Blood Peak Army Expansion

"The second item…"

"The third item…"

The Jialan Auction House's quality was indeed excellent; every item they brought out caused a frenzy of bidding. However, many couldn't compare to the soul-stirring impact of the first auction item, the Bloodflame Divine Sword. It was likely meant to heat up the atmosphere.

The auction had lasted nine days and was now entering its final stages.

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

Over the years, he would occasionally visit Blood Peak Castle, but he could never find the materials he needed. The sheer number of God-level beings meant that anyone with an interest in Alchemy, like himself, who conducted various experiments, was a potential competitor.

Black Sand Castle did have some materials for sale, but there were too many fakes and shoddy goods, passing off inferior items as high quality. Linley had no interest in paying for such foolishness.

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

Slaves in white robes walked onto the large stage, the majority being women. They were all exceptionally beautiful and graceful, but their expressions were blank, like exquisite, lifelike dolls.

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

"It's alright."

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

Thomas, Donald, Dennis, and Jess chatted and commented on the slaves, but none of them participated in the bidding. It wasn't just a matter of money; there were deeper considerations.

Linley sent a telepathic message, reminding them, "These slaves can learn your daily life information. Who knows through what secret channels they might pass intelligence to the forces controlling them from behind the scenes."

As far as Linley was concerned, he wouldn't keep a slave whose origins were unknown and who had been trained by other forces. They were all potential hidden spies who could betray him at any moment.

The method was simple: brainwash them from a young age until they were like fanatical devotees. Given the large population base, there were always suitable individuals who could be selected, embedded within certain factions, or placed near powerful individuals to gather information.

Linley stood up and said with a light laugh, "Let's go. We've seen enough of the excitement."

Since he had already purchased the materials he needed, even though there were still some items to be auctioned, they held no appeal for Linley. He couldn't be bothered to stay and wait for the auction to end.

The items had already been paid for in advance and delivered to Linley. They could leave directly now.

"Okay."

"This trip has certainly been an eye-opener for us."

Thomas and the others had no objections. They got up, chatting, and followed Linley out of the private room. They passed through the second and first floors and left the Jialan Auction House.

Freya soon received the news and inquired about the items Linley and his companions had bid on. She couldn't help but sigh, "You didn't buy any slaves… what a shame…"

She was too lazy to ponder whether Linley was being cautious or simply hadn't found any he liked. The fact was that her plan to plant spies had failed. The outcome was all that mattered.

The slaves auctioned by the Jialan Auction House were all spies meticulously trained and brainwashed by Freya, loyal and reliable. Over the years, she had placed them in many factions and near powerful individuals.

Essentially, these people were expendable pawns; their loss wouldn't matter. However, if time passed and in the future, even one of them could provide a piece of secret information, or learn something earlier than other factions, that value would far outweigh the cost of their cultivation.

Linley returned home and dumped all the materials to his Life God Avatar and Death God Avatar. Each had their clear responsibilities: some cultivated, some conducted research, and occasionally, they relaxed with friends like Thomas, chatting and drinking.

This peaceful and stable life quickly passed, lasting six hundred and ninety-five years.

Inside the room, a magic array activated, forming a barrier.

"Sizzle… sizzle… sizzle…"

Countless tiny lightning bolts writhed like earthworms, converging in Linley's palm to form molten lightning. It flickered and danced incessantly, erupting with a scorching, violent energy that seemed poised to tear apart the sky, the earth, and the torrent of energy of all things.

"Crack… crack…"

A wisp of energy leaked out, and the magic array barrier cracked from the inside, forming hair-thin fissures.

Seeing this, Linley couldn't help but sigh helplessly, "Alas… I failed…"

His Lightning Element Law had completely comprehended five profound mysteries and fused three of them. He was only missing the last, and most difficult, profound mystery: Lightning Collapse. He was just a sliver away from fully comprehending it.

Linley frowned, pondered for a long time, and muttered to himself, "The environment within the city is still not suitable for me to cultivate with my hands untied, to unleash the power of the Lightning Law. Or perhaps, I'm missing a Magic Array Master!"

This was something Linley had overlooked before.

Only after experiencing it himself did he understand why true powerhouses, some six-star and seven-star demons, mostly resided outside the city.

Of course, this varied from person to person and didn't apply to all powerhouses, such as those whose laws didn't focus on material attacks.

God-level powerhouses of the Water Element, Light Element, Dark Element, Life Element, Death Element, and Destiny Element could relatively afford to be less concerned about their environment during cultivation.

Laws like the Lightning Element, which were domineering in attack and majestic in aura, naturally required some restraint when cultivating within the city. They couldn't cause too much of a disturbance, or they would incur the punishment of the Blood Peak Army.

Linley's solution to break through this bottleneck was simple and crude: set up a powerful, scent-sealing magic array that would allow him to go all out within a small area without any issues.

Linley himself only possessed some basic knowledge of magic arrays. The only person by his side with a talent for magic arrays was Jess, but he also needed time to accumulate experience and grow. The time unit would be in the tens of thousands of years at the very least.

In Hell, he had never heard of a Magic Array Master who achieved significant accomplishments at such a young age. Those who were more famous had accumulated at least several million years, and some had accumulated for hundreds of millions of years, which was quite normal.

"Linley!"

Jess's loud voice rang out from outside.

Linley walked out of the room and opened the door for him in the front courtyard.

As soon as Jess saw him, he exclaimed excitedly, "I heard the City Lord's Mansion posted a notice. The Blood Peak Army is going to expand on a large scale, and anyone who is a Mid-level God can join. The stronger you are, the better the treatment. Thomas and the others have already gone to check it out, so I came to inform you."

Linley was a little surprised and asked, "Are even those who have refined Divine Sparks allowed?"

Before this, the minimum requirement for the Blood Peak Army was to independently become a Mid-level God. They disdained the common folk who had merely refined Divine Sparks. It was truly a rare occurrence for them to lower the threshold so drastically.

Jess shook his head, chuckling awkwardly. "Uh, I have no idea about that!"

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

Linley sighed helplessly and headed towards the City Lord's mansion with him. Upon arriving nearby, they indeed found a massive crowd of God-level experts gathered, all trying to push their way forward, with shouts of discussion erupting intermittently.

"It's actually true! Mid-level Gods who have refined a Divine Spark can join the Blood Peak Army without any assessment!"

"The Blood Peak Army is going to travel to various Material Planes to fight against Sovereign's Armies from other planes!"

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

Many people's faces flushed with excitement, and they eagerly signed up on the spot.

Although some remained level-headed and analyzed the immense danger involved, they couldn't resist the obsession, longing, and even fanatical fervor of the numerous Mid-level Gods who had refined Divine Sparks for the Blood Peak Army.