Now that the new system had begun to stabilize throughout Zeta...
There was nothing left to hinder the next step.
The cities had come under a single authority.
The lands, resources, and population had been registered.
The influence of the ancient families had diminished.
And the forces that had once operated independently...
Had begun merging under a unified command.
But the Supreme Council of Humanity knew very well that this alone was not enough.
A system alone could not protect a nation.
Land alone could not create strength.
And resources alone could not defend a people.
After five thousand years of division and weakness...
Humanity needed something else.
An army.
A unified army.
Organized.
Massive.
And capable of protecting Zeta at any cost.
And so...
The decision was made.
The following morning, Council announcements appeared throughout every city in Zeta.
On the public screens scattered across squares, marketplaces, and major roads, the seal of the Supreme Council of Humanity appeared.
Then the words emerged:
"By order of the Supreme Council of Humanity..."
For a moment, the movement of the people came to a halt.
Families turned toward the screens.
Merchants stopped speaking.
Even farmers and warriors on their way to work raised their heads.
Then the next message appeared:
"The first phase of general military recruitment shall begin throughout all of Zeta."
Silence descended.
Then the details appeared.
"Registration is open to all humans capable of combat."
"All former soldiers, members of local forces, independent warriors, and individuals with military experience are required to report to military registration centers."
"Every applicant will be evaluated according to their strength, cultivation realm, combat experience, and individual abilities."
Then the final sentence appeared:
"A unified military force shall be built to protect humanity."
At first...
No one moved.
The people were not accustomed to such orders.
For thousands of years, every region had relied upon its own strength.
Families protected their lands.
Cities protected themselves.
Local rulers maintained their own armies.
And warriors served according to their individual interests.
But now...
Everyone was being asked to join a single army.
The Army of Humanity.
Questions began spreading through the crowds.
"Is this compulsory military service?"
"Who is allowed to enlist?"
"Will farmers be required to fight as well?"
"What about the warriors who once served the ancient families?"
But the Council had anticipated all of these questions.
And therefore, the instructions were clear.
The objective was not simply to gather as many people as possible and send them onto a battlefield.
It was to build a real army.
And so...
The recruitment centers began to appear.
In the major cities, enormous registration grounds were opened.
In the newly constructed cities, entire districts were designated for this purpose.
As for the rural regions...
Registration teams were dispatched to villages, farms, and agricultural settlements.
Long lines of people formed outside every center.
Young men.
Adults.
Former soldiers.
Farmers.
Independent cultivators.
And members of ancient families.
Everyone had come to discover what awaited them.
At one registration center, a young man stood before a clerk.
The clerk raised his head.
"Name?"
The young man answered.
The clerk recorded his information.
Then asked:
"Cultivation realm?"
The young man stated his realm.
The clerk paused for a moment.
Then raised an eyebrow.
"Do you have combat experience?"
"Three years."
"Weapon?"
"Sword."
The clerk recorded the information.
Then pointed toward the other side.
"Strength assessment is over there."
The young man nodded and left.
Minutes later...
Another person arrived.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
But the Council did not leave the classification of recruits to chance.
It had established a clear system for the cultivation realms in which recruits could be registered.
The military classification began from the lowest cultivation realm...
Energy Sensing.
Then:
Foundation Establishment.
Energy Core.
Nascent Soul.
Divine Transformation.
Void Shattering.
Nirvana.
Tribulation.
Transcendence.
Then came the Immortal realms:
Bronze Immortal.
And finally:
Silver Immortal.
The Silver Immortal realm was the highest cultivation level permitted for classification among the ranks of ordinary recruits at this stage.
Those who had surpassed this realm...
Would not be treated as ordinary recruits.
Their strength and status were on an entirely different level, and therefore, cultivators above the Silver Immortal realm would be subject to other arrangements determined by the Council at a later stage.
Thus...
Every recruit received a clear classification.
From Energy Sensing at the lowest level...
To Silver Immortal at the highest.
Not all applicants were the same.
Some were still at the Energy Sensing realm.
Their strength barely exceeded that of an ordinary human.
Others had reached Foundation Establishment or Energy Core.
There were also those who had reached Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation.
As for the more experienced warriors...
Among them were cultivators who had reached Void Shattering, Nirvana, and Tribulation.
