This palace was mostly made of black crystal, and had a complete set of facilities.

A cultivation room, a room for refining immortal medicines, and a smelting room were provided.

The dark north soldiers were considered an elite troop, not like the Yan Huang Immortal Army. And even in the Yan Huang Immortal Army, Wu Yu had similar amenities.

After all, every dark north soldier was strong enough to establish their own sect if they went to the Dong Sheng Divine Continent, and be the sect leader of a sect like the Heavenly Ares Sect.

All of these were precious and elaborate, and the reason why the Dark North Kingdom youths flocked towards such an establishment.

In the main hall of this palace, the Dark Sea Army had left many supplies for the newcomers.

These included immortal essences, dao techniques, precious treasures, and talismans. Of course, Wu Yu had better ones with him, so he simply took them all without examining them closely. As for the dao techniques, they were the basic dao techniques of the army, and Wu Yu did not take a liking to them.

Although he currently lacked dao techniques, he did not want to cultivate those that were too basic.

Besides some cultivation resources, the most important item was the Dark Sea Battle Armor dao treasure. Even the armor of ordinary dark north soldiers was very sturdy. The armor was completely black and looked extremely cool when donned. The encasing only showed one's arms and face off. The sharp helm was especially intimidating, and the metal was heavy. It was carved with tens of thousands of crimson spirit designs, and its defensive abilities were robust.

Wu Yu donned it. The Dark Sea Battle Armor was the symbol of identity, and it was much more convenient to wear it while in the Dark North Kingdom. With the Dark Sea Battle Armor shielding him, it obscured some of his Yan Huang Tribe aura. After all, this was a cold and dark armor.

"Looking handsome!" Ming Long suddenly said. From her tone, Wu Yu suspected that her thoughts were straying somewhere no good again....

"Well then, handsome boy, what do you think of me? How about me as a dao companion?" Ming Long said in a simpering voice.

"No interest in spoiled brats."

She immediately flipped, screaming, "Screw you. Back in the day, Old Mother had more than 3,000 men in her palace. You were still playing in the mud!"

Wu Yu snorted. "My ass. I think you were probably still a virgin when you died...."

Ming Long blew up when she heard this. This was like the height of jibes. She ranted and raved, and somewhere in the tirade, Wu Yu's 18 generations of ancestors were cursed....

However, Wu Yu did not pay attention to her. There were many books on the table of the main hall. Some introduced the history of the Dark Sea Army, some detailed military rules, and some also explained the various facilities in the Dark Sea Army. One could fit in here after reading all of them.

Regarding history, there were the most books, and Wu Yu was also the least interested in them. The books that explained the military rules, the current state of the Dark Sea Army, and the facilities were more important to him. There were more than 900 rules, and Wu Yu read them 10 lines at a glance. In 30 minutes, he basically had them all committed to memory.

He was of military birth, and had been a commander-in-chief before. That was why military rules were second nature to him. This was something that was largely the same between mortal and immortal kingdoms. The fundamentals of making a soldier, of maintaining good army discipline and troops, and the collective will. An army would crumble without these. Deserting, leaking army intelligence - these were prohibited everywhere.

This did not require three days. In an hour, Wu Yu had memorized everything.

Here in the Dark Sea Army, as long as he did not violate the military rules, there would not be any trouble, and rising up should be no hardship. Right now, he already had the ability requirements to be promoted. All he lacked were merits.

And then what remained was his reason for coming to the Dark Sea Army - what could it give him?

As one of the Eight Main Armies, the Dark Sea Army had fairly substantial cultivation resources, and they were directly provided by the Dark North Kingdom. Each year, a portion of the resources of the entire nation would be sent here.

All of the cultivation resources, including dao treasures, immortal medicine, mystiques, immortal essences, precious treasures, captives, and spirit designs, etc.

The Dark Sea Encampment was like a huge sect, and there were many places where one could trade for these cultivation resources. There were large central branches, as well as smaller branches. For example, the Blood Soul Barracks had its own facilities.

One could even trade for dao enlightenment, through personal teaching and guidance from wise ones.

If one wanted to gain these cultivation resources, and make oneself stronger, then the only way was to earn merits.

To work on behalf of the Dark Sea Army, on behalf of the Dark North Kingdom.

And all of these good deeds were quantified through merits.

That was why one naturally had to work hard in order to be able to buy the cultivation resources that were seldom seen outside. Any military would define the reward and punishment system clearly.

Punishments according to the rules. Rewards according to your merits.

"There were two uses for merits. Firstly, they can be exchanged for cultivation resources. Secondly, they can lead to promotion. One number is called current merits. The other is called total merits. For example, a new recruit completes a mission and gains 1,000 merits. At that time, his current merits and total merits would both be 1,000. But then he spent 500 merits on cultivation resources. After which, his current merits would be down to 500 merits, but his total merits would remain at 1,000. Each time one trades for treasures, it will be deducted from current merits. But the total merits will only increase.

