War God Long Ao

Long Ao nodded, not denying the fact.

In the Six Sects Competition, the Six Great Sects would all send their most powerful disciples. It was safe to say that all participants in the competition were figures from the Wind and Cloud Ranking.

A Third Transformation Martial Artist was nothing special in the Six Sects Competition.

"Brother Long, I'll get straight to the point. In the short nine days that remain, I can help you break through to the Human King Realm. With your talent and potential, I believe you should be able to secure a place for yourself in the Six Sects Competition."

"What's the method?"

Even Long Fu had been helpless. Long Ao was very curious what method Dugu Bai could possibly have to help him break through to the Human King Realm.

Long Ao knew perfectly well that although the Third Transformation Realm and the Human King Realm were only a single Realm apart, the two were on completely different levels. The gap was immense.

"Brother Long, this is your first time in Thunder Valley, so tempering your power will be most effective. Follow me."

Long Ao followed Dugu Bai out from the depths to a purplish-black giant stone. Pointing at it, Dugu Bai said, "Brother Long, this Purple Thunder Giant Stone is the culmination of all the essence I've gathered over the years. If you sit on it to cultivate, you should be able to break through to the Human King Realm within seven days."

Long Ao nodded. Without any ceremony, he offered a word of thanks before walking directly to the Purple Thunder Giant Stone. He sat down cross-legged and immediately entered a state of Cultivation.

Sure enough.

The moment he sat down and entered a state of Cultivation, Long Ao discovered what was so different about the Purple Thunder Giant Stone. In an instant, terrifying waves of the Power of Thunder and Lightning enveloped him, surging in and out, constantly tempering the power within his body.

Dugu Bai, who was standing beside the Purple Thunder Giant Stone, smiled. A startling momentum suddenly erupted from him, and in the next moment, the surrounding Zilei began to converge madly toward Long Ao.

Long Ao, deep in his Cultivation, suddenly felt the Zilei surging into his body. He knew, of course, what was happening.

'He felt a surge of gratitude for Dugu Bai, but his situation didn't allow for idle thoughts. He threw himself wholeheartedly into his Cultivation.'

Originally, Dugu Bai had predicted that Long Ao would need at least seven days to advance from the Third Transformation Realm to the Human King Realm. However, Long Ao shortened that time to a mere four days.

When Long Ao opened his eyes, Dugu Bai sighed in admiration. "Brother Long, I have to admit, your talent and potential are the greatest I've ever seen."

Getting off the Purple Thunder Giant Stone, Long Ao smiled and said, "Thank you for helping me, Brother Dugu Bai. Words can't express my gratitude."

"Brother Long, I'm truly curious. What kind of Secret Technique did you use to instantly boost your strength and defeat Zhang Zhihang?"

Since he already considered Dugu Bai a friend, Long Ao held nothing back. He said, "Brother Dugu Bai, have you ever heard of the Nine Needle God-Sealing?"

Seeing Dugu Bai shake his head, Long Ao continued, "The principle behind the Nine Needle God-Sealing is simple. It just uses nine Divine Sealing Needles to seal one's nine major acupoints. Although the Nine Needle God-Sealing can boost one's strength for a short period, the backlash is immense. The slightest mistake could lead you to a point of no return."

Nodding with a look of understanding, Dugu Bai said, "Brother Long, in that case, I must advise you: unless it's an absolute last resort, it's best not to use the Nine Needle God-Sealing."

"I understand."

"Hahaha, Brother Long, now that you've broken through to the Human King Realm, why don't we have a match? It might be a good opportunity for both of us."

Long Ao didn't refuse. Sparring between Martial Artists could, at times, be a very beneficial thing.

Because of this, both Long Ao and Dugu Bai stopped talking. They stared intently at each other as powerful battle intent erupted from their bodies. Before the fight had even begun, their fighting spirits were already clashing violently.

As expected of the number one expert on the Wind and Cloud Ranking, that battle intent alone was enough to look down on all his peers.

Long Ao wasn't the least bit careless. Even though it was a sparring match, not going all out would be disrespectful to a Martial Artist, disrespectful to a friend.

In an instant, Long Ao and Dugu Bai both moved. In a flash, they were already locked in combat. Since it was just a spar, neither used a weapon, fighting with their bare hands.

A Taoist Ancestor was a Taoist Ancestor, after all. The gap between the Human King Realm, which was part of the Five Transformations, and the Taoist Ancestor Realm was simply enormous.

It was for this very reason that Long Ao attacked with all his might. Taking the God-Locking Pearl and the Godslaying Mirror from his robes, he activated the two Divine Artifacts. Waves of an eerie aura spread out, instantly enveloping the surrounding space.

Dugu Bai, who had been brimming with confidence, suddenly felt his body lock in place. He discovered time was flowing backward, and in his shock, his movements slowed.

"Brother Long, you win. You should be number one on the Wind and Cloud Ranking."

"Brother Dugu Bai, we both know very well that if this were a life-and-death battle, I would have surely lost. You were just holding back. How about we call this match a draw?"

"Hahaha, good! Let's go," Dugu Bai said, seeming very pleased. In truth, he had just been making a polite concession. As Long Ao had said, the gap in their strength was huge. If they had fought with all their might, Long Ao would have undoubtedly lost.

The gap between a Taoist Ancestor and an Earth Emperor is immense; they aren't in the same league.

「Outside Thunder Valley.」

Xia Army had been standing guard here. If anything were to happen to Long Ao, he could rush into Thunder Valley to rescue him at a moment's notice.

According to Xia Army's calculations, Long Ao's training in Thunder Valley would take at least seven days, after which he would head to Ghost Cry Ridge for the next two. But now, Xia Army watched in surprise as two figures emerged from the valley—it had only been four days, and Long Ao was even walking out with Brother Dugu.

"Brother Dugu, Brother Long, how did you two come out together?"

Xia Army, of course, knew that Dugu Bai was cultivating in Thunder Valley. But given Dugu Bai's personality, he normally wouldn't even say a word to someone he encountered. Now, however, the two of them clearly looked like friends.

"Xiaojun, Brother Long and I hit it off right away. We just had a sparring match and fought to a draw."

Hearing Dugu Bai's words, Long Ao was also a little surprised. For someone of Dugu Bai's current status and strength to publicly admit to a draw was, in itself, not beneficial for him.

'So magnanimous,' Long Ao thought, beginning to truly admire the man beside him.

"Brother Long, your Cultivation broke through?"

Only four days, and he was able to fight Brother Dugu to a draw. Even if there was more to the story, it still spoke volumes. That was why Xia Army was so incredibly surprised.

"Just a lucky breakthrough."

Hearing Long Ao's words, a wry smile crossed Xia Army's face. 'It's true what they say,' he thought. 'Comparisons are the thief of joy.'