War God Long Ao

Heaven and Earth Mourn Together.

This was the first time Long Ao had created his own martial skill since obtaining the Mysterious Dragon Seal and leaving Red Fire Town.

Only by pairing them with powerful martial arts could Martial Artists unleash their greatest might, and a Self-Created Martial Skill was the one most suited to its creator.

But creating one's own martial skill was easier said than done.

This time, upon entering Corpse Bone Mountain, Long Ao had unintentionally witnessed a wondrous spectacle of the heavens and earth. He immediately fell into a state of epiphany and, by borrowing the Heaven and Earth's Momentum, created a martial skill—the very one named Heaven and Earth Mourn Together.

The meaning of Heaven and Earth Mourn Together was simple: once the martial art was unleashed, Heaven and Earth themselves would suffer a tragedy.

But Long Ao was still being a bit arrogant. Even if he had created his own martial skill, it was impossible for him to contend with Heaven and Earth in their entirety. That was why, just after colliding with the momentum's black fog, he had violently vomited blood and been sent flying backward.

Without continuing to struggle against Heaven and Earth, Long Ao turned and quickly departed, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

「Somewhere in Corpse Bone Mountain.」

Sitting on a giant boulder, Long Ao gasped for breath, enduring the waves of pain wracking his body. Yet, he felt not the slightest displeasure; instead, he was overcome with joyful surprise.

Even now, Long Ao hadn't fully processed it. He had never, ever imagined that under such circumstances, he would actually create his own martial skill—a martial art that belonged to him, one truly suited for him.

'I know exactly what creating my own martial skill means.' Long Ao was fully confident. 'With this Self-Created Martial Skill, Heaven and Earth Mourn Together, born from an epiphany aided by the Heaven and Earth's Momentum, I can even kill an Earth Emperor Peak Martial Artist. As for whether I can fight a Taoist Ancestor Martial Artist... I have no way of knowing without actually facing one.'

Heaven and Earth Mourn Together.

Long Ao gave a helpless smile. 'I have no idea why I chose a name like that. Heaven and Earth Mourn Together... Doesn't that mean that once I use this martial art, Heaven and Earth themselves will face tragedy?'

'If anyone else found out, they'd definitely call me arrogant.'

After resting for a while, Long Ao didn't set out immediately. Instead, he sat down on the ground and began to recuperate. 'This time, when I contended with Heaven and Earth... It's a good thing Heaven and Earth Mourn Together managed to fuse with most of the Heaven and Earth's Momentum. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would have been devoured by Heaven and Earth by now.'

'Just thinking about it now sends a chill down my spine.'

「Three hours later.」

Long Ao was well aware that not every Spirit Beast in Corpse Bone Mountain was in the Earth Emperor Realm. 'My luck must be something else, to have actually run into a dozen Ice and Fire Double-headed Pythons at the Earth Emperor Realm.'

For the remainder of his journey, Long Ao didn't encounter any more powerful Spirit Beasts. It took him a full five days before he finally managed to find a way out of Corpse Bone Mountain.

As soon as he stepped out of Corpse Bone Mountain, Long Ao saw Dugu Bai and Xia Army waiting anxiously for him.

Seeing that the two of them were unharmed, Long Ao breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could speak, Dugu Bai asked worriedly, "Brother Long, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"It's good that we're all okay. Brother Long, I just received news that someone had already found another path between Celestial State and Chizhou. We just didn't know about it. Thankfully, we all made it out safely. Otherwise, what a pointless ordeal this would have been."

Hearing Dugu Bai's words, Long Ao felt pretty frustrated too. If that was true, then their trio's experience had been rather tragic. But no matter what, the three of them had made it out safely, which was a blessing in disguise.

"Alright, we don't have much time. Brother Dugu, Brother Long, let's get going."

Dugu Bai and Long Ao nodded. Without the slightest hesitation, the three of them set off toward Chizhou. Long Ao didn't mention a single word about what had happened to him in Corpse Bone Mountain, acting as if it had never occurred.

Chizhou, one of the Nine States, was much stronger than Celestial State.

The situation in Chizhou was somewhat different from Celestial State. While Celestial State was dominated by the Six Great Sects, Chizhou was a battleground for the Nine Great Clans.

The Nine Great Clans of Chizhou were: the Wang Family, the Hao Family, the Duanmu Family, the Long Family, the Miao Family, the Wei Family, the Zhou Family, the Fang Family, and the Yan Family.

Much like the Six Great Sects of Celestial State, the Nine Great Clans normally schemed and fought amongst themselves, each wanting to eliminate the others. But with the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle approaching, all Nine Great Clans chose to temporarily set aside their grudges and present a united front against outsiders.

All of the Nine States took the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle very seriously. Moreover, every figure on the nine Wind and Cloud Rankings wanted to test the true extent of their strength and fight for a place among the younger generation of the entire Celestial Martial Continent.

This session of the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle was to be held in Chizhou.

After discussion among the Nine Great Clans, the venue for this Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle was set: within the Red Heaven Realm.

The Red Heaven Realm was known as an Ancient Battlefield. Legend had it that over a thousand years ago, before the Nine States of the Celestial Martial Continent were separated, all the major powers fought in a chaotic war. Countless experts had fallen, and the battlegrounds of these experts came to be known as the Ancient Battlefields. The Red Heaven Realm was one of them.

Because of this, after the disciples on the Wind and Cloud Rankings from the other eight states entered Chizhou, they didn't need to go anywhere else; they could head directly to the Red Heaven Realm and wait.

The Celestial Martial Continent was divided into Nine States.

Celestial State, Di Zhou, Rizhou, Yuezhou, Sunset State, Yunzhou, Chizhou, Illusion State, and Heilin State. Every ten years, the Nine States would hold the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle.

The participants had to be listed on their respective state's Wind and Cloud Ranking.

The Nine States had a total of nine Wind and Cloud Rankings, with one hundred people on each. This meant that the nine Wind and Cloud Rankings of the Nine States should have had a total of nine hundred people. However, when everyone from the rankings gathered, a rough count showed that only a little over seven hundred people were actually present to participate in the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle. The remaining two hundred had not appeared.

According to the agreement between the Nine States, anyone who failed to participate in any session of the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle would be unconditionally removed from the Wind and Cloud Ranking. In other words, if a figure on the ranking didn't show up for the battle, they would later be automatically dropped from the list, allowing others to vie for their spot.

「Outside the Red Heaven Realm.」

The participants from the Nine States were divided into nine groups, with none encroaching on the others. Perhaps back in their own states, they were like fire and water, but right now, everyone remembered which state they belonged to. No matter what might happen once they entered the Red Heaven Realm, they couldn't let outsiders laugh at them now.

"Brother Long, Xiaojun, I'm sure you already know about the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle, so I won't say much more. Countless people are wounded or killed every time. Each session of the battle also results in a major shake-up of the nine Wind and Cloud Rankings. So, I only want to tell you one thing: no matter what happens, make it out alive."

It's always better to be safe than sorry. If, by some chance, they were to enter the Red Heaven Realm and get separated, they would have to fend for themselves. Surrounded by enemies on all sides, they could run into danger at any moment. No one could guarantee they would make it out alive.

Long Ao and Xia Army nodded firmly. Long Ao said, "We will definitely make it out safely."

"Long Ao, someone like you dares to participate in the Kyushu Wind and Cloud Battle? You've completely disgraced our Celestial State."

"Huo Teng, who the fuck do you think you are? Piss off."