Chapter 114: Urgency
Inside the Dragon Seal Space.
"Long Fu, is there a way to refine some powerful Soul Slaves for my family?"
"Master, I know what you mean, but it's impossible."
After a moment of thought, Long Fu said, "Master, besides refining Soul Slaves, the Blood Pool can also refine Corpse Slaves. However, Corpse Slaves are weaker than Soul Slaves, but they can remain in the outside world."
Long Ao was overjoyed. 'It doesn't matter if they're Soul Slaves or Corpse Slaves, as long as they can stay outside.'
"Long Fu, how long would it take you to refine all of my current Soul Slaves into Corpse Slaves?"
"Master, you misunderstand. Refining Corpse Slaves doesn't require souls, but corpses. Therefore, I am powerless to help."
'Corpses?'
'Not souls?'
Feeling somewhat dejected, Long Ao knew it wouldn't be easy to find suitable corpses to refine into Corpse Slaves on short notice. 'In that case, I'll have to go out and search.'
「The next morning, at dawn.」
Watched by the members of the Long Family, Long Ao left Red Fire Town.
For his first stop, Long Ao headed directly to the Thunder Forest. Within Celestial State, there were only two forests with the most numerous and powerful Spirit Beasts: one was the Flame Forest, and the other was the Thunder Forest.
「Ten days later, in the Thunder Forest.」
Long Ao and Long Qiang weaved through the forest. With the man and dragon fighting as one, they were nearly unrivaled. After ten days of training, Long Ao's Cultivation had risen to another level, breaking through from the Peak of Evolution to the Fusion Realm.
Long Ao was completely confident. At his current level of strength, if he joined forces with Long Qiang, he could even hold his own against a Unity Martial Artist.
The Five Innate Realms: Hundred Scattered Heaven Realm, One-Line Heaven Realm, Evolution Realm, Fusion Realm, and Unity Realm.
The Five Transformation Realms: Thunder Tribulation Realm, Transformation Realm, Human King Realm, Earth Emperor Realm, and Taoist Ancestor Realm.
Long Ao's current Cultivation had already broken through to the Fusion Realm. He was just one step away from officially advancing to the Unity Realm. After that, he could start striving for the Transformation Realm.
'So, no matter what, I have to find a way to break through to the Unity Realm as quickly as possible.'
"A Unity Blood Demon Wolf Pack."
Before Long Ao could even react, he was completely surrounded by a hundred Blood Demon Wolves, all at the Unity Realm. Stunned, he didn't dare to be the least bit careless. He joined forces with Long Qiang and released a few Soul Slaves. But even so, against a hundred foes at the Unity level, Long Ao was no match.
In just a few short minutes, Long Ao was covered in wounds. Just as he was about to turn and flee, he was struck again by a Blood Demon Wolf, and his entire body was sent flying backward.
Forcing himself to endure the waves of pain racking his body, Long Ao turned and fled. He ran wildly for a full hour before he finally managed to shake off the Blood Demon Wolf pack.
They fought as a pack, and all of them were at the Unity Realm. Forget him—even a true Unity Martial Artist would be instantly slaughtered by the Blood Demon Wolf pack. There was no doubt about it.
He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. 'Looks like my luck isn't so good. Only ten days in, and I already ran into a pack of social Blood Demon Wolves.'
Without lingering in the Thunder Forest, Long Ao dragged his battered body toward Thunder City.
At that moment, Long Ao finally understood what made Thunder City so unusual. No matter what, the Thunder Empire was always backed by the Thunder Sect. That alone made the Thunder Empire's position difficult to shake.
The moment he stepped into the Thunder Empire, Long Ao's whereabouts were discovered by the major powers, especially by the Third Prince of the Thunder Empire, Zhao Hao.
Previously, all thirty-two kingdoms that participated in the Thunder Battle had received Zhao Hao's kill order. But in the end, Long Ao had remained unscathed and had even taken second place in the Thunder Battle.
Zhao Hao didn't give a damn about second place. He was preparing to send men to Red Fire Town to annihilate the entire Long Family. However, before Zhao Hao could act, a message came from the Ghost King Sect: no one, no matter who they were, was permitted to touch the Red Fire Town Long Family.
The Thunder Empire could ignore Long Ao, but they could not ignore the Ghost King Sect.
Because of this, even though Zhao Hao was filled with endless resentment and fury, he didn't dare to move against the Long Family. He could only vent his anger on Long Ao.
If Long Ao had hidden in Red Fire Town for the rest of his life, there really would have been nothing Zhao Hao could do. But now...
Upon entering Thunder City, Long Ao first found an inn to rest well for a night. After his injuries had completely stabilized, he got up and headed for the auction house.
「Inside a quaint room at the auction house.」
"Brother Long, I was just about to look for you! The Third Prince, Zhao Hao, has issued a kill order. Anyone who manages to kill you will not only receive a hefty reward but also become a disciple of the Vice Hall Master of the National Protection Hall. It was too reckless of you to enter Thunder City right now."
'The Third Prince, Zhao Hao?'
Long Ao was a bit surprised to hear that the Third Prince, Zhao Hao, was still issuing kill orders for him.
According to his previous assumptions, as long as he achieved a good ranking in the Thunder Battle, the Thunder Royal Family would back off. But now, it seemed things weren't that simple.
'But on second thought, it makes sense. The Thunder Royal Family has the backing of the Thunder Sect, after all. Why would the Third Prince, Zhao Hao, possibly give up on dealing with me?'
"Brother Liu, I'm aware of the situation."
Giving him a deep look, Liu Feng, who knew Long Ao's personality well, didn't dwell on the matter. Instead, he asked, "Brother Long, did you come looking for me for a specific reason?"
"Yes."
Long Ao didn't hide anything and got straight to the point. "Brother Liu, I came to find you this time mainly to ask: for a Martial Artist, what kinds of things can help them improve their strength?"
Long Ao had always found his and Long Qiang's Desolate Sacred Body to be a real pain. Although it was the number one physique for Cultivation, it was also the number one piece of trash. To raise its strength, it required an enormous amount of power, and the energy refined by Long Fu alone seemed far from enough.
That was why Long Ao had thought of Liu Feng. After all, Liu Feng was the director of the auction house. As the largest auction house in Celestial State, he believed it surely must have many Treasures that could help increase one's strength.
Liu Feng was no fool; of course he knew what Long Ao was after.
After some thought, Liu Feng said, "Brother Long, when a Martial Artist improves their strength, the most important thing is to focus on their own Cultivation. Relying on external objects is ultimately not the proper path. Brother Long, do you understand what I'm saying?"
Long Ao nodded. How could he not understand the meaning behind Liu Feng's words? But his physique was too special; he couldn't just focus on his own Cultivation like a normal Martial Artist.
"Brother Liu, I'm short on time. I just want to ask, does the auction house have anything?"
Seeing that his mind was made up, Liu Feng nodded and said, "We do. But no matter the Spirit Grass, it must be refined into an Elixir, so..."