War God Long Ao

"Long Ao, how about joining the Thunder National Protection Hall?"

Long Ao scoffed inwardly. 'Gu Bai is obviously hostile toward me. If I join the National Protection Hall, wouldn't I just be asking for trouble?'

"Your Majesty, I'm used to my freedom, so I'd like to stay that way."

Although Long Ao didn't explicitly refuse, the meaning behind his words was crystal clear.

Because of this, everyone was astonished to hear Long Ao turn him down on the spot.

Zhao Mang forced a smile, nodded, and said, "Freedom is good. Long Ao, I just received a message from Red Fire Town. Your father has urgently summoned you back."

'My father urgently summoned me back?'

He was puzzled. He knew that his father wouldn't summon him so urgently unless something important had happened to the family. With that in mind, Long Ao immediately left the Royal Family and headed toward Red Fire Town.

「Within a pavilion in the rear garden of the Thunder Royal Family's palace.」

"Brother Gu, Long Ao's talent and potential are plain to see. He was able to kill Ye Yidao while only at the Fusion Realm and take his place on the Hundred Battles Ranking. If we can make use of him, we might just gain an expert."

Gu Bai nodded. He understood what Zhao Mang meant.

"Your Majesty, I also didn't expect Long Ao's strength to be so formidable. If nothing unexpected happens, I believe that with this boy's current power, he's unrivaled among Innate cultivators."

Zhao Mang was quite surprised. He had never heard Gu Bai praise anyone before. It seemed this boy was truly something special.

After a moment of thought, Gu Bai continued, "Your Majesty, this boy's talent is extraordinary. If we can't kill him, we must do everything in our power to win him over. We cannot allow him to develop unchecked. The consequences would be unimaginable."

「Red Fire Town.」

Ever since the news of Long Ao killing Ye Yidao spread, Red Fire Town's status had risen with the tide. Even the Thunder Royal Family had issued a public decree, announcing their full support for Red Fire Town's development.

Ranked eleventh on the Hundred Battles Ranking, Long Ao had become a famous figure in Celestial State.

For a time, Long Ao's fame even eclipsed everyone else's. He became a hot topic not only in the Thunder Empire and its countless kingdoms, but even in the Flame Empire.

「Red Fire Town, the Long Family estate.」

The moment Long Ao stepped into the Long Family estate, the entire family erupted in excitement, with everyone rushing out in high spirits to greet him.

Upon his return, the first piece of good news Long Ao received was that his grandfather, Long Haoshi, and his elder brother, Long Ying, had both broken through to the Hundred Scattered Heaven Realm in their Cultivation.

In other words, from this moment on, besides Long Ao, the Long Family now had two Hundred Scattered Heaven Martial Artists protecting it.

「The Long Family's main hall.」

"Ao'er, I've told you what's happening. What do you plan to do?"

"Grandfather, this matter is based solely on the Star Cloud Long Family's side of the story. I believe the Long Clan won't fall for it, so we don't need to worry in the slightest."

Long Ao was well aware of the Star Cloud Long Family's intentions, but he wasn't particularly worried. 'After all, the Long Clan isn't stupid. They wouldn't go to great lengths to cause trouble for me just because of a few words from the Star Cloud Long Family.'

Long Ao was very confident about this.

Long Haoshi seemed to want to say more, but in the end, he just let out a deep sigh and said nothing further.

"Grandfather, now that you and Elder Brother have broken through to the Hundred Scattered Heaven Realm, you must keep up the momentum. Later, I will help you refine some Spirit Gathering Pills and assist you in breaking through to the One-Line Heaven Realm in one go."

Before Long Haoshi could say anything, Long Ao continued, "Grandfather, Dad, I'm often away from the Long Family, so it's inevitable that we'll have some enemies. That's why I've come back this time—I plan to leave a supreme expert with the family. I believe that with him protecting us, ordinary factions, and even the Thunder Empire, won't dare to provoke our Long Family."

Hearing this, both Long Haoshi and Long Yi seemed rather surprised.

'A supreme expert?'

They were both well aware of Long Ao's current strength. To be called a "supreme expert" by him... they could only imagine how powerful this person must be.

Long Ao smiled and summoned Ye Yidao's Corpse Slave from the Dragon Seal Space.

The Five Transformations, from lowest to highest, were Thunder Tribulation, Transformation, Human King, Earth Emperor, and Taoist Ancestor. According to what Long Fu had said before, the current Corpse Slave was equivalent in strength to a Thunder Tribulation Martial Artist.

Because it was a Corpse Slave, it didn't need to undergo a Thunder Tribulation. The moment the Corpse Slave was summoned, a terrifying momentum instantly enveloped the entire Long Family estate. If Long Ao hadn't stopped it in time, the powerful aura emanating from the Corpse Slave alone would have been enough to crush everyone in the main hall to death.

Staring dumbfounded at the Corpse Slave that had appeared before them, Long Haoshi and Long Yi felt a chill run down their spines. It was too powerful. They both felt that in front of this being, they wouldn't even have a chance to fight back.

A Corpse Slave was similar to a Soul Slave. A Soul Slave was created by refining a soul, and its strength was much greater than the original person's. A Corpse Slave, however, was different. It was very difficult to refine; in addition to using a corpse, it also required the fusion of Soul Power. But Corpse Slaves had one advantage: they could leave the Dragon Seal Space and appear independently, whereas Soul Slaves could not.

"Grandfather, Dad, I have something to tell you now, but no one else can know about this."

Seeing how serious Long Ao was, Long Haoshi and Long Yi both nodded.

「An hour later.」

Long Haoshi had the Corpse Slave situated within the Long Family estate as the family's secret weapon. He believed that even if a Transformed Martial Artist were to attack, the Long Family would now have the power to protect itself.

Long Ying, Long Shi, Long Meng, Long'an, Long Qianqian, Long Zheng, Long Fang, Long Yi, Long Feng, and the others all stared excitedly at Long Ao. He was now the pride of the Long Family.

"Seventh Brother, did you need us for something?"

Among the third generation of the Long Family, Long Ying should have been the number one genius. But ever since Long Ao's meteoric rise, that title had fallen to him. Even so, Long Ying felt not a shred of envy, jealousy, or hatred. After all, the heights Long Ao now stood at were far beyond their reach.

"Elder Brother, I've gathered you all this time to talk about your Cultivation. I'll be staying for a while on this trip back. During this time, I'll help you refine some Elixirs and assist you with your breakthroughs. I hope that within one month, every single one of you can raise your Realm by three Tiers."

"Huh?"

"Seventh Brother, don't joke with us. Our little hearts can't take it."

"Yeah, Seventh Brother! Raise our realms by three Tiers in one month? How is that possible?"

None of them believed it. After all, raising one's realm by three Tiers in just a month—was that even possible?

Long Ao just smiled and said, "Everyone, trust me. In one month, I will give you a surprise."

Long Ying gave Long Ao a deep look, nodded, and said, "Seventh Brother, I believe you."

Long Ying knew full well that his current Cultivation had already reached the Hundred Scattered Heaven Realm. If he were to break through three consecutive Tiers, wouldn't that mean he could reach the so-called Peak of One-Line Heaven? That was something he had never even dared to dream of.