War God Long Ao

'It grew?'

Watching Xiaoqiang absorb energy from the Endless Blood Sea Map for a full half an hour, Long Ao was rather surprised.

Sure enough, Long Qiang, who was originally just a small snake, began to grow thick, black Dragon Scales, just like the Fire Dragon that Long Ming had obtained.

Sure enough, Xiaoqiang was indeed a Mutated Divine Dragon. Before its metamorphosis, it was just like a small snake, but now? The little snake had transformed into a small dragon. Long Ao truly looked forward to seeing how powerful the mutated Xiaoqiang would be.

"You brat, what exactly is the origin of this little thing of yours?"

How could Long Ao not understand what Ao Xue was asking? Forget her—even he didn't know the little creature's origin. But Long Ao was certain of one thing: this little guy he'd found was anything but simple.

Before Long Ao could speak, the metamorphosed Long Qiang suddenly let out a Dragon's Roar that echoed throughout the stone chamber. Immediately after, a powerful Dragon Breath erupted from its body, enveloping the entire room.

'What terrifying power.'

Long Ao, too, could sense just how formidable the aura now radiating from Long Qiang was.

Long Fu had told him before that Long Qiang's constitution was nearly identical to his own; they both possessed the Desolate Constitution. This type of constitution was incredibly powerful but required an immense amount of energy. Under normal circumstances, the Desolate Constitution was considered the absolute worst for Cultivation, and his own past was a living example of that.

But Long Ao knew full well that the power contained within this supreme treasure of the Ghost King Sect, the Endless Blood Sea Map, had to be extraordinary. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Long Qiang to transform so drastically after absorbing its energy for only half an hour.

For some reason, Long Ao had a feeling that the little creature's power had already surpassed his own.

Letting out another clear Dragon's Roar, the little creature's body grew larger and larger. In a matter of moments, it transformed from its previous snake-like form into a small Giant Dragon over two meters long, its body pure black and dotted with tiny points of light.

Long Qiang looked almost identical to a typical Giant Dragon, with only one difference: a single horn on its forehead, which looked exceedingly strange.

As the Dragon's Roar sounded, Long Qiang returned to Long Ao's arms. But now its body was far too large—a full two meters—and it could no longer rest there as it used to.

But to Long Ao's utter astonishment, Long Qiang, which had just transformed into a two-meter-long small Giant Dragon, suddenly shrank. In the blink of an eye, it had returned to its previous form, identical in size and appearance.

After placing Long Qiang inside his robes, Long Ao turned his gaze to the Endless Blood Sea Map hanging on the stone wall.

He didn't even need to touch it. Long Ao already knew that the Endless Blood Sea Map had become a useless scroll, no longer the incredibly powerful super-weapon it once was.

"Ao Xue, I'm sorry."

Long Ao felt a pang of guilt. After all, the Endless Blood Sea Map was the supreme treasure of the Ghost King Sect, and now Long Qiang had drained it completely dry.

"Hmph. The big one's just like the little one."

Shrugging helplessly, Long Ao decided not to dwell on it, since things had already come to this. The most important thing now was to figure out how to get out of here.

Before Long Ao could say anything, Ao Xue asked, "What do we do now?"

"Find the exit, of course."

"You look for it. I'm going to rest."

Watching Ao Xue plop down on the bed, sit cross-legged, and begin to rest, Long Ao grew frustrated. Having no other choice, he helplessly turned and began searching everywhere for the exit.

Long Ao didn't search blindly. Instead, he walked directly up to the Endless Blood Sea Map and stared at it intently.

"The Endless Blood Sea Map is worthless now. There's no point in looking at it."

Ignoring Ao Xue, Long Ao reached out and took the worthless Endless Blood Sea Map down. Sure enough, a black passageway was revealed behind it.

"Ao Xue, I'm leaving now."

Ao Xue's eyes flew open. Giving Long Ao no chance to react, she darted forward, and without a second thought, jumped right into the black passageway.

Watching her shapely figure disappear, Long Ao smiled to himself. 'Ao Xue might seem unreasonable, but she's actually a very cute girl.'

The two of them entered the passage, one in front of the other, sticking close as they slowly made their way forward. The tunnel was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and its end was nowhere in sight. It was an eerie and terrifying sight.

"Hmph, you brat! Are you even a man? Letting a girl walk in front while you hide in the back? I despise you!"

Long Ao, who had been walking with extreme caution and focus, nearly stumbled when he heard Ao Xue's complaint. He stared dumbfounded at her, just inches away, momentarily at a loss for words.

'What did I do to deserve this?'

She glanced back at him, and then, with a snort, Ao Xue suddenly burst out laughing. "Listen here, you brat," she said with a grin. "You are not to tell anyone about what happened today. If you do, I won't let you off the hook."

"I wouldn't dare."

Suddenly, a sliver of light appeared in the dark tunnel. Both of them were overjoyed and quickened their pace. A moment later, they emerged from the passage and found themselves in a forest.

「Thunder Forest.」

Long Ao was certain they had successfully escaped the cave. However, when they turned to look for the black passageway, they discovered that the tunnel, which had been right there a moment ago, had vanished.

'How strange,' Long Ao thought with a small smile. He then said, "There are about five days left in the Thunder Battle. I plan to continue participating. What about you?"

The Thunder Battle was set to last for ten days. Long Ao did a quick calculation and realized they had been in the cave for over four days, meaning nearly half the event was already over. Therefore, over the next five days, Long Ao planned to seize as many Soul Orders as he could. No matter what, he had to secure a place in the top three.

Ao Xue thought for a moment, then her voice suddenly turned cold. "Who do you think you are to me? What right do you have to mind my business? You're really something else. Listen, brat, I'm telling you one more time: don't you dare tell anyone what happened. Otherwise, I'll kill you."

"You brat!" Before leaving, Ao Xue didn't forget to call him a brat one last time, leaving Long Ao standing there, stunned. He had no idea what was wrong with her. She seemed to change from one moment to the next, and he was left wondering which side of her was her true self.

"A woman's heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea," Long Ao sighed helplessly. He didn't chase after Ao Xue, because he knew that he was in no position to be thinking about romance right now. His first priority was to excel in the Thunder Battle and win more Soul Orders. According to what Liu Feng and Hao Chao had said, if he could secure a high rank, then even the Thunder Royal Family wouldn't dare to move against him—and more importantly, they wouldn't move against the Long Family behind him.