Chapter 4 Joining

"Oh?" Ji Ning's heart stirred.

His nameless sword art had driven the World God Beixiu, who came from the Heavenly Cang Palace, to such madness that merely the third stance allowed one to become a World-level cultivator.

As for this Heavenly Chen Sword Canon, one could only become a World-level cultivator after mastering it completely. It seemed it was still far inferior to the nameless sword art. But Ji Ning also understood... that Wuyan Star Lord was willing to put it up for sale; this probably wasn't his trump card, given that intelligence indicated Wuyan Star Lord's strength was still quite astonishing.

"I wonder what price must be paid to buy it?" Ji Ning asked.

"Ten cubic measures of Chaos Nectar." The azure-armored man said.

"Ten cubic measures?" Ji Ning was taken aback.

One bottle of Chaos Nectar contained ninety-nine drops.

A thousand bottles of Chaos Nectar made one cubic measure! Ten cubic measures of Chaos Nectar meant ten thousand bottles!

"Few World-level cultivators would be willing to buy it. This kind of peerless sword art, capable of reaching the sixth level of sword force, isn't something just anyone can learn." The azure-armored man laughed.

"I've just arrived at Wuyan Star and want to purchase a star map, along with a detailed introduction to the Seven Waters Star region." Ji Ning asked.

"This way, please." The azure-armored man knew very well that these foreign Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals generally first wanted to get a clear picture of the local situation. Soon they walked along Cloud Street to a quiet island with a pavilion.

Inside the pavilion were several Celestial Immortal women, all extremely beautiful, and a female True Immortal of peerless beauty, who also came forward to greet them.

"Greetings, senior." The female True Immortal smiled.

Ji Ning nodded.

"Bring a star map." The azure-armored man instructed a nearby Celestial Immortal woman.

"Yes." Immediately a female immortal brought a scroll and respectfully handed it to the azure-armored man, who then smiled and offered it to Ji Ning: "Senior, this star map includes a detailed distribution of forces in the Seven Waters Star region. It only costs ten Chaos Crystals."

"Mm." Ji Ning casually tossed ten Chaos Crystals.

Chaos Crystals and Chaos Nectar were both hard currency.

Chaos Nectar was more miraculous, but too scarce in quantity.

Chaos Crystals contained more energy and were generally used in formations, puppets, and other important applications. One Chaos Crystal was roughly equivalent to one drop of Chaos Nectar.

"Whoosh." Divine power surged into the scroll, and a flood of information poured in. Ji Ning quickly memorized it.

"Not much change."

Compared to the intelligence obtained from the Three Realms, there were very few changes.

The chaosworlds under Black Lotus God-Emperor's command had increased to sixty-one.

Those under Wuyan Star Lord remained at ninety-six.

Those under Eastwood Imperial Lord had decreased to fifty-eight.

The detailed star map of the Great Mo Domain was slightly more detailed than what the Three Realms had obtained, but it still only covered the Great Mo Domain, with no records of any other territories, let alone the Heavenly Cang Domain.

"Mm, based on the records, I'll temporarily pledge allegiance to Wuyan Star Lord." Ji Ning made his decision, but he didn't rush to do so. Instead, he instructed the azure-armored man beside him, "Let's go. Take me to look around elsewhere."

"Senior, this way." The azure-armored man was enthusiastic, leading the way.

...

After wandering for a long time, the azure-armored man secretly complained: "This senior has been browsing all this time, only buying a star map. What bad luck, meeting a stingy Ancestral God. Looks like today's efforts are wasted." Traveling from afar via a spacetime teleportation array usually meant having a goal, like specifically buying certain specialties of Wuyan Star.

A spacetime teleportation array cost a bottle of Chaos Nectar; those who came specifically would buy treasures of no small value. But Ji Ning was an exception—he only bought a star map and never made another purchase.

"What is that island for? It seems quite imposing." Ji Ning pointed to a large island ahead.

"That's the Recruiting Island." The azure-armored man's attitude had become somewhat casual. "My Wuyan Star rules over ninety-six chaosworlds, so naturally there are many cultivators. Those who want to join the 'Wuyan Army' are also numerous. The heartland of Wuyan Star is not accessible to ordinary cultivators, but this trading area is public. So cultivators come here first, go to the Recruiting Island, and after passing a series of trials, they can finally enter the Wuyan Army."

"Of course." The azure-armored man looked at Ji Ning and smiled, "If you, senior, want to join the Wuyan Army, it's simple. As an Ancestral God, you don't need to undergo selection."

He said this casually, because Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals were already considered experts. Cultivating one was difficult. Even though Wuyan Star ruled over so many chaosworlds and had detailed inheritance guidance, after endless years, it only had a few thousand Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals. Major powers, even those stronger than 'Wuyan Star', were all recruiting Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals. Wuyan Star, in the entire Great Mo Domain, didn't have much of an advantage.

If the Ancestral God he led actually joined, he, as the introducer, would receive a considerable reward.

