Chapter 389: Suspicion
After successfully slaying Situ Ren and five other Great Venerable Martial Artists, Long Ao finally witnessed the power of a Great Venerable.
Long Ao was completely confident. As long as he didn't encounter any World King or World Emperor Martial Artists, he was practically invincible.
In other words, he could easily slay any Great Venerable Martial Artist he encountered. 'And if I use the God-Locking Pearl or a Soul Attack, the power will be even more terrifying.'
City Management.
In the City of Sin, besides the Five Great Emperors, the most formidable force was the City Management.
According to Wen Lan, although the Five Great Emperors were the overlords of the City of Sin, they didn't manage its affairs. This made the City Management the de facto highest authority.
For this very reason, after careful consideration, Long Ao ultimately decided to start with the City Management.
Finding out about the situation in the City of Sin was incredibly easy. As long as you were willing to spend Beast Pills, nothing was impossible. Thus, after spending one thousand Beast Pills, Long Ao had a near-complete understanding of the city's affairs.
The City of Sin had a place called the City Management Camp, which housed about a hundred people—in other words, the so-called hundred City Management officers. What did that imply?
A hundred City Management officers meant a hundred Great Venerable Martial Artists.
From this, one could see just how terrifying the strength of the City of Sin truly was, and that wasn't even counting the power of the Five Great Emperors.
It was for this very reason that Long Ao was so eager to obtain the power of the City of Sin. He was completely confident that once he subdued the entire city and made it his own, the Sect could leverage its power to contend with the Four Great Forces.
An opportunity.
'For me, the City of Sin is an opportunity—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'
The City Management Camp.
Long Ao didn't rush over recklessly. He knew that the City Management Camp in the City of Sin was controlled by the Five Great Emperors. If his whereabouts were exposed, moving forward would become incredibly difficult.
「Inside the Dragon Seal Space.」
"Master, the biggest difference between a Great Venerable Martial Artist and a World King Martial Artist is that a World King fuses the Golden Core inside their body completely with themselves, forming their own Domain. You could say that within your own Domain, you are invincible."
Nodding, Long Ao recalled the Power of Domain possessed by a Realm King. He had witnessed it firsthand back in the Nine Nether Space. If Heaven and Earth's Momentum hadn't suppressed the Power of Domain then, he would have been long dead by now.
"Long Fu, is there any way for me to quickly raise my Cultivation to the Realm King Realm?"
Long Ao was well aware that to establish a foothold in the City of Sin, a great battle was inevitable. His current strength was simply not enough—far from it. Only by breaking through to the Realm King Realm would he have the power to truly make a stand in the city.
With no other choice, Long Ao could only turn to Long Fu for help.
'I'm a Middle Level Great Venerable. Under normal circumstances, God knows how long it would take to break through. But with Long Fu's help, it should be much easier.'
This time, however, Long Fu shook his head and said, "As long as you have sufficient power, I am confident I can help you break through to Peak Great Venerable in a short time. But reaching the Realm King Realm will depend on you, Master."
'Depends on me?'
'What does that mean?'
Long Ao asked urgently, "Long Fu, are you saying that as long as I have enough power, I can easily break through from the Great Venerable Realm to the Realm King Realm?"
Long Ao had a love-hate relationship with his Desolate Sacred Body. After all, the Desolate Sacred Body was far too gluttonous—and not just ordinarily so. Otherwise, how could the Qilin Emperor's soul have only been enough for him to break through to Middle Level Great Venerable?
"Master, a World King Martial Artist must fuse the Golden Core in their body with themselves and transform it into the Power of Domain. This is something you must experience and comprehend on your own. No one else can help you with it. So, even if you possess an immense amount of power, you ultimately have to rely on yourself."
'So the Desolate Sacred Body is useless at this stage.'
Seeming to sense the frustration in his master's heart, Long Fu said, "The Desolate Sacred Body allows your Cultivation to be free of bottlenecks, but there are some essential things you still must comprehend personally. Otherwise, even if you managed to break through to the Realm King Realm, your strength would still be far inferior to other Realm Kings."
Nodding, Long Ao understood what Long Fu was saying all too well, so he didn't dwell on the issue.
'I'm a Middle Level Great Venerable. The most urgent task now is to figure out how to reach Peak Great Venerable first. Then, I can find a way to comprehend the Power of Domain and break through to the Realm King Realm.'
Breaking through from Middle Level Great Venerable to Peak Great Venerable seemed simple, but in reality, it was incredibly difficult.
Long Ao had already given the souls of the six Great Venerables to Long Fu for refinement. After all, having six Great Venerable Soul Slaves with Undying Bodies by his side would be a great help.
The sudden disappearance of the six-man group including Yu Wenhui and Situ Ren might not have caused a stir in the City of Sin, but the City Management Camp was in an uproar. After all, six experts couldn't just vanish for no reason.
For this very reason, the City Management Camp immediately dispatched people to find the six's whereabouts. But after searching high and low, they still couldn't find them. At this point, the City Management Camp was almost certain that the six had met a grim fate.
'Six City Management officers met with disaster in the City of Sin?'
No one wanted to believe it. In the City of Sin, who would dare to provoke the City Management? It was practically a death wish.
But it was better to be safe than sorry. After all, anyone who dared to enter the City of Sin was bound to be extraordinarily bold. Thus, the City Management Camp immediately launched a thorough investigation, determined to find out what had happened.
It had to be said that the City Management Camp took the disappearance of the six men very seriously—extremely seriously. They eventually even investigated Long Ao, which showed just how extensive their efforts were.
The argument between Long Ao and Situ Ren at the city gate was something no one would have given a second thought to normally. But things were different now. Six men had vanished without a trace, and the City Management Camp naturally wouldn't let even the smallest clue slip by.
「Outside the courtyard.」
Twenty City Management officers arrived in a grand procession. Staring at the residence before them, every one of them was curious. It was common knowledge that this residence belonged to Yu Wenhui. So why was it suddenly sold to someone else? And on top of that, Yu Wenhui had vanished without a trace right after the sale. It all seemed a little too coincidental.
"You're Long Ao?"
Their eyes fell on the young man who walked out from inside, his long, blood-red hair making him particularly conspicuous.
Long Ao wasn't the least bit surprised. He nodded and said, "That's right. I am Long Ao."
'A Celestial Venerable?'
They had originally thought Long Ao was the culprit, but after sensing that he was only a Celestial Venerable, they all knew he probably hadn't been the one to kill the six men. However, they didn't leave. Even if he wasn't the killer, the issue of the residence still hadn't been resolved.