Chapter 5 The Military Camp

The gray-robed elder stared blankly at Ji Ning, as if looking at some kind of monster, then said in a low voice: "Brother Beiming, it's not that I look down on you, but I still advise you... it's enough to defeat the third puppet! If your strength is truly high, once you reach the army, there will naturally be opportunities for you to display it. But if you want to ask a World-level cultivator to confirm... you should know that World-level cultivators have very high standards. Blind arrogance will only make them very dissatisfied with you."

"I know," Ji Ning nodded.

Nonsense.

Ji Ning was of course very clear about his own strength. Even an ordinary Ancestral God's body, once executing the 'Heartsword Style', could rival a peak Ancestral God! He himself was a half-step World God, and with the Heartsword Style... he could sweep through peak Ancestral Gods.

If he also used the divine sword Ziguangqiong, he would even reach the threshold of a World God.

As the Great Demon Cixiu put it... among all the Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals he had seen in his life, Ji Ning ranked in the top three! Ji Ning's strength was one in ten thousand among Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals. The entire Wuyan Army had only a few thousand Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals. Although they were more elite, Ji Ning estimated that even without the divine sword Ziguangqiong, he would be hard-pressed to find an opponent in the entire Wuyan Army.

"I'll ask you once more: do you really want a World-level cultivator to confirm your strength?" the gray-robed elder said solemnly.

"Mm," Ji Ning nodded.

"Fine," the gray-robed elder nodded. "Since you insist, I will report it up! But you also know that some World-level cultivators are in seclusion, and some may have already gone out. Which World-level cultivator has time, and when they will come to confirm your strength... I cannot arrange that. Everything must be decided by the World-level cultivator."

Ji Ning smiled: "That's only natural. How about I wait slowly on the recruitment island?"

"That won't be necessary," the gray-robed elder shook his head. "The recruitment island is full of True Gods and True Immortals. How about this: for now, you take a set of Silver Scale Divine Armor to wear. That way, you can go with me into the city. Once a World-level cultivator finally confirms your strength, your military rank will be determined."

"Fine," Ji Ning nodded.

...

A moment later.

Ji Ning, wearing a set of Silver Scale Divine Armor, flew through the air side by side with the gray-robed elder.

"The core of the Wuyan Army generally consists of Ancestral Gods or first-class Ancestral Immortals," the gray-robed elder smiled. "By status, from low to high, they are divided into Silver Scale, Gold Scale, and Generals."

"Those wearing Silver Scale Divine Armor are generally ordinary Ancestral Gods or top-tier Ancestral Gods in strength."

"Those wearing Gold Scale Divine Armor are generally peak Ancestral Gods in strength."

"Generals each surpass ordinary peak Ancestral Gods," the gray-robed elder said. "Our Wuyan Army has five Generals. They can change the color and style of their divine armor at will, without strict requirements. But ordinary soldiers must follow the rules."

Ji Ning nodded, marveling inwardly.

This Silver Scale Divine Armor... was a set of top-grade innate armor with protective effects! Such treasures were no less valuable than Chaos Treasures, because protective armor was extremely rare.

"Your divine armor is only at the top-grade innate level. The Gold Scale Divine Armor is at the Chaos Treasure level," the gray-robed elder smiled. "Wearing Gold Scale Divine Armor, ordinary attacks can be blocked by the armor itself... Throughout the Damo Territory, there are very few forces that can directly bestow such precious armor on Ancestral Gods in the army."

Ji Ning nodded.

Armor at the Chaos Treasure level, but if the divine body was weak, the impact force could still injure the divine body. Relatively speaking, it was better to have the entire divine body tempered like a magic treasure. However, wearing powerful armor could at least block ninety-nine percent of the force.

"Brother Fuzhe," Ji Ning asked, "you said our Wuyan Army has five Generals. How do these five Generals compare to the Nine Divine Generals under Black Lotus God Emperor?"

"Hmph," the gray-robed elder sneered. "Those Nine Divine Generals are not worthy to be compared with our Generals! Our Wuyan Army has Generals, so they came up with 'Nine Divine Generals'—just some special peak Ancestral Gods promoted to Nine Divine Generals. Overall, they are slightly weaker than our five Generals."

Ji Ning nodded.

Indeed, from his fight with Old Man Yuan, Old Man Yuan's strength was at the peak Ancestral God level, but he was extremely skilled in 'heart force' and very tricky.

