War God Long Ao

"Master, what about Long Ao?"

Long Yili's soul had possessed the Earth Dragon's body, so of course he wasn't willing to let Long Ao off the hook.

In Long Yili's eyes, his current predicament was entirely Long Ao's fault. How ridiculous people could be.

With a wave, the Nine Nether Spider said in a cold voice, "Let's leave here first."

With that, the Nine Nether Spider quickly departed with Long Yili. Perhaps it was truly afraid; after all, the Sealing Power within the cave had held it captive for so many years.

Passing through the Stone Gate Shield, Long Ao found himself in another enormous cave.

Before Long Ao could get a good look around, he noticed three skeletons on the ground not far away. Curious, he approached them and saw a piece of Blood Cloth lying beside them.

Long Ao picked up the Blood Cloth. His expression changed after just a single glance.

The Blood Cloth, as it turned out, detailed the story of the Nine Nether Spider. The three skeletons belonged to the Celestial Red Three Ancestors—Chi Jun, Chi Feng, and Chi Ling. All three had been Taoist Ancestor Peak Martial Artists.

Years ago, the three had stumbled upon the Nine Nether Spider. They had intended to slay it for its Beast Pill, but after they fought, they discovered that even their combined strength was no match for the creature.

Still, the Celestial Red Three Ancestors were not willing to give up. They tried countless methods, determined to slay the Nine Nether Spider.

As the saying goes, heaven rewards the persistent. The three eventually found a Treasure called the God-Locking Pearl. With its help, they managed to seal the Nine Nether Spider. But just as they were about to kill it, something unexpected occurred.

In the end, all three of the Celestial Red Three Ancestors were killed, but the Nine Nether Spider was successfully sealed.

In a way, the Celestial Red Three Ancestors and the Nine Nether Spider had taken each other down.

'The God-Locking Pearl?'

Long Ao was very curious. He wondered just how powerful this Treasure was that the Celestial Red Three Ancestors had found. How could it have sealed the Nine Nether Spider?

'The Nine Nether Spider was at the Taoist Peak; its power was terrifying to imagine. Three Taoist Ancestor Martial Artists of the same Level couldn't even kill it together. It was clear just how frighteningly strong the Nine Nether Spider was.'

Setting down the Blood Cloth, Long Ao didn't disturb the three skeletons. Instead, he found a spot, sat down on the ground, and began to recuperate.

Long Ao calculated the time. He'd been in the Flame Forest for over a month now—thirty-two days to be exact. That meant the deadline for his agreement with Ouyang Zhong had already passed.

「Thunder Empire.」

「Thunder Royal Family, Main Hall.」

Gu Bai, Zhao Mang, and Ouyang Zhong all wore extremely grim expressions. None of them had ever imagined that Long Ao would fail to show up for their duel.

"Your Majesty, it seems the boy was afraid."

Waving his hand, Zhao Mang said gravely, "Brother Ouyang, from what I know of Long Ao, he would never miss an appointment. It seems something must have happened to him."

Gu Bai nodded. "No matter what happened, that boy must be killed. Your Majesty, I have already given the order to use all our resources to find Long Ao."

Ouyang Zhong's expression darkened. "Brother Gu, why don't we just destroy the Long Family of Red Fire Town first?"

Before Ouyang Zhong could even finish, Gu Bai interjected coldly, "Ouyang Zhong, His Majesty and I are willing to help you because the Nebula Royal Family is a vassal of our Thunder Royal Family. But an act as shameless as destroying Red Fire Town... I hope you don't intend to drag us down with you."

Ouyang Zhong was taken aback, unsure why the other man was reacting this way.

Gu Bai snorted coldly. "Our grudge is with Long Ao. Don't drag his family into it. Ouyang Zhong, when your Nebula Royal Family made a move against Red Fire Town, you incurred the public's wrath. I can guarantee that if you weren't still alive, the Nebula Royal Family wouldn't have lasted more than a year."

He said nothing, but inwardly, Ouyang Zhong was dismissive. 'If I hadn't been injured by the Thunder Tribulation Power, Long Ao and Red Fire Town would be the ones who are already destroyed. If that were the case, would Gu Bai and the Thunder Royal Family still be talking like this?'

Though he viciously scorned them in his heart, Ouyang Zhong didn't say anything further.

"Brother Ouyang, what Brother Gu means is that whether as royals or as Martial Artists, our grudges should not involve Red Fire Town. After all, Red Fire Town is far too weak compared to us. We should avoid becoming a laughingstock to the rest of the world."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Glancing at Gu Bai, Zhao Mang continued, "Brother Gu, no matter what it takes, find Long Ao for me."

「Flame Forest, inside the Nameless Cave.」

Long Ao recuperated for a full day and night before he opened his eyes and stood up. He walked over to the three skeletons, preparing to search for the so-called God-Locking Pearl.

Long Ao was extremely curious about the Treasure the Celestial Red Three Ancestors had found. Just then, the three skeletons suddenly released their individual soul auras. Sensing the soul auras, a shocked Long Ao stumbled back three steps, his eyes locked on the skeletons.

Three souls materialized, standing in a row, all of them smiling.

"The Celestial Red Three Ancestors?"

Though he was reluctant to admit it, Long Ao was certain that the three souls that had suddenly appeared before him had to be the Celestial Red Three Ancestors, the ones who had sealed the Nine Nether Spider.

"Hahaha! A clever young man. That's right, we are the Celestial Red Three Ancestors. We trust you've read the account on the Blood Cloth. We didn't disturb you for the entire day and night you were resting."

Long Ao, however, calmed down. He knew that if the Celestial Red Three Ancestors had wanted to harm him, they wouldn't have waited until now.

"Boy, since you were able to get in here, we assume the Nine Nether Spider outside has already fallen."

"The Nine Nether Spider chose to self-destruct."

Chi Jun, one of the Celestial Red Three Ancestors, nodded. After a moment's thought, he suddenly said, "Surrender your body, and we can spare your soul. Otherwise, your Primordial Spirit will be annihilated."

'Surrender my body?'

Long Ao's expression changed instantly. He knew full well that even though the Celestial Red Three Ancestors had fallen, they had once been Taoist Ancestor Martial Artists. Even as souls, they possessed the strength of an Earth Emperor Peak, and might even be able to reach the Level of a Taoist Ancestor. 'If that's the case,' he wondered, 'can I possibly stand against their combined power?'

"You're not willing?"

The Celestial Red Three Ancestors sneered, their faces filled with confidence. Under normal circumstances, once they had fallen, their souls would have either entered Reincarnation or dissipated immediately. But it was precisely because of the God-Locking Pearl that their souls had managed to endure.

Even so, their souls could only exist within this cave. The moment they left, they would immediately dissipate.

The situation for the Celestial Red Three Ancestors was completely different from that of the Nine Nether Spider and Long Yili. The reason the Nine Nether Spider and Long Yili could exist as souls was because their spiritual forms were held together by the Nine Nether Spider's own power, allowing them to leave the cave and exist independently.