Gathering

"You are all those who have been awarded the title of 'Elite.' Step forward!"

A tall, slender Domain Lord spoke.

Bai Muye and more than three hundred others stepped forward.

"Brothers, let's divide the Elites evenly among us. After that, pick the rest according to your needs..."

The other Domain Lords nodded. Elite Universe Rank warriors were much stronger than ordinary ones; a single Elite could often match ten ordinary warriors. As long as the Elites were divided evenly, no one would be getting a bad deal.

"Then I'll go first..." The tall, slender Domain Lord stepped forward without hesitation. "My name is Peng Donghan. I serve under General Zhu Ang. I'll take you lot..."

He gestured, selecting a dozen or so Elite Universe Rank warriors from the group where Bai Muye stood.

Bai Muye and the others immediately went to stand behind him. Peng Donghan then picked out several dozen ordinary Universe Rank warriors and led them in a grand procession into the military camp.

They arrived at a battle hall on the left side of the central area. It was enormous, covering tens of thousands of square meters.

Eight Domain Lords were seated on the dais inside, while more than thirty Universe Rank warriors sat below, whispering among themselves.

Peng Donghan led his people in and motioned for them to stand in formation, then went up to the dais.

"Today, a new batch of brothers has arrived on the Outer Battlefield. From now on, we'll be fighting shoulder to shoulder. We'll divide you into squads shortly, and then each squad leader will introduce you to the others. New arrivals, get familiar with your squadmates as quickly as you can. That way, you'll be able to work together once we reach the battlefield..."

"General Zhu Ang's forces should have ten Domain Lord squad leaders, but our eighth brother died in the last battle, so we're down to nine squads. The nine of us are the squad leaders."

Bai Muye took a look. From their auras, all nine Domain Lords on the dais were clearly Domain Lord Rank warriors, but not all of them were at the Ninth Stage. Two were obviously weaker than the others, perhaps only around the Sixth or Seventh Stage.

"Although we've received some Domain Lord Rank reinforcements this time, the other generals' forces suffered even greater losses in the last battle, so the reinforcements were sent to them. If any of you manage to break through to Domain Lord Rank..."

Peng Donghan dangled a tempting prospect before them. "Then you'll have a good chance of becoming the tenth squad leader under General Zhu Ang!"

The new recruits around Bai Muye were eager to prove themselves, and even the veterans were rubbing their hands together.

"Good." Peng Donghan was pleased with their fighting spirit. He turned to the other eight Domain Lords. "Go ahead and choose."

"Let Oldest go first. His squad suffered the heaviest losses last time..."

The second-in-command beside Peng Donghan spoke.

The others nodded. Oldest, seated at the far end, inclined his head in thanks and looked toward the group.

"You, you, and you..."

The Elite and ordinary Universe Rank warriors stood together, but their auras set them apart. He knew his place and didn't dare take all the Elites, choosing only four Elites and six ordinary warriors. Bai Muye was among the four Elites.

"You ten, come sit over here on the far left."

Oldest pointed to a row of chairs on the far left. Bai Muye and the others walked over and took their seats.

He paid no attention to whom the other Domain Lords chose. Instead, he went to stand in front of the ten recruits and casually formed a Sound Isolation Barrier with his Origin Force.

"My name is Zhan Qiu. I'm a Domain Lord Sixth Stage." He paused, his voice tinged with sorrow. "In the last battle, all seven of my brothers died..."

After steadying himself, he looked at them. "Introduce yourselves."

The others instinctively looked toward Bai Muye. They all knew that this "49 War God" had caught Zhu Ang's attention, and assumed he was the strongest among them. So they let him speak first.

"Well now." Zhan Qiu stood around 1.8 meters tall. His eyes gleamed as he looked at Bai Muye. "Looks like you're well known among this batch of recruits. You go first."

"Yes, sir..." Bai Muye had barely begun when Zhan Qiu cut him off.

"Don't call me sir. Just call me Squad Leader. Of course, you should show respect when addressing the other squad leaders."

"Yes, Squad Leader." Bai Muye had a good first impression of him. Though Zhan Qiu was a Domain Lord, he wasn't haughty or aloof, and seemed fairly easygoing. That made him much more comfortable to be around.

