War God Long Ao

For Kuang Ao's safety, Long Ao refused him outright.

"Brother Long, don't you consider me a friend?"

Shaking his head, Long Ao didn't tell him the truth. Instead, he said, "Kuang Ao, I prefer to act alone. So, I'm sorry."

He didn't stay any longer. After all, Zhao Hao had already issued a kill-on-sight order for him. Nearly three hundred Innate Martial Artists from the Thunder Empire and its thirty-two Affiliated Kingdoms would be hunting him down. 'If Kuang Ao stays with me,' he thought, 'won't he just be caught in the crossfire?'

Watching Long Ao's disappearing figure, Kuang Ao muttered to himself, "A friend like that... I'm determined to make him one."

Not long after leaving, Long Ao ran into some old acquaintances: the group from the Nebula National Protection Hall—Luo Cheng, Mao Feng, Tong Bo, Hao Jiangjun, Ye Rong, Lin Yiyi, and Wang Huan.

Enemies are bound to meet.

"Long Ao?"

"Get lost." Too lazy to bother with the seven of them, Long Ao, who had already left the National Protection Hall, had no desire to get involved with them at all. He knew that because of Ouyang Fei, they, much like Yu Wei, would not let things go so easily.

Luo Cheng snorted, speaking with extreme displeasure. "Long Ao, the Thunder Empire has issued a kill-on-sight order for you. If we can kill you, we'll get a lot out of it."

"When did the Nebula National Protection Hall become the Thunder Empire's lackeys?"

"Hahaha, Long Ao, our Nebula Royal Family has always been one of the Thunder Empire's Affiliated Kingdoms. Since the Thunder Empire issued a kill-on-sight order, we have to carry it out. Don't you agree?"

Long Ao finally understood. The seven of them, led by Luo Cheng, were here to kill him. There was no need to guess. Unsurprisingly, along with the kill-on-sight order from the Third Prince, Zhao Hao, there must also be a considerable reward.

"Enough talk. If you want to fight, then let's fight."

"Long Ao, I have to admit, you're quite a character. But you don't know what's good for you, so you're destined to die."

Luo Cheng waved his hand, and the other six immediately swarmed forward. The combined power of six Evolutionary Martial Artists was nothing to scoff at. Even though Long Ao's Cultivation had broken through to the Peak of Evolution Realm, killing all six of them in a short time would be no easy task.

What's more, a Fusion Master was watching from the sidelines. If he got tied down, the outcome would be very troublesome.

In the next instant, both sides charged. In the blink of an eye, they were locked in a great battle. After a brief exchange of three moves, Long Ao fiercely swung the Blood-Drinking Mad Saber in his hand.

Long Ao's Cultivation had already broken through to the Peak of Evolution Realm; his strength was on a completely different level now.

But no matter what, the six were still Evolutionary Martial Artists. As he unleashed the Soul-Sealing Seal, Long Ao, wielding his Blood-Drinking Mad Saber, had already slashed out with the third technique of the Blood-Drinking Eight Techniques: Sea of Blazing Flames.

The Blood-Drinking Eight Techniques: the first technique, Netherworld Nine-Link Strike; the second technique, Ice-Sealed Heart Devourer; and the third technique, Sea of Blazing Flames.

Ever since his Cultivation broke through to the Evolution Realm, Long Ao had been secretly practicing the third technique of the Blood-Drinking Eight Techniques, Sea of Blazing Flames. Now was the perfect time to use it.

Sea of Blazing Flames! As the Heaven-Shocking Blade Aura slashed out, it instantly transformed into countless blood-red glints, like a surging, roiling sea of blood. The six men were focusing all their energy on resisting the corrosion of their souls from the Soul-Sealing Seal and never imagined that Long Ao would unleash such a powerful attack.

An Endless Sea of Blood, a Sea of Blazing Flames.

The Sea of Blazing Flames descended, blanketing everything, and instantly enveloped all six of them. In the next moment, a series of screams rose and fell, and the six men collapsed.

Of course, Long Ao showed no mercy. He walked over to their bodies, took all the Soul Orders from them, and absorbed their souls into the Dragon Seal Space.

After all, they were six Evolutionary Martial Artists. Once their souls were refined by the Blood Pool, they could be crafted into powerful Soul Slaves, giving him capable helpers. As for the One-Line Heaven Soul Slave he had created before, it had already been placed back into the Blood Pool for re-refinement.

"Long Ao, I'll tear you to pieces!" Seeing his opponent kill six men in a single move, Luo Cheng was utterly astonished. But what did he do?

Long Ao had no intention of facing him head-on. After successfully killing the six, he immediately turned and fled. To prevent Luo Cheng from catching him, he delivered a backhanded slash—Sea of Blazing Flames—and an endless torrent of fire erupted forth.

Having witnessed the terrifying power of Long Ao's blade aura, Luo Cheng didn't dare to face it directly. After dodging, he found that his opponent had vanished without a trace.

「Inside the Thunder Forest.」

In front of a giant, secluded boulder, Long Ao had already instructed Long Fu to refine the six souls into Soul Slaves as quickly as possible. Once successful, he would have six new bodyguards by his side.

Taking out the Soul Orders he had collected, Long Ao did a quick count. He had forty-nine in total. With over four hundred participants, he had obtained roughly one-eighth of all the Soul Orders. He was fully confident that when the Thunder Battle ended in five days, he would definitely place in the top three.

Instead of continuing to hunt for Soul Orders, Long Ao sat down cross-legged on the spot and began to cultivate. His Cultivation had already reached the Peak of Evolution, just one step away from breaking through to the Fusion Realm. But that single step was an exceptionally terrifying one to take.

Just like that, Long Ao cultivated while waiting for Long Fu to refine the Soul Slaves. In the blink of an eye, four days passed. Only one day remained in the Thunder Battle. In other words, the event would officially end at noon the next day.

After four days of Cultivation, Long Ao's Cultivation hadn't improved in the slightest. 'It seems my Desolate Sacred Body requires a constant influx of immense power. Otherwise, making a breakthrough is incredibly difficult.'

The only advantage of the Desolate Sacred Body was that upon breaking through to a new Realm, his strength would be far greater than that of Martial Artists at the same Level. This was the real reason Long Ao had always been able to kill enemies above his own rank.

He stood up and gave a long, hard stretch.

"Luo Cheng, I have a surprise for you."

A cold smile touched the corners of his lips as Long Ao's figure shot forward. At this moment, the Thunder Battle had reached its most intense stage. Of the more than four hundred participants, fewer than forty remained alive—a loss of over nine-tenths. In this battle, no matter who survived, there was only one true victor: the Thunder Empire.

The Thunder Empire held the Thunder Battle for no other reason than to continuously weaken the members of the National Protection Halls from the thirty-two Affiliated Kingdoms. The thirty-two Kingdoms were well aware of the Thunder Empire's schemes, but there was nothing they could do about it.

The remaining forty people all wanted to make it into the top ten, especially the top three. Therefore, this final day would also be the most brutal phase of the battle.

After all, everyone who had survived this long was an incredibly powerful Innate Martial Artist. Each of them carried at least ten or so Soul Orders. By killing just one person, a contestant could gain ten or more Soul Orders.

Faced with such a prospect, who wouldn't be tempted? And so, during this final day, everyone became frenzied.