Chapter 201: Slaughter
A Mutated Spirit Beast?
Long Ao, of course, knew what a Mutated Spirit Beast represented.
"Long Fu, what should I do?"
"Master, leave this to me. The mutation should be complete in about ten days."
"Good." Long Ao was clearly happy and excited. He didn't stay in the Dragon Seal Space, since he couldn't help in the slightest with the little guy's mutation.
After chatting with the two for a bit, Long Ao left the valley, while Bing Hun and Linghu Ning stayed behind to stand guard.
The Flame Demon Ape was a relatively powerful and ferocious type of Spirit Beast, particularly known for hunting other Spirit Beasts to eat their flesh and drink their blood.
There were a total of twenty-three Flame Demon Apes besieging the Nine Nether Earth Tiger. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Long Ao to slay a pack of Flame Demon Apes by himself, but for the little guy, he had to take the risk.
Upon seeing the pack of Flame Demon Apes, Long Ao charged forward without the slightest hesitation.
'A swift battle. Leave none alive.'
Wielding the Blood-Drinking Mad Saber, Long Ao fiercely slashed down. The Blood-Drinking Eight Techniques stacked one upon another, and a Heaven-Shocking Blade Aura streaked through the air like a meteor, incredibly fast.
Perhaps it was caught off guard, or maybe it never expected an enemy to launch a sneak attack in the forest. Whatever the reason, Long Ao's slash directly killed one of the Flame Demon Apes.
Rage.
Seeing their kinsman killed, the other Flame Demon Apes roared in fury and charged crazily at Long Ao. Not daring to be the least bit careless, Long Ao once again used the God-Locking Pearl, preparing to lock down the apes.
The God-Locking Pearl activated, and a powerful aura spread out, enveloping all of the Flame Demon Apes.
In a battle between opponents of the same Level, Long Ao's God-Locking Pearl could completely immobilize the Flame Demon Apes for ten seconds. Everyone knew exactly what ten seconds meant. For Martial Artists of the same Level, being locked down for ten seconds was a death sentence.
And because of this, the pack of Flame Demon Apes was doomed.
Long Ao did not miss this golden opportunity. The moment the God-Locking Pearl immobilized all the Flame Demon Apes, he began the slaughter.
In less than ten seconds, all twenty-something Flame Demon Apes were slaughtered. All their souls were sent into the Dragon Seal Space. As for their Beast Pills and corpses, Long Ao did not let them go to waste. They would serve as a powerful backing for his family's future growth, providing immense help.
Less than an hour had passed.
Seeing Long Ao return with a pile of corpses—all of them Flame Demon Apes—both Bing Hun and Linghu Ning were utterly shocked.
'Is this real?'
"Brother Long, how did you do it?"
"Just a lucky break."
Hearing him chalk it up to luck, Bing Hun and Linghu Ning felt an urge to beat him up. If everything could be handled with such "luck," then everyone would want to be that lucky.
However, neither Bing Hun nor Linghu Ning pressed the issue. They both understood one thing: with Long Ao's current strength, he was already invincible among Transformed Martial Artists. They wondered how he would fare against a Human King Martial Artist.
Long Ao had defeated the Earth Emperor Peak Zhang Zhihang at the Ghost King Sect, but according to rumors, he had relied on some sort of Secret Technique. Therefore, it couldn't be considered Long Ao's true strength.
"Brother Long, I feel that continuing to train here in the Flame Forest will be of almost no help to improving your strength."
Long Ao nodded. He knew exactly what Linghu Ning meant. He had already considered this problem himself; it was extremely difficult to find a Spirit Beast at or above the Human King Realm within the Flame Forest, while Spirit Beasts below the Transformation Realm posed no challenge at all.
'If this goes on, I'll still be at the Second Transformation for the Six Sects' tournament in half a month. That won't help me compete for the Venerable Golden Core at all.'
'If I don't train in the Flame Forest, then how can I quickly increase my strength?'
"Brother Long, I have a suggestion, but I'm not sure if you'd be willing to consider it."
"Please speak, Brother Linghu."
After a moment of thought, Linghu Ning finally said, "Brother Long, I heard you're on good terms with Xia Jun of the Thunder Sect. Is that true?"
Although he didn't know what Linghu Ning was getting at, Long Ao didn't hide anything. He nodded and said, "Xia Jun is my friend."
"Brother Long, you may not know this, but within the Thunder Sect, there is a Forbidden Land called Thunder Valley. It's said to be a natural land of thunder, and many of the Thunder Sect's experts were forged from training within it."
Thunder Valley?
The Thunder Forbidden Land... Hearing this, Long Ao's expression turned grim. He knew very well that even though he and Xia Jun were friends, Xia Jun wasn't the Thunder Sect's Sect Leader. Putting Xia Jun in a difficult position over this was not something a friend should do.
"Brother Long, according to the rumors, the Thunder Sect's Thunder Valley can not only improve one's Cultivation but also temper the body. Years ago, a senior from the Thunder Sect used the tempering of Thunder Valley to forge an incredibly powerful physical body, one that could even rival the Defense Power of a Giant Dragon."
Seeing Long Ao remain silent, just listening quietly, Linghu Ning naturally knew what he was hesitant about.
"Brother Long, I know you don't want to put your friend in a difficult position. At any other time, I wouldn't have brought this up, but your situation now is different."
It seemed he didn't want to say more, but with things as they were, Linghu Ning was genuinely worried for Long Ao.
"Brother Long, you went through so much trouble to take Ao Xue away, and you've already passed the first two trials. Are you really going to fail at the third? Although I don't know how you can instantly boost your strength, I can imagine that doing so must come with a backlash. Since that's the case, why not give this a try? With your relationship with Xia Jun, maybe the Thunder Sect will agree."
Before Long Ao could speak, Bing Hun chimed in from the side, "Brother Long, Thunder Valley is the only opportunity for you to rapidly increase your strength. We hope you can succeed in taking Ao Xue with you. We don't want to see you give up halfway and regret it for the rest of your life."
Long Ao glanced at Bing Hun, then at Linghu Ning, but he still couldn't make up his mind.
"Brother Long, think about it. What will you do if Ao Xue marries Zhang Zhihang?"
At the mention of Ao Xue and Zhang Zhihang, Long Ao's expression changed instantly. His face filled with resolve, and clenching his fists tightly, he said, "You're right. Things have already come to this; I can't give up halfway. Brother Linghu, Bing Hun, I'll take you back to Flame City first, and then I'll go to the Thunder Sect to find Xia Jun."
Seeing Long Ao finally agree, both of them were overjoyed. Bing Hun waved his hand and said with a smile, "We're not three-year-olds; we don't need you to escort us. You go do what you need to do. We can get back on our own."
"In that case, I'll be on my way."
"Go on."
Without the slightest hesitation, Long Ao turned and quickly departed. He knew that right now, strength was more important to him than anything else.