Expansion Competition (2)

"You are no match for me. Surrender," Jie Ning said, looking at his opponent surrounded by five of his 'avatars'.

"Bastard," Limus cursed inwardly at the unscrupulous black-market merchant who had sold him the intelligence.

'Jie Ning, arrived in Hell less than a century ago, Earth-element Mid-level God, specializes in summoning mudstone puppets to encircle and attack, suspected to be most proficient in the Earth Element Profound Mystery.' 'You are a Wind-element Mid-level God, and your forte is speed attacks. This kind of ordinary Mid-level God is definitely no match for you,' the intelligence seller had sworn to Limus with confidence.

That was the intelligence Limus had purchased.

Jie Ning had indeed been in Hell for less than a century.

He was indeed an Earth-element Mid-level God.

But who the hell called this a 'mudstone puppet'?

Limus stared at the five 'men' blocking his path. If not for the complete absence of a soul aura, these so-called 'mud puppets' were indistinguishable from the real body standing not far away.

'I swear, making these so-called mud puppets must have required fusing at least two profound mysteries...' Limus looked at Jie Ning as if he were a monster.

Although Limus did have an Earth-element Divine Avatar, he still had a clear understanding of the power that a single Profound Mystery could achieve.

Given the strength of these 'mud puppets', there was no way they were purely from the 'Earth Element' Profound Mystery.

'This guy's brain is definitely broken. Instead of comprehending more profound mysteries to become a High-God as soon as possible, he wastes time on fusing profound mysteries.'

Limus could not understand his opponent's reasoning at all. In his view, fusing profound mysteries was far harder than comprehending new ones. With that time, he could be striving to become a High-God.

Exerting himself once more to shake off the siege of two 'mud puppets', Limus quickly broke out of the encirclement, trying to get close to his opponent.

He clung to a faint hope: 'What if this brain-damaged guy's only real skill is these puppets?'

Jie Ning saw the look in his opponent's eyes and felt an inexplicable irritation.

His well-intentioned advice to surrender seemed to have been ignored.

Jie Ning decided to show his opponent a little more talent.

Dodging another attack, Limus searched for gaps between the 'mud puppets'.

Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine. He quickly shifted position and found four more 'human figures' had appeared where he had just been standing.

Limus's face instantly turned green. Five had already pushed him to his limits. Nine...

"I surrender," Limus shouted hastily, afraid that a moment's delay would see him surrounded nine-to-one.

Jie Ning felt a slight twinge of dissatisfaction. 'What a pity...'

"Arena 201, two victories," Beile announced. "Does the arena master wish to rest?"

Jie Ning shook his head, his gaze shifting directly to the third person. "I choose to continue."

He was in a foul mood now and needed someone to vent on.

Meeting Jie Ning's stare, the third challenger, Yikas, felt an immense pressure bearing down on him.

Gritting his teeth, he stepped forward. Each person could only challenge once. If he wanted to get ahead in the Blade Army, there was no other way.

"Begin."

The moment Beile declared it, Water Element surged, and the entire arena was instantly filled with water vapor. To the onlookers, Jie Ning and Yikas had vanished into the mist.

'You are a Mid-level God skilled in Illusion Techniques. This kind of opponent who only knows how to control mud puppets—once his direction is clouded by your illusions, he will naturally fall into chaos. Defeating him should be a piece of cake for you.'

Yikas recalled the advice from the intelligence dealer and felt that his chances of victory truly depended on his illusions.

As soon as he stepped onto the stage, he unleashed his strongest technique, filling the arena with illusions to conceal his own figure, letting his opponent lose his bearings while he waited for an opening.

Relying on his control over the Water Element, Yikas clearly sensed his opponent's position while carefully hiding his own traces.

'This guy... isn't he going to summon mud puppets this time?' Yikas felt uneasy.

To be 'fair', Jie Ning had dismissed his nine 'avatars' before his opponent stepped onto the stage, simply standing still and waiting for his opponent to make a move.

'Opportunity knocks.' Yikas had been worried that mud puppets would block his attacks, but since his opponent was being careless, he couldn't afford to miss this chance.

In an instant, he manipulated the water vapor into countless sharp Ice Arrows, shooting at Jie Ning from all directions.

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

Jie Ning watched as his opponent filled the arena with mist the moment he stepped on stage, making it seem as though his vision was completely obscured.

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

Jie Ning had already fought three matches. After each match, he would voluntarily dismiss his 'avatars'. By the time Yikas stepped onto the stage, most of the Earth Element on the entire arena was originally Jie Ning's divine power.

A smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He planned to give this guy a shock.

'Bang, bang, bang~' Yikas heard the sound of countless Ice Arrows colliding and impacting. Joy began to spread across his face. 'Sure enough, I've succe—'

Unfortunately, the joy did not last long. It instantly froze into terror on his face.

Hidden in the mist, Yikas stared in Jie Ning's direction, groaning inwardly, 'How am I supposed to fight a monster like this...'

"Not bad," Jie Ning said, brushing off the ice shards clinging to his body. At some point, a suit of yellow battle armor had appeared on him.

It was not a divine artifact, merely a set of armor temporarily condensed from Earth Element by Jie Ning.

Before the ice arrows reached him, Jie Ning moved his mind, and a suit of battle armor instantly wrapped around his entire body.

The ice arrows struck the battle armor. At the point of impact, the arrows released a sharp aura, trying to break through the armor's defense.

