"Congratulations to Brother Beile on becoming a Sergeant."
"Congratulations to lucky Kala on being promoted to Hundred Guards."
"Congratulations on our promotions..."
"Why am I lucky? That was all skill!" Kala shouted.
A month after the army expansion competition ended, at Jie Ning's home.
Everyone had gathered as usual, except this time, Beile was there too.
Beile reclined halfway in a lounge chair at Jie Ning's home. "Boys, you'll have roughly one or two hundred years of peace ahead of you to cultivate properly."
"You must make good use of this opportunity."
"There won't be many chances like this in the future."
Jie Ning immediately tensed. "Brother Beile, what do you mean?"
"Don't you think there are too many forces nearby?" Beile tilted his head toward the group and said casually, "Within two hundred years at most, the Blade Army will be the only force left around here."
Good thing we're not heading straight into the Material Plane. It seems there's still time. Jie Ning let out a slight sigh of relief, though he was also worried about what Beile had mentioned.
Mosang stood up nervously. "Is the Blade Army planning to go to war with the surrounding forces?"
Beile waved his hand. "That's not certain. If those fellows know what's good for them and leave on their own, then naturally you won't have to worry about fighting."
"For now, each of you should focus on improving your own strength."
"The more strength you have, the better your chances of surviving," Beile reminded them.
Mosang fell silent, his face full of concern.
"Brother Beile, was this army expansion meant to monopolize the Teleportation Array?" Korur asked curiously.
"I don't know the specifics either." Beile shook his head. "But the Army Lord did mention that everyone recruited this time would be of great use in the future."
"They can't be wasted carelessly."
"So don't worry too much about fighting other forces. You, along with those newcomers, are all going to be of 'great use,'" Beile said meaningfully.
Mosang immediately perked up again. Beile's confidence stirred his curiosity. "So, has the Army Lord become an Overgod's Envoy?"
Beile sat up. He first frowned at Mosang, then looked at Kala, as though he had remembered something. Only then did he relax and lie back down.
Kala could only scratch his head awkwardly.
"We were only guessing," Kala hurriedly explained.
Beile gave everyone a deep look and sighed. In the end, he nodded. "You guessed right. The Army Lord has indeed been taken in as an Overgod's Envoy by a great Fire Element Overgod."
"And it is indeed the Overgod you know." As he spoke, Beile looked at Kala.
Kala smiled sheepishly, but his heart was filled with excitement.
I wonder whether I'll ever have the chance to see that Overgod again. To Kala, that Overgod had changed the course of his life.
For Jie Ning, this was not exactly good news, since it indirectly confirmed his suspicions.
Still, once the news was confirmed, Jie Ning felt as though a stone had finally fallen from his heart.
Mosang was already excited. "Since the Army Lord has become an Overgod's Envoy, what do we have to fear?"
"If the surrounding forces learn this news, they'll probably leave on their own immediately."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Beile quickly warned them, "Although you figured out for yourselves that the Army Lord has become an Overgod's Envoy—"
"You absolutely must not reveal this news to outsiders."
"If you leak it, even I won't be able to save you."
Hearing this, Jie Ning vaguely formed a guess. Is this Overgod afraid that other Overgods will learn of and imitate his methods?
Still, this Overgod probably never expected to keep it hidden forever. He only wants to seize the initiative first?
Mosang's joyful expression froze. "We can't tell anyone else?"
"If those forces don't know the Army Lord's identity, they won't leave on their own, will they?" Mosang asked weakly.
"So we still have to fight?"
Perhaps because he had already revealed the biggest secret, Beile did not mind saying more.
"Don't worry. If it really comes to that, the Army Lord will deal with the leaders of those forces."
"What we need to do is clean up the minor troubles caused after those forces collapse."
"And what you need to think about most is how to survive through this wave of chaos."
"That's good." Korur sighed in relief. Though he liked fighting, he still felt that a war on such a large scale was too dangerous.
For a time, the atmosphere among everyone relaxed again.
Jie Ning casually asked, "By the way, Brother Beile, do you know how to return from Hell to the Material Plane?"
"I still have some family in the Material Plane. Is it possible to send some local specialties back to them?"
Mosang and the others immediately turned to look at Beile as well. They were curious too.
Beile looked at Jie Ning speechlessly. "You really dare to dream."
Still, he explained, "In fact, many people have had thoughts similar to yours. Some find Hell too dangerous, while others have different reasons for wanting to return to the Material Plane."
"Like this fellow." He pointed at Kala as he spoke.
Kala smiled awkwardly. What he really wanted was to go back for revenge and show off a little.
"You all know that the Teleportation Array from the Material Plane to the Supreme Plane can be activated by pouring in a certain amount of power. But going back is different," Beile recalled.
"Several High-Gods once tried pouring most of their divine power into the Teleportation Array before they managed to activate it."
"But even then, the activated Teleportation Array could only take them to other Supreme Planes."
"So you should give up on that idea." Beile kindly advised him.
"Then it's a good thing I have a body left behind in the Material Plane." Jie Ning nodded with a "bitter smile," but inwardly calculated, Even Beile himself doesn't know how to return to the Material Plane?
It seems the Faith War truly hasn't shown any signs yet.
Still, we can't return to the Material Plane now, but we can in the future.
The difference is that the Teleportation Arrays will be controlled by the Overgods' armies in the future.
And I vaguely remember that returning to the Material Plane requires a trillion Ink Stones. That condition seems to have been set by the Overgods.
If it's Ink Stones, then is Sovereign's Might the key?
And Ink Stones themselves are meaningless to Overgods, so that trillion Ink Stones is most likely an actual expenditure?
