Chapter 605: Taking Precautions

Chapter 605: Chapter 605: Taking Precautions

Looking at the Sect Leader before them, everyone somehow felt that he had changed.

Leaving the main hall, Long Ao headed for the Forbidden Land on the back mountain.

Aside from Long Ao, no one dared to set foot in the back mountain’s Forbidden Land.

It was common knowledge that the Dragon Sect was home to a supreme expert at the Great Emperor Level. It was precisely because of this individual that the Sect had survived the Four Great Forces’ attack.

"How are your injuries, Brother Qilin?"

Long Ao was very concerned about the Qilin’s injuries, because the stronger the Qilin was, the more the Sect stood to gain.

Besides, in his heart, Long Ao already considered the Fire Qilin a friend.

Shaking his head helplessly, the Fire Qilin grew frustrated at the thought of his own injuries. "I thought the Spirit Grass you brought me would be enough to restore my strength," he said, sounding dejected. "I never imagined I still wouldn’t be able to return to my Peak."

Long Ao had already guessed as much.

The Qilin Race, despite being one of the most powerful races in Heaven and Earth, had its advantages and disadvantages.

"Brother Qilin, what would it take to restore your injuries to Peak condition in the shortest time possible?"

"You need something?"

Since things had come to this, Long Ao was direct. "Brother Qilin, I came back this time to take revenge on the Four Great Forces. When war breaks out, I will need your help."

It was no secret that each of the Four Great Forces had a Great Emperor Martial Artist at its helm.

Long Ao had considered this point. He and the Four Great Forces would go to war sooner or later. Once the fighting began, they would have to commit everything, and in the end, no one knew if the Great Emperor Martial Artists would participate.

It was best to be prepared.

Long Ao dared not gamble, nor could he afford to. That was why he was prepared to do everything he could to help the Fire Qilin recover his Peak strength. This way, with the Fire Qilin overseeing the Sect and his grandfather overseeing the family, they could at least protect themselves.

In fact, Long Ao had already considered that if the Sect went to war with the Four Great Forces, his grandfather could come and help guard the Sect. At that point, with two Great Emperor Martial Artists, they could almost disregard any single one of the other powers.

As for his family, Long Ao had already thought it through. The Ancestor would not be entering Reincarnation anytime soon. With the Ancestor protecting the family, never mind a single force—even if the Imperial City, Piaomiao Palace, Netherworld Mansion, and the Third Level Long Family were to join forces, the Ancestor wouldn’t give them a second thought.

This was the Divine Dao.

This was the most powerful existence in all of Heaven and Earth.

Although Long Ao knew that above the Divine Dao was the Martial Arts Peak, in the eyes of ordinary people, a Divine Dao Martial Artist was already a god-like being.

"Long Ao, given our relationship, I don’t need to hide anything. It will be very difficult to recover my original strength—unless we try one method."

"Devouring the soul of a Great Emperor?"

"That’s the first requirement. Besides that, I also need a large amount of blood. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to reach my Peak strength."

"Brother Qilin, what kind of blood are you talking about?"

"Holy Beast Blood."

So that was it. Long Ao nodded and said, "I’ll keep an eye out for a Great Emperor’s soul. As for the Holy Beast Blood, that’s easy enough. I’ll prepare some for you soon."

The prospect of finding a Great Emperor Level soul was daunting to Long Ao, so for now, he decided to first help the Fire Qilin obtain the required Holy Beast Blood.

While brutally suppressing Kyushu, he also cultivated with all his might and comprehended the so-called Divine Calculation Dao.

The Divine Calculation Dao seemed simple, but it was in fact extremely difficult to comprehend.

As more time passed, Long Ao grew ever more shocked, for he was slowly discovering that the Divine Calculation Dao encompassed all things. It was ever-changing and exceptionally profound.

「Chizhou.」

With the complete defeat of the Four Great Forces, the powers in Chizhou were also thoroughly purged by the Dragon Sect. From then on, the Ninety-Nine-Heaven Celestial Ladder belonged to the Dragon Sect. However, Long Ao was not petty; besides allowing Dragon Sect disciples to climb the Ninety-Nine-Heaven Celestial Ladder, anyone who submitted to the Dragon Sect could also have the opportunity.

Many people were very satisfied with Long Ao’s decision. But as the Dragon Sect’s brutal suppression continued, more and more people grew dissatisfied with them. Forced to submit to the Dragon Sect’s overwhelming power, however, they could only endure.

But in the end, the Dragon Sect’s bloody suppression had undoubtedly sown the seeds for a great future disaster. Things had already reached this point, however, and Long Ao couldn’t afford to worry about anything else. He didn’t know when the Four Great Forces would open their teleportation channels, and he certainly didn’t know when war would finally break out. He had to be prepared.

Long Ao stood on the first layer of the Ninety-Nine-Heaven Celestial Ladder, looking up at the highest point above Yun City. At that moment, his body suddenly moved.

For some reason, Long Ao desperately wanted to ascend to the Celestial Ladder Peak again to see that Ye Dugu from before. To this day, he still didn’t know who Ye Dugu was.

Long Ao had asked many people who Ye Dugu was, but without exception, no one knew.

Long Ao was almost certain that this Ye Dugu was incredibly powerful. He even had a hunch that Ye Dugu’s strength was no less than that of Long Tian and the Ancient Divine Dragon, perhaps even approaching the Celestial Dao itself.

Besides, the fact that Ye Dugu had created the Ninety-Nine-Heaven Celestial Ladder was in itself a testament to his incredible power.

’Could Ye Dugu be the Celestial Dao itself?’

Long Ao smiled at the thought. Since he couldn’t figure out who Ye Dugu was no matter how much he thought about it, Long Ao decided to personally ascend to the Celestial Ladder Peak once more. Everything would become clear then.

With his previous experience, Long Ao easily reached the eightieth layer of the Celestial Ladder this time. But after the eighty-first layer, he began to struggle. Even though he had already succeeded in reaching the Celestial Ladder Peak once before, this second attempt was still just as difficult.

Long Ao’s Cultivation had already broken through to the Basic Level Saint Realm. Precisely for this reason, he wanted to use the Celestial Ladder’s immense pressure to solidify his new realm. If his luck was good, he might even break through directly to the Middle Level Saint Realm.

Long Ao was well aware that although his Cultivation had reached the Basic Level Saint Realm, he still had a long road ahead of him in the greater Void Saint Realm. The only thing he needed to do now was to break through to the Peak Saint Realm as quickly as possible.

By the ninety-eighth layer, Long Ao was already exhausted and riddled with injuries.

Only one layer remained. If others were to find out that Long Ao had reached the Celestial Ladder Peak on two separate occasions, who knows what they would think.

Finally, Long Ao stepped onto the ninety-ninth layer of the Celestial Ladder. At that exact moment, he felt the surrounding pressure vanish completely. His Cultivation hadn’t broken through in the slightest, but his recently achieved Basic Level Saint Realm was now thoroughly stabilized, which was still something to be excited about.

Arriving at the Celestial Ladder Peak, Long Ao gazed out at the endless sea of clouds around him. Even now, he was still stunned. Just who was this Ye Dugu, to be capable of creating ninety-nine separate Ninety-Nine-Heaven Celestial Ladders?