"My name is Luoluobai Muye. I'm from the Wild Peak Universe Kingdom, a Universe Rank Ninth Stage warrior. I've earned the Universe Rank 'Giant Axe Warrior' medal."

It wasn't a secret; it was probably listed in his records. Zhan Qiu could look it up later, so there was no need to hide it. In a place like this, revealing his strength was an advantage. The stronger you were, the more say you had.

Some of the other nine Universe Rank warriors didn't know the significance of the "Giant Axe Warrior" title, but the Elites looked at him in shock. No wonder Zhu Ang had taken an interest in him. Every "Giant Axe Warrior" had survived a thousand life-or-death battles against opponents of the same rank. That meant a thousand Universe Rank warriors had died at his hands!

Zhan Qiu nodded. "Earning the title of Giant Axe Warrior takes both skill and luck. Quite an achievement! Next."

"My name is Feng Yi. I'm from..."

The other Universe Rank warriors introduced themselves one by one.

By the time they had finished, the other Domain Lords had also made their selections.

"You were all granted access earlier. From now on, when you enter the Virtual Universe, you can log directly into Dongluo Legion in the 7th Battlefield Barracks 049. I'll assign you quarters shortly. For now, enter the Virtual Universe. We'll meet there..."

Everyone sent a thread of consciousness into the Virtual Universe.

Sure enough, a new coordinate option appeared after Bai Muye logged in. He selected Dongluo Legion, and in a flash, he was transported to a huge plaza.

Behind the plaza stood a sprawling complex of buildings, similar to the Dongluo Military Camp in the real world, but much larger.

Many of the buildings here were also far more advanced than their real-world counterparts. The Training Grounds, for example, had a dedicated facility for every squad, with functions similar to the Martial Arena.

Above the military camp's gate were two golden characters in the Universal Language: Dongluo.

Zhan Qiu was already waiting in the plaza.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Figures kept appearing as the rest of Bai Muye's squad arrived.

"Everyone's here. Let's go." Zhan Qiu led the way into the military camp. "First, I'll assign you quarters. Then we'll meet in the Training Room."

After assigning rooms one by one, they all went to the Tenth Squad's Training Room.

The Training Room was vast and could be divided into more than a dozen separate rooms.

"Pair off and spar first. Get familiar with each other's strength and fighting styles, then take turns sparring with me..."

Zhan Qiu skipped the pleasantries and told them to start fighting.

The other three Elite Universe Rank warriors were fairly capable, but Bai Muye defeated them all in short order.

As for the five ordinary warriors, they were thoroughly trounced. Still, they were happy about it. On the battlefield, the stronger your comrades were, the safer you would be.

They knew that their most reliable protection on the battlefield was still themselves, but their abilities were what they were, and improving them quickly would be difficult.

After that, everyone took turns fighting Zhan Qiu. Bai Muye's strength impressed him. Once they actually fought, Zhan Qiu found that aside from his greater strength and speed, he had little advantage over Bai Muye.

To Zhan Qiu's astonishment, he was actually at a disadvantage in the domain. They both wielded the Ninefold Domain, but when their domains clashed, Bai Muye's suppressed his. This made Zhan Qiu's advantages in strength and speed far less significant than he had expected.

But a Domain Lord Sixth Stage warrior had such a massive foundational advantage over a Universe Rank Ninth Stage warrior that Bai Muye was ultimately defeated.

Even so, the other nine Universe Rank warriors were left dumbfounded. None of them could withstand even one move from Zhan Qiu.

As time passed, Bai Muye gradually grew familiar with his comrades. Every so often, the entire Dongluo Legion held a drill in the Virtual Universe. Warriors, including all the World Lords, would face an organized Alien Race force, fight one another, and gain combat experience.

Without Yulang Liquid to help him, Bai Muye could only cultivate at a crawl. His progress was nowhere near what it had been before, and he couldn't help wishing they would hurry up and head to the battlefield.

Six months after he arrived on the Outer Battlefield, a voice rang out across the entire Dongluo Military Camp.

"All World Lords, Domain Lords, and Universe Rank warriors, assemble! Prepare to depart!"