Does activating a Teleportation Array once probably require a trillion Ink Stones? Jie Ning secretly clicked his tongue.
If my guess is right, then in this era, it's simply impossible to activate a Teleportation Array and return to the Material Plane by relying on myself alone.
Meanwhile, Korur was still asking Beile his own question. "Brother Beile, I recently noticed that many of Blade Castle's missions have disappeared. What's going on?"
Beile smiled. Rather than answer directly, he asked, "Do you still remember the castle beside Blade Castle?"
"Brother Beile, do you mean the Demon Fortress?" Korur recalled.
"That's right." Beile confirmed, "From now on, the only place in Blade City where missions can be accepted will be the Demon Fortress."
"And to accept missions at the Demon Fortress, you first have to be a Demon."
Mosang played his role and asked, "I remember that the Army Lord is a Seven-star Demon, so what exactly is a Demon?"
Other than Jie Ning and Kala, everyone else had always believed that the Demon Fortress was the Army Lord's private property.
"Demon is a title," Beile explained. "The Demon Fortress divides people who accept missions into seven ranks, from one to seven stars, based on the level of missions they can complete."
"Seven-star Demons are the most powerful Demons."
"Every Seven-star Demon has their own title. The Army Lord's title is Blade Demon."
Jie Ning's curiosity was stirred as well. "Then, Brother Beile, are you a Demon?"
Beile smiled. "Of course I am."
As he spoke, he took out a badge. "This is my Demon Badge."
"I am a Five-star Demon." As he spoke, Beile seemed to glance at Jie Ning unintentionally.
I only had the confidence to become a Five-star Demon after completely fusing two Mysteries. This kid...
Beile continued, "Among the Blade Army's Hundred Guards—no, they should be called Sergeants now—aside from me, Qilu is also a Five-star Demon. The rest are all Four-star Demons."
"The three Deputy Generals are all Six-star Demons, while the Army Lord is the only Seven-star Demon."
"Do Three-star Demons correspond to Middle-Gods?" Mosang felt that he had found a key point.
"Of course not." Beile directly denied Mosang's baseless speculation. "Most Three-star Demons are at the bottom among High-Gods. Those who became High-Gods by refining Divine Sparks are roughly at that level."
"But there are exceptions. Some powerful Middle-Gods can also be considered part of this level." Beile looked at Jie Ning. "In my opinion, Jie Ning has at least the strength of a Three-star Demon."
"What?" Everyone stared at Jie Ning in shock. "Can Jie Ning fight High-Gods already?"
Dinar's body trembled, and a certain resolve in his heart became even firmer.
"Lord Beile, you flatter me." Jie Ning kept a low profile, though he also felt that Beile's assessment was accurate.
Jie Ning even believed that he could fight some Four-star Demons.
"You're always so modest." Beile shook his head.
Looking at the others, Beile advised, "Becoming a High-God is not the only way to increase your strength. The increase in strength brought by fusing Mysteries is no less than the increase brought by a Divine Spark."
"And after becoming a High-God, it is the only way to further increase your strength."
Mosang and the others all looked thoughtful.
Kala lowered his head in thought as well. Beile had advised him before, but he had not taken it seriously. Yet seeing Jie Ning's current strength, it seemed there truly was some sense in it.
After everyone had digested the news, Beile looked at Korur and continued, "With your strength, becoming a One-star Demon shouldn't be much of a problem."
"When you have the time, just go take the Demon Assessment at the Demon Fortress."
"In the past, because almost all low-level missions were at Blade Castle, and the Blade Army was the main force completing those missions, there were very few low-level Demons in Blade City."
"But in the future, those missions will basically all be handed over to the Demon Fortress."
Has the center of gravity already begun to shift? Jie Ning sighed inwardly.
"If you others have time, you can also go get yourselves assessed for a Demon Badge," Beile suggested to the group.
"Who owns the Demon Fortress?" Mosang asked, finding it hard to imagine. "Even the Army Lord takes pride in the title of Seven-star Demon."
Beile said with longing, "I hear that there is also an Overgod behind the Demon Fortress..."
Everyone had already gone numb. They had once thought Overgods were impossibly distant, but now it seemed that traces of Overgods were everywhere.
Kala suddenly felt a sense of loss. Watching the others crowd around Beile and ask all sorts of questions, he felt strangely unsettled.
They used to ask me everything.
Suddenly, Beile remembered something and sat up to look at Kala.
"Right, Kala. That Daisy Lin you asked me to keep an eye on."
"I'll arrange for her to be placed under your command later. As for the rest, that will depend on your own ability."
Kala instantly became energized.
"But she has quite the temper."
"During the army expansion competition, she was in the area Busa was in charge of."
"Busa told me that because her opponent teased her a few times on the arena, she first knocked him unconscious with a Soul Attack, then blasted every part of his divine body to pieces."
"If her opponent had not regained consciousness in time and quickly surrendered, she had planned to smash his head next."
"I heard you've teased her before too, haven't you?" A teasing smile appeared on Beile's face.
"You'd better watch yourself."
Mosang stared dumbfoundedly from the side, then looked at Kala with sympathy in his eyes.
"What kind of expression is that?" Kala looked at Mosang's reaction and felt speechless.
Then he turned to Beile and said gratefully, "Brother Beile, sorry to trouble you."
"But I believe I can handle it." Kala's words were full of confidence.
Although no one present knew where Kala's confidence came from.
"Do your best..." Beile suddenly felt that he might have quite a show to watch in the future, and he looked forward to it immensely.
Before you continue