Blood Peak Army Expansion

"The second item..."

"The third item..."

The quality of the Jialan Auction House was indeed quite good, as every single item brought out could spark a bidding frenzy. Still, many struggled to match the sheer shock factor of the first lot, the Bloodflame Divine Sword, which was likely due to the intention of heating up the atmosphere.

The auction lasted for nine days and was now beginning to enter its closing stages.

Over the past few days, Linley also participated in the bidding for some materials: Snake Heart Fruit, Phoenix Blood Grass, Nether Seaweed, Life Tree Root...

Over the years, he occasionally strolled through Blood Peak Castle, yet he could never buy the materials he needed. The base of God-level powerhouses was simply too large, and people similar to him who had an interest in Alchemy and conducted various experiments were all potential competitors.

There were some materials for sale inside Black Sand Castle, but far too many were counterfeit, shoddy, or passed off as high quality. Linley had no interest in paying a tax on his intelligence.

The auctioneer clapped his hands and smiled, saying, "These are all carefully selected, high-quality slaves with pure souls."

One by one, slaves dressed in white walked up onto the large exhibition platform. Women made up the majority, and their looks and temperaments were exceptionally outstanding, yet their expressions were completely emotionless, just like beautiful and exquisite dolls.

"I like this silver-haired one, but she's just too expensive."

"It's alright, I suppose."

"This pair of elf sisters isn't bad."

Thomas, Donald, Dennis, and Jess chatted and laughed as they critiqued the slaves one by one, yet none of them participated in the bidding. It wasn't just a matter of money, but rather deeper considerations.

Linley transmitted his voice to remind them, "These slaves can master information about your daily lives. Who knows when, through some covert channel, they might transmit intelligence to the forces controlling them from behind the scenes."

For Linley, he would not accept a slave of unknown origin who had been trained by other forces to stay by his side. These were hidden spies who could betray him at any moment.

The method was also very simple: just brainwash them from childhood like loyal martyrs. With the population base laid out there, suitable ones could always be screened out and planted beside certain forces or powerhouses to ferret out information.

Linley stood up and chuckled softly, "Let's go, we've seen about enough of the excitement."

Since he had already purchased the materials he needed, even though there were still some lots left afterwards, they held no attraction for Linley. He also couldn't be bothered to stay here and wait for the auction to end.

The items had already been settled in advance and delivered into Linley's hands, so right now they could simply walk away.

"Alright."

"This time, we've certainly broadened our horizons."

Thomas and the others had no objections. They stood up with smiles and followed Linley out of the private box, passing through the second and first floors to leave the Jialan Auction House.

Freya quickly received the news and inquired about the items Linley and the others had bid on, unable to help sighing, "Not even a single slave bought... What a pity..."

She had already grown too lazy to ponder whether Linley was being cautious or simply didn't have a type he liked; the reality was that the plan to plant chess pieces had failed, and the result outweighed everything else.

The slave auction lots launched by the Jialan Auction House were all secret agents meticulously trained and brainwashed by Freya, being loyal and reliable. Over the years, she had arranged them among many forces as well as beside powerhouses.

In essence, these people were idle chess pieces. Even if they were lost, it didn't matter, but if the timeline were stretched to some day in the future, whoever could provide a bit of covert information, or learn of it earlier than other forces, would make that value far greater than the effort put into cultivating them.

Linley returned home and dumped the materials all at once onto his Life God Avatar and Death God Avatar. Each element had a clear division of labor—some cultivated, some conducted research, while occasionally they relaxed and unwinded by inviting Thomas and a few other friends over for chats and drinks.

Such a comfortable and stable life quickly passed by six hundred and ninety-five years.

Inside the room, the Magic Array activated its barrier.

"Buzz... buzz... buzz..."

Countless tiny bolts of lightning slithered like earthworms, gathering in Linley's palm to form lightning pulp that constantly flashed and leaped, bursting forth with a scorching, violent torrent of energy that seemed as though it would tear apart the sky, the earth, and all things.

"Crack... crack..."

A wisp of energy leaked out, and the Magic Array barrier split open from the inside with cracks like strands of hair.

Seeing this scene, Linley could not help sighing helplessly, "Sigh... I failed..."

He had completely comprehended five Mysteries of the Lightning Law and fused three Mysteries, lacking only the final and most difficult Lightning Collapse Mystery, falling short by just a tiny bit of complete comprehension.

Linley furrowed his brow, pondered for a long time, and muttered to himself, "It's still that the environment inside the city isn't suitable for me to let go and cultivate wholeheartedly, releasing the power of the Lightning Law, or rather, I lack a Magic Array Master!"

This was a point Linley had overlooked previously.

Only after experiencing it himself did he understand why true powerhouses, some Six-star and Seven-star Demons, mostly lived outside the cities.

Naturally, this point varied from person to person and did not apply to all powerhouses, such as some laws and rules that did not focus on physical attacks.

For God-level powerhouses of the Water Element, Light Element, Dark Element, Life Element, Death Element, and Destiny Element, relatively speaking, they had fewer concerns about the environment during their cultivation.

For a law with overbearing attacks and a magnificent momentum like the Lightning Element, cultivating inside the city naturally required some restraint, and one could not stir up too large a commotion, otherwise it would incur the punishment of the Blood Peak Army.

If Linley wanted to break through this bottleneck, the solution was very simple and crude: deploy a powerful Magic Array that sealed off auras, allowing you to toss and turn as hard as you wanted within a small scale without issue.

Linley himself only mastered some basic Magic Array knowledge. There was just one person around him named Jess who possessed quite a bit of talent in Magic Arrays, but that also required time to accumulate and grow, with time units measured in at least ten-thousand-year increments.

In Hell, he had never heard of any young Magic Array Master who could make a name for themselves. Those with a bit of renown had accumulated at least a few million years, and several hundred million years was completely normal for the longer ones.

"Linley!"

Jess's loud voice rang out from outside.

Linley walked out of the room and came to the front courtyard to open the gate for him.

The moment they met, Jess shouted excitedly, "I heard that the City Lord's Mansion posted a notice—the Blood Peak Army is going to expand on a large scale! As long as one is a Mid-level God, they can join. The stronger the strength, the better the treatment. Thomas and the others have already gone over to look, and I dropped by to inform you."

Linley was slightly surprised and asked, "Could it be that even those who refined a Godhead can join?"

Prior to this, the minimum standard for the Blood Peak Army was to independently become a Mid-level God, and they simply disdained the dime-a-dozen trash who refined Godheads. Now they were actually proactively lowering the threshold; it was truly a rare event.

Jess shook his head, smiled awkwardly, and said, "Uh, I don't know about that!"

"Forget it, let's go over and take a look."

Helpless, Linley simply went with him toward the City Lord's Mansion. After arriving nearby, they indeed discovered that this place was a sea of people with countless God-level powerhouses clustered together, frantically elbowing their way forward, while clamoring discussions drifted over from time to time.

"It's actually true! Mid-level Gods who refined a Godhead can also join the Blood Peak Army, and without any assessment!"

"The Blood Peak Army is going to head to various Material Planes to fight against Overgod armies hailing from other planes!"

"Haha, a heaven-sent opportunity! This is my chance to join the Blood Peak Army!"

Many people had flushed complexions, registering and signing up on the spot out of excitement.

Although there were also those with calm minds who analyzed that the danger contained within this was extremely great, they still couldn't hold back the large number of Mid-level Gods who had refined Godheads; their obsession, yearning, and even fanatical emotions toward the Blood Peak Army ran deep.