The two flew side by side through the air, chatting along the way, and soon reached the land. In the distance, they saw a majestic city.

"What a huge city," Ji Ning exclaimed in awe.

That city was emitting an incredibly astonishing aura. The surrounding chaos force, almost solid, was being frantically devoured by the entire city to maintain the super array of the entire 'Wuyan Star'.

"This is Wuyan City," the gray-robed elder pointed. "There are barracks, palaces, places of pleasure... but generally, True God and True Immortal soldiers live inside the city. Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals are usually freer; they can choose any place on Wuyan Star to live and occasionally gather at the barracks."

"Whoosh."

The two descended slightly in flight, then flew directly in through the huge city gate of Wuyan City. A wave swept over their bodies but did not block Ji Ning.

"Over there are the barracks... The barracks are divided into two areas. The more luxurious area with fewer people is where Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals usually gather. The other area is for True Gods and True Immortals. Go take a look. I need to report your matter first. I believe a World-level cultivator will come to confirm your strength soon," the gray-robed elder said.

"Go ahead," Ji Ning smiled. The gray-robed elder vanished with a whoosh.

Ji Ning turned into a streak of light and landed at the entrance of the barracks. Two black-armored soldiers stood outside the gate. Seeing the silver-armored youth approaching, they slightly bowed respectfully.

Ji Ning stepped into the barracks.

Entering the barracks, he saw two paths at a glance, leading to two huge training grounds. One training ground had many soldiers, almost all True Gods and True Immortals. The other training ground had very few people, only a few dozen Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals, almost all wearing Silver Scale, with only one wearing Gold Scale Divine Armor.

"Hey, who's this?"

"Do any of you know him?"

"Don't know him. Never seen him before."

"He should be new," the Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals all watched Ji Ning approaching.

The only Gold Scale soldier stood up. He was lean, with some green patterns at the corners of his eyes, and smiled brightly: "Brother, are you new?"

"Just joined," Ji Ning nodded.

"I'm Li Hao," the Gold Scale soldier smiled.

"Beiming," Ji Ning also said.

"Brother Beiming, which team are you assigned to?" the Gold Scale soldier asked curiously.

"Not yet known. Just joined, not officially assigned," Ji Ning said. Indeed, it wasn't assigned yet. The island master still needed to report up and have a World-level cultivator confirm Ji Ning's strength before assigning him.

"Haha, I'm the captain of the Sixteenth Team," Li Hao smiled. "Maybe you'll be assigned to my team. Everyone, come over. This is Brother Beiming, newly joined our Wuyan Army..."

"A newly joined brother? Captain, we must hold a feast to welcome him!" a plump, fair-faced Silver Scale soldier with no beard or hair immediately shouted.

"Yeah, Captain."

"We need to eat and drink."

The others all shouted.

"You guys, that 'Heijiao' is about to attack, and you still want to eat and drink. Oh well, eat and drink," Li Hao smiled.

"Hahaha, Brother Beiming, I'm Bai Wu," the plump Silver Scale soldier put an arm around Ji Ning and laughed. "Our captain rarely treats us so generously. It's rare for him to treat us once. Since it's your first time, you should also taste the delicacies of Wuyan Star. Ah, after living so long, I just can't give up good food. But the better the food, the more expensive it is. Ah..."

Ji Ning smiled.

Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals, if they didn't become World Gods within one chaos cycle with guidance, generally had no hope forever. Most of these soldiers had lived for a very long time, and none had any hope of breakthrough, so they had various hobbies—some liked pleasure, some liked food, and so on.

Immediately, a group of Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals were led to a luxurious semi-transparent building not far from the training ground.

"First, three basins of Zhui Long meat!" As the soldiers sat down, the plump 'Bai Wu' was the first to shout loudly.

"You guys are really ruthless," the Gold Scale soldier 'Li Hao' shook his head helplessly.

The soldiers sat down separately.

Soon, some exotic drinks and delicacies were served. The most eye-catching was the Zhui Long meat served in basins ten zhang wide. The Zhui Long meat had a faint dark red color and emitted an incredibly delicious aroma that made Ji Ning's mouth water involuntarily. The soldiers each reached out, their arms suddenly stretching directly into the basin to grab pieces of Zhui Long bone meat.

"Crunch, crunch." Chewing the bones and eating the meat, the Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals all ate with great relish.

Eating and drinking, they all chatted cheerfully.