War God Long Ao

Ouyang Fei stared intently at the young man on the roof, his heart a tangled mess.

Just when everyone thought Long Ao would be unable to resist the temptation and would surely agree, he spoke up. "Sorry, but I prefer my freedom."

He refused?

Everyone stared at Long Ao, dumbfounded, unable to comprehend what was going through his mind.

The position of National Protection Hall Master, discipleship under the Nebula Royal Family's Forefather, and half the territory of the Nebula Kingdom.

These three conditions combined were temptation pushed to its absolute limit. It was hard to believe anyone could resist such an offer.

"Hahaha, Long Ao! Since you're courting death, don't blame me for what happens next."

"Kill!" The word had barely left his lips when Ouyang Zhong shot forward. This time, his killing intent was palpable, and the powerful aura around him turned sinister and cold.

Long Ao didn't dare to let his guard down for a second. While dodging, he once again unleashed the Soul-Sealing Seal and the Nether Burning Seal.

The first two seals of the Destruction Seal Technique, the Soul-Sealing Seal and the Nether Burning Seal, were incredibly powerful and never missed their mark. However, the gap in their cultivation Realms was too vast to be easily overcome, and even these two seals were no exception.

For this very reason, after using the Soul-Sealing Seal and Nether Burning Seal a second time, Long Ao refrained from using the Destruction Seal Technique any further.

Wielding the Blood-Drinking Mad Saber, man and blade moved as one in a flurry of Thousand Transformations. He did his utmost to fend off Ouyang Zhong's relentless, wave-like attacks. It was hard to tell if Ouyang Zhong was doing it intentionally, but each of his moves was perfectly placed to suppress Long Ao.

Suppression.

Constant suppression.

He was utterly suppressed.

Pinned down by his opponent's overwhelming pressure, Long Ao wrestled with a decision. 'Should I switch to the Nine Needle God-Sealing?'

'I'm completely confident that once I use the Nine Needle God-Sealing, even if I can't defeat him, I can at least escape safely.'

A Transformed Martial Artist? Long Ao had always had faith in himself, but he was unwilling to use the Nine Needle God-Sealing unless he had absolutely no other choice. 'After all, I still haven't obtained the Giant Dragon Blood and Qilin Blood. If I use the Nine Needle God-Sealing now and my luck is bad, the backlash could kill me. I could perish.'

That was why he was hesitating. 'Should I use the Nine Needle God-Sealing or not?'

Long Ao was no fool. 'Of course, Ouyang Zhong isn't using his full strength. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lasted this long. But I still don't know what he's planning.'

And so, they fought for more than ten rounds. To the untrained eye, it might have looked like an even match, but any discerning observer could see that Long Ao had, in fact, already lost.

"Fei'Er, what is your relationship with Long Ao?"

"Imperial Father, what do you wish for my relationship with Long Ao to be?"

As the Crown Prince, Ouyang Fei didn't dare to speak his mind. He didn't know what he should or shouldn't say. One wrong word could cost him not only his title, but his very life.

"Fei'Er, Long Ao will die today. Therefore, first thing tomorrow morning, you will take an army and raze Red Fire Town and the Long Family to the ground for me."

'Raze Red Fire Town and the Long Family?'

A wave of sadness washed over him. This was the tragedy of being Crown Prince—he couldn't even protect his own friend. But Ouyang Fei showed no hesitation. His unique position afforded him none. He knew with certainty that if he wavered for even a moment, he would be disposed of immediately.

"Imperial Father, I understand. First thing tomorrow morning, I will lead the army to Red Fire Town and raze it to the ground."

Although Ouyang Fei felt a pang of guilt, as the Crown Prince, he sometimes had to make a choice. To the Royal Family, self-interest was paramount. Everything else was insignificant in the face of power and status.

In that moment, Ouyang Fei had already accepted that Long Ao was doomed to die.

The Forefather was a Transformed Martial Artist, the number one expert in the Nebula Kingdom. Forget Long Ao; even the Thunder Empire wouldn't dare provoke the Nebula Kingdom now. Such was the power of a Transformed Martial Artist.

"Fei'Er, don't wait until morning. Depart for Red Fire Town at once. Remember, I'm giving you one day. By this time tomorrow at dusk, I expect a report. Otherwise... you can imagine the consequences."

Ouyang Fei was puzzled by his father's sudden change of heart but didn't dare question it. "Rest assured, Imperial Father. I will certainly bring you good news before dusk tomorrow."

The journey from Nebula City to Red Fire Town would normally take three to five days. But for the Nebula Royal Family, time was not an issue. If they rushed, one day and one night was more than enough, which was why Ouyang Feng had set such a deadline.

Ouyang Fei departed swiftly, vanishing without a trace in moments. Ten minutes later, leading the grand army of the Nebula Royal Family, he had already left Nebula City and was on his way to Red Fire Town.

Watching the disappearing figure, Ouyang Feng sneered and muttered to himself. 'The day you chose to befriend Long Ao, your fate was sealed.'

It turned out Ouyang Feng already knew that Long Ao and Ouyang Fei had been drinking together in the tavern. That was precisely why he had made this move. Whether Ouyang Fei razed Red Fire Town or not, his days as Crown Prince were numbered.

Such was royalty. In the face of status and self-interest, even fathers, sons, and siblings would plot against one another, even to the point of murder. Sometimes, being born into the Royal Family was a truly tragic fate.

「On the inn's roof.」

Long Ao wielded his Blood-Drinking Mad Saber, striking blow after blow without a moment's pause. But even so, he was unable to harm Ouyang Zhong.

"I see. So this is all you've got."

Hearing Ouyang Zhong's words, Long Ao knew exactly what he meant. 'Looks like my guess was right. Ouyang Zhong wasn't using his full strength because he wanted to test my Martial Arts. Now that the test is over, he's going for the kill.'

Just as he expected, a formidable aura erupted from Ouyang Zhong, bearing down with overwhelming force. Long Ao didn't dare let his guard down for an instant, resisting the crushing pressure with all his might.

Aural suppression.

He resisted with all his might, but it was suppression, and more suppression. Under the terrifying, relentless pressure from the Transformed Martial Artist, the energy signature around Long Ao's body slowly began to change—a fact that even he himself had likely not yet noticed.

"Long Ao, I'd like to see just how you'll withstand my aural suppression."

Ouyang Zhong clearly intended to humiliate Long Ao. He stopped attacking, planning to simply crush him to death with his aura alone. At the same time, he wanted to restore the Nebula Royal Family's honor in front of the crowd. After all, Long Ao had killed both Tang Lin and Yang Yi.

But at that very moment, the calm, dark night was suddenly whipped into a frenzy by wild gusts of wind. Above the inn's roof, purplish-black storm clouds began to gather from all directions.