War God Long Ao

In any case, the Long Family's crisis was finally resolved.

Long Ao took Long Bu, Long Potian, and the remaining disciples of the Long Family, leaving Chizhou to return to Long Ao Peak.

After much consideration, Long Ao decided to settle Brother Potian's family on Long Ao Peak. With the Corpse Slaves and the Fire Qilin guarding the mountain, he believed it would be much safer.

Long Ao's trip to Chizhou had taken ten days in total. When he returned to the Dragon Sect, he found the entire mountain peak in ruins, trampled and desecrated.

He felt no resentment. All that mattered was that the Dragon Sect's disciples were unharmed; it was a blessing in disguise. As long as the disciples were there, rebuilding the sect would be a piece of cake.

Long Ao had just returned to the Dragon Sect when Ghost King Ao Tian somehow found out and appeared at his door. He got straight to the point, asking, "Long Ao, where have you been all this time?"

With an indifferent expression, Long Ao replied, "I had important matters to attend to."

Noticing Long Ao's bad mood, Ao Tian said, "The three hundred Innate Martial Artists and one Celestial Venerable dispatched by the Imperial City returned empty-handed."

"In three days, I'll be here waiting for them."

Before Ao Tian could speak, Long Ao continued, "We have an Alliance, but the Dragon Sect is not a subordinate of the Ghost King Sect. For Ao Xue's sake, I won't make an issue of it, but I hope you don't take things too far."

Long Ao was clearly displeased, as he was already feeling the pressure.

All along his journey, whenever he was about to reach a Peak, an even more powerful Martial Artist would always appear. He had originally thought the Void Realm Emperor was the most powerful existence, but to his surprise, Long Ao discovered there were even higher beings beyond the Void Realm Emperor.

Ao Tian gave him a deep look and said, "Alright. In three days, I'll convince the Imperial City to attack the Dragon Sect again. I hope you won't disappear without a reason this time."

Ao Tian knew that the current Long Ao was a far cry from his former self. Even the Ghost King Sect wouldn't dare to provoke the Dragon Sect lightly.

Without the Imperial City's support, the Ghost King Sect probably couldn't withstand the Dragon Sect at all.

After all, the Dragon Sect had annihilated three major sects in a single night. One could only imagine how formidable they truly were.

Ghost King Ao Tian was, of course, perfectly clear on this point. Long Ao ignored Ao Tian and went to gather all the disciples of the Dragon Sect. "I want the Dragon Sect restored to its former state within two days," he announced.

"Yes, Sect Leader."

Long Ao now had both the manpower and the money. Restoring the Dragon Sect to its original appearance in just two days was not a difficult task.

However, Long Ao's requirements were higher this time; the standard had to be raised a full notch.

After returning to the Dragon Sect, Long Ao did not appear in public again. He handed all matters over to Dugu Bai and Long Potian, while the task of recruiting new disciples was given to the father-and-son pair, Xia Fang and Xia Jun.

「Dusk.」

Long Ao stood at the peak of the mountain, gazing upon the vast earth, his mind a tranquil void.

At this moment, Long Ao seemed exceptionally calm, thinking of nothing at all. Gradually, his body began to move. The movements appeared chaotic and random, yet they followed a specific trajectory.

After moving for a full hour, Long Ao came to a sudden halt. A look of pleasant surprise crossed his face as he muttered to himself, "'So that's how it is.'"

Just then, the Dantian inside Long Ao's body began to spin wildly. The surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi poured into his Dantian in a ceaseless stream. Long Ao was completely enveloped by the Spiritual Qi, wrapped in layer after layer.

"Absorb."

With a roar, all the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was sucked into Long Ao's body, flowing directly into his Dantian before circulating throughout his entire frame. Long Ao was ecstatic. He had finally found a way to break through to the Supreme Venerable Realm, which had eluded him for so long.

An epiphany.

Long Ao knew perfectly well that he had only been able to find this breakthrough because of an epiphany. The source of this epiphany was none other than Shi Potian.

Shi Potian and the Evil Demon were the most powerful beings Long Ao had ever encountered. The Evil Demon was, after all, a soul, so the pressure it exuded wasn't that intense. But Shi Potian was different. The real, tangible pressure from him had directly triggered Long Ao's epiphany, allowing him to find the breakthrough point to the Supreme Venerable Realm.

The greatest difference between a Void Venerable and a Void Supreme Venerable is the Venerable Golden Core.

In other words, for a Void Venerable to break through to the Void Supreme Venerable realm, they must first condense the Spiritual Essence in their body into a Golden Core. This sounds simple, but it is incredibly difficult in practice; otherwise, Long Ao wouldn't have been so frustrated.

Regardless, he had now found the opening. As long as he could condense his Spiritual Essence into a Golden Core, he would truly reach the so-called Supreme Venerable Realm.

Long Ao did not let this opportunity slip by. He threw his entire being into condensing his Spiritual Essence, knowing full well that if he failed this time, a second attempt would be even more difficult.

At this moment, all the power in Long Ao's body converged within his Dantian. It began to spin, slowly gathering and starting to compress. This was the most crucial step; whether or not he could successfully form a Golden Core depended on it.

All of his Spiritual Essence gathered and began to compress fiercely. An unknown amount of time passed before Long Ao stopped absorbing the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. However, he remained shrouded by it, his body completely hidden from view, with only a thick, white-like Qi Shield visible.

Inside the Qi Shield.

Within Long Ao's body, a small, golden-yellow bead had formed—the Venerable Golden Core. After a full night of condensation, Long Ao had finally formed the Venerable Golden Core. But it wasn't over yet. Long Ao still needed to continuously reinforce the Golden Core to completely stabilize it.

Long Ao knew a great deal about the Void Supreme Venerable realm. The stronger the consolidated Golden Core, the faster one's Cultivation would advance. In other words, after a Void Venerable broke through to the Supreme Venerable realm and formed a Golden Core, some Martial Artists would directly enter the Void High Level Venerable stage, some would only reach the Void Basic Level Venerable stage, and some might even directly enter the Void Peak Venerable stage.

It was for this very reason that Long Ao did his utmost to reinforce it.

Gradually, the Golden Core inside Long Ao's body grew larger. When it reached the size of a fist, Long Ao felt as if his entire body had been drained dry. In an instant, all the Spiritual Qi in his body vanished. At that moment, the newly consolidated Golden Core began to radiate a formidable Power of Spiritual Essence.

The Venerable Golden Core and the Power of Spiritual Essence—the symbols of a Supreme Venerable.

Long Ao was absolutely ecstatic. He had never imagined that he would so easily break through the Realm that had eluded him for so long. Moreover, he hadn't just reached the Void Basic Level Venerable stage, but had shot straight to the Void Peak Venerable stage! He had never even dreamed of such a rapid advancement.

Without the slightest hesitation, Long Ao immediately circulated the Spiritual Essence emanating from the Golden Core throughout his entire body, not missing a single spot. By doing so, his Cultivation was thoroughly stabilized at the Void Peak Venerable level. This was another outcome Long Ao had not anticipated.

*(PS: I can't hold on any longer, Xiaojiu is going to grab a bite to eat. The remaining three chapters will all be delivered between one and two o'clock. There will still be ten chapters tomorrow; I'll get up early to write. Staying up late these past few days has really tired me out. I slept for a long time today, but it feels like I still haven't recovered.)*