"The Innocent Heavenly Melody Treasure Tree... I never imagined its power could be this great. It forcibly purified these Evernight puppets, converting them into true warriors of our human race. They're no longer Night puppets. And from the fanatical light in their eyes, it seems their souls are now branded with unshakable loyalty to the King and a willingness to die for Great Yi. These soldiers... they are no different from deathsworn warriors. But... there's just so many of them. How did the King do it?"
A strange light flickered in Jia Xu's eyes. The scene before him was simply too overwhelming. He had long known that Yi Tianxing could transform Evernight puppets. What he didn't expect was how incredibly efficient the process had become.
Back on the battlefield, Yi Tianxing had used the Eight-Gate Locking Gold Array to absorb hordes of puppet warriors daily. Evernight believed those puppets had died in the array—but in truth, they were quietly taken. Jia Xu had always assumed the purification process would carry a high failure rate. Yet now, seeing this army...
No one truly knew how many puppet warriors Yi Tianxing had extracted from the battlefield in just a few short months.
But it was clearly not a small number.
"No wonder the King could declare with confidence that even if the Iron-Blood Great Wall were fully activated, he would never face a manpower shortage. This number... it's beyond astonishing."
Jia Xu fell into thoughtful silence.
But this was good—very good—for Great Yi.
These were all battle-hardened veterans. With proper weapons and armor, they could be deployed to the frontlines immediately. Their combat effectiveness would be no less than any seasoned troops.
For a realm like Great Yi, military strength was the truest measure of power.
In wars, only formal armies determined victory or defeat. Rogue cultivators might be powerful, but unless they could sweep entire armies alone, they'd still falter against an organized military.
Great Yi's true deterrent to surrounding foreign races wasn't just its territory—but the formidable strength of its legions.
Now, with these endless waves of soldiers, Great Yi's strength had surged dramatically and substantially. This was real, mobilizable power.
Naturally, Jia Xu was thrilled.
The stronger Great Yi became, the more its ministers and generals could accomplish—and gain.
From the spatial gate, a never-ending torrent of human warriors surged forth.
Each phalanx stood tall, gathering in the enormous plaza—an ocean of black-clad soldiers, a sight that stirred the soul.
One hundred.
Two hundred.
Three hundred.
Five hundred.
The number of formations kept climbing. With every hundred added, awe and pressure rose in everyone's hearts. Eventually, shock gave way to numbness… and then to burning passion and uncontainable excitement.
These soldiers belonged to Great Yi.
If this was real—this sheer volume—then Great Yi's strength had undergone a seismic transformation in mere moments.
One thousand.
Two thousand.
Three thousand...
Time seemed to lose meaning. All anyone could see were soldiers endlessly emerging from the gate.
By the time the last warrior stepped out, six thousand phalanxes had formed.
This… was sixty million human warriors.
With minimal training, they could become elite troops.
Sixty million!
Previously, Great Yi's regular army hadn't even reached ten million. The total number of human citizens in Great Yi was only about 150 million. And now, the military alone had nearly half that number!
A terrifying, almost absurd revelation.
In any normal kingdom, no such massive army could exist.
"Sixty million soldiers… This is insane."
"Am I dreaming? Even magic tricks couldn't produce an army this big out of nowhere. But with sixty million troops, forget defending the Iron-Blood Great Wall—we could double our territory overnight and not fear any race or threat."
"No wonder the King said we wouldn't need to worry about troop supply for a long time. With this, Great Yi could go decades without large-scale recruitment."
"If each legion is 200,000 strong, how many legions can we form now? Great Yi is… incomprehensibly strong."
Men like Huang Chengyan were beyond speech, their hearts racing with euphoria. The sheer magnitude of this gift left them stunned.
But it wasn't over yet.
From the spatial gate came sharp cries.
Then, a massive avian beast covered in golden scales, radiating golden light, soared into the skies. On its back stood a lightly armored man—Nine Lives on his Golden Scale Bird.
One after another, dozens of golden-scaled birds followed.
And then came the piercing screeches of crows, so shrill they induced a maddening irritability.
From the gate flew giant Fire Crows, each enveloped in flames. Upon their backs stood warriors, their auras in perfect sync with their mounts—even their breathing rhythm matched.
The connection was eerie.
One or two Fire Crows were negligible. But thousands upon thousands, their auras synchronized? It was as though the very void had ignited—a sea of flames sweeping the sky. The heatwaves made cultivators' blood boil and water in their bodies evaporate, threatening to incinerate them alive.
"Fire Crows… the Fire Crow Legion!"
"Aerial cavalry. Where did the King find so many? Even a few are dangerous, but tens of thousands working together? Their flames increase geometrically in power! Terrifying."
The sight stunned Huang Chengyan, Wu Yong, and others.
[Fire Crow Legion]
A 100,000-strong elite aerial force mounted on flame-wreathed Fire Crows.United in aura, their flames scale exponentially in power when together. Capable of wiping out entire armies.Ten thousand Fire Crow Riders can crush a million troops.
Once the Fire Crow Legion emerged, the spatial gate closed.
"We pay respects to the King. May our Sovereign live forever!!"
Sixty million soldiers dropped to one knee in unison. Their voices shook the heavens, their gazes burning with unwavering devotion toward Yi Tianxing.
Under the influence of the Innocent Heavenly Melody Treasure Tree, their souls had been imprinted with absolute loyalty to Yi Tianxing. Like faith, they would never betray him. No enemy could sway them.
This was power beyond imagination.
Huang Chengyan and the others understood the implications: no force within Great Yi could now challenge Yi Tianxing's rule. Not even a rogue general. Any disloyalty would first be crushed by that general's own troops.
Meanwhile, Yang Ye and others had eyes filled with barely contained excitement.
What they were thinking now… was how to divide the sixty million elite troops. This was the perfect chance to expand their own legions.
"Your Majesty, I request permission to expand the number of soldiers in our legions. Only with greater numbers can we ensure diverse troop types and better respond to future wars."
Yang Ye stepped forward and bowed.
"Indeed. I believe expanding the legions is essential."
Qi Jiguang nodded in agreement.
The standard of 200,000 per legion had served well before, but for the battles to come, that number was simply not enough. Now, with the abundance of troops, the time was ripe to make a move.
"Your Majesty," said Jia Xu, "I believe each legion should be expanded to 500,000. Not too few, not too many. With half a million per legion, we can handle any emergency and fulfill any mission."
Yi Tianxing nodded. "Approved."
He had already intended to expand the legions. This request merely gave him the perfect opportunity.
500,000 per legion—not just any troops, but cultivators with genuine power—meant that their strength wouldn't just be additive. It would be multiplicative.
"Zhang Shun," Yi Tianxing turned to the man known as the White Stripe in the Waves. "I intend to form a naval force. Would you be willing to take on this responsibility for Great Yi?"