The sharp aura, like blades, attempted to sever the connections between the Earth Elements and destroy the armor.

But if anyone could observe the details of Jie Ning's armor, they would see that beyond the Earth Elements intertwining with each other, there was also a faint green thread linking them together. The sharp aura cutting into that thread was like a stone falling into a lake—it only stirred up a few ripples.

On the surface, it looked like countless ice arrows hit the armor on Jie Ning's body without leaving even a trace.

Jie Ning looked toward Yikas and flashed him a brilliant smile.

"Then leave the rest to me."

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

"Ah, ah..." Yikas struggled to parry, taking heavy blows from time to time.

But it was clear that Jie Ning's attacks were deliberately controlled in force, since the main purpose of this occasion was the Blade Army's expansion.

However, the opponent didn't seem to notice this, apparently believing he was holding his own against Jie Ning's assault.

The relentless attacks forced Yikas to focus all his thoughts on dodging and defending against Jie Ning's strikes, not daring to relax for even a moment.

After beating him for a while, Jie Ning felt much more at ease.

'But this guy seems to be a tough nut too,' Jie Ning mused. 'I've been hitting him for this long, and he still won't surrender.'

'Then don't blame me.'

Yikas suddenly saw the puppets before him vanish in an instant, transforming into a green light that surged toward him.

The next second, Yikas felt his divine power flowing out like a tide.

"Earth Seed."

Jie Ning directly controlled the 'Earth Seed' to latch onto the opponent's body, rapidly absorbing his divine power.

These 'seeds' took root on Yikas's body, frantically drawing the nutrients they wanted.

The frantic loss of divine power shocked Yikas, and he finally remembered he was in a match. "I surrender, I surrender! Stop, please!"

Hearing the opponent's surrender, Jie Ning stopped making things difficult for him.

With Yikas no longer in control, the mist on the field quickly dissipated. The crowd below the arena only saw Jie Ning still standing in place, now with a suit of 'battle armor' on him.

Yikas, on the other hand, lay collapsed on the ground, utterly drained, staring at Jie Ning in terror.

Dispelling the 'battle armor,' Jie Ning waved his hand, and countless specks of light flew out from Yikas's body.

The 'Earth Seed' returned before Jie Ning. Under his control, it converted the water-type divine power into a water-type God Crystal, then transformed back into Earth divine power and returned to Jie Ning's body.

Beile came up to the stage, looked at Jie Ning, and congratulated him, "Congratulations, Jie Ning. From now on, you're a captain of the Blade Army."

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

On the surface, no one could detect anything unusual in their relationship.

In private, Jie Ning received Beile's admiration.

"Jie Ning, I underestimated you. I heard Kala and the others describe this move last time, but seeing it in person, I realize how terrifying it really is," Beile asserted. "I didn't expect you to have such skill in fusing Mysteries. With this alone, I dare say no Middle-God can withstand this move of yours."

The traces of Mystery fusion on the 'Earth Seed' were far more obvious than on Jie Ning's own 'Cloning Technique.' At least Beile had always thought it was just a combination of different Mysteries.

"Brother Beile flatters me. If my opponent is on guard and can't make contact, this move is hard to pull off," Jie Ning understood the limitations of the Earth Seed well.

"You're too modest," Beile sighed. "Alright, go on down. I'll find you all later for a proper celebration."

"I hope I'm welcome."

Jie Ning naturally didn't mind deepening his connection with Beile and decisively invited him to celebrate at his residence after the match.

Stepping off the arena, Jie Ning looked toward the other platforms.

As he passed, the people around him eyed him warily. Judging by his performance, most believed they wouldn't last more than a few moves against this guy.

'This guy is dangerous.' That was the consensus among those who had watched Jie Ning's match.

Returning to the crowd.

Jie Ning watched the others' matches.

Mosang was still entangled with his opponent, a guy who cultivated the Destruction Rule. He seemed to want to break through Mosang's control with sheer offense, but clearly, he couldn't do it at all.

The rhythm of that match had now completely fallen into Mosang's hands; victory was only a matter of time.

Korur had already fought his way to the final round. His opponent also had a straightforward fighting style, but Korur was clearly stronger, and the opponent had already fallen into a disadvantage.

These guys were probably investigated when the Blade Army looked into Jie Ning and the others' information. Their own details were also uncovered by the Blade Army, and these suitable individuals were fed 'false information' to lure them here as stepping stones for 'veterans' like Jie Ning to establish their authority.

He just didn't know if this was the 'Army Lord's' plan or if Beile had given them special treatment.

Dinar came to Jie Ning's side. He had been eliminated early; his raw strength just wasn't enough, and Beile had to step in to keep him safe.

Watching the people on the platforms, Dinar's resolve to grow stronger grew even firmer.

He thought of Jie Ning's performance. 'Maybe I should try fusing the Mysteries I already know first.'

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

No surprises—everyone except Dinar successfully advanced.

Kala also defeated another "old captain" in the subsequent competition, successfully becoming a new Hundred Guard.

Beile and the others, under the "Army Lord's" proclamation, officially became "Sergeants."

Compared to the Blade Army of the past, the Blade Army now was already a behemoth.

As news of the Blade Army's Expansion's conclusion spread, the undercurrents in the shadows began to churn violently.

Asking for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.

One more chapter, I'm working on it.