War God Long Ao

The Third Level Long Family, Netherworld Mansion, and Piaomiao Palace went to war, a battle to the death.

Countless were killed and wounded. Bodies littered the fields, and blood flowed in rivers.

No one knew why the three great forces had suddenly gone to war; it was as if it had happened overnight.

The Imperial City hadn’t planned to intervene, but the three great forces were no fools. If they crippled each other, wouldn’t the Imperial City just swoop in and reap the benefits?

And so, the Four Great Forces plunged into a chaotic melee, the battlefront spreading from the Celestial State to engulf all of Kyushu.

The Dragon Sect stayed out of the conflict between the Four Great Forces entirely. Leaving aside the question of whether they even had the strength to contend with them, there was simply no strategic reason for the Dragon Sect to get involved.

「Kyushu Domain. City of Sin.」

Long Ao stopped assassinating the disciples and Elders of Piaomiao Palace. Instead, he decided it was time to first devour the two Divine Fruits.

"Master, the two Divine Fruits have many incredible uses. If you were to devour them, your Cultivation could break through the Semi-Saint Realm and you could advance directly to become a Saint."

The temptation of advancing directly to the Saint Realm was something most people could never resist.

But Long Ao didn’t agree immediately. Instead, he asked, "Long Fu, what are the other uses?"

’I’m no fool,’ Long Ao thought. ’For Long Fu to phrase it like that, there must be an even greater benefit. Otherwise, knowing his personality, he would’ve definitely urged me to just devour the Divine Fruits and break through to the Saint Realm.’

Long Ao understood Long Fu all too well.

"Master, the Divine Fruits have many uses. First, they can help you form the Desolate Divine Body, but your Cultivation Realm will be very difficult to advance."

Long Ao understood this. After all, he couldn’t have it both ways.

"The final use is to draw on the power of the Divine Fruits to refine a Divine Body Puppet."

"Long Fu, what is a Divine Body Puppet?"

"It’s simple, Master. If we can refine a Saint Corpse Slave, we can have it fuse with a Divine Fruit. Its Defense Power alone will increase tenfold, and it will gain an Undying Body."

Long Fu didn’t elaborate, but his meaning was perfectly clear.

Long Ao sank into thought. He now had three choices before him: first, to devour the Divine Fruits and break through to the Saint Realm.

Second, to use them to help form his Desolate Divine Body. And third, to create the most powerful, undying Corpse Slave puppet.

It had to be said, all three options were incredibly tempting. He didn’t want to give up on any of them.

’Which one should I choose?’

Long Fu didn’t press him, waiting quietly. For a time, silence fell over the Dragon Seal Space.

After mulling it over, Long Ao finally decided to give up on advancing to the Saint Realm. He knew very well that he could raise his Cultivation Realm through hard work and practice, but the chance to form the Desolate Divine Body wasn’t something that came along every day.

Between the remaining options—the Desolate Divine Body and the Divine Body Puppet—Long Ao intended to pursue both. But at that moment, Long Fu suddenly said, "Master, you can only choose one."

"Why is that?"

Long Ao was startled. ’I have two whole Divine Fruits,’ he thought. ’Even if I don’t use them to break through, I should at least be able to form the Desolate Divine Body and create the Divine Body Puppet. But now I can only choose one? What happens to the other Divine Fruit?’

"Master, two Divine Fruits are only enough to form one-third of the Desolate Divine Body."

Damn.

Cursing inwardly, Long Ao realized with a shock that he had never considered this. If two Divine Fruits could only form one-third of it, didn’t that mean he needed six Divine Fruits to form a complete Desolate Divine Body?

’Six Divine Fruits... where am I supposed to steal the other four?’ Long Ao was even tempted to give up on the idea and just focus on devouring the fruits to break through to the Saint Realm.

But after thinking it over, he still decided to form the Desolate Divine Body. After all, considering his current speed, strength, and defense, it was his defense that was most lacking.

His offense was covered by the Blood-Drinking Mad Saber, Heaven and Earth’s Momentum, and Heaven and Earth Mourn Together, which were enough to fight a High Level Semi-Saint. His speed was covered by Spatial Teleportation, allowing him to evade many High Level Martial Artists. But as for his defense, relying solely on the Desolate Sacred Body just didn’t seem to be enough.

Feeling he had no better option, Long Ao could only choose to form the Desolate Divine Body.

"Long Fu, let’s begin."

Long Fu nodded, showing no surprise, as if he had already known Long Ao would choose to form the Desolate Divine Body. And so, Long Ao immediately devoured the two Divine Fruits and began forming the so-called Desolate Divine Body.

「Kyushu Spirit Realm. Imperial City. Inside a pavilion.」

Duan He cursed, saying angrily, "Father, that despicable bastard Long Ao! The understanding was that the three great forces would fight it out, and we would reap the benefits as the third party. But now, we’ve been dragged into the fray, while the Dragon Sect gets to sit on the sidelines!"

Duan Kai’s expression was just as grim, as dark as it could possibly be.

Neither of them had ever imagined that Long Ao would play them like this. Given the chaotic state of the war, it would be no easy task for the Imperial City to pull out now.

"Father, since Long Ao is so determined to court death, let’s not waste any more words. We should just annihilate the Dragon Sect."

Waving his hand, Duan Kai’s expression was extremely grave. He suddenly asked, "Do you know why the other three forces don’t dare to make a rash move on the Dragon Sect?"

Duan He shook his head. He truly didn’t know the reason.

Under normal circumstances, now that the three great forces had established themselves in the Celestial State, annihilating the Dragon Sect should have been a foregone conclusion. But what had happened instead?

The three great forces were only concerned with their free-for-all, making no move against the Dragon Sect. If the Four Great Forces fought until they all suffered devastating losses, the Dragon Sect would be the biggest beneficiary in the end.

"Back when Long Ao wreaked havoc in Piaomiao Palace, it should have been a simple matter for them to kill him. But in the end, a Sealed Titled Great Emperor suddenly appeared. He not only took Long Ao away but also made a one-year pact with Piaomiao Palace on Long Ao’s behalf."

Duan He was no fool. Of course, he understood the implication of his father’s words. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t shocked.

"Father, are you saying that if we, the Four Great Forces, attack the Dragon Sect, we risk drawing out that Sealed Titled Great Emperor?"

Duan Kai nodded. Though he was extremely reluctant to believe it, he had no choice but to say, "A Sealed Titled Great Emperor is not an existence our Four Great Forces can afford to provoke. The Dragon Sect’s background and strength might be lacking, but the mere presence of a Sealed Titled Martial Artist guarding it is enough to deter all of us."

Hearing this, Duan He finally understood why his father and the three great forces dared not move rashly against Long Ao and the Dragon Sect. In the end, it wasn’t Long Ao or the Dragon Sect they feared, but the Sealed Titled Great Emperor guarding it. Otherwise, a trivial figure like Long Ao and his little Dragon Sect would never have been given a second thought by the Four Great Forces.

"Father, in that case, what should we do now?"

"We’ll wait and see what happens. Let’s observe how the other three forces act. We cannot be the ones to stick our necks out this time. Otherwise, we’ll be the ones who suffer the loss in the end."