And among the strongest fighters were those who had reached Transcendence.
Then the Immortal realms began to appear.
Bronze Immortal.
And then...
Silver Immortal.
When the first Silver Immortal applicant appeared, the atmosphere of the registration center changed.
He was a tall, middle-aged man carrying an ancient sword on his back.
He stepped toward the testing platform.
Then placed his hand upon it.
BOOM!
The platform shook violently.
A powerful wave of energy spread throughout the area.
The expressions of the officials changed.
Then the result appeared clearly.
[Silver Immortal — First Stage.]
Silence descended for several moments.
Even for an army that had yet to take shape...
This was a powerful existence.
The official carefully recorded his information.
Then said:
"Next."
The recruitment examinations were not limited to cultivation level alone.
The Council understood that an army did not need strength alone.
It needed people capable of leadership.
Warriors with extensive experience.
Swordsmen.
Spearmen.
Archers.
Cultivators specialized in particular techniques.
Physicians.
Healers.
Experts in battlefield formations.
Scouts.
And specialists in transportation and logistics.
Therefore...
Every applicant underwent a comprehensive evaluation.
The question was not simply:
"How strong are you?"
It was also:
"What can you contribute to humanity?"
At one of the training grounds, thousands of recruits gathered before a massive platform.
They had been divided according to their cultivation realms.
Those at the lower realms stood in the front ranks.
Those at the intermediate realms gathered in other areas.
As for the warriors who had reached higher realms...
They were assigned separate training grounds.
Bronze Immortals and Silver Immortals underwent specialized assessments suited to their strength.
It would make no sense for a cultivator at the Energy Sensing realm to train alongside a Silver Immortal.
The difference between them...
Was simply too vast.
And so the Council established a multi-tiered system.
Each group received training appropriate to its strength.
But everyone...
Belonged to the same army.
A military officer stood before one of the largest gatherings of recruits.
Behind him, the Council's banners fluttered from towering structures.
He looked over the crowd.
Then said:
"You are here today for one reason."
He paused.
"For five thousand years, humanity has fought merely to survive."
"But humanity was not weak because it lacked warriors."
"It was weak because it was never united."
The gazes of the crowd shifted.
The officer continued:
"From this day onward, there will be no army belonging to a family."
"There will be no army belonging to a city."
"There will be no army belonging to a local ruler."
Then he raised his voice:
"From this day onward... there will be one army."
The breathing of countless people seemed to stop.
Then he declared:
"The Army of Humanity."
The words were simple.
But their impact was enormous.
Many had never heard anything like them in their entire lives.
It had always been natural for a warrior to belong to his family.
Or his city.
Or his lord.
But belonging to humanity as a whole...
Was an idea that was beginning to take on an entirely new meaning.
Over the following days, the recruitment campaign expanded rapidly.
Whenever a new center opened...
Long lines appeared outside it.
In one city, the number of applicants exceeded several thousand in a single day.
In another, officials were forced to open three additional centers because of the overwhelming crowds.
As for the major cities...
They began receiving tens of thousands of applicants.
And that was not all.
The former local forces also began arriving.
Entire military units.
Combat divisions.
City guards.
Family armies.
Warrior squads.
All of them entered a massive reorganization process.
They were not simply merged as they were.
Instead, they underwent reassessment.
Re-registration.
And reclassification.
So that the position of every fighter within the new army could be determined.
At the headquarters of the Supreme Council of Humanity...
Reports continued piling up.
Valor stood before a massive map of Zeta.
One of the officials said:
"The recruitment centers are now operational throughout all regions."
Valor asked:
"How many applicants?"
The official answered:
"The numbers are increasing every hour."
Then he presented another report.
"Thousands of former soldiers have also requested to join the unified army."
Thorin asked:
"What about the forces belonging to the ancient families?"
The official answered:
"Most of them have begun the integration process."
Morgana asked:
"Are there still those who refuse?"
"A small number."
Eleanor asked:
"What about those at the higher realms?"
The official answered:
"They have begun arriving as well."
Then he added:
"We now have a number of Bronze Immortals, and even some Silver Immortals."
Thorin looked toward Valor.
"Then the beginning is better than we expected."
But Valor did not smile.
