War God Long Ao

Along the way, Long Ao rapidly advanced his Cultivation, continuously absorbing the power Long Fu refined for him within the Blood Pool.

He had to admit, the power contained in an Innate Beast Pill was truly immense. Even for a bottomless pit like the Desolate Sacred Body, it had allowed his Cultivation to reach the Peak of Inner Strength Ninth Heaven. But to break through to the Inner Strength Tenth Heaven Realm, one Innate Beast Pill was still far from enough.

'One Innate Beast Pill isn't enough?'

The thought of his Desolate Sacred Body being a bottomless pit brought a look of deep helplessness to Long Ao's face.

"Master, if it's possible, I'd like to start helping you refine a Soul Slave."

'Soul Slave?'

Long Ao was very curious about the Soul Slaves Long Fu always talked about. According to Long Fu, Soul Slaves refined with the help of the Blood Pool could be commanded to fight his enemies and were extremely powerful.

"Long Fu, what are the conditions for refining a Soul Slave?"

"Master, the conditions are simple. You must kill Martial Artists or Spirit Beasts and devour their souls. I will then refine them into a Soul Slave. Once successfully refined, the Soul Slave's strength will increase by one-third to double."

Long Ao didn't feel happy at all. He knew that killing powerful Martial Artists and Spirit Beasts was no easy task.

"Master, the minimum requirement for refining a Soul Slave is that the soul must be of the Innate Realm."

As expected, Long Ao didn't continue the conversation with Long Fu. With his current strength, killing an Innate Martial Artist or an Innate Spirit Beast was practically impossible.

It would be a lie to say he didn't want to refine a Soul Slave, but Long Ao knew his own limits. He decided to put the matter of refining Soul Slaves aside for later.

Red Fire Town was hundreds of miles from Thundercloud City. Even by pushing their horses to the limit, it took the Long Family a full ten days of travel before they arrived, covered in dust.

Thundercloud City was a mid-tier city in the Celestial Star Kingdom.

The Celestial Martial Continent was comprised of the Nine Provinces. Within the Celestial State, there were Two Great Empires: the Flame Empire and the Thunder Empire. Beneath these two empires were countless parallel kingdoms, the so-called Vassal States. The Celestial Star Kingdom was one such vassal state of the Thunder Empire.

Red Fire Town and Thundercloud City couldn't even be compared. The members of the Long Family stared dumbfounded at the massive city walls before them, seeming impatient to enter. They filed in one after another. Long Li, who was at the very back, simply shook his head with a helpless sigh and didn't stop them.

The Long Family had its own business foundation in Thundercloud City, but it was small-scale. Even the courtyard home they owned was tiny and couldn't compare to their residence in Red Fire Town.

The Long Family Residence.

There were five brothers: Long Yi, Long Li, Long Jian, Long Lin, and Long Hua. The second brother, Long Li, typically managed the daily affairs of the Red Fire Town Long Family, while the other four all stayed in Thundercloud City to manage their business, hoping the family could establish a large-scale presence in the city.

In Thundercloud City, power was divided among four major factions: the City Lord's Mansion, the Sixth Level Long Family, the Mu Family, and the Duanmu Clan. They collectively controlled everything in the city. Therefore, it was practically impossible for the Red Fire Town Long Family to establish a large-scale presence there.

Long Ao's arrival made Mu Lin very happy. The mother and son spoke for several hours before Mu Lin reluctantly left.

"Ao'Er, this is a Gold Card. It has ten million Gold Coins on it. I want you to go buy a Spirit Gathering Pill yourself."

Taking the Gold Card from his father, Long Ao knew very well that of these ten million Gold Coins, aside from the money from selling the Spirit Beasts he had obtained, the rest had been scraped together by the family.

Ten million Gold Coins could only buy a single Spirit Gathering Pill. One could only imagine how valuable Elixirs truly were.

Nodding, Long Ao didn't leave alone this time. He went with Wang Yuyin, Long Ziyou, and Long Qianqian, as well as Long Zheng, Long Fang, Long'an, and Long Shi, to the Pill Alliance to buy the Spirit Gathering Pill.

Walking along the bustling streets, the three girls—Long Ziyou, Wang Yuyin, and Long Qianqian—were completely dazzled by the sights and had no desire to go buy any Elixirs.

"Yuyin, you three go ahead and look around. After I buy the Spirit Gathering Pill, we'll meet up at the tavern ahead."

"Okay, you guys go on. Don't worry about us." With that, Wang Yuyin and the other two girls darted into the crowd and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Long Zheng, Long Fang, Long'an, and Long Shi followed Long Ao to the Pill Alliance. On the Celestial Martial Continent, one type of person stood above even Martial Artists: the Alchemist. An Alchemist might not be a powerful warrior, but the Elixirs they created were coveted by every Martial Artist.

For this very reason, no one would dare to provoke a powerful Alchemist. If an Alchemist offered Elixirs as a reward, countless people would be willing to risk their lives for them.

The Pill Alliance was housed in a three-story building, entirely white, giving it a noble and elegant feel.

Upon entering the Pill Alliance, he saw that the vast hall wasn't very crowded. But on second thought, it made sense. After all, Elixirs were far too expensive for just anyone to afford.

A single Spirit Gathering Pill cost ten million Gold Coins; one could only imagine the value of other Elixirs.

"Welcome, everyone. How may I help you?" a stunningly beautiful woman with a sweet voice and a smile asked politely.

"I'd like to buy a Spirit Gathering Pill. How many Gold Coins does it cost?"

As if long accustomed to this question, the woman replied, "Hello, a Spirit Gathering Pill costs ten million Gold Coins here. How many would you like?"

'How many?'

Long Ao waved his hand dismissively. A single Spirit Gathering Pill had nearly bankrupted the Long Family, let alone several. Even if they sold off the entire Long Family, they couldn't afford a few Spirit Gathering Pills.

"Please wait a moment. I'll go get the Spirit Gathering Pill for you."

Watching the woman walk away, Long Ao waved a hand in front of the four boys' faces and said with a helpless sigh, "You four are really something else. You don't focus on your Cultivation, and who knows what you're thinking about all day. If you keep this up, you'll never get anywhere on the path of Martial Arts."

At this point, Long Zheng and the other three no longer harbored any of their previous scorn or malice. Long Ao was now an idol in their eyes. The four of them stuck out their tongues playfully and were about to speak when a few young men approached from a short distance away. The leader had a sinister expression, his face clearly showing contempt and disdain.

"I was wondering why I felt so out of sorts today. Turns out I ran into a few country bumpkins. Are you disciples from the Red Fire Town Long Family?"

Seeing them, the expressions on the faces of Long Zheng and the other three turned a little sour, but they still nodded and answered, "We are."

"Damn, I knew it. Trash from the Red Fire Town Long Family. Let's see... big trash, little trash... huh? Isn't this my aunt's useless son? What was your name again? Oh, right, I remember now. Something like She Ao, wasn't it?"