"Oh?" Ji Ning nodded. "Let's go take a look."

"This, this recruitment site is off-limits to casual visits." The azure-armored man quickly said.

"Didn't you say... I could join?" Ji Ning asked.

"Senior..." The azure-armored man was stunned. "You, you want to join the Wuyan Army?"

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded.

"Good, good, good." The azure-armored man was overjoyed and quickly said, "Our Wuyan Star very much welcomes Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals who adventure in the Chaos to join. Although there are some restrictions in the army, you, senior, are an Ancestral God after all... the restrictions are very low. You only need to go on campaign when necessary. And joining the army has many benefits—Chaos Nectar, treasures, and so on—all available."

Ji Ning followed the azure-armored man forward.

Along Cloud Street, they arrived at the Recruiting Island.

"Brother Mu, this is a restricted recruitment area." A black-armored True God, lounging against a rock and drinking wine, glanced at Ji Ning, then shouted at the azure-armored man, "Better take this senior away." Although Ji Ning was an Ancestral God, he was an outsider, and this True God soldier was not afraid.

"You fool, this senior wants to join our Wuyan Army!" The azure-armored man shouted back.

"Join our Wuyan Army?" The True God's eyes went wide. He immediately stood up, his attitude much more respectful. Earlier he had been arrogant because he was a member of the Wuyan Army and didn't care about outsiders. But this outsider Ancestral God wanted to join the Wuyan Army, which would likely make him a core member and his superior, able to teach him a lesson easily.

"Senior, this way." The black-armored True God quickly said.

"Senior, I'll take my leave then." The azure-armored man said with a smile, truly delighted—this was a big gain.

"Mm." Ji Ning followed the black-armored True God inside.

"How much longer do we have to wait? Nine rounds of selection, and this is only the third round. They keep us waiting here."

"If you don't even have patience, you want to join the Wuyan Army? My senior brother said last time it took him over a thousand years to pass the nine rounds."

"Eh, what's going on?"

"How did that white-robed youth enter the restricted area?"

...

At the recruitment office, many True Gods and True Immortals from the ninety-six chaosworlds were waiting. The rounds of selection took a long time, mainly because the Ancestral Gods and Ancestral Immortals in charge took their time, sometimes going into seclusion for a hundred years, delaying until the last moment to conduct the selections.

"Island Lord." The black-armored True God hurried to a gray-robed old man who was leisurely fishing. "This senior wants to join our Wuyan Army."

The gray-robed old man put down his fishing rod and stood up to look at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning also looked at the gray-robed old man, who had a third eye on his forehead, presumably also at the Ancestral God level. The gray-robed old man waved his hand, and the black-armored True God withdrew.

"My name is Fu Zhe." The gray-robed old man said. "I am the island lord of this Recruiting Island."

"Beiming." Ji Ning said.

"Brother Beiming, do you truly wish to join our Wuyan Army?" The gray-robed old man asked.

"Yes." Ji Ning said.

The gray-robed old man smiled: "Ancestral Gods don't need to undergo selection and can directly enter the Wuyan Army... but even among Ancestral Gods, there are different ranks in the army. After all, an ordinary Ancestral God and a peak Ancestral God are vastly different."

Ji Ning nodded.

"In our Wuyan Army, Ancestral God soldiers can advance in two ways: first, through military merit—enough merit naturally leads to high positions. Second, through strength—if you are strong enough, you can hold a high position without merit." The gray-robed old man looked at Ji Ning. "To confirm strength, we usually use puppets. On this island, there are three types of puppets, corresponding to the levels of ordinary Ancestral God, top Ancestral God, and peak Ancestral God. Puppets are relatively rigid. Defeating the ordinary puppet means you have the strength of an ordinary Ancestral God. Defeating the second puppet means you have top Ancestral God strength. Defeating the third puppet means you have peak Ancestral God strength."

"In all this time, those who could defeat the third puppet upon joining the Wuyan Army are rare. Since I became island lord, I've only encountered two." The gray-robed old man smiled.

Ji Ning asked back: "Only these three puppets?"

"If your strength is truly so high that even the puppets can't gauge it, you can request a World-level cultivator to confirm your strength." The gray-robed old man said. "But those stronger than peak Ancestral Gods are extremely rare. Although there are a few such existences in our Wuyan Army, they all became that strong after long training in the army. No one who just joined has ever requested a World-level cultivator to testify."

Ji Ning nodded.

Having received the inheritance of World God Beixiu, he was familiar with some unwritten rules in the Chaos. He sincerely wanted to establish himself on 'Wuyan Star' and gain enough help from it to improve himself, even to fight for the Wuyan Army and kill Heartforce Generals. So Ji Ning had long been prepared to make a splash from the start, making the few World-level existences on Wuyan Star know his name.

"Please summon a World-level cultivator." Ji Ning said.

"Summon a World..." The gray-robed old man began, then froze. "You, what did you say?"

"Those three puppets are unnecessary." Ji Ning said. "I want to request a World-level cultivator to confirm my strength."