He continued staring at the map.
Then said:
"This is only the beginning."
At the same time...
The Council began constructing enormous military facilities.
The old training grounds were no longer sufficient.
Entire regions were therefore designated for military training.
Hundreds of training fields.
Weapons storage facilities.
Medical centers.
Strength assessment zones.
Combat arenas.
And facilities specifically designed for warriors with unique abilities.
The Council also began constructing military command centers at strategic locations throughout Zeta.
The objective was clear:
To connect the entire new army.
From the smallest unit...
To the highest command.
At one of the training grounds, the first large-scale assessment began.
Thousands of recruits stood in orderly ranks.
Testing platforms stood before them.
Each platform contained a special stone capable of measuring spiritual energy and physical strength.
The first recruit stepped forward.
He placed his hand upon the stone.
The stone trembled.
Then a mark indicating his level of strength appeared.
The official recorded the result.
Then said:
"Next."
Another stepped forward.
Then another.
As time passed...
The differences between the recruits became increasingly obvious.
Some were at Energy Sensing.
Others were at Foundation Establishment.
Others still were at Energy Core and Nascent Soul.
Then higher realms began to appear.
Divine Transformation.
Void Shattering.
Nirvana.
Tribulation.
Transcendence.
Then came the Immortal realms.
Bronze Immortal.
And finally...
Silver Immortal.
That was the highest level a recruit could reach within the military classification.
The examinations did not measure physical strength alone.
The Council understood that a true warrior needed more than a high cultivation realm.
He needed discipline.
The ability to follow orders.
The ability to operate within a formation.
And the ability to fight alongside others.
And so...
The real training began.
At one of the training grounds, the instructor shouted:
"Move!"
The ranks moved.
"Right!"
The entire unit turned as one.
"Fall back!"
The ranks retreated without disorder.
Then:
"Attack!"
The collective force surged forward at the exact same moment.
The scene was completely different from the armies of the past.
Not every warrior fought alone.
Instead, their strength was distributed throughout the formation.
Every soldier knew his position.
Every commander knew his task.
And every unit knew exactly what it had to do.
Thus...
Individual strength began transforming into collective strength.
As recruitment continued to expand...
The army's numbers began rising rapidly.
Tens of thousands.
Then hundreds of thousands.
Then even greater numbers.
And the figures were still increasing.
Zeta did not merely contain millions of humans.
It contained people scattered across vast cities, villages, and regions.
And now...
All of them were entering a new phase.
The phase of military organization.
The phase of rebuilding strength.
The phase of preparing an army unlike anything humanity had seen in countless years.
At the end of one day, Valor stood before the military map.
Hundreds of markers covered it.
Each marker represented a recruitment center, training ground, or command post.
He stared at it for a long time.
Then said:
"We gathered humanity."
He paused.
"We unified their lands."
Then:
"We unified their authority."
He raised his eyes.
"And now..."
Silence descended.
"We will unify their strength."
Thorin stood beside him.
He looked at the rapidly increasing numbers.
Then said:
"If recruitment continues at this rate..."
Valor answered:
"We will possess a massive army."
Then he added:
"But numbers alone are not enough."
He looked toward the distant training grounds.
Thousands of warriors were training there at the same time.
Then he said:
"We do not merely want a large army."
"We want an army that knows how to fight."
And so...
The first steps toward building the unified human army had begun.
From the cities to the villages.
From the ancient families to ordinary people.
From veteran warriors to new recruits.
Everyone was beginning to stand beneath a single banner.
The question was no longer:
Which city are you from?
Or which family do you belong to?
Or who was your master in the past?
There was now only one question:
"Are you prepared to fight for humanity?"
With every passing day...
The number of recruits increased.
The training grounds grew more crowded.
The units began to take shape.
And the military command continued to expand.
As for the army...
It was beginning to transform from an idea written on paper...
Into a real force.
A force taking shape.
A force undergoing training.
A force coming alive.
A force reclaiming its unity.
And after five thousand years of division...
Humanity had finally begun building a single army.
But building the army...
Was only the beginning.
The soldiers still needed training.
The commanders still needed to be tested.
And strength still needed to be refined.
The army that had begun taking shape in Zeta...
Needed something else before it could truly be ready.
War.