"Current merits is the amount of merits after paying for cultivation resources, whereas total merits is the sum of all of one's accomplishments, and is a total number. Current merits can be used to trade for cultivation resources. When total merits reach a certain number, then one can be promoted. For example, I have enough ability now. As long as my merits reach 1,000, I can rise to decarch, regardless of whether I spend them or not.

"This current merits and total merits system is pretty interesting. But the logic is much like the mortal system. A general can be rewarded after doing good work, while contributing multiple times will lead to a loyal following, and one can rise. The Dark Sea Army has simply quantified this logic into numbers. This is even more objective and fair. It's not a bad method. Everyone will work hard because it is fair!"

Wu Yu needed to get more merits if he wanted more resources.

"The Dark Sea Army guards the Dark North Capital. But in truth, it's impossible for the Dark North Capital to be attacked. Which is why the Dark Sea Army is special compared to the other seven main armies.

"Ordinarily, taking shifts to guard the castle walls awards merits, but the pace is too slow. If there are major incidents that either the Dark North Royal Region or the 99 satellite cities cannot resolve, one can gain many merits when the Dark Sea Army is called in. But if one were to solely depend on this, it would be too difficult to gain merits as a Dark Sea Army soldier, compared to the other main armies."

But Wu Yu knew that the situation was not so simple, as the Dark Sea Army could become this strong. Besides, Princess You Xue had also mentioned a place, which she had called a space. Wu Yu flipped back to see a place called the Alternate World.

This place was elaborated on in detail within the records of the Dark Sea Army.

"The Alternate World is an unknown space. No one knows where it actually exists, but it is tied to the Dark North Capital. Ever since the Dark North Capital was established, the Alternate World has existed. The presence of the Alternate World is said to have some connection with the astonishing spiritual qi in the Dark North Capital.

"In the Alternate World, the spiritual qi is devilish, and forms gusts of wind. Even though it is dense, it is not suitable for cultivation. There is even a risk of death if one is swept up by it. Most of the land is harsh and barren to the extreme. The most chilling and sinister qi is gathered there, and it does not dissipate most years. It is even more cold and gloomy than the Dark North Emperor Continent.

"Because of this unique environment, the Alternate World has given rise to the Alternate Creatures. The Alternate Creatures include birds and beasts, and others of unknown form. They are likely types of Spirits of the Universe - after all, they were born of nature. Their existence is strange, and their strength varies. However, on the whole, they are violent, savage, and inclined to kill each other. There are experts amongst them, even some close to immortalhood, and some are even stronger than the foremost experts at the Yan Huang Ancient Region....

"The Alternate World is connected to the Dark North Capital, and the weakest connection lies within the Dark Sea Encampment. There are some thousands of locations where one can directly enter the Alternate World. This is also connected to Qian Kun space. Ordinary people cannot seal it, and strong Alternate Creatures have breached the barrier before, appearing in the Dark North Capital. Historically, they have caused tremendous damage.

"However, until now, we have the majority of the Alternate World under control. We have created a huge capital known as the Alternate Dark North Capital, where the Alternate World links to this one. We have stationed troops and many layers of spirit design to prevent the Alternate Creatures from entering the Dark North Capital. As long as the Alternate Dark North Capital does not fall, the Dark North Capital will be in no danger of invasion from the Alternate Creatures.

"The Alternate Dark North Capital has stood for hundreds of thousands of years, and has been strengthened continually over this time. It is basically impregnable, even more so than the Dark North Capital. Alternate Creatures can no longer breach and affect the Dark North Capital. However, as a safeguard, the emperors throughout history have still sent troops to guard the Alternate Dark North Capital. They also dispatch troops to sweep the Alternate World and slay Alternate Creatures. Because of these military expeditions, the number of Alternate Creatures at the Alternate Dark North Capital have lessened considerably compared to the past.

"Suppressing the Alternate World and guarding the Dark North Capital is an important duty of the Dark North Kingdom. And the army which shoulders this heavy responsibility is ours - the Dark Sea Army!"

Alternate World, Alternate Creatures, Alternate Dark North Capital.

Wu Yu had thought that this was an ordinary place. Who knew that there was such an enigmatic abyss being concealed.

It seemed like the Dark Sea Army truly had an important duty.

Of course, because of their ancestors' hard work, there was not much trouble at the Alternate Dark North Capital, let alone the Dark North Capital. But from a more forward-looking standpoint, whether for training troops or for strengthening defenses, sending troops into the Alternate World to kill Alternate Creatures was still necessary.

One would naturally gain merits for killing Alternate Creatures.

Spirits of the Universe were born of nature. They had a sense for the dao that was unparalleled by humans.

Wu Yu was all too clear. The Heaven Devouring Evil Lord was precisely a Spirit of the Universe born of nature!