break through the armor's defenses.

That sharp aura was like countless blades, trying to sever the connections between the Earth Elements and destroy the armor.

Yet if someone could observe the details of Jie Ning's armor, they would see that aside from the Earth Elements being entwined with one another, faint green threads also linked them together. When the sharp aura cut against those threads, it was like stones falling into a lake, raising only a few ripples.

On the surface, countless Ice Arrows struck the armor on Jie Ning's body without leaving even the slightest mark.

Jie Ning looked toward Yikas and returned a brilliant smile.

"Then leave the rest to me."

Before Yikas could react, several figures suddenly blocked his view.

"Ah, ah..." Yikas struggled desperately to defend himself, and every so often, he would suffer a heavy blow.

However, Jie Ning was clearly deliberately controlling the strength of his attacks. After all, the main purpose of this occasion was still the expansion of the Blade Army.

But his opponent apparently had not noticed that. He seemed to believe that he had managed to withstand Jie Ning's attacks.

The unceasing attacks forced Yikas to focus all his attention on evading and defending against Jie Ning's attacks. He did not dare relax in the slightest.

After beating his opponent for a while, Jie Ning felt much better.

Still, this opponent seems pretty tough. Jie Ning sighed inwardly. After being beaten by me for so long, he's stubbornly refusing to surrender.

Then don't blame me.

Yikas suddenly discovered that the Puppets before him instantly dispersed, transforming into green light that surged toward him.

The next moment, Yikas suddenly felt his divine power pouring out of his body like a tide.

"Earth Seed."

Jie Ning directly controlled the Earth Seed to attach itself to his opponent's body and rapidly drain his divine power.

These Seeds rooted themselves in Yikas's body, frantically absorbing the nourishment they desired.

The mad loss of divine power made Yikas turn pale with fright. In that instant, he finally remembered that this was a match. "I surrender! I surrender! Stop!"

Hearing his opponent surrender, Jie Ning stopped making things difficult for him.

Without Yikas's control, the mist across the arena rapidly dispersed. The people below the stage saw only that Jie Ning still stood in the same place, though he now wore a set of 'Battle Armor.'

Yikas, meanwhile, lay collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, staring at Jie Ning in terror.

Dispersing the 'Battle Armor' on his body, Jie Ning beckoned with a wave of his hand, and countless points of light flew out from Yikas's body.

The Earth Seed returned before Jie Ning. Under his control, it transformed the Water-element divine power within into Water-element God Crystals, then turned itself back into earth divine power and returned to Jie Ning's body.

Beile came onto the stage and congratulated Jie Ning. "Congratulations, Jie Ning. From now on, you are a Captain in the Blade Army."

"Thank you, Lord Beile," Jie Ning replied politely.

On the surface, no one could see the slightest irregularity in their relationship.

In secret, however, Jie Ning received Beile's admiration.

"Jie Ning, I still underestimated you. Kala and the others described this move to me before, but only after seeing it with my own eyes did I realize how terrifying it is." Beile concluded, "I never expected you to have such attainments in Mystery Fusion. With this move alone, I dare say no Middle-God can withstand it."

The traces of Mystery Fusion within the Earth Seed were far more obvious than those in Jie Ning's own Cloning Technique. At the very least, Beile had always thought it was merely a combination of different Mysteries.

"You praise me too highly, Brother Beile. If my opponent is on guard, it will be difficult for this move to have any effect unless it can touch them." Jie Ning understood the limitations of Earth Seed very well.

"You really are too modest." Beile sighed. "All right, go down first. Later, I'll find you all, and we can celebrate properly."

"You won't refuse to welcome me, will you?"

Jie Ning naturally did not mind deepening his connection with Beile, so he decisively invited Beile to his residence after the matches to celebrate together.

After leaving the arena, Jie Ning looked toward the other arenas.

As he passed by, the people around him watched Jie Ning warily. After seeing his performance, the overwhelming majority believed they would not last more than a few moves against him.

This guy is dangerous. That was the shared consensus of everyone who had watched Jie Ning's match.

He returned to the crowd.

Jie Ning looked toward the matches of the others.

Mosang was still entangled with his opponent. His opponent cultivated the Destruction Rule and seemed to want to break through Mosang's control through sheer offense, but he clearly could not do so.

The rhythm of that battle had already completely fallen into Mosang's hands. Victory was only a matter of time.

Korur had already reached his final match. His opponent also fought in a straightforward style, but Korur was clearly stronger, and his opponent had obviously fallen into a disadvantage.

These people must have had their own information uncovered by the Blade Army while investigating Jie Ning and the others. Suitable targets had then been fed 'false information' to lure them into becoming stepping stones for Jie Ning and the other 'veterans' to establish their authority.

He just did not know whether this was the Army Lord's method or whether Beile had given the few of them special consideration.

Dinar came to Jie Ning's side. He had already been eliminated. His raw strength was still insufficient, and it had been Beile who stepped in to ensure his safety.

Watching the people on the stage, Dinar's determination to grow stronger became even firmer.

He recalled Jie Ning's performance. Perhaps I should also try fusing the Mysteries I already know first.

A few days later, the expansion competition came to an end.

Without any surprise, everyone except Dinar successfully advanced.

Kala also defeated another 'old Captain' in the later matches and successfully became a new Hundred Guards.

Under the Army Lord's announcement, Beile and the others officially became Sergeants.

Compared to the Blade Army of the past, the current Blade Army had already become a colossal force.

As news of the Blade Army's completed expansion spread, the undercurrents in the shadows began to surge violently.

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There's one more chapter. I'm working on it.