War God Long Ao

Long Ao and Long Chen sat on the ground.

On the mountain’s peak, cold winds gusted.

"Long Ao, what do you think of your own strength?"

Although he didn’t know what Long Chen truly meant by the question, Long Ao answered honestly, "Across the continent, it’s nothing special. But among my peers, I should be able to rank in the top ten."

Upon hearing this, Long Chen didn’t react with simple agreement. Instead, he let out a deep sigh.

Long Ao’s heart skipped a beat. ’Could it be that my strength isn’t enough to dominate my peers?’

Shaking his head helplessly, Long Chen said gloomily, "If I hadn’t gone to the Long Clan this time, I too would have firmly believed that with your strength and potential, dominating your peers would be no problem at all. But the problem now is..."

After some thought, Long Chen continued, "In the Long Clan, let’s not even talk about the powerhouses. Just among the younger generation of disciples, there are many, many people stronger than you and I."

’Fuck.’

Cursing viciously in his heart, Long Ao knew, of course, that the Long Clan was powerful. That was beyond doubt. After all, it was a fact acknowledged by the entire world; it wouldn’t matter even if he refused to admit it.

But Long Ao had always been very confident in his own strength. With his Cultivation speed, he had always believed that even if he couldn’t be number one in the world, breaking into the top ten should be no problem.

But now?

"Long Ao, to be honest with you, when I went to the Long Clan this time, I was met with endless ridicule and scorn. In their eyes, forget about families below the Third Level like ours—even disciples from a Second Level Long Family aren’t worth their notice."

Before Long Ao could speak, Long Chen continued, "If I hadn’t successfully undergone a Bloodline Awakening and gained Talent Divine Abilities this time, I’m sure I would have been kicked off the Dragon Ranking long ago."

Long Ao had already thought of this.

Without Long Chen needing to say more, Long Ao had already guessed that the Long Clan’s Dragon Ranking was not as simple as the outside world claimed.

’A Realm King or a Realm Emperor wants to get on the Dragon Ranking?’

Long Ao knew very well that with Long Chen’s strength, getting on the ranking—even in last place—would have been impossible. If Long Chen hadn’t awakened his Divine Abilities through his bloodline this time, forget about staying on the ranking; whether he could have returned in one piece would have been a huge question.

"Long Ao, the Long Clan has given me a deadline. One year. After one year, I have to accept challenges from all the disciples of the Long Clan. If I succeed, I stay on the Dragon Ranking. If I fail..."

Long Chen didn’t continue, but the helplessness in his words was plain to see.

Long Ao also let out a deep sigh. It was just as the saying goes: there’s always someone better out there. What he was seeing now was just the tip of the iceberg of the continent. The Peak of Realm Emperor, in the eyes of the outside world, was probably just a joke—a massive joke.

Seeing that Long Ao was deep in thought, Long Chen suddenly smiled and said, "Long Ao, I have absolute faith in your talent and potential. But, Long Ao, I want to give you a piece of advice. If you have the chance to go to the Long Clan in the future, you must not provoke anyone casually. Otherwise, you’ll be in a lot of trouble."

"I won’t be going to the Long Clan."

Long Ao had already decided that no matter what happened, he would not go to the Long Clan. Leaving aside other reasons, just the fact that he had established the Dragon Sect was enough for the Long Clan to not let him off the hook.

Long Chen had just said it himself. Within the Long Clan, opinions were divided. A large faction advocated for not dealing with him, but a smaller faction still wanted to kill him. If he really went to the Long Clan, he could imagine the outcome.

"Well, it’s still too early to worry about that. At the very least, the Long Clan won’t move against you for now."

"You have one year. I believe that you can rely on your own strength to secure a spot on the Dragon Ranking."

Long Chen gave a bitter smile. Although he was very confident, the thought of the countless geniuses in the Long Clan, not to mention the demonic prodigies, filled him with a deep sense of helplessness.

"Long Ao, I have other matters to attend to. I’ll be entering secluded Cultivation for this one year. After the year is up, I’ll come find you again."

With that, Long Chen got up and left quickly. In just a short while, he had vanished without a trace.

Long Ao didn’t leave immediately, but sat quietly on the mountain’s peak.

The Long Clan, the Dragon Ranking, Long Chen, Talent Divine Abilities... Long Ao reviewed them one by one in his mind. He realized that he seemed to have oversimplified everything.

Because no matter which faction’s opinion in the Long Clan prevailed, he had no say in the matter. In the end, he was just a pawn. Unless he could reach the so-called Divine Dao, especially the Celestial Divine Realm, he would forever remain just a pawn.

’To escape the fate of a pawn, there is only one way: possess overwhelming strength.’

Long Ao stood up and stretched fiercely. Just as Long Chen had said, the Long Clan wouldn’t deal with him for the time being. This meant he had enough time to increase his strength. When the day came that he broke through to the Divine Dao, he was very curious to see how the Long Clan would try to deal with him then.

Long Ao got up and left, preparing to return directly to the Dragon Sect.

Regarding the Alliance with the Imperial City, Long Ao was being extra, extra cautious. After all, you can’t be too careful, and no one knew what the Imperial City’s true intentions were.

But the main reason Long Ao had agreed to the Alliance was that he had already been planning to move the Dragon Sect into the City of Sin in the Kyushu Spirit Realm. Only by doing so could he slowly infiltrate the Kyushu Spirit Realm, so that if war broke out in the future, he wouldn’t have to worry about what was behind him.

What’s more, the Imperial City was now providing a Teleportation Array. As long as he held onto it firmly, he believed that even if they suffered losses in the future, they could retreat at a moment’s notice.

「Third Level Long Family.」

When they saw Long Chen return, having successfully awakened his Divine Abilities through his bloodline, the entire Long Family erupted in celebration. He was the first disciple from the Third Level Long Family to achieve this, and in an instant, Long Chen’s status within the family skyrocketed.

「The Main Hall.」

"Uncle, I’ve returned this time to enter seclusion for a year. I hope no one disturbs me during this time. Also, I’d like to offer you a piece of advice, Uncle: Long Ao is not someone to be provoked. Perhaps his strength isn’t taken seriously by the Four Great Forces right now, but I can guarantee that in less than ten years, Long Ao will have grown to an incredible height. At that time..."

Long Chen didn’t continue, but the meaning behind his words was already very clear.

"Chen’er, we’ll talk about this matter later. Your successful awakening of your Talent Divine Abilities is a blessing for the family. The Old Ancestor has already asked for you many times. You should hurry and go see him."

Sighing deeply, Long Chen understood in his heart that his uncle hadn’t taken his words to heart at all. ’If the family provokes Long Ao, they will surely face retribution in the future. When that time comes, even if Long Ao and I are friends, I’m afraid it will be difficult to clean up the mess.’

Without wasting any more words, Long Chen turned and left. After all, the Old Ancestor had summoned him, and he couldn’t afford the slightest delay.

(PS: Damn, Qian Wen from the group just said no one’s donations can surpass his, which makes him too embarrassed to donate more. I’m floored. Brothers, can anyone surpass him? Xiaojiu would be eternally grateful!)